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:
| COLONIAL PERIOD. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Date and designation of Cherokee Treaties. | Description of cession. | Color. |
| 1 | Treaty of 1721 with South Carolina. | Tract in South Carolina between Santee, Saluda, and Edisto Rivers | Red. |
| 2 | Treaty of Nov. 24, 1755, with South Carolina. | Tract in South Carolina between Wateree and Savannah Rivers. | Blue. |
| 3 | Treaty of Oct. 14, 1768, with British Superintendent of Indian Affairs. | Tract in Southwestern Virginia. | Mauve. |
| 4 | Treaty of Oct. 18, 1770, at Lochaber, S.C. | Tract in Virginia, West Virginia, Northeastern Tennessee, and Eastern Kentucky, which is overlapped by No. 7. | Red. |
| 5 | Treaty of 1772 with Virginia. | Tract in Virginia, West Virginia, and Eastern Kentucky. | Yellow. |
| 6 | Treaty of June 1, 1773, with British Superintendent of Indian Affairs. | Tract in Georgia, north of Broad River. | Mauve. |
| 7 | Treaty of March 17, 1775, with Richard Henderson et al. | Tract in Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee (overlaps No. 4). | Blue. |
| 8 | Treaty of May 20, 1777, with South Carolina and Georgia. | Tract in Northwestern South Carolina. | Red. |
| 9 | Treaty of July 20, 1777, with Virginia and North Carolina. | Tract in Western North Carolina and Northeastern Tennessee. | Green. |
| 10 | Treaty of May 31, 1783, with Georgia. | Tract in Georgia, between Oconee and Tugaloo Rivers. | Green. |
| FEDERAL PERIOD. | |||
| No. | Date and designation of Cherokee Treaties. | Description of cession. | Color. |
| 10a | Treaty of Nov. 28, 1785, with United States. | Tract in Western North Carolina. | Yellow. |
| 10b | do | Tract in Southern and Western Kentucky and Northern Tennessee. | Green. |
| 11 | Treaty of July 2, 1791, with United States. | Tract in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. | Brown. |
| 12 | Treaty of Oct. 2, 1798, with United States. | Tract in Tennessee, between Hawkins' Line, Tennessee River and Chilhowee Mountain. | Red. |
| 13 | do | Tract in North Carolina, between Pickens and Meigs line. | Red. |
| 14 | do | Tract in Tennessee, between Clinch River and Cumberland Mountain. | Red. |
| 15 | Treaty of Oct. 24, 1804, with United States. | Tract in Georgia, known as Wafford's Settlement. | Red. |
| 16 | Treaty of Oct. 25, 1805, with United States. | Tract in Kentucky and Tennessee, west of Tennessee River and Cumberland Mountain. | Yellow. |
| 17 | Treaty of Oct. 27, 1805, with United States. | Tract in Tennessee of one section at Southwest Point. | Green. |
| 18 | do | First island in Tennessee River above the mouth of Clinch River. | Mauve. |
| 19 | Treaty of Jan. 7, 1806, with United States. | Tract in Tennessee and Alabama, between Tennessee and Duck Rivers. | Red. |
| 20 | do | Long or Great Island in Holston | Red. |
| 21 | Treaty of Mar. 22, 1816, with United States. | Tract in northwest corner of South Carolina. | Blue. |
| 22 | Treaty of Sept. 14, 1816, with United States. | Tract in Alabama and Mississippi. | Green. |
| 23 | Treaty of July 8, 1817, with United States. | Tract in Northeastern Georgia. | Yellow. |
| 24 | do | Tract in Southern Tennessee. | Green. |
| 25 | do | Tract in Northern Alabama, between Cypress and Elk Rivers. | Blue. |
| 26 | do | Tract in Northern Alabama, above mouth of Spring Creek on Tennessee River. | Blue. |
| 27 | Treaty of Feb. 27, 1819, with United States. | Tract in Northern Alabama and Southern Tennessee. | Yellow. |
| 28 | do | Tract in Southern Tennessee, on Tennessee River. | Red. |
| 29 | do | Tract in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia. | Mauve. |
| 30 | do | Jolly's Island, in Tennessee River. | Red. |
| 31 | do | Small tract in Tennessee, at and below the mouth of Clinch River. | Green. |
| 32 | do | Tract of 12 miles square, on Tennessee River, in Alabama. | Mauve. |
| 33 | do | Tract of 1 mile square, in Tennessee, at foot of Cumberland Mountain. | Green. |
| 34 | do | Tract of 1 mile square, at Cherokee Talootiske's residence. | Green. |
| 35 | do | Tract of 3 square miles, opposite mouth of Hiwassee River. | Green. |
| 36 | Treaty of Dec. 29, 1835, with United States. | Tract in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee, being all remaining lands east of the Mississippi River. | Blue. |
| 37 | Treaty of May 6, 1828, with United States. | This treaty was with the Cherokees residing west of the Mississippi, and they ceded the lands in Arkansas granted them by treaties of 1817 and 1819, receiving in exchange a tract further west.These latter boundaries were subsequently modified and enlarged by the treaties of Feb. 14, 1833, and Dec. 29, 1835. | Green. |
| 38 | Treaty of July 19, 1866, with United States. | Tract known as "Neutral Land," in Kansas, ceded in trust to be sold by the United States for the benefit of the Cherokees. | Red. |
| 39 | do | Tract known as "Cherokee Strip," in Kansas, ceded in trust to be sold for the benefit of the Cherokees by the United States. | Yellow. |
| 40 | do | Tract sold to Osages. | Green. |
| 41 | do | Tract sold to Kansas or Kaws. | Red. |
| 42 | do | Tract sold to Pawnees. | Red. |
| 43 | do | Tract sold to Poncas. | Red. |
| 44 | do | Tract sold to Nez Percés. | Yellow. |
| 45 | do | Tract sold to Otoes and Missourias. | Yellow. |
| 46 | Present country of the Cherokees east of 96° W. longitude. | This is the country now actually occupied and to be permanently retained by the Cherokees. | Red. |
| 47 | Present country of the Cherokees west of 96° W. longitude. | This is the remnant of the country dedicated by the treaty of July 19, 1866, to the location of other friendly tribes. The Cherokees retain their title to and control over it until actual purchase by and location of other tribes thereon. | Blue. |
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.