Sale 266

The Guido Craveri Collection
of U.S. 1847 Postal History


Indian Territory
 
 
Lot Photo Description
Lot 1162
 
1847, 10¢ black (2), ample to huge margins except touched at bottom, pen canceled, on off-white envelope to Mrs. Clinton W. Lear in New Orleans with clear black "Doaksville Ark. Jun. 13" c.d.s. at far left, additional manuscript. "Due 10" indicating double weight; minor toning on cover, Very Fine usage.
Estimate 5,000 - 7,500

Expertization: Photocopy of 1971 P.F. Certificate.

Doaksville, in Indian Territory, was attached to Arkansas for administrative purposes. It was the capital of the Choctaw nation beginning in 1848.
This cover is one of six written by Lt. Clinton W. Lear, stationed at Fort Towson. In addition, there are three Texas usages (Bonham, Chambers Creek and San Antonio) which trace his journey to this remote post. Happily for collectors, Lt. Lear preferred to send his letters paid, but the iron gall ink used by Lear has eroded the paper in places- this cover is one of the best preserved, and the only one with the "Due 10" notation.

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Lot 1163
 
1847, 5¢ red brown (1), ample margins to clear except touched at upper left, pen canceled, matching "Eagletown Ark./ July 14 1854" manuscript. postmark on folded cover from Choctaw, Indian Territory to Col Peter P. Pitchlynn in Washington, Very Fine, a most important cover from both a philatelic and a historical perspective. Illustrated in Alexander, p.116.
Estimate 15,000 - 20,000

THE ONLY RECORDED 1847 COVER FROM EAGLETOWN AND ONE OF TWO 5¢ 1847 COVERS RECORDED FROM INDIAN TERRITORY.

Provenance: Seven Oaks

Col. Pitchlynn, whose Indian name was Hachootucknee (Snapping Turtle), was born in Mississippi in 1806; his mother was a Choctaw and his father a white interpreter commissioned by General Washington. From 1828 until his death in 1881 Col. Pitchlynn was a respected and influential figure in Native American affairs who lobbied ceaselessly for his native homeland and labored to prevent alcohol from reaching the Indian population. This cover was addressed to Pitchlynn while he was in Washington, as a chief and delegate of the Choctaw Nation, to negotiate and sign the Treaty of Washington D.C. with the Choctaw and Chickasaw in June of 1855. George Catlin's portrait of Pitchlynn, illustrated in Alexander, p. 114, was recently part of the Smithsonian exhibit, George Catlin and His Indian Gallery.

The other 5¢ cover from Indian Territory is addressed to Pitchlynn at Eagletown and postmarked Doaksville. Both covers represent the only recorded post-demonetized usages from Indian Territory
.

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