John Rollin Ridge was born in the Cherokee Nation in New Echota in 1827 (now Georgia). He was given the Cherokee name Chees-quat-a-law-ny, or Yellow Bird. His father Major Ridge and grandfather were assassinated in 1839 after Indian Removal, for having ceded communal lands by the Treaty of Echota in 1825. In 1850, Ridge killed a man over a horse dispute, but suspected him of being involved in his father's murder. Ridge fled to Missouri and then to California in 1850, where he attempted to become involved in the Gold Rush.[5] His wife and daughter joined him there.
After little success in mining, Ridge turned to newspaper companies for employment, and began writing articles. He also wrote The Life and Adventures of Joaquín Murieta (1854), a fictional account of an outlaw. He continued to work as a writer and editor for the Sacramento Bee and other newspapers. He died in Grass Valley, California in 1867.[5]
