Choctaws
an Indian tribe, occupying a reservation in Oklahoma State. Grain, cotton, and fruit are raised by the tribe. They number about 15,000.
CHOISEUL (shwäz-el'), an ancient French family which has furnished CHOLERA many distinguished individuals. One of the best known is Etienne François, duke of Choiseul-Amboise, born in 1719, died 1785. He entered the army in early life, and, after distinguishing himself on various occasions in the Austrian War of Succession, returned to Paris, where his intimacy with Madame de Pompadour furnished the means of gratifying his ambition. After having been ambassador at Rome, and at Vienna, where he concluded with Maria Theresa the treaty of alliance against Prussia, he became in reality prime minister of France, and was very popular through a series of able diplomatic measures. He negotiated the famous Family Compact which reunited the various members of the Bourbon family, and restored Corsica to France. His fall was brought about in 1770 by a court intrigue, supported by Madame du Barry, the new favorite of the king. He was banished to his estate, but his advice in political matters was frequently taken by Louis XVI.