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abule the consequences of such rules
of action .is she might prescribe for
their government. The President
suggested to Mr. Thompson that it
would he good policy for the Geor
gians to admit their competency as
witnesses in courts of justi e, and
guaul against the evil which might
result from it, by questioning tne cred
ibility of their evidence He had no
dbubt of their emigration, and such a
course would leave them without
cause of complaint.
All this would sound very well, if
the Indian lands in Georgia had ever
b ?en legally ceded to that Slate; but
the circumstance of their always hav
ing been the property of the Indians,
makes quite a material difference.
The tenure by which they would hold
the lands west of the Mississippi, if
they should remove there, would be
a very flimsy one compared with that
of having forever been in possession of
them; and as flimsy a pretext would
be all sufficient to drive them from
their new possessions, if a new state
starling up in that quarter should find
it convenient to occupy them.
The present prospect is, that the
Indian tribes inhabiting those territo
ries claimed by the States of Georgia
and Alabama, are destined, soon, ei
ther to lie driven olf to the country
alloted to them beyond the Mississip
pi, or their situation rendered so un
comfortable os to induce them to rc-
ti'-e of their own accord. TheAlaba-
m i papers state that Col. Crowell,
late Agent in the Creek nation, has
already been directed to remove the
Agency wesf of the Mississippi; that
the President has made known to the
Creeks his determination to have their
lands surveyed, and informed them
that, inasmuch as the State of Alaba
ma has extended her jurisdiction over
them, they will be thrown without
the protection of the General Govern
ment, and their only course will be to
remove, ft w>s thought by some that
they would emigrate eu masse. It
appears, however, that a party of
the Creeks who a short time ago
went to settle upon the lands designa
ted for them, have returned to their
old country. What will lie the end
of this barbarous and unjust undertak
ing to drive our fellow brings from
their lands (after they have become
in a great measure civilized and
christianized'like so many wild beasts,
into the wilderness, it is impossi
ble for us to foresee. IfGeneral Jack-
sou < ontinoe llie same spirit respect
ing it with which he has begun, he
wit! incur a most fearful responsibili
ty We can never think on this spe
cies of national wrong, without recur
ring to i’ie forcible language used by
J.vferso i in reference to it:—“Indeed,
1 tmnble for mv country, when l
reflect that God is just, and that his
vengeance cannot always sleep.”
4th. Because it is believed to be
the province of the General Govern
ment, (and so provided by the laws of
intercourse,) to run all Indian bounda
ry lines, claimed by her under trea
ties, and not left to individual Stales,
Hi especially, one which is interested,
as is Georgia, in the present case.
And, lastly, because I fear, should
that line be run, it wouid encourage
and occasion a great number of white
families to rush into, and settle on
the lands embraced within those
lines, to the great annoyance, distress
ami ruin of the poor, helpless and
inoifensive Cherokces, who inhabit
them. For the reasons above stated,
1 do, most sincerely and solemnly,
pr'test against the running of the a-
bove line, until the pleasure of the
United States is known on the sub
ject.
I have the honor to be, your ob’t.
servant,
H. MONTGOMERY.
13th May, 1833.
PROTEST.
Of the Ciie.rol.se ..igent against the run
ning 'J the hue, claimed by Geor
gia as i,.ie t ue one between ike Creeks
and. Citei oi.ee .
Col S. A. Wales;
Sju—As the United Stales Agent
for the Clierokeas, and m accord nice
with the wishes-of tint tribe of In
dians, 1 deem ii to be my duty, to
protest ag is your running any lines,
or mar' v trees, through, or on
tne C -o lands, and, particular)',
a I torn Sjwanna, on the Chata-
h hi, to the Sixes, on the Hightow-
t which it seems, is intended to de-
s.,nale a boundary line between them
and the Creek Indiras.
1st. Because the Cherokees, posi
tively and un :q livoc.tlly, deny that
any such boundary at that place ever
did exist between 1h< m.
2nd. Be- use the evidence taken by
Georgia, in support of such claim,
was entirely er parte, and no opportu
nity given tlv in to refute or explain
away the testimony which was tak
en.
'3d. Because ihc dividing line be
tween t he Cie, okees and Creeks was
definitely settled, and the line run be
tween them several years before the
Treaty of Indian Springs, under which
the State of Georgia claims: see a
conference on the subject, between
them, on-tin* Dili of August, 1814, and
the final adj stment of that question on
the . 1 Ph December, 1821, both of
wdii :h com.i ouces 'the Cherokces,
allege was reported to the United
* Suites' Government, and the line so
ruirbetiveeo them recognized and ac-
laiow I fill ed b" the lilted Stntes in
he treaty at Washington, on the 24th
an. 1 1826*
May 13th, 1S29.
Siu—Your letter if this date, pro
testing against the survey of any line
iu the Cherokee nation, aud particu
larly against the line I am now mark
ing; and enclosing a paper purporting
to be a treaty with Creeks, at Wash
ington City, in 18.26, together with a
copy of an agreement between the
Creek aud Cherokee tribes of Indians,
in 1814, is before me. I consider it
my duty, notwithstanding, to obey my
instructions, and complete the sur
vey, believing that it is not the pro
vince of either the United States A-
gent for the Cherokees, or myself to
determine the question, whether the
State of Georgia is right or wrong in
this matter. It may be proper, how
ever, for me to add, in justification of
the course pursuing by the State of
Georgia, that the testimony collected
to which you object as ex parte, was
deemed sufficient by the Executive
of the State to establish the line, I
am now running, as the true line be
tween the Creek and Cherokee tribes
of Indians, prior to the Convention be
tween those tribes, in December,
1831. Their agreement on the sub
ject of their boundary at that lime,
fixing the Buzzard Roost on the Cliat-
ahoochie River, as one point, and the
mouth of W ill’s Creek os the other,
is not considered as binding, either on
the United States or Georgia, be
cause neither were a party to it; and
the law to which you refer makes
that agreement void.—The paper
you enclose me as evidence of a con
lereme b> tween the Creeks and
Cherokces, on the 9th of August, 18-
14, by which their boundary purports
to be defined and settled, and whie*
has the signature of General Jackson
to it, is pronounced by him to be
false: (see his letter on the subject to
the Secretary of War, dated 4lh
June, 1S16.)—The treaty with the
Creeks, at Washington City, in 1826
to which you also refer me, as set
tling definitively the boundary be
tween the Creeks and Cherokees
never has been nor never will be, re
cognized by the State of Georgia, os
a valid instrument. The treaty of
1835, at the Indian Springs, bad pre
cceded it, and ceded for the use of
Georgia, all the land owned by the
Creeks within the chartered limits of
the State. It is under this treaty
that Georgia claims the land South
of the line running from Suwanna Old
Town, on the Cliatahoochie, to the
Sixas Old Town, on the Etowah.
I am, Sir, your oh’t servant,
SAMUEL A. WALES.
Col. Hugh Montgomery,
U. S. Agent for the Cherokces.
people of that State^n the prospect they
have of “speedily acquiring the In
dian country.” And how do they ac
quire it? Do they acquire it by pur
chase? No. Do they obtain it as a
gilt? No. Do they amicably per
suade the Indians that it is their inter
est to remove? No such a thing.—
But the President of the United States
tells them, (and- doubtless they re
member the fearful energy of his
threats,) “that an agency will no long
er be retained in their present nation;
that his determination is to have their
lands surveyed, and that the protec
tion of the general government will
be withdrawn from them, unless they
remove.” And thus their doom is
sealed. They cannot resist such a
determination. They have no physic
al force adequate to the protection of
their property and their rights; and
they must comply, as a matter of
course, with vvhatevei demand cupid-
ty and avarice may make. Hitherto
hey have clung with wavering con
fidence, but with the energy of des
pair, to the justice and magnanimity
of the United States. Our avowed
pulley towards them has been that of
protection; and though wc have but
little regarded our treaties with them,
lid though we have given them bau
bles for their possessions, aud set up a
string of beads as a just and competent
compensation lor millions of acres,
we have nevertheless obtained their
consent to the contract. But the
style of treatment is now suddenly
changed. Negociation has become
tedious; they cleave to their lands
and their country with inconvenient
tenacity; and to end the discussion,
the arm of power is raised, and they
are told to depart! ‘ Begone, you un
christian dogs!” The mandate is per
emptory; it stoops not at entreaty; it
does not ask their consent, or contem
plate their wishes. It dispenses w ith
the council fire; it arrests at once the
hand ot the planter; it breaks up their
villages, their schools, their churches,
(for these they have,) and sends them
away from possessions, which they
have inherited from the “King of
Kings.”—JV. Y. Statesman.
~Bf 4,
by the fact^WaHn the same place
whence the crucible was taken, a
soapstone slab was found, with exca
vations of various sizes, which had
probably been used in moulding orna
ments, to decorate the ears and noses
of the Indians, from (lie gold which
had been previously melted in the
crucible.—Raleigh Register.
WEDNESDAY, ,JULY ], 1829.
‘Lo! the Poor Indian.”—With the
change of administration, the protec
tion ol the poor Geoigia Indians,
which has hitherto been afforded by
the General Government, has beeu
withdrawn. The Georgia papers
announce with exultation, that “the
President lias recognized, in its full ex
tent., the doctrine contended for by Ceor-
ia, that the Cherokee Indians cannot
be suffered to erect a government for
themselves within the hounds ol ii sov
ereign state; and that Georgia has a
perfect right to extend her municipal
laws over them.” Thus these last re
mnants of the noble race who linger
amongst us, in their poverty and crush
ed spirits, the living monument of the
white man s wrongs, are at last to be
driven from their homes, and the tombs
of their ancestors, to the wilds far in
the West. What a < ontrast between
this inhuman decision, and the noble,
philanthropic & manly message of the
late Executive, when, in 1826. the
Georgians with their madcap gover
nor, utdertook not only to trample the
Indians into the earth, but to beard
the Government. But times have
changed, and who is there now “to
mourn for Logan!”
JV*. Y. Com. Mv.
“And another King arose, that knew
not Joseph,”
The Creek. Indians.—The informa
tion contained in the article from the
Alabama Journal, published in our
last paper, is of some importance.—
No other act of the present Execu
tive of the United States, thus far, in
volves consequences so interesting to
humanity, and so closely Conner,ted
with the character of our government.
The removal of office-holders is noth
ing, and the making of n$w appoint
ments is of little consequence. “A
breath can make them, os a breath
has made.” But a total change, as
indicated in the statement referred to,
in the character of our intercourse
with a race dependent upon our jus
tice, and protection by the faith of
treaties, cannot pass among those oc
currences that die w ith the day that
gave them birth. The writer in the
Alabama Journal, congratulates the
THE CREEKS.—By a gentle
man from Montgomery we have been
informed that, on Tuesday the 2d ins
tant, he saw 600 emigrating Indians
passing through Pike county, on their
way to Line Creek, where they are to
join another party under the command
of Capt. Walker. The whole, when
assembled, it is supposed will amount
to more than 1500. They are to
proceed immediately to the west, un
der the charge of Capt. Walker and
Mr. Blake. We may now confidently
look forward to the speedy acquisi
tion of the delightful and valuable ter
ritory possessed by this miserable
race. Ala. Int.
Indian Relics.—We are informed
by an intelligent gentleman, that in
digging for Gold recently, in the qoun-
ty of Burke, a crucible was found at
a considerable distance below the
surface, which bore evident marks of
having been much used. It is believ
ed, that the Aborigines were aware
of the existence of the gold formation,
and doubtless the crucible found had
been put in requisition by them for
the purpose of fluxing the precious
metal. This belief is strengthened
The Editor of the Milledgeville Recor
der, elated by the “certainty of obtaining
at an early day” the lands now in the occu
pancy of the Cherokees, directs the atten
tion of Georgians to the growing impor
tance of the State. If he is not deceived
in regard to the certainty of obtaining the
lands, he is most egregiousl v mistaken in
his calculations. He supposes the popula
tion of the State will, in ten years, be
doubled, anil in twenty years tripled. The
Cherokee country is indeed “picturesque,
beautiful and healthy,® yet it is by no
means calculated to support dense popula
tion only about one sixth part being fit for
cultivation. If this territory was added to
the State, Georgia would not yet become
the rival of New York, Pennsylvania, or
even of Ohio. She will have to overcome
one great obstacle before she becomes a
great state-—slavery.
Col. S. A. Wales has run the line said
to be, but without the least shadow of
truth, the true line betwxen the Cherokees
and Creeks. This is an instance of high
handed injustice. Shall a large part of
our lands be forced from us, because we
are weak and are unable to defend them?
What lias become of the treaties to which
we have heretofore been accustomed to
flee for shelter from the persecuting arm
of Georgia? Will the United States per
mit her laws to be trampled upon in this
manner ? For to survey au Indian country
without authority from the General Gov
ernment, is made by the intercourse law a
crime of some magnitude. Here ^s then
the turning crisis. If the General Govern
ment looks on coolv, and indifferently, and
permits the State of Georgia to wrest the j
lands in question front under our feet, wc
may give up all for lost, for most undoubt
edly other claims, equally reasonable, in
the view of men who are guided by power
anil not by justice, will be laid to the rest
of our country, aslhc one now set lortli.—
If it is the intention of the whiles to de
vour us. we hope th p y will begin soon—
let us know the worst. It the United
Stales intend to withdraw her protection,
let us he appiized ot it soon.
When we reflect upon the prospects of
the Cherokees and their kindred tribes, and
the methods and devices of interested white
people to obtain their lands, we feel what
is not in our power to express. We feel
indignant at such arbitrary measures.—
We often ask ourselves are we in the U-
nite l States, tin* refuge of the oppressed—
the land of Christian light and liberty?—
Where is the superior excellence of repub
licanism? While we feel indignant at the
persecuting civil power which would hear
us down to the ground, we mourn for the
apathy &. indifference of the Christian com
munity on the subject. Hotv few are there
who will venture to speak a word in our
favour? For our part we think, if the
public opinion is not for the Indians, we
must fall in spite of laws and treaties, for
the signs of the times convince us that laws
and treaties will form no barrier to the cu
pidity of our while brothers. But will not
justice be outraged ? It will be an easy
thing for the state of Georgia, whenever
she shall think it necessary, to possess the
country by force of arms—even if she
should be resisted, the poor Indians can ea
sily be crushed to the dust; but a day will
come when impartial justice must have its
course.
ka c*
orwrCTicah history. That fcany of
the citizens of this great republic Dill
hear with astonishment the President's
entire coincidence with the state in
her cruel and unjust measures to wrest
from us the little remainder.oflands
left us by her rapacity cannot be doubt
ed. It m; y he a laudable object for
a state to acquire territory, and by
spreading on a larger portion of coun
try, and multiplying by the tide of em
igration that ever flows into new
countries, add to the strength of her
representation in Congress, and her
respect and influence abroad; but
when to effect these, a disposition to
tyrannize on the rightful owner of the
soil, and by unfair means to obtain
their lands, is manifested, it is indeed
reproachful. It is cruel to tamper
with the safety and welfare of the
unfortunate Indians from motives of
interested policy. We are aware of
all the machinations and discoveries
the stale authority has been guilty of,
to scatter the brands of discord and
faction in our ranks, to effect our re
moval, hut they have all, so far, prov
ed abortive, and our citizens remain
in quietude, though the storm may be
fast gathering and the screams of the
panther heard on the mountain’s side.
The kind of policy President Jack-
son will puisuc toward us is no longer
a matter of doubt, hut. happily, what'*
over lie may soy,or on whatever side lie
may be, our rights and privileges nr&
still the san^. We are told that
Georgia has derived her pretended
power over us from the Treaty of S3,
by which all the rights of sovereign
ty pertaining to Great Britain hecaine
vested respectively in the original
states of this union. Her sovereignty
over her territorial limits excluded
from other powers the right of taking
possession and occupying uninhabited
lands, which w as confided lo her alone,
and tantamount to this right, only,was
the issuing of Royal Charter, and was
derived by discovery; hut as the lands
were occupied by the natives-she ex
tinguished their title by Treaties.—
But what right pertained to Great
Britain to extend her legislate n over
the Cherokees, and to declare all their
laws and usages void? If any I have
yet to learn. She treated them as a
distinct sovereign people, professing
the right to enact such rules and reg
ulations for their own government as
they dcedied proper,*not trespassing
on any connecting principles (hey might
have established by treaty 1 cannot
conceive that Georgia by the treaty
of ’83 derived any such right of abol
ishing our government at her ow n cap
rice, when the mother Kingdom pur-
For the Cherokee Phoenix.
Mr. Boudinott—In your last num
ber appeared a talk of the President
of the United States to the Creeks,
and his letter through the Secretary
of War to the Cherokee Delegation
lately at Washington, upon the subject
of Georgia extending her laws over a
part of our territory. The letter was
received by the Delegation on the
eve of their departure from the city
and the subject having been submitted
by them to Congress, they did not con
ceive any reply to be necessary. Wc
are told in the plainest terms, of which
language is susceptible, that Georgia
has a right to extend her laws over us.
and conscquei tly the right to demolish
the institutions which we have with
so much labor founded upon the ad
vice of Washington and Jefferson, two
illustrious worthies who stand pre
eminent and unrivalled upon tl‘ e r a B e
sued a course of policy so very differ
ent from the state. But if we admit
to her this right, surdy wi.h others,
it must have been surrendered to the
General Government by the confede
ration. The United States possess
the sole and exclusive power to Ijold
treaties, and to regulate commerce
with the Indian tribes. Had exclusive-
power to legislate ever been vested in
the state, would she have delegated
to Congress the sole power to regulate*
her trade w ith us? and would she have
consented to guarantee forever, oup-
lands to us, if at that day our right
was merely possessory? Where was
the necessity for the United States in
Congress assembled to have received
the Cherokees into favour and protec
tion, and they [Cherokees] required
to declare themselves under the sov-
reignty of the United States and no
other sovereign whatsoever, if the
state had such unlimited sway? Why
is it that the United States have soli
cited by treaties permission to open
roads, navigate their rivers, and es
tablish fortifications, if all their na
tional rights became vested in Geor
gia by the treaty of. ’83? Why will
the state have no power to tax our cit
izens if she does extend her laws? and
why shall not we be allowed repre
sentation in her legislature? are not
these essential rights, the one to the
state and the other to the welfare of
the citizens? There are many other
important privileges that the state
cannot assume, and others that will
be deified to our citizens, all of which
proves the injustice of the power to-
be exercised.
The President has called our atten
tion to the compact of 1802,as anoth
er cause why we should yield submis
sion, or justify in some measure the
course of Georgia. The Cherokees,
are it is true, a party concerned, but
not a party to that instrument, which
in itself is nothing more than a condi
tional agreement that the U. States
shall purchase for Georgia our lands,
whenever we may choose to dispose
them peaceably for a reasonable cousidr