Cherokee Rose Buttons?

[everett2]

My Grandfather left me a number of Civil War era buttons. I've been able to identify most of them but there are others I have not been able to identify. I will attach a picture of these buttons that I've been told may be what are called Cherokee Rose uniform buttons due to the seven pointed stars on them. On the back of the buttons it says, "Rich Gold Color" that some have said were made in Great Britain. I have no idea what company may have made them. If anyone has any knowledge about these buttons, I'd be interested in hearing about it.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

DR.ÖTEK Metal Detector, Waterproof Gold Detector, Pinpoint & Terrain Modes, Professional Metal Detector - Grab it through Amazon!

[HutSiteDigger]

You can look at this page hereButton backmarks, "Rich..." (at the bottom) they indicate these as Cherokee Nation button (?), 7 point star, low convex one part, Rich Gold Color, rm, Looks your grandfather had a heck of a good button collection!

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Your buttons were manufactured in the US, because the backmark says "color" instead of "colour" (the British spelling). Buttons with the spelling as "colour" are British-made.

The fact that your buttons are brass, 1-piece, US-made, "convex" (dome-shaped), with a raised emblem, and have a raised-lettering backmark means they were made sometime between the verylate 1810s and the 1830s. Therefore, they are not civil war uniform buttons. Legend has it that they are Cherokee Nation buttons, but no Historical-records proof or photographic proof (such as a Cherokee Indian wearing them) has ever surfaced. The massive button book by Warren K. Tice says "The Cherokee Indian Nation uses the seven pointed star as an emblem, but the author has not been able to associate the button with this tribe."

Also, if they actually are Cherokee Nation buttons, they should have been found in some quantity at the Cherokee Nation "reservations" in North Carolina and Oklahoma. Insofar as I'm aware, no such findings there have been reported. If anybody has contradictory information about that, I would of course very much like to see it. (My wife has Cherokee ancestry.)

 

[everett2]

Thanks for the reference. I spent a lot of time looking for something like this but could not find it. Your reference is exactly what I have. Now all I have to figure out is where they came from as the second response kind of blows apart the Cherokee idea.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

I should mention, the reference posted by HutSiteDigger (the Ridgeway Relic Archive) has a question-mark right after the Cherokee naming.

 

[everett2]

In response to TheCannonballGuy, you are absolutely right that the British spelling would have been "colour." However, I'm not aware of any of these buttons in England. In my web search, I found other items with the "Rich Gold Color" imprint and for some reason, they all seemed to identify Great Britain as the source. Yet none provided any reason for making this claim. Of course, assuming the buttons were made for an American market, it is more than likely they would have used American spelling. In any case, I'm convinced there is something more to the story than buttons made for a few indians. What seems surprising is that so few of these are mentioned anywhere.

 

[caselhall]

Hey Everett I found An Identical button today in dumfires, Virginia. It says Rich gold color but the star is worn off. I don't know if the location helps your research at all. If you find anymore info please let me know.

 

[ErieDrew]

Cherokee Button

Hey Guys just found one today in Lake Erie while treasure hunting. Been researching it myself and there is def not much about these buttons out there. Would love to know if they were possibly from the war of 1812 (alot of activity on Lake Erie from that war) or civil war. Just curious as to why they were made in the 1830s but were used in the civil war so many years later. Anyway super cool find. Im trying to figure out how to upload a pic ha ha.

 

[tamrock]

Very interesting post. They look to be in wonderful condition for an item that is over 180 years old. Be nice if you could prove that these are for sure buttons made for the Cherokee. I would think it be very tough to ever find any photographic evidence of a person in uniform or dress, being the age of the buttons. Could be an old written record of some type stuffed away that could lead to a clue as what, why and who these buttons were made for? This would be a good one to offer to the PBS history detectives. They have a link to offer them a challenge on that show. I think it would be a great episode to see if they could figure this one out. This is kind of thing I would think that fellow Wes Cowen would like to take on.

 

[BuckleBoy]

In response to TheCannonballGuy, you are absolutely right that the British spelling would have been "colour." However, I'm not aware of any of these buttons in England. In my web search, I found other items with the "Rich Gold Color" imprint and for some reason, they all seemed to identify Great Britain as the source. Yet none provided any reason for making this claim. Of course, assuming the buttons were made for an American market, it is more than likely they would have used American spelling. In any case, I'm convinced there is something more to the story than buttons made for a few indians. What seems surprising is that so few of these are mentioned anywhere.

Actually there were plenty of buttons made for the American market which had british spellings on them. The vast numbers of those buttons with the "colour" spelling dug here were not all lost by recent immigrants from their coats.

To my knowledge, no one has ever confirmed these as anything more than a nice button with a star on it.

Regards,

Buck

 

[BuckleBoy]

Actually that is not the same button as in the Original Post. The button you posted never had a star on it.

Hey Everett I found An Identical button today in dumfires, Virginia. It says Rich gold color but the star is worn off. I don't know if the location helps your research at all. If you find anymore info please let me know.



View attachment 776741View attachment 776742

 

[CC Hunter]

There are a vast number of early buttons, belt buckles, suspender buckles, and even utilitarian rivets, sporting 5-point, 6-point, 8-point, and even some 7-point star designs. Some of the buttons showing star type designs, as noted on these one-piece buttons posted above, have been variously attributed as being Cherokee Nation buttons. Without definitive proof attributing any of these to a particular state, regiment, group, organization, or otherwise, the most probable choice is that the star design depicted is merely decorative!

The early two-piece buttons for Florida, dating to the period of the American Civil War, feature a 6-point star, also commonly referred to as a "Cherokee Rose". Shown below, are a couple 1850's two-piece Tongue & Wreath buckles, also featuring a 6-point star design, very similar to the style on the the buttons known as the "Cherokee Rose". No documented examples of these particular buckles are known to have been located in North Carolina, Florida, or Oklahoma. These actual buckles here were found far from major Civil War activity, as well as a long ways from Cherokee settlement.

CC Hunter

 

[relic digger]

Hi everyone, Pretty new to posting on here. I have found a few of these buttons in Cherokee nation at some Cherokee 1830's/40's sites in Oklahoma. Not sure If they were specifically made for the Cherokees... But they sure did like them. Hope this helps at all answering the question if those buttons were in the Cherokee nation or not.

 

[everett2]

Did the buttons you found in Oklahoma have the seven point star and the "Rich Gold Color" printed on the back? Others seem to have located similar buttons but none have the seven point stars.