John Stafford Smith
Wallis Wallis
around 1860
The Choctaw Indian, Wallis Wallis, lived around
1860. He lived in the "Indian Territory", now Oklahoma. Wallis was
obviously greatly influenced by the Christian missionaries, and by the biblical
story of the Jordan river, and a chariot taking the prophet Elijah up to heaven.
He composed the song "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". The song was heard by
a minister at a Choctaw boarding school, who wrote down the tune and the words.
He sent this music to an American university choir, who sang the song and made
it popular on tours of USA and then Europe.