SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION—BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.
THE CHEROKEE NATION OF INDIANS:
A NARRATIVE OF THEIR OFFICIAL RELATIONS WITH THE COLONIAL AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS.
BY
CHARLES C. ROYCE.

Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1883—1884, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1887, pages 121—378.

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY—FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. VII

EARLIEST MAP SHOWING LOCATION OF THE CHEROKEES—1597.

Click on image to enlarge.

THE CHEROKEE NATION OF INDIANS.
By Charles C. Royce.

INTRODUCTORY.

An historical atlas of Indian affairs has for some time past been in course of preparation under the direction of the Bureau of Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution.

The chief aim of this atlas is to show upon a series of State and Territorial maps the boundaries of the various tracts of country which have from time to time been acquired through the medium of treaty stipulation or act of Congress from the several Indian tribes resident within the present territory of the United States from the beginning of the Federal period to the present day.

Accompanying this atlas will be one or more volumes of historical text, wherein will be given with some detail a history of the official relations between the United States and these tribes. This will treat of the various negotiations for peace and for the acquisition of territory, the causes rendering such negotiations necessary, and the methods observed by the Government through its authorized agents in this diplomacy, as well as other matters of public concern growing out of the same.

The following monograph on the history of the Cherokees, with its accompanying maps, is given as an illustration of the character of the work in its treatment of each of the Indian tribes.

The maps are intended to show not only the ancestral but the present home of the Cherokees, and also to indicate the boundaries of the various tracts of territory purchased from them by the Colonial or Federal authorities from time to time since their first contact with the European settlements. A number of purchases made prior to the Federal period by individuals were unauthorized and unrecognized by the Colonial authorities, and their boundaries, though given in the text, are not laid down upon the map, because the same areas of territory were afterwards included within the limits of Colonial purchases.

In the preparation of this article, more particularly in the tracing out of the various boundary lines, much careful attention and research have been given to all available authorities or sources of information. The old manuscript records of the Government, the shelves of the Congressional Library, including its very large collection of American maps, local records, and the knowledge of "old settlers," as well as the accretions of various State historical societies, have been made to pay tribute to the subject.

In the course of these researches the writer has been met in his inquiries with a degree of courtesy and kindly assistance that merits public recognition.

Among others who have shown an earnest desire to promote the object of these investigations are Hon. John M. Lea, vice-president State Historical Society of Tennessee; General Robert N. Hood, Spencer Munson, and R. H. Armstrong, of Knoxville, Tenn. The writer is also deeply indebted to the Hon. Hiram Price, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and E. L. Stevens, chief clerk, for the readiness with which they afforded him access to the records and files of the Indian Bureau. This permission was earnestly supplemented by the intelligent assistance and encouragement of Mr. C. A. Maxwell, chief of the Land Division, as well as that of R. F. Thompson and Paul Brodie, of the same Bureau, both of whom have taken special and constant pains to aid these researches.

To Captain Adams, of the Bureau of Topographical Engineers, the hearty thanks of the writer are due for many courtesies extended in the examination of the voluminous and valuable collection of maps belonging to that branch of the public service, and equal credit must be given to Mr. G. P. Strum, principal draughtsman of the General Land Office, and his assistants, for their uniform courtesy in affording access to the official plats and records of that Bureau.

The officers of the Congressional Library have also shown a marked degree of courtesy and interest.

The various cessions of land by the Cherokees alluded to in the text are numerically designated upon the accompanying maps, and are as follows:

The arrangement of the historical text has seemed to the writer to be that best suited to the object in view. As will be observed, an abstract of the salient provisions of each treaty is given, beginning with the first treaty concluded between the Cherokee Nation and the United States of America. In each instance, immediately following this abstract, will be found the historical data covering the period and the events leading to its negotiation, as well as those of the subsequent period intimately connected with the results of such treaty.

TREATIES WITH THE CHEROKEES.
TREATY CONCLUDED NOVEMBER 28, 1785.[2]

At Hopewell, on the Keowee River, in South Carolina, between Benjamin Hawkins, Andrew Pickens, Joseph Martin, and Lachlane M'Intosh, Commissioners Plenipotentiary of the United States, and the Headmen and Warriors of all the Cherokees.

MATERIAL PROVISIONS.

The United States give peace to the Cherokees and receive them into favor and protection on the following conditions:

1. The Cherokees to restore to liberty all prisoners citizens of the United States or subjects of their allies; also, all negroes and other property taken from citizens during the late war.

2. The United States to restore to the Cherokees all Indian prisoners taken during the late war.

3. The Cherokees to acknowledge themselves under the exclusive protection of the United States.

4. The boundary line between the Cherokees' hunting-ground and the United States to be as follows, viz: Begin at the mouth of Duck River on the Tennessee; thence northeast to the ridge dividing the waters falling into the Cumberland from those falling into the Tennessee; thence eastwardly along said ridge to a northeast line to be run, which shall strike Cumberland River 40 miles above Nashville; thence along said line to the river; thence up the river to the ford where the Kentucky road crosses; thence to Campbell's line near Cumberland Gap; thence to the mouth of Claud's Creek on Holstein; thence to Chimney-Top Mountain; thence to Camp Creek, near the mouth of Big Limestone on Nolichucky; thence southerly six (6) miles to a mountain; thence south to the North Carolina line; thence to the South Carolina Indian boundary, and along the same southwest over the top of Oconee Mountain till it shall strike Tugaloo River; thence a direct line to the top of Currohee Mountain; thence to the head of the south fork of Oconee River.

5. Citizens of the United States or persons other than Indians who settle or attempt to settle on lands west or south of said boundary and refuse to remove within six months after ratification of this treaty to forfeit the protection of the United States, and the Indians to punish them or not, as they please: Provided, That this article shall not extend to the people settled between the fork of French Broad and Holstein Rivers, whose status shall be determined by Congress.

6. The Cherokees to deliver up for punishment all Indian criminals for offenses against citizens of the United States.

7. Citizens of the United States committing crimes against Indians to be punished by the United States in the presence of the Cherokees, to whom due notice of the time and place of such intended punishment shall be given.

8. Retaliation declared unjust and not to be practiced.

9. The United States to have sole right of regulating trade with the Indians and managing their affairs.

10. Traders to have liberty to trade with the Cherokees until Congress shall adopt regulations relative thereto.

11. Cherokees to give notice of any designs formed by other tribes against the peace, trade, or interests of the United States.

12. Cherokees to have the right to send a deputy of their choice to Congress whenever they think fit.

13. The hatchet to be forever buried between the United States and Cherokees.

HISTORICAL DATA.

FERNANDO DE SOTO'S EXPEDITION.

The Cherokee Nation has probably occupied a more prominent place in the affairs and history of what is now the United States of America, since the date of the early European settlements, than any other tribe, nation, or confederacy of Indians, unless it be possible to except the powerful and warlike league of the Iroquois or Six Nations of New York.

It is almost certain that they were visited at a very early period following the discovery of the American continent by that daring and enthusiastic Spaniard, Fernando De Soto.

In determining the exact route pursued by him from his landing in Florida to his death beyond the Mississippi, many insuperable difficulties present themselves, arising not only from an inadequate description on the part of the historian of the courses and distances pursued, but from many statements made by him that are irreconcilable with an accurate knowledge of the topographic detail of the country traversed.

A narrative of the expedition, "by a gentleman of Elvas," was published at Evora in 1557, and translated from the Portuguese by Richard Hakluyt, of London, in 1609. From this narrative it appears that after traveling a long distance in a northeasterly direction from his point of landing on the west coast of Florida, De Soto reached, in the spring of 1540, an Indian town called by the narrator "Cutifachiqui." From the early American maps of De L'Isle and others, upon which is delineated the supposed route of De Soto, this town appears to be located on the Santee River, and, as alleged by the "gentleman of Elvas," on the authority of the inhabitants, was two days' journey from the sea-coast.

The expedition left Cutifachiqui on the 3d of May, 1540, and pursued a northward course for the period of seven days, when it came to a province called Chelaque, "the poorest country of maize that was seen in Florida." It is recorded that the Indians of this province "feed upon roots and herbs, which they seek in the fields, and upon wild beasts, which they kill with their bows and arrows, and are a very gentle people. All of them go naked and are very lean."

That this word "Chalaque" is identical with our modern Cherokee would appear to be almost an assured fact. The distance and route pursued by the expedition are both strongly corroborative of this assumption. The orthography of the name was probably taken by the Spaniards from the Muscogee pronunciation, heard by them among the Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws. It is asserted by William Bartram, in his travels through that region in the eighteenth century, that in the "Muscogulge" language the letter "r" is not sounded in a single word, but that on the contrary it occurs very frequently in the Cherokee tongue.[3]

Through this province of Chalaque De Soto passed, still pursuing his northward course for five days until he reached the province of "Xualla," a name much resembling the modern Cherokee word Qualla. The route from Cutifachiqui to Xualla lay, for the most part, through a hilly country. From the latter province the expedition changed its course to the west, trending a little to the south, and over "very rough and high hills," reaching at the end of five days a town or province which was called "Guaxule," and two days later a town called "Canasagua," an orthography almost identical with the modern Cherokee name of Canasauga, as applied to both a stream and a town within their Georgia limits.

Assuming that these people, whose territory De Soto thus traversed, were the ancestors of the modern Cherokees, it is the first mention made of them by European discoverers and more than a century anterior to the period when they first became known to the pioneers of permanent European occupation and settlement.

Earliest map.—The earliest map upon which I have found "Chalaqua" located is that of "Florida et Apalche" by Cornely Wytfliet, published in 1597.[4] This location is based upon the narrative of De Soto's expedition, and is fixed a short distance east of the Savannah River and immediately south of the Appalachian Mountains. "Xualla" is placed to the west of and near the headwaters of the "Secco" or Savannah River.

EARLY TRADITIONS.

Haywood, in his Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee, records many of the traditions concerning the origin and the primal habitat of the Cherokees. He notes the fact that they were firmly established on the Tennessee or Hogohege River before the year 1650, and exercised dominion over all the country on the east side of the Alleghany Mountains, including the headwaters of the Yadkin, Catawba, Broad, and Savannah Rivers, and that from thence westward they claimed the country as far as the Ohio, and thence to the headwaters of the Chattahoochee and Alabama. One tradition which he alleges existed among them asserts their migration from the west to the upper waters of the Ohio, where they erected the mounds on Grave Creek, gradually working eastward across the Alleghany Mountains to the neighborhood of Monticello, Va., and along the Appomattox River.

From this point, it is alleged, they removed to the Tennessee country about 1623, when the Virginians suddenly and unexpectedly fell upon and massacred the Indians throughout the colony. After this massacre, the story goes, they came to New River and made a temporary settlement there as well as one on the head of the Holston; but, owing to the enmity of the northern Indians, they removed in a short time to the Little Tennessee and founded what were known as "Middle Settlements." Another tribe, he alleges, came from the neighborhood of Charleston, South Carolina, and settled lower down the Tennessee. This branch called themselves "Ketawanga," and came last into the country. The tradition as to those who came from Virginia seeks also to establish the idea that the Powhatan Indians were Cherokees. The whole story is of the vaguest character, and if the remainder has no stronger claims to credibility than their alleged identity with the Powhatans, it is scarcely worthy of record except as a matter of curiosity.

In fact the explorations of De Soto leave almost convincing proof that the Cherokees were occupying a large proportion of their more modern territory nearly a century prior to their supposed removal from the Appomattox.

Pickett, in his History of Alabama, improves upon the legend of Haywood by asserting as a well established fact what the latter only presumes to offer as a tradition.

However, as affording a possible confirmation of the legend related by Haywood concerning their early location in Eastern Virginia, it may be worth while to allude to a tradition preserved among the Mohican or Stockbridge tribe. It appears that in 1818 the Delawares, who were then residing on White River, in Indiana, ceded their claim to lands in that region to the United States. This land had been conditionally given by the Miamis many years before to the Delawares, in conjunction with the "Moheokunnuks" (or Stockbridges) and Munsees. Many of the latter two tribes or bands, including a remnant of the Nanticokes, had not yet removed to their western possessions, though they were preparing to remove. When they ascertained that the Delawares had ceded the lands to the United States without their consent, they objected and sought to have the cession annulled.

In connection with a petition presented to Congress by them on the subject in the year 1819, they set forth in detail the tradition alluded to. The story had been handed down to them from their ancestors that "many thousand moons ago" before the white men came over the "great water," the Delawares dwelt along the banks of the river that bears their name. They had enjoyed a long era of peace and prosperity when the Cherokees, Nanticokes, and some other nation whose name had been forgotten, envying their condition, came from the south with a great army and made war upon them. They vanquished the Delawares and drove them to an island in the river. The latter sent for assistance to the Mohicans, who promptly came to their relief, and the invaders were in turn defeated with great slaughter and put to flight. They sued for peace, and it was granted on condition that they should return home and never again make war on the Delawares or their allies. These terms were agreed to and the Cherokees and Nanticokes ever remained faithful to the conditions of the treaty.

The inference to be drawn from this legend, if it can be given any credit whatever, would lead to the belief that the Cherokees and the Nanticokes were at that time neighbors and allies. The original home of the Nanticokes on the Eastern Shore of Maryland is well known, and if the Cherokees (or at least this portion of them) were then resident beyond the Alleghanies, with sundry other powerful tribes occupying the territory between them and the Nanticokes, it is unlikely that any such alliance for offensive operations would have existed between them. Either the tradition is fabulous or at least a portion of the Cherokees were probably at one time residents of the Eastern slope of Virginia.

The Delawares also have a tradition that they came originally from the west, and found a tribe called by them Allegewi or Allegans occupying the eastern portion of the Ohio Valley. With the aid of the Iroquois, with whom they came in contact about the same time, the Delawares succeeded in driving the Allegans out of the Ohio Valley to the southward.

Schoolcraft suggests the identity of the Allegans with the Cherokees, an idea that would seem to be confirmatory of the tradition given by Haywood, in so far as it relates to an early Cherokee occupancy of Ohio.

EARLY CONTACT WITH VIRGINIA COLONISTS.

Whatever the degree of probability attending these legends, it would seem that the settlers of Virginia had an acquaintance with the Cherokees prior to that of the South Carolina immigrants, who for a number of years after their first occupation, confined their explorations to a narrow strip of country in the vicinity of the sea-coast, while the Virginians had been gradually extending their settlements far up toward the headwaters of the James River and had early perceived the profits to be derived from the Indian trade.

Sir William Berkeley, governor of Virginia, equipped an expedition, consisting of fourteen Englishmen and an equal number of Virginia Indians, for the exploration of the country to the west of the existing settlements. The party was under the command of Capt. Henry Batt, and in seven days' travel from their point of departure, at Appomattox, they reached the foot of the mountains. The first ridge they crossed is described as not being very high or steep, but the succeeding ones "seemed to touch the clouds," and were so steep that an average day's march did not exceed three miles.

They came upon extensive and fertile valleys, covered with luxuriant grass, and found the forests abounding in all kinds of game, including turkeys, deer, elk, and buffalo. After passing beyond the mountains they entered an extensive level country, through which a stream flowed in a westward course, and after following it for a few days they reached some old fields and recently deserted Indian cabins. Beyond this point their Indian guides refused to proceed, alleging that not far away dwelt a powerful tribe that never suffered strangers who discovered their towns to return alive, and the expedition was therefore compelled to return. According to the historian, Burke, this expedition took place in 1667, while Beverly, not quite so definite, assigns it to the decade between 1666 and 1676.[5] It is believed that the powerful nation of Indians alluded to in the narrative of this expedition was the Cherokees, and, if so, it is apparently the first allusion made to them in the history of the colonial settlements.

That the Virginians were the first to be brought in contact with the Cherokees is further evidenced by the fact that in 1690 an Indian trader from that colony, bearing the name of Daugherty, had taken up his residence among them, which is alleged by the historian[6] to have been several years before any knowledge of the existence of the Cherokees reached the settlers on Ashley River in South Carolina.

EARLY RELATIONS WITH CAROLINA COLONISTS.

The first formal introduction of the Cherokees to the notice of the people of that colony occurred in the year 1693,[7] when twenty Cherokee chiefs visited Charleston, with proposals of friendship, and at the same time solicited the assistance of the governor in their operations against the Esau and Coosaw tribes, who had captured and carried off a number of Cherokees.

The Savannah Indians, it seems, had also been engaged in incursions against them, in the course of which they had captured a number of Cherokees and sold them to the colonial authorities as slaves.

The delegation urgently solicited the governor's protection from the further aggressions of these enemies and the return of their bondaged countrymen. The desired protection was promised them, but as their enslaved brethren had already been shipped to the West Indies and sold into slavery there, it was impossible to return them.

The extreme eastern settlements of the Cherokees at this time were within the limits of the present Chester and Fairfield districts, South Carolina, which lie between the Catawba and Broad Rivers.[8]

MENTION BY VARIOUS EARLY AUTHORS.

We next find an allusion to the Cherokees in the annals of Louisiana by M. Pericaut, who mentions in his chronicle of the events of the year 1702, that "ten leagues from the mouth of this river [Ohio] another falls into it called Kasquinempas [Tennessee]. It takes its source from the neighborhood of the Carolinas and passes through the village of the Cherokees, a populous nation that number some fifty thousand warriors," another example of the enormous overestimates of aboriginal population to which the earlier travelers and writers were so prone.

Again, in 1708, the same author relates that "about this time two Mobilians who had married in the Alibamon nation, and who lived among them with their families, discovered that that nation was inimical to the Mobilians as well as the French, and had made a league with the Cheraquis, the Abeikas, and the Conchaques to wage war against the French and Mobilians and burn their villages around our fort."

On various early maps of North America, and particularly those of De L'Isle, between the years 1700 and 1712, will be found indicated upon the extreme headwaters of the Holston and Clinch Rivers, "gros villages des Cheraqui." These villages correspond in location with the great nation alluded to in the narrative of Sir William Berkeley's expedition.

Upon the same maps will be found designated the sites of sundry other Cherokee villages, several of which are on the extreme headwaters of the "R. des Chaouanons." This river, although indicated on the map as emptying into the Atlantic Ocean to the west of the Santee, from its relation to the other streams in that vicinity, is believed to be intended for the Broad River, which is a principal northwest branch of the Santee. Other towns will also be found on the banks of the Upper Catawba, and they are, as well, quite numerous along the headwaters of the "R. des Caouilas" or Savannah and of the Little Tennessee.

Mention is again found of the Cherokees in the year 1712, when 218 of them accompanied Colonel Barnwell in his expedition against the hostile Tuscaroras and aided in the subjugation of that savage tribe, though along the route of Barnwell's march the settlers were very nearly persuaded that they suffered greater damage to property from the freebooting propensities of their Indian allies than from the open hostilities of their savage enemies.

The old colonial records of South Carolina also contain mention in the following year (1713) of the fact that Peter St. Julien was arraigned on the charge of holding two Cherokee women in slavery.[9]

In 1715 the Yamassees, a powerful and hitherto friendly tribe, occupying the southwesterly portion of the colony of South Carolina and extending to and beyond the Savannah River, declared open hostilities against the settlers. In the desperate struggle that ensued, we find in full alliance with them the Cherokees, as well as the Creeks and Appalachians.

In his historical journal of the establishment of the French in Louisiana, Bernard de la Harpe states that "in January, 1716, some of the Cheraquis Indians, who lived northeast of Mobile, killed MM. de Ramsay and de Longueil. Some time after, the father of the latter gentleman, the King's lieutenant in Canada, engaged the Iroquois to surprise this tribe. They sacked two of their villages and obliged the rest to retreat towards New England."

TERRITORY OF CHEROKEES AT PERIOD OF ENGLISH SETTLEMENT.

At the time of the English settlement of the Carolinas the Cherokees occupied a diversified and well-watered region of country of large extent upon the waters of the Catawba, Broad, Saluda, Keowee, Tugaloo, Savannah, and Coosa Rivers on the east and south, and several of the tributaries of the Tennessee on the north and west. It is impossible at this late day to define with absolute accuracy the original limits of the Cherokee claim. In fact, like all other tribes, they had no definite and concurrent understanding with their surrounding savage neighbors where the possessions of the one left off and those of the other began. The strength of their title to any particular tract of country usually decreased in proportion to the increase of the distance from their villages; and it commonly followed as a result, that a considerable strip of territory between the settlements of two powerful tribes, though claimed by both, was practically considered as neutral ground and the common hunting ground of both.

As has already been stated, the extreme eastern settlements of the Cherokees in South Carolina in 1693 were in the district of country lying between the Catawba and Broad Rivers, and no claim has been found showing the existence at any time of any assertion of territorial right in their behalf to the east of the former stream. But nevertheless, on Bowen's map of 1752 (obviously copied from earlier maps), there is laid down the name of "Keowee Old Town." The location of this town was on Deep River in the vicinity of the present town of Ashborough, N. C. It was a favorite name of the Cherokees among their towns, and affords a strong evidence of at least a temporary residence of a portion of the tribe in that vicinity. A map executed by John Senex in 1721 defines the Indian boundary in this region as following the Catawba, Wateree, and Santee Rivers as far down as the most westerly bend of the latter stream, in the vicinity of the boundary line between Orangeburg and Charleston districts, whence it pursued a southwesterly course to the Edisto River, which it followed to the sea-coast. The southern portion of this boundary was of course a definition of limits between Carolina and the Creeks, or rather of certain tribes that formed component parts of the Creek confederacy. No evidence has been discovered tending to show an extension of Cherokee limits in a southerly direction beyond the point mentioned above on the Edisto River, which, as near as can be ascertained, was at the junction of the North and South Edisto. Following from thence up the South Edisto to its source the boundary pursued a southwesterly course, striking the Savannah River in the vicinity of the mouth of Stevens Creek, and proceeding thence northwardly along the Savannah.

On the borders of Virginia and North Carolina the ancient limits of the Cherokees seem to be also shrouded in more or less doubt and confusion. In general terms, however, it may be said that after following the Catawba River to its source in the Blue Ridge the course of those mountains was pursued until their intersection with the continuation of the Great Iron Mountain range, near Floyd Court-House, Va., and thence to the waters of the Kanawha or New River, whence their claim continued down that stream to the Ohio. At a later date they also set up a claim to the country extending from the mouth of the Kanawha down the Ohio to the ridge dividing the waters of the Cumberland from those of the Tennessee at the mouths of those streams, and thence following that ridge to a point northeast of the mouth of Duck River; thence to the mouth of Duck River on the Tennessee, and continuing up with the course of the latter river to Bear Creek; up the latter to a point called Flat Rock, and thence to the Ten Islands in Coosa River, &c.

That portion of the country thus covered, comprising a large part of the present States of West Virginia and Kentucky, was also claimed by the Six Nations by right of former conquest, as well as by the Shawnees and Delawares.

Adair, a trader for forty years among the Cherokees, who traveled extensively through their country about the middle of the eighteenth century, thus specifically outlines the boundaries of their country at that period: "The country lies in about 34 degrees north latitude at the distance of 340 computed miles to the northwest of Charlestown,—140 miles west-southwest from the Katahba Nation,—and almost 200 miles to the north of the Muskohge or Creek country. They are settled nearly in an east and west course about 140 miles in length from the lower towns, where Fort-Prince-George stands, to the late unfortunate Fort Loudon. The natives make two divisions of their country, which they term 'Ayrate' and 'Otarre,' the one signifying 'low' and the other 'mountainous.'"

POPULATION.

In point of numbers the Cherokee population now considerably exceeds that first enumerated by the early colonial authorities. As early as 1715 the proprietors of the South Carolina Plantation instructed Governor Robert Johnson to cause a census to be taken of all the Indian tribes within that jurisdiction, and from his report it appears that the Cherokee Nation at that time contained thirty towns and an aggregate population of 11,210, of whom 4,000 were warriors. Adair alleges that in 1735, or thereabouts, according to the computation of the traders, their warriors numbered 6,000, but that in 1738 the ravages of the small-pox reduced their population one-half within one year. Indeed, this disaster, coupled with the losses sustained in their conflicts with the whites and with neighboring tribes, had so far wasted their ranks that a half century after the census taken by Governor Johnson they were estimated by the traders to have but 2,300 warriors.[10] By the last report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs the total population is estimated to number 22,000.[11] It is true that considerable of this increase is attributable to the fact that several other small tribes or bands, within a few years past, have merged their tribal existence in that of the Cherokees. Independent of this fact, however, they have maintained a slow but steady increase in numbers for many years, with the exception of the severe losses sustained during the disastrous period of the late southern rebellion.

OLD CHEROKEE TOWNS.

It is perhaps impossible to give a complete list of the old Cherokee towns and their location; but in 1755 the authorities of South Carolina, in remodeling the old and prescribing new regulations for the government of the Indian trade, divided the whole Cherokee country into six hunting districts, viz:

1. Over Hill Towns.—Great Tellico, Chatugee, Tennessee, Chote, Toqua, Sittiquo, and Talassee.

2. Valley Towns.—Euforsee, Conastee, Little Telliquo, Cotocanahut, Nayowee, Tomatly, and Chewohe.

3. Middle Towns.—Joree, Watoge, Nuckasee.

4. Keowee Towns.—Keowee, Tricentee, Echoee, Torsee, Cowee, Torsalla, Coweeshee, and Elejoy.

5. Out Towns.—Tucharechee, Kittowa, Conontoroy, Steecoy, Oustanale, and Tuckasegee.

6. Lower Towns.—Tomassee, Oustestee, Cheowie, Estatoie, Tosawa, Keowee, and Oustanalle.

About twenty years later, Bartram,[12] who traversed the country, gives the names of forty-three Cherokee towns and villages then existing and inhabited as follows:

Mouzon's map of 1771 gives the names of several Lower Cherokee towns not already mentioned. Among these may be enumerated, on the Tugalco River and its branches, Turruraw, Nayowee, Tetohe, Chagee, Tussee, Chicherohe, Echay, and Takwashnaw; on the Keowee, New Keowee, and Quacoretche; and on the Seneca, Acounee.

In subsequent years, through frequent and long continued conflicts with the ever advancing white settlements and the successive treaties whereby the Cherokees gradually yielded portions of their domain, the location and names of their towns were continually changing until the final removal of the nation west of the Mississippi.[13]

EXPULSION OF SHAWNEES BY CHEROKEES AND CHICKASAWS.

In the latter portion of the seventeenth century the Shawnees, or a portion of them, had their villages on the Cumberland, and to some extent, perhaps, on the Tennessee also. They were still occupying that region as late as 1714, when they were visited by M. Charleville, a French trader, but having about this time incurred the hostility of the Cherokees and Chickasaws they were driven from the country. Many years later, in the adjustment of a territorial dispute between the Cherokees and Chickasaws, each nation claimed the sole honor of driving out the Shawnees, and hence, by right of conquest, the title to the territory formerly inhabited by the latter. The Chickasaws evidently had the best of the controversy, though some concessions were made to the Cherokees in the matter when the United States came to negotiate for the purchase of the controverted territory.

TREATY RELATIONS WITH THE COLONIES.

Treaty and purchase of 1721.—The treaty relations between the Cherokees and the whites began in 1721, when jealousy of French territorial encroachments persuaded Governor Nicholson of South Carolina to invite the Cherokees to a general congress, with a view to the conclusion of a treaty of peace and commerce.

The invitation was accepted, and delegates attended from thirty-seven towns, with whom, after smoking the pipe of peace and distributing presents, he agreed upon defined boundaries and appointed an agent to superintend their affairs.[14]

Treaty of 1730.—Again, in 1730, the authorities of North Carolina commissioned Sir Alexander Cumming to conclude a treaty of alliance with the Cherokees. In April of that year the chiefs and warriors of the nation met him at Requasse, near the sources of the Hiwassee River, acknowledged King George as their sovereign, and sent a delegation of six warriors to carry the crown of the nation (consisting of five eagle tails and four scalps) to England and do homage to the King, where they concluded a treaty of peace and commerce at Dover on the 30th of June.

In this treaty they stipulated:

1. To submit to the sovereignty of the King and his successors.

2. Not to trade with any other nation but the English.

3. Not to permit any but English to build forts or cabins or plant corn among them.

4. To apprehend and deliver runaway negroes.

5. To surrender any Indian killing an Englishman.[15]

Treaty and purchase of 1755.—November 24, 1755, a further treaty was concluded between the Cherokees and Governor Glenn, of South Carolina. By its terms the former ceded to Great Britain a territory which included the limits of the modern districts of Abbeville, Edgefield, Laurens, Union, Spartanburg, Newberry, Chester, Fairfield, Richland, and York, and deeds of conveyance were drawn up and formally executed therefor.[16] This cession included a tract of country between the Broad and Catawba Rivers which was also claimed and generally conceded to belong to the Catawba Nation, the boundary line between the latter and the Cherokees being usually fixed as the Broad River.[17] One of the main objects of this treaty was to prevent an alliance between the Cherokees and the French.

Treaty of 1756.—In the year 1756 Hugh Waddell was commissioned by the authorities of North Carolina to treat with the Cherokees and Catawbas. In pursuance of this authority he concluded a treaty of alliance with both nations.[18] Governor Glenn, also, in the same year erected a chain of military posts on the frontiers of his recent purchase. These consisted of Fort Prince George, on the Savannah, within gunshot of the Indian town of Keowee; Fort Moore, 170 miles farther down the river; and Fort London, on the south bank of Tennessee River, at the highest point of navigation, at the mouth of Tellico River.[19]

Captain Jack's purchase.—A grant signed by Arthur Dobbs, governor of North Carolina, et al., and by The Little Carpenter, half king of the Over-Hill Cherokees, made to Capt. Patrick Jack, of Pennsylvania, is recorded in the register's office of Knox County, Tennessee. It purports to have been made at a council held at Tennessee River, March 1, 1757, consideration $400, and conveys to Captain Jack 15 miles square south of Tennessee River. The grant itself confirmatory of the purchase by Captain Jack is dated at a general council held at Catawba River, May 7, 1762.[20]

Treaty of 1760.—The French finally succeeded in enlisting the active sympathy of the Cherokees in their war with Great Britain. Governor Littleton, of South Carolina, marched against the Indians and defeated them, after which, in 1760, he concluded a treaty of peace with them. By its terms they agreed to kill or imprison every Frenchman who should come into their country during the continuance of the war between France and Great Britain.[21]

Treaty of 1761.—The hostile course of the Cherokees being still continued, the authorities of South Carolina in 1761 dispatched Colonel Grant with a force sufficient to overcome them. After destroying their crops and fifteen towns he compelled a truce, following which Lieutenant Governor Bull concluded a treaty with them at Ashley Ferry, or Charleston.[22] By this instrument the boundaries between the Indians and the settlements were declared to be the sources of the great rivers flowing into the Atlantic Ocean.

In 1767 the legislature of North Carolina made an appropriation and the governor appointed three commissioners for running a dividing-line between the western settlements of that province and the Cherokee hunting grounds.[23]

Treaty and purchase of 1768.—Mr. Stuart, the British superintendent of Indian affairs, on the 14th of October, 1768, concluded a treaty with the Cherokees at Hard Labor, South Carolina. Therein it was agreed that the southwest boundary of Virginia should be a line "extending from the point where the northern line of North Carolina intersects the Cherokee hunting grounds about 36 miles east of Long Island in the Holston River; and thence extending in a direct course north by east to Chiswell's mine on the east bank of the Kenhawa River, and thence down that stream to its junction with the Ohio."[24]

This treaty was made in pursuance of appeals from the Indians to stop further encroachments of settlers upon their lands and to have their boundaries definitely fixed, especially in the region of the north fork of Holston River and the headwaters of the Kanawha.

Treaty and purchase of 1770.—The settlements having encroached beyond the line fixed by the treaty of 1768, a new treaty was concluded on the 18th October, 1770, at Lochabar, South Carolina. A new boundary line was established by this treaty commencing on the south bank of Holston River six miles east of Long Island, and running thence to the mouth of the Great Kanawha.[25]

Treaty and purchase of 1772.—The Virginia authorities in the early part of 1772 concluded a treaty with the Cherokees whereby a boundary line was fixed between them, which was to run west from White Top Mountain in latitude 36° 30'.[26] This boundary left those settlers on the Watauga River within the Indian limits, whereupon, as a measure of temporary relief, they leased for a period of eight years from the Indians in consideration of goods to the value of five or six thousand dollars all the country on the waters of the Watauga. Subsequently in 1775 [March 19] they secured a deed in fee simple therefor upon the further consideration of £2,000.[27] This deed was executed to Charles Robertson as the representative or trustee of the Watauga Settlers' Association, and embraced the following tract of country, viz: All that tract on the waters of the Watauga, Holston, and Great Canaway or New River, beginning on the south or southwest of Holston River six miles above Long Island in that river; thence a direct line in nearly a south course to the ridge dividing the waters of Watauga from the waters of Nonachuckeh and along the ridge in a southeasterly direction to the Blue Ridge or line dividing North Carolina from the Cherokee lands; thence along the Blue Ridge to the Virginia line and west along such line to the Holston River; thence down the Holston River to the beginning, including all the waters of the Watauga, part of the waters of the Holston, and the head branches of New River or Great Canaway, agreeable to the aforesaid boundaries.

Jacob Brown's purchase.—Jacob Brown, in 1772, for a horse load of goods leased from the Cherokees a tract on the Watauga and Nonachuchy Rivers.

Three years later (March 25, 1775) for a further consideration of ten shillings he secured from them a deed in fee for the leased tract as well as an additional tract of considerable extent.

The boundary of the first of these bodies of land ran from the mouth of Great Limestone Creek, thence up the same and its main fork to the ridge dividing the Wataugah and Nonachuchy Rivers; thence to the head of Indian Creek, where it joins the Great Iron Mountains, and along those mountains to the Nonachuchy River; across the Nonachuchy River, including its creeks, and down the side of Nonachuchy Mountain against the mouth of Great Limestone Creek and from thence to the place of beginning.

The second purchase comprised a tract lying on the Nonachuchy River below the mouth of Big Limestone on both sides of the river and adjoining the tract just described. Its boundaries were defined as beginning on the south side of the Nonachuchy River below the old fields that lie below the Limestone on the north side of Nonachuchy Mountain at a large rock; thence north 32° west to the mouth of Camp Creek on the south side of the river; thence across the river; thence pursuing a northwesterly course to the dividing ridge between Lick Creek and Watauga or Holston River, thence along the dividing ridge to the rest of Brown's lands; thence down the main fork of Big Limestone to its mouth; thence crossing the Nonachuchy River and pursuing a straight course to the Nonachuchy Mountains and along such mountains to the beginning.[28]

Treaty and purchase of 1773.—On the 1st of June, 1773, a treaty was concluded jointly with the Creeks and Cherokees by the British superintendent whereby they ceded to Great Britain a tract beginning where the lower Creek path intersects the Ogeechee River, thence along the main channel of that river to the source of the southernmost branch thereof; thence along the ridge between the waters of Broad and Oconee Rivers up to the Buffalo Lick; thence in a straight line to the tree marked by the Cherokees near the head of the branch falling into the Oconee River [on the line between Clarke and Oglethorpe Counties, about 8 miles southeast of Athens]; thence along the said ridge 20 miles above the line already run by the Cherokees, and from thence across to the Savannah River by a line parallel to that formerly marked by them.

Henderson's purchase by the treaty of 1775.—On the 17th of March, 1775, Richard Henderson and eight other private citizens concluded a treaty with the Cherokees at Sycamore Shoals, on Watauga River. By its terms they became the purchasers from the latter (in consideration of £10,000 worth of merchandise) of all the lands lying between Kentucky and Cumberland Rivers, under the name of the Colony of Transylvania in North America. This purchase was contained in two deeds, one of which was commonly known as the "Path Deed," and conveyed the following described tract: "Begin on the Holston River, where the course of Powell's Mountain strikes the same; thence up the river to the crossing of the Virginia line; thence westerly along the line run by Donelson * * * to a point six (6) English miles east of Long Island in Holston River; thence a direct course towards the mouth of the Great Kanawha until it reaches the top of the ridge of Powell's Mountain; thence westerly along said ridge to the beginning."

This tract was located in Northeast Tennessee and the extreme southwestern corner of Virginia.[29] The second deed covered a much larger area of territory and was generally known as the "Great Grant." It comprised the territory "beginning on the Ohio River at the mouth of the Kentucky, Cherokee, or what, by the English, is called Louisa River; thence up said river and the most northwardly fork of the same to the head-spring thereof; thence a southeast course to the ridge of Powell's Mountain; thence westwardly along the ridge of said mountain to a point from which a northwest course will strike the head-spring of the most southwardly branch of Cumberland River; thence down said river, including all its waters, to the Ohio River; thence up said river as it meanders to the beginning."[30] This tract comprises nearly the whole of Central and Western Kentucky as well as part of Northern Central Tennessee. Although a literal reading of these boundaries would include all the territory watered by the Cumberland River and its branches, the general understanding seems to have been (and it is so specifically stated in the report of the treaty commissioners of 1785) that Henderson's purchase did not extend south of Cumberland River proper.[31] The entire purchase included in both these deeds is shown as one tract on the accompanying map of cessions and numbered 7.

In this connection it is proper to remark that all of these grants to private individuals were regarded as legally inoperative, though in some instances the beneficiaries were permitted to enjoy the benefits of their purchases in a modified degree. All such purchases had been inhibited by royal proclamation of King George III, under date of October 7, 1763,[32] wherein all provincial governors were forbidden to grant lands or issue land warrants locatable upon any territory west of the mountains or of the sources of streams flowing into the Atlantic. All private persons were enjoined from purchasing lands from the Indians. All purchases made of such lands should be for the Crown by the governor or commander-in-chief of the colony at some general council or assembly of the Indians convened for that purpose.

In the particular purchase made by Henderson and his coadjutors, the benefits thereof were afterwards claimed by the authorities of Virginia and North Carolina for those States, as the successors of the royal prerogative within their respective limits. In consideration, however, of Henderson's valuable services on the frontier, and in compensation for his large expenditures of money in negotiating the purchase, the legislature of North Carolina in 1783 granted to him and those interested with him a tract of 200,000 acres,[33] constituting a strip 4 miles in width from old Indian town on Powell's River to the mouth, and thence a strip down the Clinch River for quantity 12 miles in width. The legislature of Virginia also granted them a tract of like extent upon the Ohio River, opposite Evansville, Indiana.[34]

Treaties and purchases of 1777.—In consequence of continued hostilities between the Cherokees and the settlers, General Williamson in 1776 marched an army from South Carolina and destroyed the towns of the former on Keowee and Tugaloo Rivers. General Rutherford marched another force from North Carolina and Colonel Christian a third from Virginia, and destroyed most of their principal towns on the Tennessee.[35]

At the conclusion of hostilities with the Cherokees, following these expeditions, a treaty with them was concluded May 20, 1777, at De Witt's or Duett's Corners, South Carolina, by the States of South Carolina and Georgia. By the terms of this treaty the Indians ceded a considerable region of country upon the Savannah and Saluda Rivers,[36] comprising all their lands in South Carolina to the eastward of the Unacaye Mountains.

Two months later (July 20) Commissioners Preston, Christian, and Shelby, on the part of Virginia, and Avery, Sharpe, Winston, and Lanier, for North Carolina, also concluded a treaty with the Cherokees, by which, in the establishment of a boundary between the contracting parties, some parts of "Brown's line," previously mentioned, were agreed upon as a portion of the boundary, and the Indians relinquished their lands as low down on Holston River as the mouth of Cloud's Creek. To this treaty the Chicamauga band of Cherokees refused to give their assent.[37]

The boundaries defined by this treaty are alluded to and described in an act of the North Carolina legislature passed in the following year, wherein it is stipulated that "no person shall enter or survey any lands within the Indian hunting grounds, or without the limits heretofore ceded by them, which limits westward are declared to be as follows: Begin at a point on the dividing line which hath been agreed upon between the Cherokees and the colony of Virginia, where the line between that Commonwealth and this State (hereafter to be extended) shall intersect the same; running thence a right line to the mouth of Cloud's Creek, being the second creek below the Warrior's Ford, at the mouth of Carter's Valley; thence a right line to the highest point of Chimney Top Mountain or High Rock; thence a right line to the mouth of Camp or McNamee's Creek, on south bank of Nolichucky, about ten miles below the mouth of Big Limestone; from the mouth of Camp Creek a southeast course to the top of Great Iron Mountain, being the same which divides the hunting grounds of the Overhill Cherokees from the hunting grounds of the middle settlements; and from the top of Iron Mountain a south course to the dividing ridge between the waters of French Broad, and Nolichucky Rivers; thence a southwesterly course along the ridge to the great ridge of the Appalachian Mountains, which divide the eastern and western waters; thence with said dividing ridge to the line that divides the State of South Carolina from this State."[38]

Emigration of Chicamauga band.—The Cherokees being very much curtailed in their hunting grounds by the loss of the territory wrested from them by the terms of these two treaties, began a movement further down the Tennessee River, and the most warlike and intractable portion of them, known as the Chicamaugas, settled and built towns on Chicamauga Creek, about one hundred miles below the mouth of the Holston River. Becoming persuaded, however, that this creek was infested with witches they abandoned it in 1782, and built lower down the Tennessee the towns usually called "The Five Lower Towns on the Tennessee." These towns were named respectively Running Water, Nickajack, Long Island Village, Crow Town, and Lookout Mountain Town. From thence marauding parties were wont to issue in their operations against the rapidly encroaching settlements.[39]

Although comparative peace and quiet for a time followed the heroic treatment administered to the Indians by the expeditions of Williamson, Rutherford, Christian, and others, reciprocal outrages between the whites and Indians were of frequent occurrence. The situation was aggravated in 1783 by the action of the assembly of North Carolina in passing an act (without consulting the Indians or making any effort to secure their concurrence) extending the western boundary of that State to the Mississippi River, reserving, however, for the use of the Cherokees as a hunting ground a tract comprised between the point where the Tennessee River first crosses the southern boundary of the State and the head waters of Big Pigeon River.[40]

Treaty and purchase of 1783.—On the 31st of May of this same year, by a treaty concluded at Augusta, Ga., the Cherokee delegates present (together with a few Creeks, who, on the 1st of November succeeding, agreed to the cession) assumed to cede to that State the respective claims of those two nations to the country lying on the west side of the Tugaloo River, extending to and including the Upper Oconee River region.[41] With the provisions of this treaty no large or representative portion of either nation was satisfied, and in connection with the remarkable territorial assertions of the State of North Carolina, together with the constant encroachments of white settlers beyond the Indian boundary line, a spirit of restless discontent and fear was nourished among the Indians that resulted in many acts of ferocious hostility.

Treaties with the State of Franklin.—In 1784, in consequence of the cession by North Carolina to the United States of all her claims to lands west of the mountains (which cession was not, however, accepted by the United States within the two years prescribed by the act) the citizens within the limits of the present State of Tennessee elected delegates to a convention, which formed a State organization under the name of the State of Franklin and which maintained a somewhat precarious political existence for about four years. During this interval the authorities of the so-called State negotiated two treaties with the Cherokee Nation, the first one being entered into near the mouth of Dumplin Creek, on the north bank of French Broad River, May 31, 1785.[42] This treaty established the ridge dividing the waters of Little River from those of the Tennessee as the dividing line between the possessions of the whites and Indians, the latter ceding all claim to lands south of the French Broad and Holston, lying east of that ridge. The second treaty or conference was held at Chote Ford and Coytoy, July 31 to August 3, 1786. The Franklin Commissioners at this conference modestly remarked, "We only claim the island in Tennessee at the mouth of Holston and from the head of the island to the dividing ridge between the Holston River, Little River, and Tennessee to the Blue Ridge, and the lands North Carolina sold us on the north side of Tennessee." They urged this claim under threat of extirpating the Cherokees as the penalty of refusal.[43]

TREATY RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES.

This general history of the Cherokee Nation and the treaty relations that had existed with the colonial authorities from the period of their first official contact with each other is given as preliminary to the consideration of the history and provisions of the first treaty negotiated between commissioners on the part of the United States and the said Cherokee Nation, viz, the treaty concluded at Hopewell, on the Keowee River, November 28, 1785, an abstract of the provisions of which is hereinbefore given.[44]

The conclusion of this treaty marked the beginning of a new era in the relations between the whites and Cherokees. The boundaries then fixed were the most favorable it was possible to obtain from the latter without regard to previous purchases and pretended purchases made by private individuals and others. Although the Indians yielded an extensive territory to the United States,[45] yet, on the other hand, the latter conceded to the Cherokees a considerable extent of territory that had already been purchased from them by private individuals or associations, though by methods of more than doubtful legality.

The contentions between the border settlers of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, as well as of the authorities of those States, with the Cherokees and Creeks, concerning boundaries and the constantly recurring mutual depredations and assaults upon each other's lives and property, prompted Congress, though still deriving its powers from the Articles of Confederation, to the active exercise of its treaty-making functions. It was, therefore, determined[46] to appoint commissioners who should be empowered under their instructions, subject, of course, to ratification by Congress, to negotiate a treaty with the Cherokees, at which the boundaries of the lands claimed by them should be as accurately ascertained as might be, and the line of division carefully marked between them and the white settlements. This was deemed essential in order that authoritative proclamation might be made of the same, advising and warning settlers against further encroachments upon Indian territory.

PROCEEDINGS AT TREATY OF HOPEWELL.

The commissioners deputed for the performance of this duty were Benjamin Hawkins, Andrew Pickens, Joseph Martin, and Lachlan McIntosh. They convened the Indians in council at Hopewell, S. C., on the 18th of November, 1785.[47] Hopewell is on the Keowee River, 15 miles above the junction of that river with the Tugaloo. The commissioners announced to the Indians the change of sovereignty from Great Britain to Congress that had taken place in the country as a consequence of the successful termination of the Revolution. They further set forth that Congress wanted none of the Indian lands, nor anything else belonging to them, but that if they had any grievances, to state them freely, and Congress would see justice done them. The Indian chiefs drafted a map showing the limits of country claimed by them, which included the greater portion of Kentucky and Tennessee, as well as portions of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Being reminded by the commissioners that this claim covered the country purchased by Colonel Henderson, who was now dead, and whose purchase must therefore not be disputed, they consented to relinquish that portion of it. They also consented that the line as finally agreed upon, from the mouth of Duck River to the dividing ridge between the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, should be continued up that ridge and from thence to the Cumberland in such a manner as to leave all the white settlers in the Cumberland country outside of the Indian limits.

At the time, it was supposed this could be accomplished by running a northeast line from the ridge so as to strike the Cumberland forty miles above Nashville. This portion of the boundary, not having been affected by the treaty of 1791 (as was supposed by the Cherokees), was reiterated in that treaty in a reverse direction. But the language used—whether intentional or accidental—rendered it susceptible of a construction more favorable to the whites. This language read, "Thence down the Cumberland River to a point from which a southwest line will strike the ridge which divides the waters of Cumberland from those of Duck River, 40 miles above Nashville." As this line was not actually surveyed and marked until the fall of 1797,[48] and as the settlements in that locality had in the meantime materially advanced, it became necessary, in order to exclude the bulk of the settlers from the Indian country, to take advantage of this technicality. The line was consequently so run (from a point on said dividing ridge 40 miles above Nashville) that it struck the Cumberland River about 1 mile above the mouth of Rock Castle River, a distance of perhaps 175 to 200 miles above Nashville. This line was surveyed by General James Winchester, who, under date of November 9, 1797, in a letter to General Robertson, describes a portion of it as running as follows:

From Walton's road to the Fort Blount road, which it crosses near the two springs at the 32-mile tree; crosses Obey's River about 6 or 7 miles from the mouth; Achmugh about 2 miles above the Salt Lick; the South Fork of Cumberland, or Flute River, 5 or 6 miles from the mouth, and struck Cumberland River about a mile above the mouth of Rock Castle.

He also adds that the total length of the line (from the dividing ridge to Cumberland River above Rock Castle) is 138¹¹/₁₆ miles.

The Fort Blount here mentioned was on the south side of Cumberland River, about 6 miles in a direct line, southwest of Gainesboro', and the road led from there to Walton's road, which it joined at or near the present site of Cooksville.[49] Walton's or Caney Fork road led from Carthage in an easterly direction, and before the organization of Putnam County formed the boundary line between Overton and White counties, from whence it continued easterly through Anderson's Cross Roads and Montgomery to Wilson's, in Knox County. The "Two Springs," are about 2 or 3 miles northwest of Cooksville.[49]

There is much difficulty in determining the absolute course of the "Winchester line," from the meager description contained in his letter above quoted. Arrowsmith and Lewis, in their Atlas, published in 1805, lay down the line as pursuing a perfectly straight course from its point of departure on the dividing ridge to its termination on the Cumberland above the mouth of Rock Castle River. Their authority for such a definition of the boundary is not given. If such was the true course of the line, the description given in General Winchester's letter would need some explanation. He must have considered Obey's River as emptying into Wolf River in order to bring his crossing of the former stream reasonably near the distance from its mouth specified by him. He must also have been mistaken in his estimate of the distance at which the line crossed above the mouth of the South Fork of the Cumberland. The line of Arrowsmith and Lewis would cross that stream at least 12 miles in a direct line above its mouth, instead of five or six. It is ascertained from correspondence with the officers of the Historical Society of Tennessee, that the line, after crossing the Fort Blount road at the "Two Springs," continued in a northeasterly direction, crossing Roaring Fork near the mouth of a small creek, and, pursuing the same course, passed to the east of the town of Livingston. "Nettle Carrier," a Cherokee Indian of some local note, lived on the headwaters of Nettle Carrier's Creek, about four or five miles east of Livingston, and the line passed about half-way between his cabin and the present site of that village.[50] Thence it continued to the crossing of Obey's River, and thence to the point of intersection with the Kentucky boundary line, which is ascertained to have been at the northeast corner of Overton County, Tennessee, as originally organized in 1806. From this point the line continued to the crossing of Big South Fork, at the place indicated by General Winchester, and thence on to the Cumberland at the terminal point one mile above the mouth of Rock Castle River. In the interest of clearness a literal following of the line indicated in General Winchester's letter, and also that given by Arrowsmith and Lewis, are shown upon the accompanying map. At the conference preliminary to the signing of the treaty of 1785, the Indians also asserted that within the fork of the French Broad and Holston Rivers were 3,000 white settlers who were there in defiance of their protests. They maintained that they had never ceded that country, and it being a favorite spot with them the settlers must be removed. The commissioners vainly endeavored to secure a cession of the French Broad tract, remarking that the settlers were too numerous to make their removal possible, but could only succeed in securing the insertion of an article in the treaty, providing for the submission of the subject to Congress, the settlers, in the mean time, to remain unmolested.[51]

Protest of North Carolina and Georgia.—During the pendency of negotiations, William Blount, of North Carolina, and John King and Thomas Glasscock, of Georgia, presented their commissions as the agents representing the interests of their respective States. They entered formal protests in the names of those States against the validity of the treaty, as containing several stipulations which infringed and violated the legislative rights thereof. The principal of these was the right, as assumed by the commissioners, of assigning to the Indians, territory which had already been appropriated, by act of the legislature in the case of North Carolina, to the discharge of bounty-land claims of the officers and soldiers of that State who had served in the Continental line during the Revolution.[52]

There were present at this treaty, according to the report of the commissioners, 918 Cherokees, to whom, after the signature and execution thereof, were distributed as presents goods to the value of $1,311¹⁰/₉₀. The meagerness of the supply was occasioned, as the commissioners explained, by their expectancy of only meeting the chiefs and headmen.[53]

Location of boundaries.—In the location of the boundary points between the Cherokees and whites, recited in the fourth article of the treaty, it is proper to remark that—

1. The route of the line along the ridge between Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, and from thence to the Cumberland, at a point 40 miles above Nashville, has already been recited.

2. "The ford where the Kentucky road crosses the river" (Cumberland) is at a point opposite the mouth of Left-Hand Fork, about 12 or 13 miles slightly west of north of Cumberland Gap. From the point "40 miles above Nashville" to this ford, the commissioners adopted, as they declare, the line of Henderson's Purchase; while from the "Kentucky Ford" to the mountain, 6 miles south of the mouth of Camp Creek on Nolichucky, they followed the boundary prescribed by the treaty of July 20, 1777, with Virginia and North Carolina.[54]

3. "Campbell's line" was surveyed in 1777—'78 by General William Campbell, as a commissioner for marking the boundary between Virginia and the Cherokees. It extended from the mouth of Big Creek to the high knob on Poor Valley Ridge, 332 poles S. 70° E. of the summit of the main ridge of Cumberland Mountain, a short distance west of Cumberland Gap.[55] The point at which the treaty line of 1785 struck Campbell's line was at the Kentucky road crossing, about 1¹/₂ miles southeast of Cumberland Gap.

4. The treaty line followed Campbell's line until it reached a point due north of the mouth of Cloud's Creek. From this point it ran south to the mouth of that creek, which enters the Holston from the north, 3 miles west of Rogersville.

5. The line from Cloud's Creek pursued a northeasterly direction to Chimney Top Mountain, which it struck at a point about 2 miles to the southward of the Long Island of Holston River.

6. "Camp Creek, near the mouth of Big Limestone, on the Nolichucky" (which is the next point in the boundary line), is a south branch of Nolichucky River in Greene County, Tennessee, between Horse and Cove Creeks, and empties about 6 miles southeast of Greeneville. It was sometimes called McNamee's Creek.

7. The mountain "six miles to the southward of Camp Creek" was in the Great Smoky or Iron Range, not far from the head of that creek.

8. "Thence south to the North Carolina line, thence to the South Carolina Indian boundary." This line was partially surveyed in the winter of 1791, by Joseph Hardin, under the direction of Governor Blount.[56] It ran southeasterly from the mouth of McNamee's or Camp Creek, a distance, as stated by Governor Blount, of 60 miles to Rutherford's War Trace, although the point at which it struck this "Trace," which is given in Governor Blount's correspondence as being 10 or 12 miles west of the Swannanoa settlement, is only a trifle over 50 miles in a direct line from the mouth of Camp Creek.

The "Rutherford's War Trace" here spoken of was the route pursued by General Griffith Rutherford, who, in the summer of 1776, marched an army of 2,400 men against the Cherokees. He was re-enforced by Colonels Martin and Armstrong at Cathey's Fort; crossed the Blue Ridge at Swannanæ Gap; passed down and over the French Broad at a place yet known as the "War Ford;" continued up the valley of Hominy Creek, leaving Pisgah Mountain to the left and crossing Pigeon River a little below the mouth of East Fork; thence through the mountains to Richland Creek, above the present town of Waynesville; ascended that creek and crossed Tuckaseigee River at an Indian village; continued across Cowee Mountain, and thence to the Middle Cherokee Towns on Tennessee River, to meet General Williamson, from South Carolina, with an army bent on a like mission.[57] The boundary between western North Carolina and South Carolina was not definitely established at the date of the survey of Hardin's line and, as shown by an old map on file in the Office of Indian Affairs, the point at which a prolongation of Hardin's line would have struck the South Carolina Indian boundary was supposed to be on or near the 35th degree of north latitude,[58] whereas it was actually more than 20 miles to the north of that parallel and about 10 miles to the north of the present boundary of South Carolina. The definite establishment of this treaty line of 1785 in this quarter, however, became unnecessary by reason of the ratification in February, 1792, of the Cherokee treaty concluded July 2, 1791,[59] wherein the Indian boundary line was withdrawn a considerable distance to the west.

9. The line along the "South Carolina Indian boundary" ran in a southwesterly direction from the point of contact with the prolongation of Hardin's line, passing over "Ocunna" Mountain a short distance to the northwestwardly of Oconee Station and striking the Tugaloo River at a point about 1 mile above the mouth of Panther Creek.[58]

10. The line from Tugaloo River pursued a west of south course to Currahee Mountain, which is the southern terminus of a spur of the Alleghany Mountains, and is situated 4 miles southwest of "Toccoa Falls" and 16 miles northwest of Carnesville, Georgia.

11. From "Currahee Mountain to the head of the south fork of Oconee River," the line pursued a course south 38° west[58] to the source of that stream, now commonly known as the Appallachee River, and was the terminal point of the boundary as defined in this treaty. This line was surveyed in 1798[60] under the direction of Col. Benj. Hawkins.

It is also a pertinent fact in connection with the boundaries defined by this treaty (as already stated in connection with Henderson's treaty), that although a literal reading of the description contained in Henderson's "Great Grant" of 1775 would include all the country watered by the tributaries of the Cumberland, the commissioners who negotiated this treaty of Hopewell in 1785 did not consider Henderson's Purchase as extending south of the Cumberland River proper, except in its course from Powell's Mountain to the head of the most southwardly branch of that river. This branch was considered by these commissioners of 1785 as being the Yellow River, whose source was at best but imperfectly known. They specifically state that they accept the boundaries of Henderson's Purchase in this direction,[61] and as the boundary defined by them between Powell's Mountain and Yellow River was "Campbell's line," they must have considered that line as being the southern limit of Henderson's Great Grant.

TREATY CONCLUDED JULY 2, 1791; PROCLAIMED FEBRUARY 7, 1792.[62]

Held on bank of Holston River, near the mouth of French Broad, between William Blount, governor of the Territory south of Ohio River and superintendent of Indian affairs, representing the President of the United States, on the part and behalf of said States, and the chiefs and warriors of the Cherokee Nation on the part and behalf of said nation.

MATERIAL PROVISIONS.

1. Perpetual peace declared between the United States and the Cherokee Nation.

2. Cherokees to be under sole protection of the United States and to hold no treaty with any State or individuals.

3. Cherokees and the United States to mutually release prisoners captured one from the other.

4. Boundary between the United States and the Cherokees defined as follows: Beginning at the top of Currahee Mountain, where the Creek line passes it; thence a direct line to Tugelo River; thence northeast to Ocunna Mountain and over same along South Carolina Indian boundary to the North Carolina boundary; thence north to a point from which a line is to be extended to the River Clinch that shall pass the Holston at the ridge dividing waters of Little River from those of Tennessee River; thence up Clinch River to Campbell's line and along the same to the top of Cumberland Mountain; thence a direct line to Cumberland River where the Kentucky road crosses it; thence down Cumberland River to a point from which a southwest line will strike the ridge dividing waters of Cumberland from those of Duck River 40 miles above Nashville; thence down said ridge to a point from which a southwest line will strike the mouth of Duck River.

To prevent future disputes, said boundary to be ascertained and marked by three persons appointed by the United States and three persons appointed by the Cherokees.

To extinguish all claim of Cherokees to lands lying to the right of said line, the United States agree to immediately deliver certain valuable goods to the Cherokees and to pay them $1,000 annually.

5. Citizens of United States to have free use of road from Washington District to Mero District and of navigation of Tennessee River.

6. The United States to have exclusive right of regulating trade with the Cherokees.

7. The United States solemnly guarantee to the Cherokees all their lands not herein ceded.

8. Citizens of the United States or others not Indians settling on Cherokee lands to forfeit protection of the United States and be punished as the Indians see fit.

9. Inhabitants of the United States forbidden to hunt on Cherokee lands, or to pass over the same without a passport from the governor of a State or Territory or other person authorized by the President of the United States to grant the same.

10. Cherokees committing crimes against citizens of the United States to be delivered up and punished by United States laws.

11. Inhabitants of the United States committing crimes or trespass against Cherokees to be tried and punished under United States laws.

12. Retaliation or reprisal forbidden until satisfaction has been refused by the aggressor.

13. Cherokees to give notice of any designs against the peace and interests of the United States.

14. Cherokees to be furnished with useful implements of husbandry. United States to send four persons to reside in Cherokee country to act as interpreters.

15. All animosities to cease and treaty to be faithfully carried out.

16. Treaty to take effect when ratified by the President of the United States by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

HISTORICAL DATA.

CAUSES OF DISSATISFACTION WITH THE BOUNDARY OF 1785.

The boundary line prescribed by the treaty of November 28, 1785, had been unsatisfactory to both the Cherokees and the whites. On the part of the former the chief cause of complaint was the non-removal of the settlers in the fork of the French Broad and Holston Rivers and their evident disposition to encroach still farther into the Indian country at every opportunity. The whites, on the other hand, were discontented because further curtailment of the Cherokee territory had not been compelled by the commissioners who negotiated the treaty, and the State authorities of North Carolina and Georgia had protested because of the alleged interference by the General Government with the reserved rights of the States.[63] In retaliation for the intrusions of the whites the Indians were continually engaged in pilfering their stock and other property.

The state of affairs resulting from this continual friction rendered some decisive action by Congress necessary. A large portion of the land in Greene and Hawkins Counties, Tennessee, had been entered by the settlers under the laws of North Carolina, whereby she had assumed jurisdiction to the Mississippi River.[64] These lands were south and west of the treaty line of 1785, as were also the lands on the west side of the Clinch upon which settlements had been made. Settlers to the number of several thousand, south of the French Broad and Holston, were also within the Cherokee limits.[65]

It is true that the authorities of the so-called State of Franklin had in the years 1785 and 1786 negotiated two treaties with the Cherokees, obtaining cessions from the latter covering most, if not all, of these lands,[66] but neither the State of North Carolina nor the United States recognized these treaties as of any force or validity.

These trespasses called forth under date of September 1, 1788, a proclamation from Congress forbidding all such unwarrantable intrusions, and enjoining all those who had settled upon the hunting ground of the Cherokees to depart with their families and effects without loss of time.

General Knox, Secretary of War, under date of July 7, 1789, in a communication to the President, remarked that "the disgraceful violation of the treaty of Hopewell with the Cherokees requires the serious consideration of Congress. If so direct and manifest contempt of the authority of the United States be suffered with impunity, it will be in vain to attempt to extend the arm of government to the frontiers. The Indian tribes can have no faith in such imbecile promises, and the lawless whites will ridicule a government which shall, on paper only, make Indian treaties and regulate Indian boundaries."[67]

He recommended the appointment of three commissioners on the part of the United States, who should be invested with full powers to examine into the case of the Cherokees and to renew with them the treaty made at Hopewell in 1785; also to report to the President such measures as should be necessary to protect the Indians in the boundaries secured to them by that treaty, which he suggested would involve the establishment of military posts within the Indian country and the services of at least five hundred troops. President Washington, on the same day, transmitted the report of the Secretary of War, with the accompanying papers, to Congress. He approved of the recommendations of General Knox, and urged upon that body prompt action in the matter.

Congress, however, failed to take any decisive action at that session, and on the 11th of August, 1790, President Washington again brought the subject to the attention of that body. After reciting the substance of his previous communication, he added that, notwithstanding the treaty of Hopewell and the proclamation of Congress, upwards of five hundred families had settled upon the Cherokee lands, exclusive of those between the fork of the French Broad and Holston Rivers.[68] He further added that, as the obstructions to a proper conduct of the matter had been removed since his previous communication, by the accession of North Carolina to the Union and the cession to the United States by her of the lands in question,[69] he should conceive himself bound to exert the powers intrusted to him by the Constitution in order to carry into faithful execution the treaty of Hopewell, unless it should be thought proper to attempt to arrange a new boundary with the Cherokees, embracing the settlements and compensating the Cherokees for the cessions they should make.

United States Senate authorizes a new treaty.—Upon the reception of this message the Senate adopted a resolution advising and consenting that the President should, at his discretion, cause the treaty of Hopewell to be carried into execution or enter into arrangements for such further cession of territory from the Cherokees as the tranquillity and interests of the United States should require. A proviso to this resolution limited the compensation to be paid to the Cherokees for such further cession to $1,000 per annum and stipulated that no person who had taken possession of any lands within the limits of the proposed cession should be confirmed therein until he had complied with such terms as Congress should thereafter prescribe.

Accordingly, instructions were issued to William Blount, governor of the Territory south of the Ohio River and ex-officio superintendent of Indian affairs, to conclude a treaty of cession with the Cherokees.[70]

TENNESSEE COMPANY'S PURCHASE.

In the mean time the troubles between the Indians and the settlers had become aggravated from divers causes. Prominent among these was the fact that Georgia had by act of her legislature disposed of 3,500,000 acres of vacant land lying south of Tennessee River to the Tennessee Company. This association undertook to effect a settlement in the year 1791 at or near the Muscle Shoals.[71] The matter coming to the notice of the Secretary of War was made the subject of a strong protest by him to the President.[72]

The latter issued his proclamation forbidding such settlement. The company persisted in the attempt, and as the President had declared such act would place them without the protection of the United States, the Indians were left free to break up and destroy the settlement, which they did.[73]

DIFFICULTIES IN NEGOTIATING NEW TREATY.

In pursuance of Governor Blount's instructions, he convened the Indians at White's Fort, on the present site of Knoxville, Tenn.; and after a conference lasting seven days, succeeded, with much difficulty and with great reluctance on the part of the Cherokees, in concluding the treaty of July 2, 1791.[74]

In his letter to the Secretary of War,[75] transmitting the treaty, he asserts the greatest difficulty to have been in agreeing on a boundary, and that the one fixed upon might seem singular. The reason for this peculiarity of description was owing to the fact that the Indians insisted on beginning on the part where they were most tenacious of the land, in preference to the mouth of Duck River, where the Hopewell treaty line began. The land to the right of the line was declared to belong to the United States, because no given point of the compass would describe it. In accordance with his instructions, Governor Blount proposed to the Indians that the ridge dividing the waters of Little River from those of the Tennessee should form a part of the boundary. To this the Indians would not agree, but insisted on the straight line which should cross the Holston where that ridge should strike it. Governor Blount explains that this line is not so limited by the treaty as to the point at which it shall leave the north line or at which it shall strike the Clinch, but that it might be so run as either to include or leave out the settlers south of the ridge; the only stipulations respecting it being that it should cross the Holston at the ridge, and should be run by commissioners appointed by the respective parties.

He urged that the line should be run immediately after the ratification of the treaty, as settlers were already located in the immediate vicinity of it, and more were preparing to follow.

The President transmitted the treaty to the Senate with his message of October 26, 1791,[76] and Senator Hawkins, from the committee to whom it was referred, reported it back to the Senate on the 9th of November following, recommending that the Senate advise and consent to its ratification.[77]

On the 19th of the same month the Secretary of War advised Governor Blount that the treaty had been ratified by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and inclosed him 50 printed copies for distribution, although the United States Statutes at Large [Vol. VII, p. 39] give the date of the proclamation of the treaty as February 7, 1792.[78]

SURVEY OF NEW BOUNDARIES.

The Secretary also intrusted the matter of the survey of the new boundary to the discretion of Governor Blount, and suggested the appointment of Judge Campbell, Daniel Smith, and Col. Landon Carter as commissioners to superintend the same. This suggestion was subsequently modified by the appointment of Charles McLung and John McKee in place of Smith and Carter. Governor Blount designated the 1st of May as the date for the survey to commence. Andrew Ellicott was appointed surveyor, he having been previously appointed to survey the line under the Creek treaty of 1790.[79] Before these arrangements could be carried out, the Secretary of War again wrote Governor Blount,[80] remarking that while it was important the line should be run, yet as the United States, in their military operations, might want the assistance of the Cherokees, perhaps it would be better policy to have the lines ascertained and marked after rather than before the campaign then about to commence against the Indians northwest of the Ohio.[81] It was thus determined, in view of numerous individual acts of hostility on the part of the Cherokees and of the desire to soothe them into peace and to engage them as auxiliaries against the northern Indians, to temporarily postpone the running of the line.

After considerable correspondence between Governor Blount and the Cherokee chiefs in council, the 8th of October, 1792, was fixed upon as the date for the meeting of the representatives of both parties at Major Craig's, on Nine-Mile Creek, for the purpose of beginning the survey.[82] In the mean time an increased spirit of hostility had become manifest among the Cherokees and Creeks, the five lower towns of the former having declared war, and an Indian invasion of the frontier seemed imminent. Governor Blount, therefore, in the latter part of September,[83] deemed it wise to call fifteen companies of militia into immediate service, under the command of General Sevier, for the protection of the settlements. Notwithstanding this critical condition of affairs, the boundary line commissioners on the part of the United States assembled at the appointed time and place. After waiting until the following day, the representatives of the Cherokees putting in no appearance, they proceeded to inspect the supposed route of the treaty line. After careful examination they came to the conclusion that the ridge dividing the waters of Tennessee and Little Rivers struck the Holston River at the mouth and at no other point.[84]

They then proceeded to run, but did not mark, a line of experiment from the point of the ridge in a southeast direction to Chilhowee Mountain, a distance of 17¹/₂ miles, and also from the point of beginning in a northwest direction to the Clinch River, a distance of 9 miles. From these observations they found that the line, continued to the southeast, would intersect the Tennessee River shortly after it crossed the Chilhowee Mountain, and in consequence would deprive the Indians of all their towns lying on the south side of the Tennessee. This rendered apparent the necessity of changing the direction of the line into a more nearly east and west course, and led the commissioners to express the opinion that the true line should run from the point of the ridge south 60° east to Chilhowee Mountain and north 60° west to the Clinch.

The course thus designated left a number of the settlers on Nine-Mile Creek within the Indian limits.[85]

The records of the War Department having been almost completely destroyed by fire in the month of November, 1800, it is with great difficulty that definite data can be obtained concerning the survey of this and other Indian boundaries prior to that date. It has, however, been ascertained that the above mentioned line was not actually surveyed until the year 1797.

Journal of Col. Benjamin Hawkins.—The manuscript journal of Col. Benjamin Hawkins, now in the possession of the Historical Society of Georgia, shows that instructions were issued by the Secretary of War on the 2d of February, 1797, appointing and directing Col. Benjamin Hawkins, General Andrew Pickens, and General James Winchester as commissioners on the part of the United States to establish and mark the lines between the latter and the Indian nations south of the Ohio. These instructions reached Colonel Hawkins at Fort Fidius, on the Oconee, on the 28th of February. Notice was at once sent to General Pickens at his residence at Hopewell, on the Keowee, and also to General Winchester, through Silas Dinsmoor, at that time temporary agent for the Cherokee Nation, to convene at Tellico, on Tennessee River, on the 1st of April following, for the purpose of determining and marking the Cherokee boundary line pursuant to the treaty of 1791. Colonel Hawkins joined General Pickens at Hopewell, from which point they set out for Tellico on the 23d of March, accompanied by Joseph Whitner, one of their surveyors, as well as by an escort of United States troops, furnished by Lieut. Col. Henry Gaither. Passing Ocunna station, they were joined by their other surveyor, John Clark Kilpatrick. They reached Tellico block-house on the 31st of March, and were joined on the following day by Mr. Dinsmoor, the Cherokee agent. Here they were visited by Hon. David Campbell, who, in conjunction with Charles McLung and John McKee, had been appointed in 1792, as previously set forth, to survey and mark the line. Mr. Campbell informed them that he and his co-commissioners, in pursuance of their instructions, did in part ascertain and establish the boundary and report the same to Governor Blount, and that he would accompany the present commissioners and give them all the information he possessed on the subject. About the same time confidential information was received that General Winchester would not attend the meeting of his co-commissioners, and that this was understood to be in pursuance of a scheme to postpone the running of the line in the interest of certain intruders upon Indian land. On the 7th of April the commissioners set out to examine the location and direction of the ridge dividing the waters of Little River from those of Tennessee, at the same time noting that "we received information that the line run between the Indians and white inhabitants by the commissioners, mentioned on the 3d instant by Mr. Campbell, was by order, for the express purpose of ascertaining a line of accommodation for the white settlers, who were then over the treaty line." By arrangement they met a number of the interested settlers at the house of Mr. Bartlett McGee on the 9th, and by them were advised that the ridge between the sources of Nine-Mile, Baker's, Pistol, and Crooked Creeks "is that which divides the waters running into Little River from those running into the Tennessee."

Proceeding with their observations, they set out for the point on this ridge "where the experiment line for fixing the court-house of Blount County passes the ridge between Pistol Creek and Baker's Creek, due east from a point on the Tennessee 13¹/₂ miles, and this point on the Tennessee is 1¹/₂ miles south from a point from where a line west joins the confluence of the Holston and Tennessee." The point on the ridge here spoken of was 2¹/₂ miles north of Bartlett McGee's and 1 mile north of the source of Nine-Mile Creek. The commissioners state that in noting observations they count distances in minutes, at the rate of 60' to 3 miles. From the foregoing point they proceeded west 8' to a ridge dividing Pistol and Baker's Creeks; turned south 6' to the top of a knoll, having on the right the falling grounds of Gallagher's Creek. This knoll they called "Iron Hill." Continuing south 11', they crossed a small ridge and ascended a hill 4' SSW., crossing a path from Baker's Creek to the settlements on Holston. From here the ridge bore SSW. 1 mile, SW. by W. 1 mile, SSW. 3 miles, and thence NW., which would make it strike the Holston River near the mouth of that stream. This corresponded with the observations of the previous commissioners who had run the experimental line.

This inspection convinced the commissioners that a considerable number of the white settlers were on the Indian land. The latter were quite anxious that some arrangement should be made for their accommodation in the coming conference with the Indians, but received no encouragement from the commissioners further than an assurance that they should be permitted to gather their crops of small grain and fruit before removal.

Being asked by the commissioners why the line run by Mr. Campbell and his confrères was known by three names, "that of experience, of experiment, and the treaty line with the Indians," they answered that "it was not the treaty line, but a line run to see how the citizens could be covered, as they were then settled on the frontier; that they understood this to be the direction to the commissioners, and that they conformed to it and ran the line as we had noticed in viewing the lands between the two rivers." The settlers also said, "the law, as they were likely to be affected, had been incautiously worded. They understood from it that the line from Clinch to cross the Holston at the ridge would turn thence south to the South Carolina Indian boundary on the North Carolina line. We replied that this understanding of it was erroneous. There was no such course in the treaty, and they should never suppose that the Government would be capable of violating a solemn guarantee; that, although the expression was 'thence south,' yet it must be understood as meaning southeastwardly, to the point next called for, as the point is in that direction and far to the east; that the lands in question had moreover been expressly reserved by the State of North Carolina for the Indians, and the occupants had not, as some others had, even the plea of entry in the land office of that State."

The law referred to above by the settlers and the commissioners was the act of Congress approved May 19, 1796, entitled "An act to regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes and to preserve peace on the frontiers." This act recited the course of the Indian boundary as established by treaty with the various tribes extending from the mouth of Cuyahoga River along the line described in the treaty of 1795 at Greenville, to the Ohio River and down the same to the ridge dividing the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers; thence, up and along said ridge and continuing according to the Cherokee treaty of 1791 to the river Clinch; "thence down said river to a point from which a line shall pass the Holston, at the ridge which divides the waters running into Little River from those running into the Tennessee; thence south to the North Carolina boundary," etc.

Owing to fears for their personal safety caused by the hostile tone of the settlers toward them, it was not until the 25th of April that a representative delegation of the Cherokees was convened in council by the commissioners. There were present 147 chiefs and warriors. Commissioners were appointed by them to act on behalf of their nation, in conjunction with those on behalf the United States, to run and mark the boundary line, and an agreement was reached that Messrs. Hawkins and Pickens should have authority to select the necessary sites for the proposed military posts within their country.

During the council a delegation of the intruding settlers presented themselves but were not allowed to attend the deliberations, being advised by the commissioners "that it was not in contemplation to make a new treaty but to carry the treaty of Holston into effect; that we did not expect much light on this subject from the Indians; that we should form our decision from the instrument itself and not from interested reporters on either side; that all who were on the Indian lands could not be relieved by us; * * * that he (Captain Henly) and most of the deputation lived on this side of the line of experiment, and that they had informed us that that line was merely to ascertain how the citizens could be accommodated and on this side of the true line intended in the treaty; that to accommodate them a new treaty must be had and a new line agreed on, and, in our opinion, at this time it could not be effected; that the Indians were much alarmed for their situation, and viewed every attempt to acquire land as a violation of the solemn guaranty of the Government; that we need not expect ever to obtain fairly their consent to part with their land, unless our fellow-citizens would pay more respect than we saw they did to their treaties.

Following this conference with the Indians, the commissioners proceeded (examining the country carefully en route) to South West Point, at the mouth of Clinch River, which they reached on the 6th of May, and the journal of Colonel Hawkins concludes with this day's proceedings. It is learned, however, from an old map of the line now on file in the office of Indian Affairs, that the survey was not begun until more than three months after their arrival at South West Point. From another map in the same office it appears that the line as surveyed extended from a point about 1,000 yards above South West Point in a course S. 76° E. to the Great Iron Mountain, and was known as "Hawkins Line."[86] From this point the line continued in the same course until it reached the treaty line of 1785, and was called "Pickens Line." The supposition is that as the commissioners were provided with two surveyors, they separated, Colonel Hawkins with Mr. Whitner as surveyor running the line from Clinch River to the Great Iron Mountains, and General Pickens with Colonel Kilpatrick as surveyor locating the remainder of it. This supposition is verified so far as General Pickens is concerned by his own written statement.[87]

From the point where it struck the Clinch River, the line of cession by this treaty of 1791 followed up the course of that river until it struck Campbell's line at a point 3 or 4 miles southwest of the present town of Sneedville. From this point it became identical with the boundary line prescribed by the treaty of November 28, 1785 at Hopewell.

The tract of country ceded by this treaty comprised the territory within the present limits of Sevier, Cocke, Jefferson, Hamblen, Grainger, and almost the entirety of Knox, as well as portions of Roane, Loudon, Anderson, Union, Hancock, Hawkins, Sullivan, Washington, Greene, and Blount Counties in Tennessee, together with a portion of North Carolina lying principally west of the French Broad River.

TREATY CONCLUDED FEBRUARY 17, 1792; PROCLAIMED FEBRUARY 17, 1792.

Held at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, between Henry Knox, Secretary of War, on behalf of the United States, and certain chiefs and warriors, in behalf of themselves and the Cherokee Nation.

MATERIAL PROVISIONS.

This treaty was negotiated as, and declared to be, an additional article to the treaty of July 2, 1791, and provided as follows:

1. That the annual sum to be paid to the Cherokees by the United States, in consideration of the relinquishment of lands, made in treaty of 1791, be $1,500 instead of $1,000.

HISTORICAL DATA.

DISCONTENT OF THE CHEROKEES.

As stated in considering the treaty of July 2, 1791, the Secretary of War notified Governor Blount[88] that the President had ratified the same, and inclosed printed copies thereof to him for distribution. This was equivalent to its official promulgation, although the treaty as printed in the United States Statutes at Large gives February 17, 1792, as the date of proclamation.

But, whichever may be the correct date, during the interval elapsing between them, a Cherokee delegation, without the invitation or knowledge of the United States authorities, proceeded to Philadelphia (then the seat of Government), where they arrived on the 28th of December, 1791, bringing with them from Governor Pinckney and General Pickens, of South Carolina, evidence of the authenticity of their mission.[89]

The delegation consisted of six, besides the interpreter, and was headed by Nen-e-too-yah, or the Bloody Fellow. They were kindly received by the President, who directed the Secretary of War to ascertain their business.

Conferences were thereupon held with them, lasting several days, at which the Indians detailed at great length their grievances and made known their wants.

Causes of complaint.—The substance of their communications was to the effect that when they were summoned by Governor Blount to the conference which resulted in the treaty of July 2, 1791, they were unaware of any purpose on the part of the Government to secure any further cession of land from them; that they had protested vigorously and consistently for several days against yielding any more territory, but were met with such persistent and threatening demands from Governor Blount on the subject that they were forced to yield; that they had no confidence that the North Carolinians would attach any sacredness to the new boundary, in fact they were already settling beyond it; and that the annuity stipulated in the treaty of 1791, as compensation for the cession, was entirely inadequate. They therefore asked an increase of the annuity from $1,000 to $1,500, and furthermore demanded that the white people who had settled south of the ridge dividing the waters of Little River from those of the Tennessee should be removed, and that such ridge should be the barrier.

President Washington, believing their demand to be a just one, and also desiring that the delegation should carry home a favorable report of the attitude and disposition of the Government toward them, submitted the matter to the Senate[90] and requested the advice of that body as to the propriety of attaching an additional article to the treaty of 1791 which should increase the annuity from $1,000 to $1,500.

Annuity increased.—To this proposition the Senate gave its advice and consent,[91] and what is mentioned in the United States Statutes at Large as a treaty concluded and proclaimed February 17, 1792,[92] became the law of the land.

WAR WITH CHEROKEES.

This concession did not, however, in any large degree heal the differences and antagonisms existing between the Indians and the border settlers, with whom they were brought in constant contact. Even while the treaty of 1792 was being negotiated by the representatives of the Cherokees at the capital of the nation, a portion of their young warriors were consummating arrangements for the precipitation of a general war with the whites, and in September, 1792, a party of upwards of 700 Cherokee and Creek warriors attacked Buchanan's Station, Tenn., within 4 miles of Nashville. They were headed by the Cherokee chief John Watts, who was one of the signers of the treaty of Holston, and had he not been severely wounded early in the attack, it is likely the station would have been destroyed.[93]

A year later, between twelve and fifteen hundred Indians of the same tribes invaded the settlements on the Holston River and destroyed Cavitt's Station, 7 miles below Knoxville.[94] In fact, the intermediate periods between 1791 and 1795 were filled up by the incursions of smaller war parties, and it was not until the latter year that the frontiers found any repose from Indian depredations.

The general tranquillity enjoyed after that date seems to have been occasioned by the wholesome discipline administered to the tribes northwest of the Ohio by General Wayne, in his victory of August 20, 1794, and as a result of the expedition of Major Ore, with his command of Tennesseeans and Kentuckians, in September of the same year, against the Lower Towns of the Cherokees, wherein two of those towns, Running Water and Nickajack, were destroyed.[95]

TREATY CONCLUDED JUNE 26, 1794; PROCLAIMED JANUARY 21, 1795.[96]

Held at Philadelphia, Pa., between Henry Knox, Secretary of War, on behalf of the United States, and the chiefs and warriors representing the Cherokee Nation of Indians.

MATERIAL PROVISIONS.

The treaty of July 2, 1791, not having been fully carried into effect, by reason of some misunderstanding, this treaty was concluded to adjudicate such differences, and contains the following provisions:

1. The treaty of July 2, 1791, declared to be in full force in respect to the boundaries, as well as in all other respects whatever.

2. The boundaries mentioned in the 4th article of treaty of July 2, 1791, to be ascertained and marked after ninety days' notice shall have been given to the Cherokee Nation of the time and place of commencing the operation by the United States commissioners.

3. The United States agree, in lieu of all former sums, to furnish the Cherokees with $5,000 worth of goods annually, as compensation for all territory ceded by treaties of November 28, 1785, and July 2, 1791.

4. Fifty dollars to be deducted from Cherokee annuity for every horse stolen by Cherokees from whites and not returned within three months.

5. These articles to be considered as additions to treaty of July 2, 1791, as soon as ratified by the President and Senate of the United States.

HISTORICAL DATA.

COMPLAINTS CONCERNING BOUNDARIES.

The destruction of the official records renders it very difficult to ascertain the details of the misunderstandings alleged in the preamble of this treaty of June 26, 1794,[97] to have arisen concerning the provisions of the treaty of 1791. But it is gathered from various sources that the principal cause of complaint was in reference to boundaries.

At the treaty of 1791, Governor Blount, as he alleges, sought, by every means in his power, to have the boundary of the cession follow, so far as might be, the natural barrier formed by the dividing ridge between the waters of Little River and those of the Tennessee,[98] and such in fact was the tenor of his instructions from the Secretary of War; but the Indian chiefs unanimously insisted that the boundary should be a straight line, running from the point where the ridge in question should strike the Holston, and assumed as evidence of the crookedness of Governor Blount's heart the fact that he desired to run a crooked line.[99]

After that treaty was concluded, however, it became evident that there would be difficulty in determining satisfactorily where the ridge came in contact with the Holston, inasmuch as the white settlers in the vicinity could not agree upon it. The Indians also changed their minds in some respect as to the proper course of the line; but, in view of the fact that settlers were encroaching with great persistency upon their territory, they saw the necessity of taking immediate steps to have the boundary officially surveyed and marked. They also revived an old claim to pay for lands yielded by them in the establishment of the treaty line of 1785, for which they had received no compensation.

Increase of annuity.—In the conference preceding the signature of this treaty of 1794 they insisted that for this and other reasons an increase should be made in the annuity provided by the treaty of 1791, as amended by that of 1792. This was agreed to by the United States, and the annuity was increased from $1,500 to $5,000.

Boundary line to be surveyed.—It was also agreed that the treaty line of 1791 should be promptly surveyed and marked after ninety days' notice had been given to the Cherokees of the time when and the place where the survey should begin.

This, as has already been stated in connection with the treaty of 1791, had been so far performed in the fall of 1792 as to run but not mark a preliminary line for a short portion of the distance, but in spite of the additional agreement in this treaty of 1794 the actual and final survey did not take place until 1797,[100] three years after the conclusion of this treaty and more than seven years after it was originally promised to be done.

The treaty of 1794 was concluded by the Secretary of War himself with a delegation of the Cherokees who had visited Philadelphia for that purpose. It was communicated by President Washington to the Senate on the 30th of December, 1794.[101]

CHEROKEE HOSTILITIES.

While this treaty was being negotiated, and for some months thereafter, a portion of the Cherokees were engaged in the bitterest hostilities against the white settlements, which were only brought to a close, as has been incidentally remarked in discussing the treaty of 1792, by the expedition of Major Ore against the Lower Cherokee towns in September, 1794.

Peace conference.—Following this expedition the hostile Cherokees sued for peace, and at their request a conference was held with them by Governor Blount, at Tellico Block House, on the 7th and 8th of November of that year.[102]

This council was attended by Col. John Watts, of Willstown, principal leader of the hostiles; Scolacutta, or the Hanging Maw, head chief of the nation, and four hundred other chiefs and warriors. A general disposition seemed to be manifested among them to abandon their habits of depredation and secure for themselves and their families that peace to which they, as well as their white neighbors, had long been strangers. Governor Blount met them in a friendly spirit and sought, by every means in his power, to confirm them in their good disposition.

In reporting the facts of this conference to the Secretary of War he asserted one of the most fruitful causes of friction between the whites and Indians to be the stealing and selling of horses by the latter, for which they could always find a ready and unquestioned market among unscrupulous whites. As measures of frontier protection he suggested the continuance of the three military garrisons of Southwest Point at the mouth of the Clinch, of Fort Granger at the mouth of the Holston, and of Tellico Block House, opposite the remains of old Fort Loudon, and also the erection of a military post, if the Cherokees would permit it, on the north bank of the Tennessee, nearly opposite the mouth of Lookout Mountain Creek. Subsequently[103] he held a further conference with the Cherokees and endeavored to foster hostilities between them and the Creeks by urging the organization of a company of their young warriors to patrol the frontiers of Mero District for its protection against incursions of the Creeks. To this the leading Cherokee chiefs refused assent, not because of any objection to the proposition, but because they desired time for preparation.

INTERCOURSE ACT OF 1796.

Early in the following year[104] President Washington, in an emphatic message, laid before Congress a communication from Governor Blount setting forth, the determination of a large combination of persons to take possession of certain Indian lands south and southwest of the Cumberland, under the pretended authority of certain acts of the legislature of North Carolina, passed some years previous, for the relief of her officers and soldiers of the Continental line.

In view of the injustice of such intrusions and the mischievous consequences which would of necessity result therefrom, the President recommended that effective provision should be made to prevent them.

This eventuated in the passage of the act of Congress, approved May 19, 1796,[105] providing for the government of intercourse between citizens of the United States and the various Indian tribes.

TREATY CONCLUDED OCTOBER 2, 1798.[106]

Held near Tellico, in the Cherokee Council House between George Walton and Lieut. Col. Thomas Butler, commissioners on behalf of the United States, and the chiefs and warriors of the Cherokee Nation.

MATERIAL PROVISIONS.

Owing to misunderstandings and consequent delay in running the boundary line prescribed by the treaties of 1791 and 1794, and the ignorant encroachment of settlers on the Indian lands within the limits of such boundaries before their survey, it became desirable that the Indians should cede more land. The following treaty was therefore concluded:

1. Peace and friendship are renewed and declared perpetual.

2. Previous treaties acknowledged to be of binding force.

3. Boundaries of the Cherokees to remain the same where not altered by this treaty.

4. The Cherokees cede to the United States all lands within the following points and lines, viz: From a point on the Tennessee River, below Tellico Block House, called the Wild Cat Rock, in a direct line to the Militia Spring near the Maryville road leading from Tellico. From the said spring to the Chill-howie Mountain by a line so to be run as will leave all the farms on Nine Mile Creek to the northward and eastward of it, and to be continued along Chill-howie Mountain until it strikes Hawkins's line. Thence along said line to the Great Iron Mountain, and from the top of which a line to be continued in a southeastwardly course to where the most southwardly branch of Little River crosses the divisional line to Tuggaloe River. From the place of beginning, the Wild Cat Rock, down the northeast margin of the Tennessee River (not including islands) to a point one mile above the junction of that river with the Clinch, and from thence by a line to be drawn in a right angle until it intersects Hawkins's line leading from Clinch. Thence down the said line to the river Clinch; thence up the said river to its junction with Emmery's River; thence up Emmery's River to the foot of Cumberland Mountain. From thence a line to be drawn, northeastwardly along the foot of the mountain until it intersects with Campbell's line.

5. Two commissioners to be appointed (one by the United States and one by the Cherokees) to superintend the running and marking of the line, immediately upon signing of the treaty, and three maps to be made after survey for use of the War Department, the State of Tennessee, and the Cherokee Nation respectively.

6. Upon signing the treaty the Cherokees to receive $5,000 cash and an annuity of $1,000, and the United States to guarantee them the remainder of their country forever.

7. The United States to have free use of the Kentucky road running between Cumberland Mountain and river, in consideration of which the Cherokees are permitted to hunt on ceded lands.

8. Notice to be given the Cherokees of the time for delivering annual stipends.

9. Horses stolen by either whites or Indians to be paid for at $60 each (if by a white man, in cash; if by an Indian, to be deducted from annuity). All depredations prior to the beginning of these negotiations to be forgotten.

10. The Cherokees agree that the United States agent shall have sufficient ground for his temporary use while residing among them. This treaty to be binding and carried into effect by both sides when ratified by the Senate and President of the United States.

HISTORICAL DATA.

DISPUTES RESPECTING TERRITORY.

In the year 1797 the legislature of the State of Tennessee addressed a memorial and remonstrance to Congress upon the subject of the Indian title to lands within that State. The burden of this complaint was the assertion that the Indian title was at best nothing greater than a tenancy at will; that the lands they occupied within the limits of the State had been granted by the State of North Carolina, before the admission of Tennessee to the Union, to her officers and soldiers of the Continental line, and for other purposes; that the treaties entered into with the Cherokees by the United States, guaranteeing them the exclusive possession of these lands, were subversive of State as well as individual vested rights, and praying that provision be made by law for the extinguishment of the Indian claim.[107]

This was communicated to Congress by the President. Mr. Pinckney, from the committee of the House of Representatives to which the matter was referred, submitted a report,[108] accompanied by a resolution making an appropriation for the relief of such citizens of the State of Tennessee as had a right to lands within that State, by virtue of the cession out of the State of North Carolina, provided they had made actual settlement thereon and had been deprived of the possession thereof by the operation of the act of May 19, 1796, for regulating intercourse with the Indian tribes. The sum to be appropriated, it was declared, should be subject to the order of the President of the United States, to be expended under his direction, either in extinguishing the Indian claim to the lands in question, by holding a treaty for that purpose, or to be disposed of in such other manner as he should deem best calculated to afford the persons described a temporary relief.

New treaty.—The House of Representatives, on considering the subject, passed a resolution directing the Secretary of War to lay before them such information as he possessed relative to the running of a line of experiment from Clinch River to Chilhowie Mountain by order of Governor Blount, to which the Secretary responded on the 5th of January, 1798.[109]

Following this, on the 8th of the same month, President Adams communicated a message to the Senate, setting forth that the situation of affairs between some of the citizens of the United States and the Cherokees had evinced the propriety of holding a treaty with that nation, to extinguish by purchase their right to certain parcels of land and to adjust and settle other points relative to the safety and convenience of the citizens of the United States. With this view he nominated Fisher Ames, of Massachusetts, Bushrod Washington, of Virginia, and Alfred Moore, of North Carolina, to be commissioners, having authority to hold conferences and conclude a treaty with the Cherokees for the purposes indicated.[110]

The Senate concurred in the advisability of the proposed treaty, but Fisher Ames and Bushrod Washington having declined, George Walton and John Steele were associated with Mr. Moore, and detailed instructions were given for their guidance.[111]

By these instructions they were vested jointly and severally with full powers to negotiate and conclude a treaty with the Cherokees, limited only by the scope of the instructions themselves. The Cherokee agent had already been directed to notify the Indians and the commandant of United States troops in Tennessee to furnish an escort sufficient for the protection of the negotiations.

Further purchase of Cherokee lands proposed.—The commissioners were directed as a primary consideration to secure, if possible, the consent of the Cherokees to the sale of such part of their lands as would give a more convenient form to the State of Tennessee and conduce to the protection of its citizens. Especially was it desirable to obtain their consent to the immediate return of such settlers as had intruded on their lands and in consequence had been removed by the United States troops, such consent to be predicated on the theory that the Cherokees were willing to treat for the sale to the United States of the lands upon which these people had settled. They were directed to renew the unsuccessful effort made by Governor Blount in 1791 to secure the consent of the Cherokees that the boundary should begin at the mouth of Duck River and run up the middle of that stream to its source and thence by a line drawn to the mouth of Clinch River. The following alternative boundary propositions were directed to be submitted for the consideration of the Indians, in their numerical order, viz: