changing political landscape between white Americans and the native tribes. The Shawnee chiefs who sent Alford to Hampton told him his mission was learn the ability to fluently read books, speak English, and understand Anglo-American customs so that he would be able to guide Shawnee responses to federal government actions. If he was successful, and maintained his belief in the Shawnee faith, Alford was told that he would become the successor to the chief of his clan. Alford enrolled at Hampton under the name Thomas Wildcat; Wildcat being his father's nickname. At Hampton he was legally bestowed the name Alford, and added it to the end of the name under which he had enrolled. Hampton Institute at the time was a co-educational school with strict militaristic rules and regulations. Hampton was not a religious institute in name, but enforced attendance at some manner of church on Sundays and conducted a daily service in the assembly hall. Alford converted to Christianity at Hampton and relinquished his claim to eventually become a Shawnee chief. He studied at Hampton Institute for three years and upon his graduation, returned to his tribe to a unwelcoming rejection of his conversion to Christianity. Career On November 1, 1882, Alford entered into the U.S. Indian Service, known at the time as the Office of Indian Affairs, first serving as a teacher for a Pottawatomie day school. In 1883, he was transferred to the Shawnee Boarding School, serving as the principle there for five years. As principle, Alford encouraged the enrollment of Shawnee children in education and expanded the existing campus grounds of the Shawnee Boarding School. Following his teaching career, Alford worked as an advocate for Indian Allotment, collecting a complete list of Shawnee tribe members for the allotment census. Alford also acquired the position of surveyor on multiple occasions during the Indian Allotment era, assisting Shawnees, Kickapoos, and Anglo-Americans in assessing the land for their respective claims. Alford was sporadically appointed to be a translator in legal cases involving Shawnee tribe members. After the abolition of Indian tribal government, Alford was appointed as chairman of the Business Committee in September 1893. The Business Committee was established by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to represent the Absentee Shawnees in all legal and federal matters. Alford translated the Gospel into the Shawnee language, published as The Four Gospels of our Lord Jesus Christ by Dr. William A. Galloway