This Day in Chickamauga History - January 9
The Chickamauga are not Cherokee - see The Rosetta Stone of The Chickamauga Nation
Thomas Jefferson Land Trade Treaty with the Lower Town Chickamauga
1809, January 9: Letter From Thomas Jefferson to Cherokee Deputation -
My Children Depities of the Cherokees of the Upper & lower Towns
I understand, by the speeches which you have delivered Me, that there is a difference of disposition among the people of both parts of your Nation. Some of them desiring to remain on their lands, to betake themselves to Agriculture, and the industrious occupations of civilised life, while others, retaining their attachment to the hunter life, & having little game on their present lands, are desirous to remove across the Mississippi, to some of the vacant lands of the U.S., where game is abundant I am pleased to find so many disposed to insure, by the cultivation of the earth, a plentiful subsistence to their families, & to improve their minds by education: but I do not blame those who, having been brought up from their infancy to the pursuit of game, desire still to follow it to distant countries. I know how difficult it is for men to change the habits in which they have been raised. The U.S., my Children, are the friends of both parties, and, as far as can reasonably be asked, they will be willing to satisfy the wishes of both. those who remain may be assured of our patronage, our aid, & good neighborhood. those who wish to remove, are permitted to send an exploring party to reconnoitre the country on the waters of the Arkansas & White River, & the higher up the better, as they will be the longer unapproached by our Settlements, which will begin at the mouths of those Rivers. the regular Districts of the Government of St. Louis are already laid off to the St. Francis. when this party shall have found a tract of country suiting the emigrants, & not claimed by other Indians, we will arrange with them and you the exchange of that for a just portion of the country they leave, & to a part of which proportioned to their numbers they have a right. every aid towards their removal, and what will be necessary for them there, will then be freely administered to them. and, when established in their new settlements, we shall still consider them as our children, give them the benefit of exchanging their peltries for what they will want at our factories, & always hold them firmly by the hand.
I will, now, my Children, proceed to answer your kind address on my retiring from the Government. sensible that I am become too old, to watch over the extensive concerns of the seventeen States, and their territories, I requested my fellow Citizens to permit me to retire, to live with my family, & to chuse another President for themselves, and Father for you. they have done so: and in a short time I shall retire, & resign into his hands the care of your, & our concerns. be assured my Children that he will have the same friendly dispositions towards you which I have had, & that you will find in him a true & affectionate Father. indeed this is now the disposition of all our people towards you. they look upon you as brethren, born in the same land, and having the same interests. tell your people therefore to entertain no uneasiness on account of this Change, for there will be no change as to them. deliver to them my Adieux, and my prayers to the Great Spirit for their happiness. tell them that, during my administration, I have held their hand fast in mine, & that I will put it into the hand of their new Father, who will hold it as I have done.
Th: Jefferson -
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/99-01-02-9498
1809, January 9: Logan, C. R., (1997): The Promised Land: The Cherokees, Arkansas, and Removal, 1794-1839; Published by the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program: An agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage - Page 8 – 9 - Thus, in his January 9, 1809, letter to Cherokee chiefs, Jefferson suggested the Lower Towns Cherokees “reconnoitre ... the Arkansas and White Rivers -- and the higher up the better.” If they “found a tract of country suiting,” Jefferson added, .24 they might “exchange” equal amounts of their eastern lands for it A Cherokee delegation, sponsored by the government, visited Arkansas in the summer of 1809 and returned with favorable reviews of the area25
The attempt at tribal unity and the agreement for strict monitoring of all land deals threatened to thwart several years of Meigs’ work. However, he still had support from Tolontuskee, who remained convinced that removal was best for his people. In 1808, Tolontuskee wrote Jefferson of his determination “to cross the river towards the West. Our bad brothers may dispute, but with me 12 towns go.” 26 He kept his word, and in 1809 he presented Meigs with a list of more than 1,000 Cherokees for removal. On the cusp of his first large-scale success, Meigs discovered the money he promised for removal was not forthcoming; James Madison’s presidential administration altered Jefferson’s Indian policy, adopting a more “cautious” approach, including a withdrawal of Jefferson’s promise to pay for removals. Tolontuskee and some 1,200 Cherokees nevertheless emigrated to Arkansas at their own expense. The group took with it more than 1,000 cattle, hundreds of horses and pigs, and dozens of spinning wheels, looms and plows. The party also included 68 black slaves. Meigs’ only provisions to the emigrants were a blanket to each traveler and a gun to each man.27
Most of Tolontuskee’s people traveled by flatboat down the Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi rivers and settled in makeshift camps near the villages of the “St. Francis”
Cherokees. They drove their livestock “straight overland,” probably crossing the Mississippi River into Arkansas from Lower Chickasaw Bluff, site of present-day
Memphis.28 Among the group were many of the Lower Towns’ poorer members, and they struggled to survive on the limited resources Tolontuskee could provide. Since the flight of the Bowl in 1794, the eastern Cherokees tended to view their western counterparts with disdain. In 1808, eastern Cherokees exacerbated the rift between the two factions by refusing to share annuities from treaties. This left the Cherokees already residing in Arkansas little to share with the new arrivals. Tolontuskee petitioned Meigs for relief. With this denied, he then requested a trade of his lands in Alabama for property along the Arkansas River, where he and his people might settle permanently.29 His pleas were to no avail. The Arkansas Tolontuskee and his followers found in 1810 was far from “the promised land of the Cherokee future" he would later claim it to be.30
1827, January 9: ARKANSAS TERRITORIAL PAPERS VOL XX – Page 362 - H. ATKINSON Br Gn. U. S. Army -
. . . -Besides the Osages claim a set off against the murder, A Cherokee, by the name of Dutch, having, a few months ago, killed an Osage Indian. The Cherokees acknowledge the fact but deny any responsibility, as Dutch belongs to a party of Cherokees who have separated from the Arkansas Band, and reside on Red River; Dutch and this party, however, belonged to the Arkansas Band when the treaty was made & was a party to it.
On Grave's being informed that the matter would be reported to the President, who would no doubt order steps to be taken that would be satisfactory. He has promised to remain quiet till the pleasure of the President is known-But at the same time says that he will take satisfaction on the Osages if the government do not give it to him. He contends that it is but just, and that the Osage prisoner must die for the offence-And that if Dutch has committed the murder alleged against him, let him die also-He will agree to no set off's. He says that holding the Osage prisoner in Custody at Cant. Gibson amounts to giving him protection, and insists that he be given up to the Cherokees, executed by the military, or set at liberty-In the latter event the Cherokees would seek their own redress without appeal to the authorities of the U. States. 84
As Gen1 Gaines is absent from dept. Head Qu8, on a Tour of inspection, I address myself directly to you, with a request that the subject may be laid before the Comdr in Chief, that orders may be given, touching the matter, as early as practicable.
With great respect Sir, I have the honor to be Your Mo. ob. St
H. ATKINSON Br Gn. U. S. Army
Co 1 JONES. Adj. Gn 1 U.S. Army Washington City-
[Endorsed] Saint Louis Jany 9. 1827 Br Gn H. Atkinson U. S. Army. Reports as to the demand of Graves, a Cherokee Chief for the delivery of an Osage (now prisoner) at Cant. Gibson) who killed a Cherokee in virtue of Treaty between the two latter The Subject is communicated for instructions.
(Respectfully referred to the Secty of War.) Jay 30. 1827