Essay Winner: Charles Journeycake: The Faithful Chief

by Emily Messimore

Charles Joumeycake (Neshapanacumin) was born December 16, 1817 to Sally Williams and Delaware Chief Solomon Journeycake in Sandusky, Ohio. In 1828 the Delawares were ordered by the government to move to reservations in Kansas Territory.

After arriving in Kansas Territory, Chief Joumeycake’s mother, Sally, became a Delaware interpreter for missionaries and helped establish the first Indian Mission in Kansas. Inspired by his dedicated Christian mother, Journeycake was saved and baptized in 1833. It is thought that Journeycake was the first person to be baptized in the state of Kansas. In 1833, Charles Journeycake and his mother, Sally Williams, were the only Christians among the Delaware tribe.

In 1855, Charles Journeycake became Chief of the Wolf Clan. By 1861, Journeycake became the principal Chief of the Delaware tribe. In 1867 the Delaware people were once again removed from their homes, this time to Indian Territory, and deemed citizens of Cherokee Nation. It was at this time that Journeycake retired his title as chief, becoming the last official chief of Delaware Nation. Times were hard for the Delaware people in their new home. However, Journeycake’s faith did not waiver. He knew he had a greater purpose that was yet to be fulfilled. Chief Journeycake still cared deeply about the wellbeing and future of his tribe. Acting as chief counselor to the people, he represented the Delaware in Washington D.C. on twenty-four different occasions to fight for legal rights and economic opportunities.

This upright and loving man is largely attributed with the spread of Christianity in the Delaware tribe and in all of Indian Territory. Charles Journeycake was a disciple sent into the violent and desolate land of lndian Territory, who breathed hope into the people there. Shortly after the move to Indian Territory, Chief Journeycake organized a Church in his home. On September 23, 1872, Charles Journeycake was ordained as a minister, at the age of fifty-five, and the Delaware Baptist Church was officially founded. Seven of the eleven founding members were Journeycake’s close relatives. During Reverend Journeycake’s time preaching, the recorded members of the Delaware Baptist Church increased from eleven to nearly three hundred. Reverend Journeycake preached in several Native American languages, including Delaware, Shawnee, Wyandotte, Seneca, and Ottawa. With Journeycake’s encouragement, the Delaware Baptist Association was organized November 27, 1891. Over the course of his life, Journeycake translated the four Gospels of the Bible into the Delaware language.

Journeycake had married Jane Sosha at the age of twenty. They had ten children, eight daughters and two sons. All of their daughters became fervent Christians and worked within the Delaware Baptist Association. One of Chief Journeycake’s daughters married Mr. Bartles, the man whom Bartlesville, Oklahoma was named after.

Journeycake led his family the same way he led his tribe, with a caring dedication. Journeycake had an array of interests and accomplishments. He is credited with establishing the first trading post and post office in his hometown of Alluwe, Oklahoma.

Alluwe is actually a Delaware word that means “A better place.” Later in his life, Chief Journeycake contributed much of his time and money to the development of Bacone College in Muskogee. Chief Journeycake was an intelligent man who enjoyed reading and kept a large library in his home. However, his favorite pastimes were hunting and preaching. After his wife’s death in 1893, Journeycake found little enjoyment except in hunting and working at the Delaware Baptist Church. Charles Journeycake died on January 3, 1894. He was buried beside his loving wife in a cemetery south of Nowata. The graves were later relocated to Armstrong Cemetery in Alluwe due to the building of the Oologah dam.

Journeycake was an advocate of his people and his faith. Above all, he had a vision of what key part of history the Delaware people should hold fast to. He best summed this up in his speech before the Indian Defense Association in 1886. He said, “We have been broken up and moved six times. We have been despoiled of our property.

We thought when we moved across the Missouri River, and had paid for our homes in Kansas we were safe. But in few years the white man wanted our country. We had made good farms, built comfortable houses and’ big barns. We had schools for our children and churches where we listened to the same Gospel the white man listened to. We had a great many cattle and horses. The white man came into our country from Missouri and drove our cattle and horses away across the river. If our people followed them they got killed.

We try to forget these things, but we would not forget that the white man brought us the blessed Gospel of Christ, the Christian’s hope. This more than pays for all we have suffered.”

Sources Cited

Self, Burl. “Journeycake, Charles.” Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, 2009. Web. 29 August 2015.

Claremore Museum of History. “Remembering: Delaware Chief, Charles Journeycake.” MoreClaremore, 16 December 2013. Web. 29 August 2015.

Lawson, Russell. “Charles Journeycake and Indian University.” The Baconian, II March 2015. Web. 30 August 2015.

Tatum, Lawrie. “Our Red Brothers and the Peace Policy of Ulysses S. Grant.” Google Books, ND. Web. 30 August 2015.