Richard Fields

Richard Fields (17?? -1827) was the diplomatic chief of the Cherokee people residing in what is now Texas while it was still under Mexican rule. Fields was only one-eighth Cherokee; his father was English and his mother was quarter Cherokee. However, his ties to both the white world and the Cherokee world made him a logical choice to act as his peoples' chief diplomat. Fields first appears in the historical record in 1801 as an emissary to the United States. He participated in the War of 1812, serving as an interpreter and an auxiliary under Andrew Jackson in 1814. He was recorded in Texas in 1820, attempting to secure a land grant. However, his arrival coincided with Mexico's final victory in its revolution against Spain, and so his efforts were thwarted as the government in Mexico City changed three times in the 1820s. By 1826, Fields and his ally, John Dunn Hunter, allied themselves with the Fredonian Rebellion led by American Empresario Haden Edwards. While the rebellion began in Nacogdoches, Texas in December 1826, the Mexican government sent agent Peter Ellis Bean to convince the Cherokee to break the alliance. In an effort to demonstrate the Cherokees' loyalty to Mexico, the Cherokee council ordered the deaths of Fields and Dunn. While both fled, they were each captured and hanged in February, 1827.

Richard Fields in "Hail! Hail!"
Chief Richard Fields, John Dunn Hunter, and the Cherokee had already agreed to help Haden Edwards and the Republic of Fredonia when the Marx Brothers arrived from 1934. However, Julius Marx convinced the Cherokee to stay in the alliance, thereby changing history.

After the Marx Brothers convinced first Adolphus Sterne and Haden Edwards of their identity, Sterne took them to the Cherokee. At this point, the Marx Brothers' only real plan was to make the Cherokee like them better than the Mexicans. Fields greeted them when they arrived, and Sterne explained who the Marx Brothers were and why they were there to meet. Fields agreed to listen and summoned Hunter.

The group ate a supper of grits and armadillo before talks began. Once again, Julius explained that he and his brothers were from 1934 and offered coins to prove it. A full-blooded Cherokee named Eightkiller also looked at the coins. All saw dates from the 1920s, and Eightkiller observed the "clock" on Julius' wrist as being far more advanced than anything he'd ever seen. Based on this, the Cherokee were tentatively convinced the Marx Brothers were telling the truth. Julius then explained that in the Marx Brother's historical record, the Mexicans convinced the Cherokee not to back Fredonia, and the rebellion failed. He further explained that, despite the Cherokees' change of heart, the Mexican government still mistrusted them, and that Fields and Hunter were hanged in the spring of 1827 as a result. Julius withheld the fact that the Cherokee people themselves did the hanging. Fields reasoned that if they threw in with Fredonia, they had to go all the way. Eightkiller pointed out that they could also just flat out refuse to help now, as well. The Cherokee began discussing in their own language their next course of action.

In order to sway the Cherokee, Sterne explained the white and red strips of the Fredonia flag symbolized whites and Indians working together. In response, the Marx Brothers sang the Freedonia anthem from Duck Soup. The Cherokee weren't wholly receptive to these idealistic exclamations, although the faux anthem didn't hurt. When Eightkiller asked what the best course of action was, Julius simply stated that sitting back as they had in the original timeline didn't work, but he made no guarantees as to what would happen if they backed Fredonia all the way. While the Cherokee had reservations about trusting Haden Edwards, the realized that the didn't really trust the Mexicans either, and so opted to back Fredonia, even chanting "Hail! Hail! Fredonia!" in a show of solidarity.