Jno. Ross, Prinl. Chief, Public Service. Manuscript free frank on undated folded letter sheet addressed to the Canadian district of the Cherokee Nation; cover with tiny edge tears, F.-V.F., a rare free frank usage from this Cherokee chief; with 2009 P.F. certificate. Estimate  $500 - 750. Between 1790 and 1845, the Cherokee attempted to become a nation state, lost their ancestral land, endured removal to the Indian Territory, and suffered the destructive Civil War, in which their early alliance with the Confederacy jeopardized their nation. Throughout these tumultuous years, the dominant political figure in the Cherokee Nation was John Ross, whose leadership spanned the entire period. By ancestry, Ross was seven-eighths Scottish, and he grew up in both Cherokee and frontier American environments. $0 (Image)