Burton Allen Holder a member of the Chickasaw

Chickasaw

The Chickasaw are Native American people originally from the region that would become the Southeastern United States...

 tribe of Native Americans

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

, gained fame as a soldier in the Confederate States Army

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. During the Red River Campaign

Red River Campaign

The Red River Campaign or Red River Expedition consisted of a series of battles fought along the Red River in Louisiana during the American Civil War from March 10 to May 22, 1864. The campaign was a Union initiative, fought between approximately 30,000 Union troops under the command of Maj. Gen....

, Holder led the 22nd Texas Cavalry Regiment [Dismounted], also known as the First Indian Texas Regiment which kept Union

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 forces out of the Red River and new areas of Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 for the rest of the war.

Holder's parents Isaac Bledsoe Holder (b. December 20, 1783, died 1862) and Elizabeth Ann Stewart (born about 1793) were raised on the Chickasaw Reservation in Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

. In the 1820s, they and the rest of the "Bleacher" clan were removed to the Indian Territory

Indian Territory

The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...

 (now Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

. However, they stopped in southwestern Missouri where the family lived for the next twenty years. Burton A. Holder was born in Polk County, Missouri

Polk County, Missouri

Polk County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2010, the population was 31,137. Its county seat is Bolivar.Polk County is part of the Springfield, Missouri, Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...

, sometime in the first three months of 1843. In the 1850s, the family moved to the Indian Territory and then to Grayson County, Texas

Grayson County, Texas

As of the census of 2000, there were 110,595 people, 42,849 households, and 30,208 families residing in the county. The population density was 118 people per square mile . There were 48,315 housing units at an average density of 52 per square mile...

, where Holder was living when the Civil War erupted in 1861.

On April 25, 1862, Holder married Nellie Campbell, a 20-year-old Chickasaw woman who had been born in North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

. They raised several children.

Holder enlisted in the Native American forces being raised by the Confederate Army. By the Red River Campaign in 1864, he was in command of the 22nd Texas Cavalry Regiment [Dismounted].

Holder's wife died at their home in Denison, Texas

Denison, Texas

Denison is a city in Grayson County, Texas, United States. The population was 22,773 at the 2000 census; it is estimated to have grown to 24,127 in 2009. Denison is one of two principal cities in the Sherman-Denison Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

, in 1890 and Holder died thirty years later. They are buried in Grayson County.