Stand Watie was a leader of the Cherokee Nation and a prominent member of the Treaty Party that supported voluntary removal to the West. He controversially signed the Treaty of New Echota, which resulted in the forced removal of the Cherokee people known as the Trail of Tears. During the American Civil War, he served as a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army, notably becoming the last Confederate general in the field to surrender. After the war, Watie returned to his home and worked to rebuild his life and advocate for Cherokee tribal affairs until his death.