The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1845-08-18
THE DAILY UNION

for the lands eeded in the first and second articles hereof
TO gipe TO THAT PORTION OF THE CHEROKEE NATION
| ON THE Arkansas, as much land ON said rirer and
White rper, they hare, on may hereafter receive from
he Cherokee nation east Of the Mississippi ACRE FOR
ACRE. as the just proportion due that part Of the nation
on The .4rkansas agreedbiy 10 their numbers"
| The same article then describes the boundaries of
the country thus coded, and makes the lower or
eastern line commence "on the north side of Ar
kansas river, at the mouth of Point Remove or
Budwell's old place; thence by straight line north
wardly, TO strike Chatauga mountain, the hill
above Shields ferry, on White rver.r The west
ern boundary is left open, for the obvious reason
that the quantity of land required to be given by
! the treaty could not then be ascertained. All the
interest conveyed by this cesson is clearly vested
in the ,cesfern Cherokees The treaty itselfis in the
nature of a s'deed of partition and exchange to
which there three parties. The Cherokees, I'M
der the names of "Cherokee nation east" and
"Cherokees of Arkansas" agree to divide all the
land then held by them In common, and all their
annutes accruing from sales under former treaties
which should thereafter be held separately by each
party, in proportion TO their number The "western
party" then stipulates and agrees with the United
States TO exchange its portion of the country OBJ
tanned by this division, FOR country of equal ex-
tent in Arkansas which arrangement the eastern
partyo assents, and the contract is consummated
From that time the eastern and western Cherokees
became distinct and separate nations holding no
single interest in common.
cannot now refer 10 the records; nut, as near as
can recoect, there were about three thousand
Cherokees residing in the Indian country in Arkan
sas, at the time the treaty of 1917 was concluded
Us early as 1873 VIM. LEWIS LOVELY tcds appointed
agent for the trestern Cherokees; and ever since that
time an agent has been keptn that nation by the Uni
ted States, who treated it independent tribe, hav
ing more connection with the Cherokee nation east
than with the Creeks or Choctaws. TAn-KAH.To-KA,
a full-blooded Cherokee, and who headed the first
party of emigrants to the west of the Mississippi,
was the chief of the western nation when the first
! agent was sent among them He was an Indian of
much sagacity, and had great distinction and inhu-
ence even among the northern tribes. He the first
man, tohite or red who suggested the scheme of
cooniSing all the Indian tribes iohin The United States
and Canada IN country by themselves, west of the
MlssIssippi and it was then, and is now, the pre-
| vailing impression among those who knew his
movements, that he would have accomplished his
object if he had lived few years longer. He was
returning from mission among the northern tribes,
and was on his way to Washington city, for the
purpose of divuging his plans to the President and
entering into negotiation with this government,
when he took sick and died on the road-some time,
think, in the year 1916.
The treaty of 1877 opened such wide door for
emigration and so many Cherokees Of high stand
ing and influence in the nation declared their nen-
ton to join their western brethren that the eastern
people, who desired TO retain their country east Of
the Mississippi, and settle themselves down perma-
nently as cuitivators of the soil, became alarmed
and in the winter of 1918, they sent delegation to
the seat Of government, for the purpose of settling
defntively the conditions of the treaty of 1877 and
closing forever all connection between them and the
western Cherokee nation Mr.. Calhoun, Secretary
! of War, commenced negotiation with this delega-
ton; and on the 9th February, 1919, entered into
"artcles of convention" for the accomplishment OF
the objects above expressed which contained in
the preamble, in the following words:
"Whrsas greater part of the Cherokee nation
hayn tl,s
side of the Mississippi; and being desirous in order
to commence those measures which they deem
necessary to the civilization and preservation OF
their nation, that the treaty between the United
i States and them, signed the eighth day Of July,
eighteen hundred and seventeen, might, without fur
Their teay trouble, expense Of taking the CEN
sus as stipulated in said treaty, be finally adusted,
have offered to cede to the United States tract of
country at least extensive that which they
probably entitled to under its provisions, the
tracing parties have agreed to and concluded the fol-
Il lowing articles"
II For TIE purpose, evidently, Of putting stop for
erer to further cesson of the lands upon which
they and their fathers were born, and which had
been gradually diminishing the treaty Of peace,
by the graspng propensity of the white man, from
countless acres to small territory, the Cherokee
nation Of Indians east of the Mississippi made a
large, and, as they supposed, last cesson of land
to the United States by the first article of the above
! treaty convention, which is infinitely described
by metes and bounds; and the CONSIDERATION is
proclaimed follows in the concluding part of that
article:
at is further agreed and understood by the said
parties, that the lands hereby ceded by the Cherokee
nation are in fill Satisfaction of all claims ,c,ic the
United States haze sm account Of cesson TO a
PART OF THEIR NATION, tCh0 hare, may hereafter
emgraie 10 tie arkansas; and this treaty Is FINAL
ADJUSTMENT of that Of Sth Of July, 1917"
The sole parties to this treaty are the United
States and the Cherokee nation east of the Msss-
4 sippi river. The nation then established in Arkan-
sas had nothing to do with it, Is it not, therefore,
manifest declaration, the part of the contract
ing parties, that the cession of lands west of the
Mississippi was made to that portion of the nation
designated as the WESTERN CHERoKEEs, and not to
the WHOLE nation To show conclusvey that the
western Cherokees were already recognised as a
distinct nation, who could not be bound without
their consent need only refer to the sixth article,
which provides for division of the annuities due
the whole nation under former treaties, by paying
thereafter .t,co-thrds the Cherokees east of the
Mississippi and one-third to the Cherokees west Of
that rver" This article contains the following saving
clause: "Bu It the Cherokees tcest Of The Mississippi OBJ
JEcT TO this distribution, of which due notice shall be
given them, before the expiration of one year
after the ratification of this treaty. then the census
solely for distributing the annuity, shall be taken
at such times and in such manner the President
of the United States may designate" The western
Cherokees" did not object, but accepted of the
terms of the treaty; and from that period up to the
time their rights were usurped by the provisions OF
the treaty of 1885, the annutes were distributed in
the above proportion, and the western Cherokees'
were treated by the United States and their eastern
brethren as separate, distinct, and Independent ma
tione exclusive ooners Of the country 'cesi, guar
anted 10 them in The most solemn manner by treaty.
| have now shown, within as brief a compass as
possible, how the old Cherokee nation became dvi-
ded, and who the people are, now claiming under
the name Of ''old Settlers" "western Chero-
KEGS" for COUNTRY forcibly taken from them, in
violation of the most solemn pledges which can be
made by treaty compact. The "old settlers" are
the pioneers who first penetrated the wilds of the Far
West from the tribes Of the east, and were the first
cutvators of the soil on the extreme western Dor
der of your extended territory. They opened a
new door for the entrance of the white man. and in
a few years they again found themselves surround
ed and annoyed by the intrusion of white settlers
On the other hand, the government of the United
States manifested desire to obtain the lands they
- =. IL O..