Part 12

On the 27th of May, 1816, the Secretary of War instructed Agent Meigs to endeavor, at the next session of the national council of the Cherokees, to obtain a cession of the Cherokee claim north of Tennessee River within the State of Tennessee. For this proposed cession he was authorized to pay $20,000, in one or more payments, and $5,000 in presents; also to give Colonel Lowry, an influential chief among them, a sum equal to the value of his improvements.[218]

He was further instructed to make an effort to secure the cession of the lands which they had declined to sell the previous winter and which lay to the west of a line drawn due south from that point of the Tennessee River intersected by the eastern boundary of Madison County, Alabama.

The necessity for these cessions, and especially that of the former tract, had been urged upon the Government of the United States by the legislature and by the citizens of Tennessee, many of whom had been purchasers of land within its limits, from the State of North Carolina, a quarter of a century previous, and who had been restrained from possession and occupancy of the same by the United States authorities so long as the Indian title remained unextinguished. In the event that the national council of the Cherokees should decline to accede to the desired cessions, Agent Meigs was to urge that the Cherokee delegation appointed to meet the boundary commissioners at the Chickasaw Council House on the 1st of September following should be invested with full authority for the conclusion of such adjustment of boundaries as might be determined on at that place. This authority was conditionally granted by the council,[219] and when the delegation came to meet the United States commissioners at the Chickasaw Council House, in the month of September, an agreement was made as to boundaries as set forth in the second article of the treaty of September 14, 1816. By this agreement the Cherokees ceded all claim west of a line from Camp Coffee to the Coosa River and south of a line from the latter point to Flat Rock, on Bear Creek.[220] The treaty was ratified by the nation in general council, at Turkeytown, on the 4th of October following.[221]

_Alabama alleges error in survey._--When the due-south line from Camp Coffee provided for in the treaty was surveyed, the surveyor, through an error in running it, deflected somewhat to the west. When the adjacent country came to be surveyed and opened up to settlement much complaint was made, and the legislature of Alabama[222] passed a joint resolution reciting the fact that through this erroneous survey much valuable land had been left within the Cherokee limits which had properly been ceded to the United States and instructing Alabama's delegation in Congress to take measures for having the line correctly run. The matter having been by Congress referred to the Secretary of War for investigation and report, the Commissioner of the General Land Office, at his request, reported[223] that when the public surveys were made in that section it was found that neither the line due south from Camp Coffee nor from the head of Caney Creek had been surveyed on a true meridian. Inasmuch, however, as they had been run and marked by commissioners appointed by the United States, the surveyors necessarily made the public surveys in conformity to them. By this deviation from the true meridian the United States and the State of Alabama had gained more land from the manner in which the Caney Creek or Chickasaw boundary line had been run than had been lost by the deviation in the Cherokee or Camp Coffee line, and the quantity in either case did not perhaps exceed six or eight thousand acres.

[Footnote 215: May 25.]

[Footnote 216: April 7.]

[Footnote 217: United States Statutes at Large, Vol. VII, p. 148.]

[Footnote 218: See Indian Office records.]

[Footnote 219: Letter of Return J. Meigs to the Secretary of War, dated August 19, 1816. American State Papers, Indian Affairs, Vol. II, p. 113.]

[Footnote 220: Report of Commissioners Jackson, Merriwether, and Franklin to Secretary of War, dated Chickasaw Council House, September 20, 1816. American State Papers, Indian Affairs, Vol. II, p. 104.]

[Footnote 221: Report of Commissioners Jackson and Merriwether to Secretary of War, October 4, 1816.]

[Footnote 222: January 7, 1828.]

[Footnote 223: February 25, 1828.]

TREATY CONCLUDED JULY 8, 1817; PROCLAIMED DECEMBER 26, 1817.[224]

_Held at Cherokee Agency, in the Cherokee Nation, between Maj. Gen. Andrew Jackson, Joseph McMinn, governor of Tennessee, and General David Merriwether, commissioners plenipotentiary of the United States, and the chiefs, headmen, and warriors of the Cherokee Nation east of the Mississippi River, and those on the Arkansas River, by their deputies, John D. Chisholm and James Rogers, duly authorised by written power of attorney._

MATERIAL PROVISIONS.

1. The whole Cherokee Nation cede to the United States all the lands lying north and east of the following boundaries, viz: Beginning at the High Shoals of the Appalachy River, and running thence along the boundary line between the Creek and Cherokee Nations westwardly to the Chatahouchy River; thence up the Chatahouchy River to the mouth of Souque Creek; thence continuing with the general course of the river until it reaches the Indian boundary line; and should it strike the Turrurar River, thence with its meanders down said river to its mouth, in part of the proportion of land in the Cherokee Nation east of the Mississippi to which those now on the Arkansas and those about to remove there are justly entitled.

2. The whole Cherokee Nation do also cede to the United States all the lands lying north and west of the following boundary lines, viz: Beginning at the Indian boundary line that runs from the north bank of the Tennessee River opposite to the mouth of Hywassee River, at a point on the top of Walden's Ridge where it divides the waters of the Tennessee River from those of the Sequatchie River; thence along said ridge southwardly to the bank of the Tennessee River at a point near to a place called the Negro Sugar Camp, opposite to the upper end of the first island above Running Water Town; thence westwardly a straight line to the mouth of Little Sequatchie River; thence up said river to its main fork; thence up its northermost fork to its source; and thence due west to the Indian boundary line.

3. A census to be taken of the whole Cherokee Nation during June, 1818. The enumeration of those east of the Mississippi River to be made by a commissioner appointed by the President of the United States and a commissioner appointed by the Cherokees residing on the Arkansas. That of those on the Arkansas by a United States commissioner and one appointed by the Cherokees east of the Mississippi.

4. The annuities for 1818 and thereafter to be divided upon the basis of said census between Cherokees east of the Mississippi and those on the Arkansas. The lands east of the Mississippi also to be divided, and the proportion of those moved and agreeing to remove to the Arkansas to be surrendered to the United States.

5. The United States agree to give to the removing Cherokees a tract of land on the Arkansas and White Rivers equal in area to the quantity ceded the United States by first and second articles hereof. Said tract to begin on north side of the Arkansas River, at mouth of Point Remove, or Budwell's Old Place; thence northwardly by a straight line to strike Chataunga Mountain, the first hill above Shield's Ferry, on White River, and running up and between said rivers for quantity. Said boundary from point of beginning to be surveyed, and all citizens of the United States except Mrs. P. Lovely to be removed therefrom. All previous treaties to remain in full force and to be binding on both parts of the Cherokee Nation. The United States reserves the right to establish factories, a military post, and roads within the boundaries last above defined.

6. The United States agree to give all poor warriors who remove a rifle, ammunition, blanket, and brass kettle or beaver trap each, as full compensation for improvements left by them; to those whose improvements add real value to the land, the full value thereof, as ascertained by appraisal, shall be paid. The United States to furnish flat-bottomed boats and provisions on the Tennessee River for transportation of those removing.

7. All valuable improvements made by Cherokees within the limits ceded to the United States by first and second articles hereof shall be paid for by the United States or others of equal value left by removing Cherokees given in lieu thereof. Improvements left by emigrant Cherokees not so exchanged shall be rented to the Indians, for the benefit of the poor and decrepit of the Eastern Cherokees.

8. Each head of a Cherokee family residing on lands herein or hereafter ceded to the United States who elects to become a citizen of the United States shall receive a reservation of 640 acres, to include his or her improvements, for life, with reversion in fee simple to children, subject to widow's dower. On removal of reservees their reservations shall revert to the United States. Lands reserved under this provision shall be deducted from the quantity ceded by first and second articles.

9. All parties to the treaty shall have free navigation of all waters herein mentioned.

10. The Cherokee Nation cedes to the United States all claim to reservations made to Doublehead and others by treaty of January 7, 1806.

11. Boundary lines of lands ceded to the United States by first and second articles, and by the United States to the Cherokees in fifth article hereof, to be run and marked by a United States commissioner, to be accompanied by commissioners appointed by the Cherokees.

12. Citizens of the United States are forbidden to enter upon lands herein ceded by the Cherokees until ratification and proclamation of this treaty.

13. Treaty to be binding upon the assent and ratification of the Senate and President of the United States.

HISTORICAL DATA.

POLICY OF REMOVING INDIAN TRIBES TO THE WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

In the settlement and colonization by civilized people of a country theretofore a wilderness, and inhabited only by savage tribes, many important and controlling reasons exist why the occupation of such a country should be accomplished by regular and gradual advances and in a more or less connected and compact manner. It was expedient that a united front should be presented by the earlier settlers of this continent, in order that the hostile raids and demonstrations of the Indian warriors might be successfully resisted and repulsed. Therefore, the settlements were, as a rule, extended from the coast line toward the interior by regular steps, without the intermission of long distances of unoccupied territory. This seemed to be the policy anterior to the Revolution, and was announced in the proclamation of King George in 1763 wherein he prohibited settlements being made on Indian lands or the purchase of the same by unauthorized persons.

The first ordinances of Congress under the Articles of Confederation for disposing of the public lands were predicated upon the same theory. But after the close of the war for independence, circumstances arising out of the treaty of 1783 with Great Britain and the acquisition of Louisiana from France imposed the necessity for a departure from the old system. Within the limits of the territory thus acquired sundry settlements had been made by the French people at points widely separated from one another and with many hundreds of miles of wilderness intervening between them and the English settlements on the Atlantic slope. The evils and inconveniences resulting from this irregular form of frontier were manifest.

Settlements thus widely separated, or projecting in long, narrow columns far into the Indian country, manifestly increased in large ratio the causes of savage jealousy and hostility. At the same time the means of defense were rendered less certain and the expense and difficulty of adequately protecting such a frontier were largely enhanced.

Such, however, was the condition and shape of our frontier settlements during the earlier years of the present century. Settlements on the Tennessee and Cumberland were cut off from communication with those of Georgia, Lower Alabama, and Mississippi by long stretches of territory inhabited or roamed over by the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws.

The French communities of Kaskaskia, Vincennes, and Detroit were similarly separated from the people of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and newly settled Ohio by the territory of the hostile Shawnees, Miamis, Wyandots, Pottawatomies, Ottawas, Kickapoos, _et al._

A cure for all this inconvenience and expense had been sought and given much consideration by the Government authorities.

President Jefferson (as has been previously stated) had, as early as 1803,[225] suggested the propriety of an exchange of lands by those tribes east of the Mississippi for an equal or greater area of territory within the newly acquired Louisiana purchase, and in 1809 had authorized a delegation of Cherokees to proceed to that country with a view to selecting a suitable tract to which they might remove, and to which many of them did remove in the course of the years immediately succeeding.[226]

The matter of a general exchange of lands, however, became the subject of Congressional consideration, and the Committee on Public Lands of the United States Senate reported[227] a resolution for an appropriation to enable the President to negotiate treaties with the Indian tribes which should have for their object an exchange of territory owned by any tribe residing east of the Mississippi for other land west of that river.

The committee expressed the opinion that the proposition contained in the foregoing resolution would be better calculated to remedy the inconvenience and remove the evils arising out of the existing condition of the frontier settlements than any other within the power of the Government. It was admitted, however, that this object could not be attained except by the voluntary consent of the several tribes interested, made manifest through duly negotiated treaties with them.

The Senate was favorable to this proposition, but the House of Representatives interposed a negative upon the action taken by the former body.[228]

_Removal of Cherokees encouraged._--The subject had long been under consideration by the Cherokees, and no opportunity had been lost on the part of the executive authorities of the United States to encourage a sentiment among them favorable to the removal scheme. Many individuals of the tribe had already emigrated, and on the 18th of October, 1816, General Andrew Jackson, in addressing the Secretary of War upon the subject of the recent Cherokee and Chickasaw treaties, suggested his belief that the Cherokees would shortly make a tender of their whole territory to the United States in exchange for lands on the Arkansas River. He further remarked that a council would soon be held by them at Willstown to select a proper delegation who should visit the country west of the Mississippi and examine and report upon its character and adaptability for their needs. In case this report should prove favorable, a Cherokee delegation would thereupon wait upon the President, with authority to agree upon satisfactory terms of exchange. To this the Secretary of War replied that whenever the Cherokee Nation should be disposed to enter into an arrangement for an exchange of the lands occupied by them for lands on the west side of the Mississippi River and should appoint delegates clothed with full authority to negotiate a treaty for such exchange they would be received by the President and treated with on the most liberal terms.

This state of feeling among the Cherokees had been considerably increased by the fact that those of their people who had already settled upon the Arkansas and White Rivers had become involved in territorial disputes of a most serious character with the Osages and Quapaws. The latter tribes claimed ownership of the lands upon which the former were settled. Upon the Arkansas Cherokees laying their complaints before the United States authorities, they were informed that nothing could be done for their relief until the main body of the nation should take some definite action, in accordance with previous understanding, toward relinquishing a portion of their territory equal in area to the tract upon which the emigrant party had located.[229]

FURTHER CESSION OF TERRITORY BY THE CHEROKEES.

With a view to reaching a full understanding on this subject, the Secretary of War notified[230] General Andrew Jackson, Governor McMinn of Tennessee, and General David Merriwether that they had been appointed commissioners for the purpose of holding a treaty with the Cherokees on or about the 20th of June, 1817.[231] In pursuance of these instructions a conference was called and held at the Cherokee Agency, which resulted in the treaty of July 8, 1817.[232] By this treaty the Cherokees ceded two large tracts of country[233] in exchange for one of equal area on the Arkansas and White Rivers adjoining the territory of the Osages. The Cherokees also ceded two small reservations made by the treaty of January 7, 1806.[234]

The large cession by the first article of the treaty of 1817, though partially in Georgia, was at the time supposed to cover all the territory claimed by the Cherokees within the limits of North Carolina,[235] and was secured in deference to the urgent importunities of the legislature and people of that State. It was subsequently ascertained that this supposition was incorrect.

_Majority of Cherokees averse to removal._--During the conference, but before the negotiations had reached any definite result, a memorial was presented to the United States commissioners, signed by sixty-seven of the chiefs and headmen of the nation, setting forth that the delegation of their nation who in 1809 visited Washington and discussed with President Jefferson the proposition for an exchange of lands had acted without any delegated authority on the subject. The memorialists claimed to represent the prevailing feeling of the nation and were desirous of remaining upon and retaining the country of their nativity. They were distressed with the alternative proposals to remove to the Arkansas country or remain and become citizens of the United States. While they had not attained a sufficient degree of civilization to fit them for the duties of citizenship, they yet deprecated a return to the same savage state and surroundings which had characterized their mode of life when first brought in contact with the whites. They therefore requested that the subject should not be further pressed, but that they might be enabled to remain in peaceable possession of the land of their fathers.[236]

The commissioners, however, proceeded with their negotiations, and concluded the treaty as previously set forth, which was finally signed by twenty-two of the chiefs and headmen whose names appeared attached to the memorial, as well as six others, on behalf of the eastern portion of the nation, and by fifteen chiefs representing those on the Arkansas.[237] The treaty was submitted to the Senate, for its advice and consent, at the ensuing session of Congress, and although it encountered the hostility of those Senators who were opposed to the general policy of an exchange of lands with the Indians, and of some who argued, because of the few chiefs who had signed it, that it did not represent the full and free expression of their national assent,[238] that body approved its provisions, and the President ratified and proclaimed it on the 26th of December, 1817.

_A portion of the Cherokees emigrate west._--Immediately upon the signing of the treaty, the United States authorities, presuming upon its final ratification, took measures for carrying into effect the scheme of emigration. Within a month Agent Meigs reported that over 700 Cherokees had already enrolled themselves for removal the ensuing fall.

The Secretary of War entered into a contract for 60 boats, to be delivered by 1st of November at points between the mouths of the Little Tennessee and Sequatchie Rivers, together with rifles, ammunition, blankets, and provisions;[239] and, under the control and directions of Governor McMinn, of Tennessee, the stream of emigration began to flow, increasing in volume until within the next year over 3,000 had emigrated to their new homes, which numbers had during the year 1819 increased to 6,000.[240]

_Persecution of those favorable to emigration._--There can be no question that a very large portion, and probably a majority, of the Cherokee Nation residing east of the Mississippi had been and still continued bitterly opposed to the terms of the treaty of 1817. They viewed with jealous and aching hearts all attempts to drive them from the homes of their ancestors, for they could not but consider the constant and urgent importunities of the Federal authorities in the light of an imperative demand for the cession of more territory. They felt that they were, as a nation, being slowly but surely compressed within the contracting coils of the giant anaconda of civilization; yet they held to the vain hope that a spirit of justice and mercy would be born of their helpless condition which would finally prevail in their favor. Their traditions furnished them no guide by which to judge of the results certain to follow such a conflict as that in which they were engaged.

This difference of sentiment in the nation upon a subject so vital to their welfare was productive of much bitterness and violent animosities. Those who had favored the emigration scheme and had been induced, either through personal preference or by the subsidizing influences of the Government agents, to favor the conclusion of the treaty, became the object of scorn and hatred to the remainder of the nation. They were made the subjects of a persecution so relentless, while they remained in the eastern country, that it was never forgotten, and when, in the natural course of events, the remainder of the nation were forced to remove to the Arkansas country and join the earlier emigrants, the old hatreds and dissensions broke out afresh, and to this day they find lodgment in some degree in the breasts of their descendants.

_Dissatisfaction with the treaty of 1817._--The dissatisfaction with the treaty of 1817 took shape in the assemblage of a council at Amoha, in the Cherokee Nation, in September of the same year, at which six of the principal men were selected as a deputation to visit the President at Washington and present to him in person a detailed statement of the grievances and indignities to which they had been subjected in greater or less degree for many years and to ask relief and redress.

They were to present, with special particularity, to the President's notice a statement of the improper methods and influences that had been used to secure the apparent consent of the nation to the treaty of 1817. They were authorized to enter into a new treaty with the United States, in lieu of the recent one, in which an alteration might be made in certain articles of it, and some additional article inserted relative to the mode of payment of their annuity as between the Eastern and Arkansas Cherokees.[241]

The delegation was received and interviews were accorded them by the President and Secretary of War, but they secured nothing but general expressions of good will and promises of protection in their rights and property.

[Footnote 224: United States Statutes at Large, Vol. VII, p. 156.]

[Footnote 225: Confidential message of President Jefferson to Congress, January 18, 1803.]