George Gist received all honor from his countrymen. A short time
after his invention written communication was opened up by means
of it with that portion of the Cherokee Nation then in their new
home west of the Arkansas. Zealous in his work, he traveled many
hundred miles to teach it to them; and it is no reproach to their
intellect to say that they received it readily.

It has been said the Indians are besotted against all
improvements. The cordiality with which this was received is
worthy of attention.

In 1823 the General Council of the Cherokee Nation voted a large
silver medal to George Gist as a mark of distinction for his
discovery. On one side were two pipes, the ancient symbol of
Indian religion and law; on the other a man's head. The medal had
the following inscription in English, also in, Cherokee in his own
alphabet:

"Presented to George Gist, by the General Council of the Cherokee
Nation, for his ingenuity in the invention of the Cherokee
alphabet."

John Ross, acting as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, sent
it West to Se-quo-yah, together with an elaborate address, the
latter being at that time in the new nation.

In 1828 Gist went to Washington city as a delegate from the
Western Cherokees. He was then in his fifty-ninth year. At that
time the portrait was taken, an engraving from which we present to