That is exactly why I wrote a book about this. There is so much more to the story than I had been taught in school. My biggest surprise was all the stories my Dad told me, turned out to be true.
The Federal government was not happy that the Cherokee sided with the South in the Civil War and retaliated against them when any of them took issue with just about anything. Ten years after the war, my grgrgrandfather was arrested for treason and tried, even though their cessation of hostilities agreement stated there would be no retaliation against them by the feds. He was a lawyer, acted as his own attorney and won.
James Madison Bell, "Colo-Gotte-Yon", c. 1865
Elias Boudinot and Bell were leading advocates for the abolition of the tribal land system of the Indians. They and others wished to have the lands owned in severalty, which is ownership of real property by an individual as an individual; the same right to property as other Americans. They also championed the establishment of United States Courts in Indian Territory, and the abandonment of the tribal governments.