Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1895-11-27
HAYWOOD'S
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE
CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK.

President made no complaint respect
ing the line as established by the treaty
of Holston. except that they wished
the ridge Letween the Tennessee and
Little River. to be the line in prefer
ence to straight line from the place
where the ridge struck tho Holston.
The settlers south of the ridge did not
suffer by the Indians since the treaty
of llolston, except Mr.. Gillespie, who
on the 18th of September had been
killed, and another made prisoner by
the Creeks who never claimed foot of
land on the north side of the Tennessee
The depredations before the decara
tion of war, and the attack since were
on the people of Nero district. The
conduct of the Creeks must have been
occasioned by other motives than those
resulting from claim of boundary.
If the Cherokees ever had claim it
was extinguished by two treaties, those
of Hopewell and of Holston. at the
last of which valuable consideration
was paid in hand, and since that time
tn" first annual payment has been
made and principally received by the
inhabitants of the five lower towns.
who have declared war against the
United States The claim of the Chero.
KEGS to the land lying on Cumberland
is recent. Richard Henderson and
company purchased from them their
claim to these lands. as well as nearly
all those included within the present
limits of Kentucky. And they told
Henderson positively that they did not
sell him any right for they had none,
but only their claim. At the confer
ence with the Choctaws and Chicka
saws at Nashville, in August, 1909, the
latter claimed in strong terms all the
lands north of the Tennessee, and be.
low the Old field, where a part of their
nation formerly lived, and eastward!y
as far as the head waters of Duck and
Elk, and to the ridge that divides Cum
berland and Duck. And james Carey.
the interpreter, said, that upon the re-
turn of the Cherokees. who were at
that conference, and who had a literal
copy of the minutes, they caused it to
be read and explained to the chiefs at
Estanaula, and they confessed that the
Chickasaw claim was just. The Chicka.
saws ayerred that they and not The
Cherokees, ceded to the United
States the lands lying south of the
ridge. which divides the waters of Cum.
berland and Duck Rivers, that is. the
lands lying on the waters of Cumber-
land River, and 80 they did bv treaty
held at Nashville, in the year 1888, by
Coils. Donaldson and Martin, commits.
sioners from the State of Virginia, two
years prior to the treaty of Hopewell,
by which the Cherokees ceded them.
This treaty was probably never report.
ed to Congress. If the Cherokees ever
had any well founded claim to the
lands on Cumberland, they did by two
public treaties cede them to the United
States, ard have been once paid for
them by an individual, Col Henderson.
who if he could not acquire title to his
own use, the right of the Cherokees
was nevertheless divested for the use
of the public. The first settlers on
Cumberland River came thither under
Henderson s purchase, by virtue of the
Cherokee deeds made to him and his
associates.
The numerous depredations commit
ted in this year, he thought, showed
clearly that more Indians than the
lower Cherokee towns were engaged in
them, and the necessity Of building
Notifications on the frontiers. He in
formed the secretary of war that the
Indians had failed to send their com.
missioners in October, 1909, to run the
boundary line agreed on by the treaty
of Holston. The commissioners of the
United States ran the line from Clnch
to Chilhowee. which left out eight or
nine plantations on Nine mile Creek.
unless made to strike near the mouth
OF Clinch. These settlements were
made before the treaty of Holston.
which, however, he said, is now dis
solved by the war which they have de-
clared. He proposed to the secretary
to send Carey into the Creek nation in
the disguise of friend, to discover
what they intended. 1t is not improper
here to adduce fact respecting the
claims of the Cherokees, which proba.
bly, Gov. Blount had not acquired the
knowledge OF at the time he made this
communication to the secretary of war.
Col. Croghan, in October 1881, had
resided among the Indians in the char
acter of a deputy superintendent, and
seems to have possessed more general
knowledge of the state of their claims
and the history of their wars, than any
other who has been drawn into public
observation. In this year, 1881, it be.
came important to ascertain the true
boundaries of the Six Nations, and
Col. Croghan was applied to as being
the person best qualified to give the
necessary information. He made a
deposition, by which it appears the Six
Nations claimed all the land on the
southeast side of the Ohio, down to the
Cherokee River. which they ceded at
the treaty of Fort Stainwix, held by