David A. Smith presents Letters from the Qualla Boundary: William C. McCarthy’s Reports
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David Arthur Smith will visit City Lights on Thursday, October 8th at 6:00pm to present his new book, Letters from the Qualla Boundary: William C. McCarthy’s Reports as Special Agent to the Eastern Cherokees, 1875–1876.
The letters of William C. McCarthy, written in 1875–1876, provide a rare firsthand account of the complex relationship between the United States government and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in western North Carolina. Serving as a federal Special Indian Agent, McCarthy was tasked with assessing living conditions, preventing unauthorized land sales to white settlers, and supporting agricultural, educational, and economic development among the Cherokee who had remained in the East after the Trail of Tears.
A New Yorker, ordained reverend, and educator, McCarthy was appointed in early 1875 to implement the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ assimilationist policies. His correspondence details contracts, debts, land issues, school operations, and the often difficult navigation between federal directives, local white settlers, and Cherokee communities. The letters illuminate a pivotal transitional period as the Eastern Band strengthened its sovereignty and governance structures amid factionalism between traditionalists and assimilation advocates. Between March and December 1875, McCarthy wrote 39 letters (over 179 pages) plus attachments to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. They capture the daily realities of Indian agency work in the post-Civil War South.
David A. Smith is an independent researcher and volunteer transcriber with the National Archives Citizen Archivist program. For over 35 years he and his wife have lived on land once titled to William Holland Thomas (Wil-Usdi) in Cullowhee, North Carolina. He has spent years immersed in the local culture and in the primary records of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. With a background in special collections and technology integration, Smith has processed hundreds of 19th-century documents from the Bureau of Indian Affairs Record Group 75, focusing primarily on the 1870s work of the Special Agent Rev. W.C. McCarthy. His research informs his historical narrative writing, blending meticulous archival detail with empathetic storytelling of post-Trail of Tears Appalachian life.
The letters of William C. McCarthy, written in 1875–1876, provide a rare firsthand account of the complex relationship between the United States government and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in western North Carolina. Serving as a federal Special Indian Agent, McCarthy was tasked with assessing living conditions, preventing unauthorized land sales to white settlers, and supporting agricultural, educational, and economic development among the Cherokee who had remained in the East after the Trail of Tears.
A New Yorker, ordained reverend, and educator, McCarthy was appointed in early 1875 to implement the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ assimilationist policies. His correspondence details contracts, debts, land issues, school operations, and the often difficult navigation between federal directives, local white settlers, and Cherokee communities. The letters illuminate a pivotal transitional period as the Eastern Band strengthened its sovereignty and governance structures amid factionalism between traditionalists and assimilation advocates. Between March and December 1875, McCarthy wrote 39 letters (over 179 pages) plus attachments to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. They capture the daily realities of Indian agency work in the post-Civil War South.
David A. Smith is an independent researcher and volunteer transcriber with the National Archives Citizen Archivist program. For over 35 years he and his wife have lived on land once titled to William Holland Thomas (Wil-Usdi) in Cullowhee, North Carolina. He has spent years immersed in the local culture and in the primary records of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. With a background in special collections and technology integration, Smith has processed hundreds of 19th-century documents from the Bureau of Indian Affairs Record Group 75, focusing primarily on the 1870s work of the Special Agent Rev. W.C. McCarthy. His research informs his historical narrative writing, blending meticulous archival detail with empathetic storytelling of post-Trail of Tears Appalachian life.
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Where is it happening?
3 East Jackson Street, Sylva, NC, United States, North Carolina 28779
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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Host or PublisherCity Lights Bookstore
