A Legal Episode in the Cherokee Nation. as guard. Five persons constitute a jury in the trial of all civil suits, any three of whom may render a verdict. In case of murder, twelve jurymen are required; but in all other cases the jury consists of nine persons; and no verdict is rendered in any criminal case without the consent of the whole jury. The grand jurors are selected with especial care from the best and most intellectual men in the nation. The term of service is for one year, unless discharged. Five men are summoned from each district for this purpose. "I am on my way to court now," said the lawyer; " will you go with me? " And consenting, I rode back with him to the court-house. The case on trial was something like this: — A white man had married a Cherokee woman, and therefore was the possessor of a farm; and for a period of three days had employed, without permit of the court, a white boy. The warrant set forth that "thereby the peace and dignity of the Cherokee nation had been damaged to the extent of seventy-five dollars." No citizen of the United States is per mitted to labor in the Cherokee nation without a permit, which is issued by the district clerk, and which shows the name of the employer and employee, the length of time to be employed, and the occupation to be followed. For such permit the employer pays in advance one dollar per month to the clerk; but no permit is given for a longer time than a year. The person " permitted" is obliged to subscribe to the following oath, to wit . — "I do solemnly swear [or affirm] that I am a citizen of the United States [or a for eigner]; that it is not on account of any criminal offence against the laws of the same that I have come to seek employment in this nation; that within ten (10) days after the expiration of my permit, unless the same shall be renewed, I will remove with out the limits of this nation." 62
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It was for the violation of the permit law that the employer was under arrest. At an early hour Cherokees of all grades had as sembled in the vicinity of the court-house. The sheriff soon came to the door, and sum moned his jury. Looking over the crowd, with stentorian voice he shouted, — "Ho-ho-o-o-o-o, Hog Catcher! Ho-ho-o0-0-0, Six Killer! Ho-ho-o-o-o-o you, Com ing Deer! Ho-ho-o-o-o-o you, Walking Stick! Ho-ho-o-o-o-o you, Kingfisher! Ho-ho-o-o-o-o you, Muskrat! " and his jury was complete. I am not absolutely sure that I have re corded the names of this particular jury cor rectly; some of these names were summoned, and the other names are frequently met with, and their owners find their way from time to time into the jury seats. This assemblage was by far the most novel of any that I saw in the nation. Men, women, and children sat around the stove, or gathered in little groups about the oak-grove that surrounded the court-house. Most all were smoking, and all were in their every-day dress. The jurymen, six in num ber, had gathered behind the rail that sepa rated the jury seats, counsel seats, and judge's table from the gaping crowd out side. The gate leading behind the rail was closed as the jurymen took their seats; but while the court was in session, any one wishing to speak to the lawyers and judge usually straddled over the rail in preference to opening the gate. The jurymen could all speak English save one; an interpreter was sworn in for his benefit, and all the evi dence was given twice, — first in English, and then in Cherokee. As the case pro ceeded, and the evidence grew more com plicated, the jury dropped into apparently deep meditation. Finally one drew out a long pipe, filled it with tobacco, and com menced to smoke. Another and another of the jurymen followed with a pipe. The interested audience outside the bars also lit their pipes, and at length the judge, five of
