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for her deliverance —when, in 1789
he crossed the Bridge of Trenton ,
on which classic spot the hands c
freemen “reared for him triumph; 1 .:
bowers.” while a choir of innocents,
with seraph chaunt, “welcomed the
jnighty Chief once more,” and “vir
gins lair, and matrons grave, strewed
the hero’s way with (lowers.”
The journey of the first P sident
to the Seat of Government was one
continued triumph; but no where
was it of so feeling a character as at
the bridge if Trenton. That was
indeed a classic ground. It was
there, on a frozen surface, that, in
1776, was achieved the glorious
event which restored the fast-lailing
fortunes of Liberty, and gave to her
drooping eagles a renewed and bold
er flight. What a contrast to the
Chief must have been this spot in
1789, when no longer “a mercenary
foe aimed’ against him the fatal blow,”
when no more was beared the roar
of combat, the shouts of the victors,
the groans of the dying —but the
welcome of thousands to Liberty’s
great Defender, the heartfelt homage
of freemen to the Deliverer of his
country. The President alighted
from his carriage, and approached
the bridge uncovered. As he pass
ed under the triurr phal arch, a cherub
perched amid its foliage, crowned him
with laurel which will never fade,
while seraph strains from angel min
strelsy sweetly filled the air, as the
Hero trod on his way of flowers.
Washington shed tears '.
The merit of these appropriate
and classical decorations is due to
the late Mrs. Stockton, of Pnnbcton
a lady of literary acquirements, and
refined taste. She was familiarly
called the Duchess, from her elegance
and dignity of manners ; was a most
ardent patriot during the war of the
Revolution, and, with the Stockton
family, was marked for persecution
on the ruthless invasion of the Jer
seys. This distinguished lady was
the grand-mother of Mr. Secretary
Rush who is “doubly blessed” in Ins
Revolutionary ancestry ; both bi
father and grand lather having sign
ed the Declaration of Independence
—a most honored distinction, and,
we believe, enjoyed by no other cit
izen of our extensive American
■Empire.
Georgia and the United States.
HOUSE OF REPRESENT
ATIVES.
March 3, 1327.
The Select Committee, to which
were referred a Message of tne
President of the United States, of
the sth inst. with accompanying
documents, ami a Message ot the
Bth instant, with accompanying
documents; also, a Report and
Resolutions of the Legislature of
Georgia, with accompanying doc
uments; also, a Joint Resolution to
indemnify the Creek Indi ms
for the land lying between the
Chatahouchie River and the di
viding line between Georgia and
Alabama: also, a Message oi the
President, with accompanying doc
uments, ot’ 2d March, have had
those subjects under considera
tion, and beg leave to report as
follows:
The civilized nations of Europe,
who, at different periods, discover
ed and settled the various portions
of the American continent, founded,
principally, on the right of discovery
a claim to the Sovereignty over the
Regions so discovered. This claim
of sovereignty does not appear, at
least in the case of the English Gov
ernment, to have extended, itself,
beyond an exclusion of the claims
of other nations. The Committee
are not aware, that the English Gov
ernment, or its Representatives, the
Colonial Governments, ever assum
ed, in virtue of this claim of sover
eignty, to exercise the power of in
ternal legislation over the persons
who composed the various Indian
tribes, within the regions to which
the claim of sovereignty extended.
These tribes were, on the contrary,
consid red and treated as separate,
and, to a certain degree, indepen
dent nations. A friendly inter
course with them was kept up by
means of conferences and councils,
boundaries, the right to establish and
maintain military posts, and occa
sionally the right of passage were
malt er ot stipulation, by forma! con
ventions, entered into between the
Crown or Colonies on the one hand
am*, the Chiefs and Warriors of the
tribesonthe other. When th, pro
visions ot’ these treaties were bro
ken by the Indian tribes, or when,
in any other way, a state of hostili
ty arose, wars ensued, as between
separate civilized countries, and
these wars were concluded by trea
ty. No doubt, m the most early pe
riods of our history, and in reference
to the remnants of tribes, which had
ceased to have a separate existence,
transactions may have occurred,
which imply a different principle of
action, on the part of the British or
Colonial Governments; but it is be
lieved, that no attempt was ever
made nV thos* Governments, or Any
oi them, to incorporate the Indian
tribes into the body politic, or to
carry the right of sovereignty lar
ther.than to exclude the suveriegn
ty of other free States, and to regu-
Jate, at discretion, the intercourse
with the tribes thus subjected.
In the like manner, the European
Governments claimed, by virtue of
discovery, a right in the soil, occupied,
by the Indian tribes. It is not neces
sary, nor perhaps possible, to define
the precise extent to which this claim
was carried, in all instances. It is
well known, however, that it was a
claim of a right of pre-emption re*
siding in the Government. By vari
ous public and legislative acts, indi
viduals were disqualified from ac
quiring a title to Indian lands, by di
rect purchase of the Indians; and
the Government recognized a right
of occupancy in the Indians, which it
claimed to itself the exclusive prero
gative of extingushing. This well
known fact has received the sanc
tion of judicial decision, (Bth Whea
ton,) in the case of Johnson and Gra
ham’s Lessees vs. Mclntosh. Such
was the state of things before the
Revolution.
In the event of the war of Inde
pendence, the rights of the British
Government devolved upon the Uni
ted States. But a grave question
arose, whether, in reference to the
Indian tribes within the limits of any
State, the right of exclusive sover
eignty and exclusive pre-emption,
formerly vested in the Crown, pass
ed, in virtue of the Declaration of
In lepcndencc, to the Confederation
of States, or to the ind vidual States,
respectively, within the limits of
which each tribe was situated. On
the one hand, it was contended, that
the right to the unoccupied lands,
and, what was considered the same
thing, the land occupied by the In
dians, havmg originally resided in
that Government, which was com
mon to all the Colonies, and having
been conquered from that Govern
ment, at the joint expense and ef
fortsofall thc g Colonies, passedto the
Confederation; on the other hand,
it was urged, that each state, becom
ing independent, succeeded, within
its owe limits, to all the rights for
merly vested in the Crown.
The controversies growing out ol
this difference <4 opinion, were of
the most serious character. They
were one chief cause, which retarded
the adoption ot the articles of Con
federation, they foimed the subject
ol some of the most embarrassing
questions, which were presented to
the consideration of the Continental
Congress.
The difficulties thus rising were ol
too great magnitude to be settled,
by any positive decision in favor of
either party. They were practical
ly obviated, by successive act- of
cession, on the part of the States,
laying claim to ext'-nsive tracts of
unoccupied Western lands. Tne
conditions on which thes cessions
were made, by the different States,
were not uniform; nor did Congress,
in accepting these cessions, admit
that, without them, the Confedera
cy would have possessed no title to
the unoccupied lands. It was a set
tlement by coinpromise, between
conflicting parties, whose interests
were too important to admit of any
other mode of adjustment.
Georgia was the only State, having
large claims to unoccupied land on
her Western frontier, which did not
either before or shortly after the
adoption oftlic Federal Constitution,
make such a cession to the United
Stat« s. Resolutions were r peatedlv
adopted by (he old Congress, recom
mending to her a cession, on tlx
*anie principles on n Inch t tie ce -sions
ot the other States, and particularly
Virginia, had been made. In the
year 1788, Georgia offered to Con
gress a cession ot land comm ncinu
on the Chatahouchie river, at her
Southern boundary, running up that
river one hundred and fifty miles,
thence, due West to the Mississippi]
—a tract comprehending ttie lower
halt’ of the present States of Alabama
and the Mississippi. Several con
ditions were attached to this cession,
among others that of a guarantee t >
Georgia of all the remainder of the
unoccupied lands, which she claimed
'o the West. These conditions wen
not satisfactory to Congress, and
the cession was not accepted.
In 1795 the Legislature of Geor
gia proceeded to make extensive
sales of th- unoccupied lands on her
Western frontier. Great embarrass
ments arose, relative tothc titles ac
quired under tin . ■ sales: and at
length, in 1802, a compromise was
entered into between Gt orgia and
the United States, in virtue ot' which
and on conditions mutuality accepta
ble, Georgia ceded to the United
States all her right and title. West
ward of a certain line; and the United
States ceded to Georgia all the
claim, right and title, of the United
States, to the jurisdiction and sod ot
the territory East of the said line,
assuming, at the same time, the ob
ligation of extinguishing the Indian
title to all the lauds East of the said
line, as soon as it could be done “pea
ceably and on reasonable terms.” —
I hese articles of cession were con
cluded between the Commissioners
ot the United Statesand those ot
Georgia, on the 24th April. 1802.
At this time the Occo ee river for
med the Eastern boundary of the
Creek Indians, and the quantity of
land occupied by them in Georgia
amounted to 19,578,890 acres.
In pursuance of the compact ot
1802, and about a few months after
its conclusion, a treaty was made
b< twe n the Un.ted State- ami thi
Creck.s, by which a purtipn of land
GEORGIA STATESMAN, MONDAY, MARCH 26, 1827.
was ceded by the Indians; and a still i
larger portion, by another treaty,
concluded in 1805. By these two
treaties, there were ceded to the
United States, for the benefit oi
Georgia, 2,713,890 acres of land.
In the course of the late war, a
part of the Creeks were excited to
hostilities against the United States.
Having been vanquished by the va
lor and conduct ot' General Jackson
and his troops, a treaty was conclud
ed, by which a considerable cession
of lands was made to Georgia, and
the integrity of all their remaining
lands was guarantied to the Creeks.
By a treaty concluded in 1818, an
other cession was made of two large
tracts of land; and, by the treaty of
1821, y t another cession was made
by which the Flint and the Chatta
houchie became the Eastern bounda
ry of the Creeks. By the three last
mentioned cessions 11.735,599 acres
of land were acquired by Georgia,
mak.ng, together with those obtain
ed, under the two first cessions, an
aggregate of 14,748.690 acres, be
ing about two thirds of all the lands
po.-sessed by the Creeks, in the
State of Georgia, at the date of th'
Convention of 1802 At the same
date, the Cherokees were in posses
sion of 7,152.110 acres of laud, with
in the chartered ami conventional
limits of the State of Georgia. Two
treaties have been held bv the Uni
ted States with the Cherokees, ii
pursuance of the compact of 1802,
by which 995,310 acres of land have
been acquired to Georgia.
In 1822 a sum oi $20,000 was ap
propriated, to defray the expense of
; holding farther treaties with the
1 Creeks and Cherokees, for the pur
■ pose of fulfiling the compact with
i Georgia, and a treaty having been
concluded with the Creek- the pre
ceding year, it was deemed expe
dient by the President, to maky 11.>
next (fort with the Cherokees.-
This was accordingly done, by th.
appointment of M essrs. D G Camp
bell and James Mem wet her, as Con.
mis-ioners, on the part of the Unit, i
States. They repaired to the Cl.ero
ke country, in October, 1823, and,
alter strenuous efforts to prevail on
the Cherokees enter into a treaty of
cession, they received a positive re
fusal.
Such was the state of things who.
on the Ist of December, 2824, the
same gentlemen, authorized as Uni
ted States’ Commissioners, and in
pursuance of the same object, met
the Chiefs oftlic Creek nation al
Thle-catn-cha, or Br ken Arrow,
the seat of the National Council of
the Creeks At this Council the
same refusal was given by the Creeks
as had been before received from
the Cherokes. “So long,” saj <•
Colonel Campbell, in his letter t<
the S cretary of War of Bdi January,
1825, “as the negotiation was con
ducted with the Council generally,'
no answer was received, other than
a prompt rejection ol every proposi
tion that was submitted.”
Not feeling authorized to con
clude a treaty, with a portion o
the Chiefs, the commissioners ad
journed the Council on the 1 th
December; and Colonel Camp
bell was appointed to repair to
Washington, to endeavor to pro
cure from the President permiss
ion “to convene the Chiefs within
(Im’ limits of Georgia, to n. gotiate
with them exclusively, if thought
proper, or inclusive of a deputa
tion of Chiefs from tiie upper towns
if such a deputation should pre
sent bemselves, and evince a de.
sire, to negotiate to further e •ctenf.’’
On the arrival of Mr Camp
bell, he mklrc'Si d a letter to t le
I Secretary of »Vdr asking dir
sanction of the Presidi ie ior a
treaty “t be signed by Pie C .i -Is
within tne limits of Geoigia, pro
vided such treaty be aecoinpani- d
by the assent of the other Chiefs,
that the land to be abandoned by
the emigranting party, snail be im
mediately subject to the disposi
tion of the Government.',
io this proposal, the Presi
dent, Mr. Monroe, declined ac
ceding, but authorized a renewal
of negotio:ions with the whole na
tion. ( See document No. 72,
p. 38, vol -1, 2d, session, 18th,
Congress.) A me ting of the
I Chiefs was accordingly summon
ed for the th February, at Indian
Springs, within the limits of Geor
gia On the 10th of the month,
the Commissioners met the Chiefs
and Warriors, and explained their
object. On the evening of tre
same day the Commissisners held
a separate council with a part of
the Chiefs and Warriors of nine of
the towns, chiefly within the limits
of Georgia. On the morning of
the i l th, at th public council, O
poth-le-yoholo, the Speaker of
the nation, (Mclntosh having been
deprived of that office at the Brok
en Arrow,) replied to the talk oi
' the Commissioners, on behalf of
Big Warrior, the Head Chief of
; the nation, and told them that no
' treaty could then be made for the
cession of lands, and invited the
, Commissioners to a meeting at
i Broken Arrow, t • be held three
months afterwards, at he xpense.
91 the UfHiou. He deplored
to be the only answer he was au
thorized to give, and that he should
go home the next day. On the
following night, the Chiefs and
Warriors of the Cussetas and Sco
woogluos left their encampment,
and went home, by orders of the
Big Warrior, communicated by
Opothlcyoholo, as is stated by
the latter. On the 12th, a treaty
was signed with the Mclntosh
party. During its execution, Opo
thleyoholo repeated his protest on
the part of the Big Warrior, and
accordingto the statement of Ham
bly, the interpreter, warned Me.
Intosh of his danger in breaking
the law.
A large number of signatures is
appended to the Treaty, but it is
alleged, both by the National Coun
cil convened the following Autumn
and by the Indian Agent, in a let
ter written the day after the signa
ture of the Treaty, that they
are, with the exception of Mcln
tosh, and perhaps two others,
Chiefs of low rank, or nit Chiefs
at all. Mclntosh himself is stated
to have been but the fifth in rank
in the Nation. Among the docu
ments accompanying the report,
will be found a list of Chiefs pre
sent, who refused to sign ; a list of
such of the signers as are Chiefs ;
and a description of all the other
signers, made in public Council,
by the Head Chiefs of the Nation.
It is apprehended by tne Com
mittee, that the inspection of these
■’ocuments can leave no doubt that
'ho Treaty was signed not merely by
a small and unauthorized party o.
the Creek Nation, but by a minor;!',
of the Chiefs who attended the Coun
cil.
On the dav following the signa
ture ol tiie Treaty, Coi. Crowell the
kgent, addre sed a letter to the
Secretary of War, as follows.
“Indian Springs, Feb. 13. 1825.
The Il n. John C. Calhoun,
Secretary of J Tar.
Sir: In compliance with instruc
lons receive d from Col. Campbell,
while in Washington City, 1 notified
ine Chiefs oi this Nation to meet
:h • United States’ Commissioners at
.his jfface on the 7th instant, for the
»urpose of treating with th .m tor
their lands.
Your letter of the Btb, enclosing a
copy of the instructions of the Com
missioners, did not reach me until
the 6th. On the arrival of the Com
missioners, I informed them 1 was
ready to obey their orders on all
points touching the negotiation, ana
cheerfully co-operate with them m
fleeting the object of their mi
ion.
Ye terday a Treaty was signed b_,
Mclntosh and his party alone. Bu
i ig fully convinced that this Treaty
indirect opposition to the letter
and spirit of the instructions, which
i have a copy of, 1 feel it to he my
lounden duly, as the Agent of the
Government, to apprise you of it,
liat you may adopt such
i- vou may deem expedient, as to
he ratification: for, if ratified, it may
produce a horrid late of things a
mong these unfortunate Indians. It
t is p iper to remark, that, with the
•Keep..on of Mclntosh, and per
haps t vo others, the signitures to
bis Treaty are either Chiefs of low
< ide, or not Chiefs at all; which
vou can perceive by comparing them
totho.-i toother Treaties, and to
the receipts for the annuity; and
these signers are from eight towns
ml ~ when there are fifty-six in the
X ition.
I beg vou to be assured that 1
ui sued, strictly, your instructions in
.elation to this negotiation; and al
though the Treaty has not been
made in conformity with the instruc
tions of which 1 have bean furnish
d, yet 1 think it can be, at no dis
tant day, to the entire satisfaction of
tne Government. I have made
these hasty remarks from conviction
of duty, to apprise you of the man
ner in which it was accomplished;
•md, il it be thought necessary, I can
give you all the particulars pending
tiie negotiation. A deputation oi
Head Chiefs are desirous of visiting
Washington, to have a full and fan
understanding relative to.
1 have the honor to be your obe
dient servant,
JOHN CROWELL,
dgent for Indian .Ifairs.”
Shortly after the writing of thi
letter, the Agent repaired in person
to Washington After his departure
and on the 23d of the month, a
Council of the Creek Nation was
held at Broken Arrow, in which a
protest against the Treaty of the In
dian Springs was adopted, and the
lists above alluded to were prepared.
These documents, however, did not
reach Washington till after the rati
fic.ition of the Treaty.
The Treaty, meantime, was expe
dited to Washington. The Pre-i
dent of the United States, then about
to retire, in a few days, from office
referred the Treaty to the Senate
with the letter of the Indian Agent
ibove alluded to. It is out of tin
•ower of this Committee, and no
vitbin their province, to assign th*
reasons which prevented the Seme
jffom being influenced by the repre-
sentations made by the Agent, as
■to the itiode in which the Treaty had
been effected. No testimony, with
in the knowledge of the Committee,
had arrived from the Creek Nation,
io corroborate his statements; and
on the 3d of March, the last day of
the Constitutional existence of the
then organized Senate, the advice
and consent of that body were giv
en to its ratification. It was accord
mgly ratified by the President on the
7th of March, under the unsuspect
ing impression that the Treaty was
negotiated in good faith, with com
petent parties. On the next day,
the protest of the Chiefs assembled
in Council at Broken Arrow, and the
documents accompanying it, were
received at Washington, by the A
gent, and submitted to the Depart
ment of War.
General Mclntosh, after signing
the treaty, repaired, in company with
Etome, Tustunuggee other Chiefs
to Milledgeville, and received an
audience from the Governor of Geor
gia, in the Executive chamber.—
They stated, among other things,
their apprehensions of hostility from
the part of the nation opposed to
the treaty, and invoked the protec
tion of the United States and of
Georgia. This protection was
promised them on the part of Geor
gia, by the Governor, who also inti
mated to them, that, “in the business
of the treaty, the President could
not but consider it the act of the
nation, provided the whole country
was ceded ; that what ought to be
considered the act of the nation
would still be a question; that the
Government might be quite well dis
nosed to consider the act of Mcln
tosh and his friends as such a one.”
The day after this audience, a let
ter was written to Governor Troup
•>y four of the Chiefs of the Mcln
tosh party expressing their fears that
attempts would be made to put in
to execution the Law of the Pole
at Springs, which made it “ capital
for any person in authority among
the Creeks to cede away their lands
without the consent of the nation.”
Accordingly, on the 26th instant,
Colonel H. G. Lamar, the Aid of
the Governor of Georgia, wps de
-natched with a talk to the Chiefs
i d Headmen of Cuseetah and Took
au-batchee, the former being the
town of Little Prince, who succeed
'd Big Warrior as the Head Chief
)f the whole Creek Nation, and the
htter, the town of Opothlcyoholo,
the Speaker oi' the Nation. Coi.
Lamar met the Chiefs ofthese towns
n separate Councils held in each.
Either, at this time, and while they
had not heard of the ratification of
the treaty, and the consent given by
Mclntosh to survey the lands, they
■ntertained no designs of violence
against Mclntosh, or they chose to
deceive Col. Lamar as to their inten
tions : or, finally, the talk of the
Little Prince was misconceived by
Col. Lamar, which is stated by Ham
bly, who interpreted between them,
'to have been the case. He returned
perfectly satisfied with their state of
feeling, on the subject of the treaty,
and expressed the opinion, that
when the ratification of the treaty
was known, they would acquiesce.
On the 21st of March, Governor
Troup issued his proclamation, an
omic ing l he ratiticat ion of the treaty.
On the 29th he addressed a letter to
Mclntosh, requesting his permission
to survey the territory ceded by the
treaty. On the 6th of April, Mcln
tosh answered the Governor that
the Chiefs (meaning those of his
party) would convene on the 10th
and that Ue would submit to them
the proposal to survey the land On
the 12th of April, the consent of
Mclntosh and his party to the sur
vey was given in a letter to the Gov
ernor, nqthe following terms: “ Some
differences existing between the
present agent of the Creek Nation
and myself, and not having any con
fidence in his sdvice, I have deter
mined to act according to the dic
tates of lay best judgment, which re
sults in the determimnation to agree
to the request ot' your Excellency,
m giving my consent, and in behalf
of the nation who signed the treaty,
their consent, that the land lately
ceded to the United States at the In
dian Springs, may be run off’ and sur
veyed whenever you may, or the
General Government, think proper
to do so.
‘ li’ the General Government of
the United States have no objection
and tli9 agent of the Creek nation,
with the party he influences, does
not make any objection or opposition
(o running and surveying the land,
myself and the Chiefs and Indians
who were in favor of the late treaty,
do not object. We give our con
sent.”
Inconsequence of the conditional
nature of this assent to the survey,
the following letter was, on the 18th
April, w ritten by Governor Troup to
General Mclntosh :
Milledgeville, 18th April|lß23.
Dear General : In one of your
late letters you say something about
the censent of the United States, or
if the agent and hostlies du not make
• Pray explain to me your
meaning, \\ e have nothing to do
vith the United States, ortho agent
r the hostlies, in this matter ; all we
■ ant is the consent of the friendly
ndians who made the treaty. It
° w inted the consent of the Unit
; M StateSj we could ask it 4 .
Volume I I.
Y’our Friend,
* G. M. TROUP."
Without, how ver, waiting for an .
answer to this letter, and on the same,
day on which it was written, Gover
nor Troup issued his proclamation,
stating that “ the assent of the In
dians lad been obtained to the run
ning and survey of the country,”
and calling the Legislature together
to take the proper measures for
those objects.
To the above letter Mclntosh re
plied in the following manner :
“Creek Nation, 25 April 1825.
Dear Sir : 1 received your Excel
lency’s request yesterday, dated the
18th instant, and hereby state to you
that my only meaning was not to act
contrary to stipulations made be
tween our Nation and the United
States’ Government; and we do here
by absolutely, freely, and fully give
our consent to the State of Georgia,
to have the boundary belonging to
said State surveyed at any time, the
Legislature ot Georgia may think
proper, which was ceded at the late
ts. aty of the Indian Springs. Sign
ed in behalf of th nation, and by the
consent of the Chiefs of the same.
I have the honor to be, with great
esteem, yours, respectfully,
WILLIAM M’INTOSII.”
It is here necessary to observe,
that Mclntosh, in addition to the
license assumed, in this letter, of
speaking in behalf of the Creek Na
tion, of which his party formed but
a small minority, appears to have
been guilty of deception, m reference
to the views of that party. At a
Council with them, heid by General
Gaines, the General was informed
that Mclntosh never consulted them
on the survey, and that they never
gave their consent.
It may here be proper to endeavor
to ascertain more particularly, the
relative strength of the two parties,
as far as existing data enable it to
bo done. B v the documents forward
ed from the Council, held on the
23d February, it appears that the
Chiefs who signed the treaty were
rom the following five towns .
Coweta, Broken Arrow, New Yauco,
Sand Town, Hitchetee. But it is to
be observed, that the Chiefs from
Broken Arrow could have had no
authority to sign on behalf of that
town , for the representative of the
IT ad Chi sos that town and one of
the Principal Chiefs of that Nation,
was present, and refused to sign.
From a document prepared in Count
oil of the Creek Nation, it appears,-
that ot the fifty-two individuals who
signed tiie treaty of the Indian
Springs, Mclntosh was the only Head
Chief, he being the fifth in rank in
the Nation ; that five were Chiefs
of inferior degree, and these six all
of one town, Coweta; the twenty
six were officers called Law-menders
or Law-makers, but not Chiefs'
fourteen were broken Chiefs ; four
Indians possessing no rank whatever,
and two persons wholly unknown to
the Council of the Creek Nation*.
These individuals were exclusively
from eight towns, out of fifty-six, of
which the Nation is said to consist.
The son of the Big Warrior, and the
son of the Little Prince were botfi
at the Indian Springs, and refused
to sign. The nephew and represen
tative of the Chief fourth in rank,
Hopoy Hadgo, was present, and rc*
fused (o sign. William Barnard, the
principal Chief of the Uchees, refus
ed to sign. John Stidham, a priu,
cipal Chief of the Lower Towns
Opothlcyoholo, Chief of the Took
aubatchees, with other leading Chiefs
forming altogether, it is conceived, a
representation of a large majority of
(lie Nation, were present, and refus
ed to sign. On the day after the
death of Mclntosh, General Wyra
representsit as the opinion of one of
the Chiefs who signed (he treaty,
that the party opposed to it number
ed four thou.-and warriors, the party
friendly not more than five hundred,
the former having been increased
“by numbers long cloaked und r the
garb of in ndship,”—who, since the
death of Mclntosh, joined the bes
ide party. The Indians of the trea
ty-making party, who received rar
lions in Georgia, did not exceed a
bout four hundred, men, women, and
children, although it appears, from
some of the documents submitted,
that efforts were made to increase
the number.
The intell gence of the Proclama
tion of the Governor of Georgia,
relative to the survey, reached the
Chiefs of' the Nation assembled to
receive their annuity, and seemed,
-ays the Agent, in a letter to the Se
cretory of War, 27th April, 1825, to
add to their melancholy and distress.
They denied that their consent to
the survey had ever been asked or
given; and those residing in the
ceded territory particularly request
ed the Agent to make to the Secret
tary of \\ ar their decided objections
to the surveying of the lauds, until
they could remove from them. —
They also asked permission to send,
a deputation to Washington the fol"
lowing Winter, for the purpose of
understanding the views of the Gov«
ernment relative to their futun pros
pects.
It was at this period, probably in
consequence of the news received of
the ratification, and the projected
survey, that, in obedience to the or,
der of the Little Prince, as Head
Chief of the Natioiq direction