TREATY WITH THE WESTERN CHEROKEE, 1828.
May 6, 1828. | 7 Stat., 311. | Proclamation, May 28, 1828.
Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties. Vol. II (Treaties). Compiled
and edited by Charles J. Kappler. Washington : Government Printing Office,
1904.
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Object of the treaty.
Western boundary of Arkansas defined.
Territory guaranteed to Cherokee by United States.
United States to run the lines.
Persons to be appointed to value Cherokee
improvements.
Further agreement.
Further agreement.
Cherokees to surrender lands in Arkansas within fourteen
months.
Cost of emigration, etc., to be borne by the United
States.
A certain tract of land to be reserved for the benefit
of the United States. Capt. J. Rogers to be paid
in full for property lost in the service of United States.
Articles of a Convention, concluded at the City of Washington this sixth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight, between James Barbour, Secretary of War, being especially authorized therefor by the President of the United States, and the undersigned, Chiefs and Head Men of the Cherokee Nation of Indians, West of the Mississippi , they being duly authorized and empowered by their Nation.
WHEREAS, it being the anxious desire of the Government
of the United States to secure to the Cherokee nation of Indians, as well
those now living within the limits of the Territory of Arkansas, as those
of their friends and brothers who reside in States East of the Mississippi,
and who may wish to join their brothers of the West, a permanent home, and
which shall, under the most solemn guarantee of the United States, be, and
remain, theirs forever- a home that shall never, in all future time, be
embarrassed by having extended around it the lines, or placed over it the
jurisdiction of a Territory or State, nor be pressed upon by the extension,
in any way, of any of the limits of any existing Territory or State; and,
Whereas, the present location of the Cherokees in Arkansas being unfavorable
to their present repose, and tending, as the past demonstrates, to their
future degradation and misery; and the Cherokees being anxious to avoid such
consequences, and yet not questioning their right to their lands in Arkansas,
as secured to them by Treaty, and resting also upon the pledges given them
by the President of the United States, and the Secretary of War, of March,
1818, and 8th October, 1821, in regard to the outlet to the West, and as
may be seen on referring to the records of the War Department, still being
anxious to secure a permanent home, and to free themselves, and their posterity,
from an embarrassing connexion with the Territory of Arkansas, and guard
themselves from such connexions in future; and, Whereas, it being important,
not to the Cherokees only, but also to the Choctaws, and in regard also to
the question which may be agitated in the future respecting the location
of the latter, as well as the former, within the limits of the Territory
or State of Arkansas, as the case may be, and their removal therefrom; and
to avoid the cost which may attend negotiations to rid the Territory or State
of Arkansas whenever it may become a State, of either, or both of those Tribes,
the parties hereto do hereby conclude the following Articles, viz:
ART. 1. The Western boundary of Arkansas shall be,
and the same is, hereby defined, viz: A line shall be run, commencing on
Red River, at the point where the Eastern Choctaw line strikes said River,
and run due North with said line to the River Arkansas, thence in a direct
line to the South West corner of Missouri.
ART. 2. The United States agree to possess the Cherokees,
and to guarantee it to them forever, and that guarantee is hereby solemnly
pledged, of seven millions of acres of land, to be bounded as follows, viz:
Commencing at that point on Arkansas River where the Eastern Choctaw boundary
line strikes said River, and running thence with the Western line of Arkansas,
as defined in the foregoing article, to the South-West corner of Missouri,
and thence with the Western boundary line of Missouri till it crosses the
waters of Neasho, generally called Grand River, thence due West to a point
from which a due South course will strike the present North West corner of
Arkansas Territory, thence continuing due South, on and with the present
Western boundary line of the Territory to the main branch of Arkansas River,
thence down said River to its junction with the Canadian River, and thence
up and between the said Rivers Arkansas and Cana-
dian, to a point at which a line running North and South from River to River,
will give the aforesaid seven millions of acres. In addition to the seven
millions of acres thus provided for, and bounded, the United States further
guarantee to the Cherokee Nation a perpetual outlet, West, and a free and
unmolested use of all the Country lying West of the Western boundary of the
above described limits, and as far West as the sovereignty of the United
States, and their right of soil extend.
ART. 3. The United States agree to have the lines
of the above cession run without delay, say not later than the first of October
next, and to remove, immediately after the running of the Eastern line from
the Arkansas River to the South-West corner of Missouri, all white persons
from the West to the East of said line, and also all others, should there
be any there, who may be unacceptable to the Cherokees, so that no obstacles
arising out of the presence of a white population, or a population of any
other sort, shall exist to annoy the Cherokees- and also to keep all such
from the West of said line in future.
ART. 4. The United States moreover agree to appoint
suitable persons whose duty it shall be, in conjunction with the Agent, to
value all such improvements as the Cherokees may abandon in their removal
from their present homes to the District of Country as ceded in the second
Article of this agreement, and to pay for the same immediately after the
assessment is made, and the amount ascertained. It is further agreed, that
the property and improvements connected with the agency, shall be sold under
the direction of the Agent, and the proceeds of the same applied to aid in
the erection, in the country to which the Cherokees are going, of a Grist,
and Saw Mill, for their use. The aforesaid property and improvements are
thus defined: Commence at the Arkansas River opposite William Stinnetts,
and run due North one mile, thence due East to a point from which a due South
line to the Arkansas River would include the Chalybeate, or Mineral Spring,
attached to or near the present residence of the Agent, and thence up said
River (Arkansas) to the place of beginning.
ART. 5. It is further agreed, that the United States,
in consideration of the inconvenience and trouble attending the removal,
and on account of the reduced value of a great portion of the lands herein
ceded to the Cherokees, as compared with that of those in Arkansas which
were made theirs by the Treaty of 1817, and the Convention of 1819, will
pay to the Cherokees, immediately after their removal which shall be within
fourteen months of the date of this agreement, the sum of fifty thousand
dollars; also an annuity, for three years, of two thousand dollars, towards
defraying the cost and trouble which may attend upon going after and recovering
their stock which may stray into the Territory in quest of the pastures from
which they may he driven -- also, eight thousand seven hundred and sixty
dollars, for spoliations committed on them, (the Cherokees,) which sum will
be in full of all demands of the kind up to this date, as well as those against
the Osages, as those against citizens of the United States-- this being the
amount of the, claims for said spoliations, as rendered by the Cherokees,
and which are believed to be correctly and fairly stated.--Also, one thousand
two hundred dollars for the use of Thomas Graves, a Cherokee Chief, for losses
sustained in his property, and for personal suffering endured by him when
confined as a prisoner, on a criminal, but false accusation; also, five hundred
dollars for the use of George Guess, another Cherokee, for the great benefits
he has conferred upon the Cherokee people, in the beneficial results which
they are now experiencing from the use of the Alphabet discovered by him,
to whom also, in consideration of his relinquishing a valuable saline, the
privilege is hereby given to locate and occupy another saline on Lee's Creek.
It is further agreed by the United States, to pay two thousand dollars,
annually, to the Cherokees, for ten years, to be expended under the direction
of the President of the United States in the education of their children,
in their own country, in letters and the mechanic arts; also, one thousand
dollars towards the purchase of a Printing Press and Types to aid the Cherokees
in the progress of education, and to benefit and enlighten them as a people,
in their own, and our language. It is agreed further that the expense incurred
other than that paid by the United States in the erection of the buildings
and improvements, so far as that may have been paid by the benevolent society
who have been, and yet are, engaged in instructing the Cherokee children,
shall be paid to the society, it being the understanding that the amount
shall be expended in the erection of other buildings and improvements, for
like purposes, in the country herein ceded to the Cherokees. The United States
relinquish their claim due by the Cherokees to the late United States Factory,
provided the same does not exceed three thousand five hundred dollars.
ART. 6. It is moreover agreed, by the United States,
whenever the Cherokees may desire it, to give them a set of plain laws, suited
to their condition-- also, when they may wish to lay off their lands, and
own them individually, a surveyor shall be sent to make the surveys at the
cost of the United States.
ART. 7. The Chiefs and Head Men of the Cherokee Nation,
aforesaid, for and in consideration of the foregoing stipulations and provisions,
do hereby agree, in the name and behalf of their Nation, to give up, and
they do hereby surrender, to the United States, and agree to leave the same
within fourteen months, as herein before stipulated, all the lands to which
they are entitled in Arkansas, and which were secured to them by the Treaty
of 8th January, 1817, and the Convention of the 27th February, 1819
ART. 8. The Cherokee Nation, West of the Mississippi
having, by this agreement, freed themselves from the harassing and ruinous
effects consequent upon a location amidst a white population, and secured
to themselves and their posterity, under the solemn sanction of the guarantee
of the United States, as contained in this agreement, a large extent of
unembarrassed country; and that their Brothers yet remaining in the States
may be induced to join them and enjoy the repose and blessings of such a
State in the future, it is further agreed, on the part of the United States,
that to each Head of a Cherokee family now residing within the chartered
limits of Georgia, or of either of the States, East of the Mississippi, who
may desire to remove West, shall be given, on enrolling himself for emigration,
a good Rifle, a Blanket, and Kettle, and five pounds of Tobacco: (and to
each member of his family one Blanket,) also, a just compensation for the
property he may abandon, to be assessed by persons to be appointed by the
President of the United States. The cost of the emigration of all such shall
also be borne by the United States, and good and suitable ways opened, and
provisions procured for their comfort, accommodation, and support, by the
way, and provisions for twelve months after their arrival at the Agency;
and to each person, or head of a family, if he take along with him four persons,
shall be paid immediately on his arriving at the Agency and reporting himself
and his family or followers, as emigrants and permanent settlers, in addition
to the above, provided he and they shall have emigrated from within the Chartered
limits of the State-of Georgia, the sum of fifty dollars and this sum in
proportion to any greater or less number that may accompany him from within
the aforesaid Chartered limits of the State of Georgia.
ART. 9. It is understood and agreed by the parties
to this Convention, that a Tract of Land, two miles wide and six miles long,
shall be, and the same is hereby, reserved for the use and benefit of the
United States, for the accommodation of the military force which is now,
or which may hereafter be, stationed at Fort Gibson, on the Neasho, or Grand
River, to commence on said River half a mile below the aforesaid Fort, and
to run thence due East two miles, thence Northwardly six miles, to a point
which shall be two mile distant from the River aforesaid, thence due West
to the said River, and down it to the place of beginning. And the Cherokees
agree that the United States shall have and possess the right of establishing
a road through their country for the purpose of having a free and unmolested
way to and from said Fort.
ART. 10. It is agreed that Captain James Rogers,
in consideration of his having lost a horse in the service of the United
States, and for services rendered by him to the United States, shall be paid,
in full for the above, and all other claims for losses and services, the
sum of Five Hundred Dollars.
ART. 11. This Treaty to be binding on the contracting parties so soon as
it is ratified by the President of the United States, by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate.
Done at the place, and on the day and year above written.
James Barbour, [L. S.]
Black Fox, his x mark, [L. S.]
Thomas Graves, his x mark, [L. S.]
George Guess,a [L. S.]
Thomas Maw,a [L. S.]
George Marvis,a [L. S.]
John Looney,a [L. S.]
John Rogers, [L. S.]
J. W. Flawey, counsellor of Del. [L. S.]
Chiefs of the delegation.
Witnesses:
Thos. L. McKenney,
James Rogers, interpreter,
D. Kurtz,
H. Miller,
Thomas Murray,
D. Brown, secretary Cherokee delegation,
Pierye Pierya,
E.W. Duval, United States agent, etc.
Ratified with the following proviso:
"Provided, nevertheless, that the said convention shall not be so construed
as to extend the northern boundary of the 'perpetual outlet west', provided
for and guaranteed in the second article of said convention, north of the
thirty-sixth degree of north latitude, or so as to interfere with the lands
assigned, or to be assigned, west of the Mississippi river, to the Creek
Indians who have emigrated, or may emigrate, from the States of Georgia and
Alabama, under the provisions of any treaty or treaties heretofore concluded
between the United States and the Creek tribe of Indians; and provided further,
That nothing in the said convention shall be construed to cede or assign
to the Cherokees any lands heretofore ceded or assigned to any tribe or tribes
of Indians, by any treaty now existing and in force, with any such tribe
or tribes."
_____________________________________________________________
a Written by the signers in their language, and in the characters
now in use among them, as discovered by George Guess.
DEPARTMENT OF WAR,
31st May, 1828.
To the Hon. HENRY CLAY,
Secretary of State:
SIR: I have the honor to transmit, herewith, the acceptance of the terms,
by the Cherokees, upon which the recent convention with the was ratified.
You will have the goodness to cause the same to be attached to the treaty,
and published with it.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
SAM'L. L. SOUTHARD.
_______
COUNCIL ROOM, WILLIAMSON'S HOTEL,
Washington, May 31st, 1828.
To the SECRETARY OF WAR
Washington City:
SIR: The undersigned, chiefs of the Cherokee nation, west of the Mississippi,
for and in behalf of said nation, hereby agree to, and accept of, the terms
upon which the Senate of the United States ratified the convention, concluded
at Washington on the sixth day of May, 1828, between the United States and
said nation.
In testimony whereof, they hereunto subscribe their names and affix their
seals.
Thomas Graves, his x mark, [L. S.]
George Maw, his x mark, [L. S.]
George Guess, his x mark, [L. S.]
Thomas Marvis, his x mark, [L. S.]
John Rogers. [L. S.]
Signed and sealed in the presence of--
E. W. Duval, United States agent, etc.
Thomas Murray,
James Rogers, interpreter.
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