I posted this in another thread, but at the urging of Willie Dixon I'm posting it here as well. I welcome comments, proposed additions, etc. Here it comes:
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I chose the handle "Daniel Nighteyes" to tell a story in itself. You see, it is HIS alias!
Daniel's real name is "Daniel Ferguson". He is the only child of Angus Ferguson, a Scotsman who emigrated to the New World just half-a-jump ahead of the hangman's noose, and Emily Tubbee, a young Choctaw woman whom Angus courted and married in 1832. They were Removed from Mississippi to the Indian Territory in 1833. During their journey along what later became known as the Trail of Tears, Angus died of pneumonia. Emily died shortly after giving birth to Daniel in early 1834. He was raised by Joseph and Martha Tubbee, his grandparents. Being a devout Christian, Martha named him after her favorite Bible story, Daniel and the Lion's Den.
Daniel served in the Trans-Mississippi Confederacy beginning in 1861, initially with the Choctaw Mounted Rifles. However, his facility with languages (he spoke seven) got him transferred to the Second Cherokee Artillery to serve as an interpreter. While serving guard duty late one night, Daniel spotted a group of Union soldiers trying to sneak up on a battery of field guns. His warning saved the battery. The Cherokee quickly named him "Nighteyes", for obvious reasons.
At war's end, and having lost his entire family to the Civil War within the Choctaw Nation (a long story in itself), Daniel drifted westward. He spent time among the Kiowa and Comanche, and later the Lipan and Jicarilla Apache.
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I have more, of course, but want your input, comments and criticisms.
Regards,
-- Nighteyes