PATRIOTS AND SONS OF LIBERTY!
THE ORDER OF AMERICAN KNIGHTS!

A leader of the Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) was Stand Watie, a Cherokee Freemason probably affiliated with Federal Lodge #1 in Washington, D.C. Members of the Knights of the Golden Circle included many of the elite of the Cherokee Nation: John Rollin Ridge, Elias Boudinot, William Penn Adair, James Bell, Joseph Scales, and Josiah Washbourne -- all leaders of the Southern Rights party and former "Treaty Party" members. The Constitution of the Knights of the Golden Circle, as recorded on August 28, 1860, states among its provisions:

We, a part of the people of the Cherokee Nation, in order to form a more perfect union and protect ourselves and property against the works of Abolitionists do establish this Constitution for the government of the Knights of the Golden Circle in this Nation ...

You do solemnly swear that you will keep all the secrets of this order and that you will, to the best of your abilities protect and defend the interests of the Knights of the Golden Circle in this Nation, so help you God.