In order to determine who were the legal heirs and representatives of those enrolled in 1849, but since deceased, the Secretary of the Interior was directed by an act of Congress, approved July 27, 1868,535 to cause another census to be taken, to serve as a guide in future payments. It was further provided by the same act that the Secretary of the Interior should cause the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to take the same supervisory charge of this as of any other tribe of Indians.
This second census was taken by S. H. Sweatland in 1869, and he was instructed to make payment of interest then due to the Indians, guided by his roll, but on the same principle on which previous payments had been effected, that is, to those individuals only whose names appeared on the Mullay census roll, or their legal heirs or representatives, as ascertained by census taken by himself. As remarked by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the difficulty of tracing Indian genealogy through its various complications, in order to determine who are legal representatives of deceased Indians, without any rules by which hereditary descent among them may be clearly established, was fully demonstrated in the payment made by Mr. Sweatland, which was the occasion of many complaints and even of litigation.
The landed interests of these North Carolina Cherokees had also since the treaty of 1835 become much complicated, and through their confidence in others, coupled with their own ignorance of proper business methods, they were likely to lose the title to their homes. At this juncture Congress, by an act approved July 15, 1870,536 authorized suit in equity to be brought in the name of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in the district or circuit courts of the United States for the recovery of their interest in certain lands in North Carolina. This suit was instituted in the circuit court of the United States for the western district of North Carolina in May, 1873, against William. H. Thomas and William Johnston. Thomas, as the agent and trustee of the Indians, it was alleged had received (between 1836 and 1861) from them and for their benefit large sums of money, which had or ought to have been invested by him, in pursuance of various contracts with the Indians, in certain boundaries of land as well as in a number of detached tracts. The legal title to all these lands was taken by Thomas, and was still held in his own name, he having in the mean time become non compos mentis. It was alleged against the other defendant, Johnston, that in the year 1869 he had procured sales to be made of all these lands to satisfy judgments obtained by him against Thomas, and that he had bought in the lands at these sales and taken sheriff's deeds therefor, although having himself a knowledge of the existing equities of the Indians. In fact, that after the purchase of the lands he had entered into a contract with the Indians to release to them all the rights he had acquired by such purchase for the sum of $30,000, payable within eighteen months. Under this contract, and at the time of its execution, the Indians paid him $6,500.
A suit in law was also instituted, at the same time with the foregoing, against James W. Terrell, their former agent (from 1853 to 1861), and his sureties, the above named Thomas and Johnston, to recover a balance of Cherokee funds which he had received for their use from the United States and which it was alleged he had not properly accounted for.
At the May term, 1874, of the circuit court the matters in dispute were by agreement submitted to a board of arbitrators. The arbitrators made their report and award, which were confirmed by the court at the November term, 1874.
The award finds that Thomas purchased for the Indians as a tribe and with their funds a large tract of land on Soco Creek and Oconalufty River and their tributaries, known as the Qualla boundary, and estimated by the arbitrators to contain 50,000 acres. It declares that such tract belongs to and shall be held by the Eastern Band of Cherokees as a tribe.
The award also determines the titles of a large number of individual Indians to tracts of land outside of the Qualla boundary. It further finds that the Indians owe Thomas a balance toward the purchase-money of the Qualla boundary of $18,250, from which should be deducted the sum of $6,500 paid by the Indians to Johnston, with interest thereon to the date of the award, amounting in the aggregate to $8,486.
The award also finds that Terrell and his bondsmen are responsible to the Cherokees for an unaccounted-for balance of $2,697.89, which should also be deducted from the amount due Thomas, leaving a net balance due from the Indians on the purchase money of the Qualla boundary of $7,066. Upon the payment of this sum the award declares they should be entitled to a conveyance from Johnston of the legal title to all the lands embraced within that boundary.537
To enable the Indians to clear off this lien upon their lands, Congress, upon the recommendation of the Indian Department, provided by the terms of an act approved March 3, 1875,538 that the funds set apart by the act of July 29, 1848, should be applied under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior for the use and benefit of the Eastern Band of Cherokees. Specifically these funds were to be used in perfecting the titles to the lands awarded to them and to pay the costs, expenses, and liabilities attending their recent litigations, also to purchase and extinguish the titles of any white persons to lands within the general boundaries allotted to them by the court and for the education, improvement, and civilization of their people. This was done and the Indians have now possession of their rightful domain.539
PROPOSED REMOVAL OF THE CATAWBA INDIANS TO THE CHEROKEE COUNTRY.
It is perhaps pertinent to remark before proceeding further that by the terms of an act of Congress approved July 29, 1848 (United States Statutes at Large, Vol. IX, p. 264), an appropriation of $5,000 was made to defray the expenses of removing the Catawba Indians from Carolina to the country west of the Mississippi River, provided their assent should be obtained, and also conditioned upon success in securing a home for them among some other congenial tribe in that region without cost to the Government.
These Catawbas were but a miserable remnant of what a century and a half earlier had been one of the most powerful and warlike of the Southern tribes. They once occupied and controlled a large region of country in the two Carolinas, though principally in the Southern province. Their generally accepted western limit was the Catawba River and its tributaries, the region between this river and Broad River being usually denominated a neutral hunting ground for both the Catawbas and the Cherokees. An enmity of long standing had existed between the Catawbas and the Six Nations, and war parties of both nations for many years were wont to make long and devastating forays into each other's territory. The casualties of war and the ravages of infectious diseases had long prior to the beginning of the present century rendered the Catawbas insignificant in numbers and importance. Their territorial possessions had been curtailed to a tract of some fifteen miles square on the Catawba River, on the northern border of South Carolina, and the whites of the surrounding region were generally desirous of seeing them removed from the State.
In pursuance therefore of the provisions of the act of 1848 an effort was made by the authorities of the United States to find a home for them west of the Mississippi River. Correspondence was opened with the Cherokee authorities on the subject during the summer of that year, but the Cherokees being unwilling to devote any portion of their domain to the use and occupation of any other tribe without being fully compensated therefor, the subject was dropped.
FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES OF THE CHEROKEES.
Unusual expenditures are always incident to the removal and establishment of a people in an entirely new country. Domestic dissensions and violence of a widespread character have a tendency to destroy the security of life and property usually felt in a well governed community, and insecurity in this manner becomes the parent of idleness and the destroyer of ambition.
Thus from a combination of adverse circumstances the Cherokees since their removal had been subjected to many losses of both an individual and a national character. Their debts had come to be very oppressive, and they were anxiously devising methods of relief.
Proposed cession of the "neutral land."—At length in the fall of 1852 they began to discuss the propriety of retroceding to the United States the tract of 800,000 acres of additional land purchased by them from the Government under the provisions of the treaty of 1835. This tract was commonly known as the "neutral land," and occupied the southeast corner of what is now the State of Kansas.
It was segregated from the main portion of their territory, and had never been occupied by any considerable number of their people. After a full discussion of the subject in their national council it was decided to ask the United States to purchase it, and a delegation was appointed to enter into negotiations on the subject. They submitted their proposition in two communications,540 but after due consideration it was decided by the Secretary of the Interior541 to be inexpedient for the Government to entertain the idea of purchase at that time. Thereupon, under instructions from their national council, they withdrew the proposition.
As soon as the Cherokees resident in North Carolina and the neighboring States learned of this proposed disposition of the "neutral land" they filed a protest542 against any sale of it that did not make full provision for securing to them a proportional share of the proceeds.
MURDER OF THE ADAIRS AND OTHERS.
In September of this year occurred another of those sudden acts of violence which had too frequently marked the history of the Cherokee people during the preceding fifteen years. Superintendent Drew first reported543 to the Indian Office that a mob of one hundred armed men had murdered two unoffending citizens, Andrew and Washington Adair; that not less than two hundred men were in armed resistance to the authorities of the nation, who were unable or disinclined to suppress the insurrection, and that from sixty to one hundred of the best-known friends of the Adairs had been threatened with a fate similar to theirs. The presence and protection of an additional force of United States troops was therefore asked to preserve order in the Cherokee country and to allay the fears of the settlers along the border of Arkansas.
An additional United States force was accordingly dispatched, but the Cherokee authorities found little difficulty in controlling and allaying the excitement and disorder without their aid. In truth, the first report had been in large measure sensational, the facts as reported by Agent Butler some two months later544 being that the murder was occasioned by a purely personal difficulty and had no connection with any of the bitter political animosities that had cursed the nation for so many years. It seems that several years previous to the murder a Cherokee by the name of Proctor and one of the Adairs had a difficulty. Adair's friends took Proctor a prisoner through false pretenses and murdered him while in their hands. Proctor's friends in consequence were much enraged and made violent threats of retaliation. In fact during the period immediately following Proctor's death several other persons had been killed in consequence of the existing feud. The murder of the Adairs was the culmination of their enemies' revenge. The murderers were arrested, tried, and acquitted by the Cherokee courts.545
FINANCIAL DISTRESSES—NEW TREATY PROPOSED.
The year 1854 was in an unusual degree a period of quiet and comparative freedom from internal dissensions among the Cherokees. Their government was, however, still in an embarrassed financial condition. Their national debt was constantly increasing, and they possessed no revenue aside from the small income derived from the interest on their invested funds in the hands of the United States.
For a while, following the payment of their per capita money, they were in the enjoyment of plenty, but with the natural improvidence of a somewhat primitive people, their substance was wasted and no lasting benefits were derived therefrom. To add to their embarrassments, a severe drought throughout the summer resulted in an almost total failure of their crops. Distress and starvation seemed to be staring them in the face. Their schools, in which they had taken much commendable pride, were languishing for want of the funds necessary to their support, and the general outlook was anything but cheerful.546
In this dilemma a delegation was sent to Washington with authority and instructions to negotiate, if possible, another treaty with the United States, based upon the following conditions:547
1. The Cherokees to retrocede to the United States the 800,000 acre tract of "neutral land" at the price of $1.25 per acre, as a measure of relief from their public debt burdens and to replenish their exhausted school fund.
2. To cede to the United States the unsold portion of the 12-mile-square school fund tract in Alabama, set apart by the treaty of 1819, also at $1.25 per acre, together with the other small reserves in Tennessee set apart for the same purpose and by the same treaty, for which latter tracts they should receive $20,000.
3. The United States to compensate the Cherokees living on the 800,000 acre tract for the value of their improvements.
4. The United States to rectify the injustice done to many individual Cherokees in regard to their claims under the treaty of 1835.
5. The United States to compensate the Cherokees for damages sustained through the action of citizens of the former in driving and pasturing stock in the Cherokee country, and to provide effectual measures for the prevention of such losses in the future.
6. The United States to cause a careful investigation to be made as to the status of the Cherokee invested fund and to render an account of the accrued and unpaid interest thereon.
7. The Cherokees to be reimbursed for money expended out of their funds for subsistence after the expiration of the period of "one year" provided by the treaty of 1835, but before their people had opportunity to become settled in their new homes.
8. A just compensation to be made to the Cherokees for the heavy losses sustained in their sudden and forced removal from their Eastern home.
9. An absolute and speedy removal of the garrison at Fort Gibson.
10. That the treaty should contain a clear and specific definition of the rights and status of the Cherokee Nation in its political attitude toward and relations with the United States.
The proposed treaty formed the subject of much careful consideration, and negotiations were conducted throughout a large portion of the winter, without, however, reaching satisfactory results.
The failure of the delegation to secure definite action on these matters caused a great degree of dissatisfaction among all classes of their people.548 They were anxious to sell their surplus detached land, and by that means free themselves from financial embarrassment. They were fully conscious that, so long as their financial affairs continued in such a crippled condition, there was little ground for a hopeful advancement in their morals or civilization. A traditional prejudice against the policy of parting with any of their public domain was deep seated and well nigh universal among the Cherokees, but so grinding and irksome had the burdens of their pecuniary responsibilities become and so anxious were they to discharge in good faith their duty to their creditors that this feeling of aversion was subordinated to what was believed to be a national necessity.
SLAVERY IN THE CHEROKEE NATION.
The reports of the Cherokee agent during the year 1855 devote considerable space to the discussion of the slavery question in its relations to and among that nation, from which it appears that considerable local excitement, as well as a general feeling of irritation and insecurity among the holders of slave property, had been superinduced by the antislavery teachings of the Northern missionaries and emissaries of the various free soil organizations throughout the North. Three years later the agent reported that the amicable relations which existed between the Cherokees and the General Government certainly merited the latter's fostering care and protection, for already they were evincing much interest in all questions that concerned its welfare; that the majority of them were strongly national or democratic in political sympathy, though it was with regret he was obliged to report the existence of a few black republicans, who were the particular foundlings of the abolition missionaries. This same agent the following year (1859), after commending their enterprise and thrift, remarks: "I am clearly of the opinion that the rapid advancement of the Cherokees is owing in part to the fact of their being slaveholders, which has operated as an incentive to all industrial pursuits, and I believe if every family of the wild roving tribes of Indians were to own a negro man and woman, who would teach them to cultivate the soil and to properly prepare and cook their food, and could have a schoolmaster appointed for every district, it would tend more to civilize them than any plan that could be adopted." The latter part of this proposition perhaps no one would be willing to dispute, but in the light of twenty-five years of eventful history made since its promulgation, the author himself, if still living, would scarcely be so "clearly of opinion" concerning the soundness of his first assumption.
REMOVAL OF WHITE SETTLERS ON CHEROKEE LAND.
The year 1856 was characterized by no event in the official history of the Cherokees of special importance, except, perhaps, the expulsion of white settlers who had intruded upon the "neutral lands," in which the aid of the military forces of the United States was invoked.
FORT GIBSON ABANDONED BY THE UNITED STATES.
The long and urgent demands of the Cherokees for the withdrawal of the garrison of United States troops at Fort Gibson was at length complied with in the year 1857,549 and under the terms of the third article of the treaty of 1835 the fort and the military reserve surrounding it reverted to and became a part of the Cherokee national domain. In his annual message of that year to the Cherokee council John Ross, their principal chief, recommended the passage of a law which should authorize the site of the post to be laid off into town lots and sold to citizens for the benefit of the nation, reserving such lots and buildings as seemed desirable for future disposition, and providing for the suitable preservation of the burying-grounds in which, among others, reposed the remains of several officers of the United States Army. This recommendation was favorably acted upon by the council, and town lots sold exclusively to the citizens of the nation brought the sum of $20,000.550
REMOVAL OF TRESPASSERS ON "NEUTRAL LAND."
White settlers having for several years preceding, in defiance of the notification and authority of the General Government, continued their encroachments and settlement on the "Cherokee neutral land," and the Cherokee authorities having made repeated complaints of these unauthorized intrusions, measures were taken to remove the cause of complaint. Notice was therefore given to these settlers in the winter of 1859, requiring them to abandon the lands, by the 1st of April following. No attention was paid to the notice, but the settlers went on and planted their crops as usual. The newly appointed Cherokee agent, having failed to reach his agency until late in the spring, proceeded to the neutral land in August, and again notified the trespassers to remove within thirty-five days. To this they paid no more heed than to the first notification. Some two months later,551 therefore, the agent, accompanied by a detachment of United States dragoons, under command of Captain Stanley, marched into the midst of the settlers and again commanded their immediate removal. Upon their refusal to comply he adopted the plan of firing their cabins, which soon brought them to terms. They proposed that if he would desist in his forcible measures and withdraw the troops, they would quietly remove on or before the 25th of November, unless in the mean time they should receive the permission of the Government to remain during the winter. This the agent agreed to, and subsequently the permission was granted them to so remain.
In connection with this subject it appears from the records of the Department that owing to an error in protracting the northern boundary of the "neutral land," the line was made to run 8 or 9 miles south of the true boundary, leaving outside of the reserve as it was marked on the map, a strip known as the "dry woods," which should have been included in it; it was generally believed that the "dry woods" was a part of the New York Indian reservation, on which settlements were permitted, and as the settlers on that particular portion had gone there in good faith the agent did not molest them.552 The Secretary of the Interior himself expressed the opinion that the "dry woods" settlers were law abiding citizens and had settled there under a misapprehension of the facts, and that as they had expended large sums in opening and improving their farms it would be a great hardship if they should be compelled to remove. He therefore suspended the execution of the law as to them until the approaching session of Congress, in order that they might have an opportunity of applying to that body for relief. The Cherokees it was well known were anxious to dispose of the land, and the Secretary declared his intention of recommending the passage of a law with their consent, providing for the survey and sale of the "neutral lands," after the manner of disposing of the public lands, the proceeds to be applied to the benefit of the Cherokees. The outbreak of the great rebellion so soon thereafter, however, precluded the consummation of this proposed legislation.
JOHN ROSS OPPOSES SURVEY AND ALLOTMENT OF CHEROKEE DOMAIN.
During the winter of 1859—'60, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, believing that a survey and subdivision of the Cherokee national domain, and its allotment in severalty among the members of the tribe, would produce an effect favorable to their progress in the cultivation of the soil, submitted the suggestion for the consideration of their lawfully constituted authorities. John Ross, as principal chief of the nation, in replying to this suggestion,553 declined on behalf of the nation to give it favorable consideration, (1) because it conflicted with the general policy of the Government through which the Cherokees were removed from their homes east of the Mississippi River; (2) because it was inconsistent with existing treaties between the United States and the Cherokee Nation; (3) because it could not be done without a change in the constitution of the nation; and, finally, that it would not be beneficial to the Cherokee people.
POLITICAL EXCITEMENT IN 1860.
The year 1860 was characterized by great excitement and local disturbances. Many affrays occurred and numerous murders were perpetrated. The excitement and bitterness of feeling involved in the issues at stake between the great political parties of the country in the pending Presidential election extended to and pervaded the entire population of the civilized tribes of Indian Territory.
They were many of them slaveholders, especially the half-breeds and mixed bloods. They therefore vehemently resented the introduction and dissemination of any doctrines at variance with the dogma of the divine origin of slavery or that should set up any denial of the moral and legal right of the owner to the continued possession of his slave property. The missionaries and many of the school teachers among the Cherokees were persons of strong anti-slavery convictions, and the former especially were zealous in their dissemination of doctrines fatal alike to the peace and endurance of a slave community. In September John B. Jones, a Baptist missionary, who had devoted much of his life to Christian work among the Indians, was notified by the agent to leave the country within three weeks, because of the publication of an article from his pen in a Northern paper, wherein he stated that he was engaged in promulgating anti-slavery sentiments among his flock.554 Others were in like manner compelled to leave, and the excitement continued to increase daily until the outbreak of hostilities precipitated by the attack on Fort Sumter.
Before the actual outbreak of hostilities, in the winter of 1860, adherents of the Southern cause, among the most effectual and influential of whom were the official agents of the United States accredited to the Indian tribes, were active in propagating the doctrines of secession among the Cherokees, as well as among other tribes of the Indian Territory. Secret societies were organized, especially among the Cherokees, and Stand Watie, the recognized leader of the old Ridge or Treaty party, was the leader of an organization of Southern predilections known as the Knights of the Golden Circle. A counter organization was formed from among the loyally inclined portion of the nation, most, if not all, of whom were members of the Government or Ross party. The membership of this latter society was composed principally of full blood Cherokees, and they termed themselves the "Ki-tu-wha," a name by which the Cherokees were said to have been known in their ancient confederations with other Indian tribes.555 The distinguishing badge of membership in this association was a pin worn in a certain position on the coat, vest, or hunting shirt, from whence members were given the designation in common parlance of "Pin" Indians. According to the statement of General Albert Pike, however (and I think he gives the correct version), this "Pin" society was organized and in full operation long before the beginning of the secession difficulties, and was really established for the purpose of depriving the half-breeds of all political power.556 Be this as it may, however, the society was made to represent in the incipient stages of the great American conflict the element of opposition to an association with the Southern Confederacy and on one occasion it prevented the distinctively Southern element under the leadership of Stand Watie from raising a Confederate flag at Tahlequah.557 It was also alleged to have been established by the Rev. Evan Jones, a missionary of more than forty years' standing among the Cherokees, as an instrument for the dissemination of anti-slavery doctrines.558
CHEROKEES AND THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
In May, 1861, General Albert Pike, of Arkansas, was requested by Hon. Robert Toombs, secretary of state of the Confederate States, to visit the Indian Territory as a commissioner, and to assure the Indians of the friendship of those States. He proceeded to Fort Smith,559 where, in company with General Benjamin McCulloch, he was waited on by a delegation of Cherokees representing the element of that people who were enthusiastically loyal to the Confederacy and who were desirous of ascertaining whether in case they would organize and take up arms for the South the latter would engage to protect them from the hostility of John Ross and the association of "Pin" Indians who were controlled by him.560 Assurances were given of the desired protection, and messengers were sent to a number of the prominent leaders of the anti-Ross party to meet General Pike at the Creek Agency, two days after he should have held an interview with Ross, then contemplated, at Park Hill. General Pike, as he alleges, had no idea of concluding any terms with Ross, and his intention was to treat with the leaders of the Southern party at the Creek Agency. At the meeting held with Ross at Park Hill, the latter refused to enter into any arrangement with the Confederate Government, and obstinately insisted on maintaining an attitude of strict neutrality. After vainly endeavoring to shake the old man's purpose, General McCulloch at length agreed to respect his neutrality so long as the Federal forces should refrain from entering the Cherokee country.561
General McCulloch having been ordered by the Confederate authorities to take command of the district of country embracing the Indian Territory, with headquarters at Fort Smith, addressed562 a communication to John Ross again assuring him of his intention to respect the neutrality of the Cherokee people, except that all those members of the tribe who should so desire must be permitted to enlist in the Confederate army, without interference or molestation, for purposes of defense in case of an invasion from the North. To this Ross replied,563 reasserting the determination of the Cherokees to maintain a strict neutrality between the contending parties. He refused his consent to any organization or enlistment of Cherokee troops into the Confederate service, for the reason, first, it would be a palpable violation of the Cherokee position of neutrality, and, second, it would place in their midst organized companies not authorized by the Cherokee laws, but in violation of treaty, and which would soon become effective instruments in stirring up domestic strife and creating internal difficulties among the Cherokee people. General McCulloch in his letter had assumed that his proposition for permitting enlistments of Cherokees of Confederate sympathies was in accordance with the views expressed to him by Ross in an interview occurring some eight or ten days previous, wherein the latter had observed that in case of an invasion from the North he himself would lead the Cherokees to repel it. Ross, in his reply above alluded to, takes occasion to assure McCulloch that the latter had misapprehended his language. It was only in case of a foreign invasion that he had offered to lead his men in repelling it. He had not signified any purpose as to an invasion by either the Northern or Southern forces, because he had not apprehended and could not give his consent to any.
Some time in August564 a convention was assembled at Tahlequah upon the call of John Ross, to take into consideration the question of the difficulties and dangers surrounding the Cherokee Nation and to determine the most advisable method of procedure. At this convention a number of speeches were made, all of which were bitterly hostile in tone to the United States and favorable to an open alliance with the Southern Confederacy. Ross, among others, gave free expression to his views, and according to the published version of his remarks gave it as his opinion that an understanding with the Confederacy was the best thing for the Cherokees and all other Indians to secure and that without delay; that, as for himself, he was and always had been a Southern man, a State rights man; born in the South, and a slaveholder; that the South was fighting for its rights against the oppressions of the North, and that the true position of the Indians was with the Southern people. After this speech the convention, which was attended by four thousand male Cherokees, adopted without a dissenting voice a resolution to abandon their relations with the United States and to form an alliance with the Confederacy.
Treaties between Confederate States and various Southern tribes.—General Pike did not see Ross again until September.565 In the meantime, the latter had secured the attendance of a large number of representatives of both Northern and Southern tribes, at a convocation held at Antelope Hills, where a unanimous agreement was reached to maintain a strict neutrality in the existing hostilities between their white neighbors. The alleged purpose of this assembly, as stated by General Pike, was to take advantage of the war between the States, and form a great independent Indian confederation, but he defeated its purpose by concluding a treaty with the Creeks on behalf of the Confederate States, while their delegates were actually engaged in council at the Antelope Hills. Following his negotiations with the Creeks, he concluded treaties in quick succession with the Choctaws and Chickasaws, the Seminoles, the Wichitas, and affiliated tribes, including the absentee Shawnees and Delawares, and the Comanches.566 On returning from his treaty with the Comanches, he was met before reaching Fort Arbuckle by a messenger bearing a letter from Ross and his council, accompanied by a copy of the resolutions of the council and a pressing personal invitation to repair to the Cherokee country and enter into a treaty with that tribe. He consented and named a day when he would meet Ross, at the same time writing the latter to notify the Osages, Quapaws, Senecas, and the confederated Senecas and Shawnees, to meet him at the same time. At the time fixed he proceeded to Park Hill (Ross's residence), where he concluded treaties with these various tribes567 during the first week in October, reserving the negotiations with the Cherokees to the last, the treaty with whom was concluded on the 7th of the month at Tahlequah. This instrument was very lengthy, being comprised in fifty-five articles.568 The preamble set forth that—
The Congress of the Confederate States of America having, by an "Act for the protection of certain Indian tribes," approved the 21st day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, offered to assume and accept the protectorate of the several nations and tribes of Indians occupying the country west of Arkansas and Missouri, and to recognize them as their wards, subject to all the rights, privileges, immunities, titles and guarantees with each of said nations and tribes under treaties made with them by the United States of America; and the Cherokee Nation of Indians having assented thereto upon certain terms and conditions: Now, therefore, the said Confederate States of America, by Albert Pike, their commissioner, constituted by the President, under authority of the act of Congress, in that behalf, with plenary powers for these purposes, and the Cherokee Nation by the principal chief, executive council, and commissioners aforesaid, has agreed to the following articles, etc.
With some slight amendments to the instrument as originally concluded it was duly ratified by the Confederate States.
CHEROKEE TROOPS FOR THE CONFEDERATE ARMY.
Long before569 the conclusion of this treaty, authority was given by General McCulloch to raise a battalion of Cherokees for the service of the Confederate States. Under this authority a regiment was raised in December, 1861, and commanded by Stand Watie, the leader of the anti-Ross party. A regiment had also been previously raised, ostensibly as home guards, the officers of which had been appointed by Chief Ross and the command assigned to Colonel Drew.570 After the conclusion of the treaty this regiment was also placed at the service of the Confederate States, and in December571 following, in an address to them, Ross remarked that he had raised the regiment "to act in concert with the troops of the Southern Confederacy."
These two regiments actively participated and co-operated in the military operations of the Confederates until after the battle of Pea Ridge, in which they were engaged.572 In the summer of 1862,573 following this battle, Colonel Weir, of the United States Army, commanding a force partly composed of loyal Indians on the northern border of the Cherokee country, sent a proposition to John Ross urging that the Cherokees should repudiate their treaty with the Confederacy and return to their former relations with the United States, offering at the same time a safe conduct to Ross and such of his leading counselors as he should designate through the Union lines to Washington, where they could negotiate a new treaty with the authorities of the United States. This proposition was declined peremptorily by Ross, who declared that the Cherokees disdained an alliance with a people who had authorized and practiced the most monstrous barbarities in violation of the laws of war; that the Cherokees were bound to the Confederate States by the faith of treaty obligations and by a community of sentiment and interest; that they were born upon the soil of the South and would stand or fall with the States of the South.574
A CHEROKEE CONFEDERATE REGIMENT DESERTS TO THE UNITED STATES.
Colonel Drew's regiment of Cherokees had now been in the Confederate service about ten months. During that period they had remained unpaid, were scantily clothed, and were generally uncared for, unthanked, and their services unrecognized.575 When, therefore, Colonel Weir invaded the Cherokee country in July, 1862, and the power and prestige of the Confederacy seemed, for the time being, to have become less potent in that region, their troops having been withdrawn to other localities, these discontented and unfed Cherokee soldiers found themselves in a condition ripe for revolt. Almost en masse, they abandoned the Confederate service and enlisted in that of the United States.
Conduct of John Ross.—Ross, finding that he had been abandoned by Drew's regiment, concluded to make a virtue of necessity and become a loyal man too, with the shrewd assertion that such had always been the true impulse of his heart; he had been overborne, however, by the authority and power of the Confederate Government and felt constrained to save his people and their material interests from total destruction by dissembling before the officials of that Government, seeking only the first opportunity, which he had now embraced, to return with his people to the fealty they so delighted to bear to the Federal Government.576 He was escorted out of the Cherokee country by Colonel Weir's regiment and did not soon return. The burden of proof seems to be almost, if not quite, conclusive against his pretensions to loyalty up to this period, and now that the opportunity he had so long desired of placing himself and his people within the protection of the United States had arrived, instead of manifesting any of that activity which had characterized his conduct in behalf of the Confederate States, he retired to Philadelphia, and did not return to his people for three years.577
O-poth-le-yo-ho-lo and his loyal followers.—General Pike, in his letter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs pending the negotiation of the treaty of 1866, seeks to convey the impression that there were no actively loyal Indians among the Southern tribes during the incipient stages of the rebellion, and perhaps this is in large measure correct as to most of those tribes.
Their situation was such as would have worked confusion in the ideas of a less primitive and simple minded people. For years before the outbreak of the rebellion their superintendents, agents, and agency employés had been, almost without exception, Southern men or men of Southern sympathies. They were a slaveholding people, and the idea was constantly pressed upon them that the pending difficulties between the North and the South were solely the result of a determination on the part of the latter to protect her slave property from the aggressions and rapacity of the former. When at last hostilities commenced, they saw the magnitude of the preparation and the strength of the Confederate forces in their vicinity. The weakness of the Federal forces was equally striking. Within the scope of their limited horizon there was naught that seemed to shed a ray of hope upon the rapidly darkening sky of Federal supremacy. Those who were naturally inclined to sympathize with, and who retained a feeling of friendship and reverence for, the old Government were awed into silence. A sense of fear and helplessness for the time being compelled them to accept and apparently acquiesce in a state of affairs for which many of them had no heart.
After the Cherokee convention, at Tahlequah, in August, 1861, at which it was decided with such unanimity to renounce their treaty relations with the United States and to enter into diplomatic alliance with the Confederacy, O-poth-le-yo-ho-lo, an old and prominent Creek chief, whom Ross had notified by letter of the action taken, and upon whom he urged the wisdom of securing similar action by the Creeks,578 refused to lend himself to any such measure. He called a council of the Creeks, however, representing to them the action of the Cherokees, alleging that their chiefs had been bought, and reminded the Creeks of the duties and obligations by which they were bound to the Government of the United States.
The majority of the Creeks, notwithstanding, were for active co-operation with the Confederacy, and an internecine war was at once inaugurated. The loyal portion of the Seminoles, Wichitas, Kickapoos, and Delawares joined O-poth-le-yo-ho-lo and his loyal Creeks, who after two or three engagements with the disloyal Indians, backed by a force of Texas troops, was compelled to retreat to the north, which he did in December, 1861.579 The weather was extremely inclement; the loyal Indians were burdened with all their household goods, their women and children, and at the same time exposed to the assaults of their enemies. Their baggage was captured, leaving many of them without shoes or comfortable clothing. Hundreds perished on the route, and at last, after a journey of 300 miles, they reached Humboldt, Kansas, racked with disease, almost frozen, and with starvation staring them in the face. Immediately upon learning of the condition of these sufferers, Indian Superintendent Coffin promptly inaugurated measures for their relief. Having inconsiderable funds at his command for the purpose, application was made to General Hunter, commanding the Department of Kansas, who promptly responded with all the supplies at his disposal. The Indians in their retreat had become scattered over an area of territory 200 miles in extent, between the Verdigris and Fall River, Walnut Creek and the Arkansas. As they became aware of the efforts of the Government for their relief, they began to pour into the camp of rendezvous on the Verdigris, but were later removed to Le Roy, Kansas. Authority was given to enlist the able bodied males in the service of the United States, and two regiments were at once organized and placed under command of Colonel Weir for an expedition against the Indian Territory, mention of which has been previously made. A census taken of these refugees by Superintendent Coffin, in August, 1862, showed that there were in camp, exclusive of the 2,000 who had enlisted in the service of the United States, 3,619 Creeks, 919 Seminoles, 165 Chickasaws, 223 Cherokees, 400 Kickapoos, 89 Delawares, 19 Ionies, and 53 Keechies, in all 5,487, consisting of 864 men, 2,040 women, and 2,583 children. In addition to these at least 15 per cent. had died since their arrival from hardships encountered in the course of their retreat. They were subsequently removed to the Sac and Fox reservation in Kansas.
Until after Colonel Weir's expedition to the Indian Territory not exceeding three hundred Cherokees had taken refuge within the Union lines; but in the autumn of 1862, after Weir's retreat, a body of refugees, mostly women and children, claiming the protection of the United States, made their way to a point on the Cherokee neutral lands some 12 miles south of Fort Scott, Kansas.
Like all the other refugees, they were in a most destitute and suffering condition. In need of food, clothing, and supplies of all kinds, these sufferers, to the number of two thousand, appealed for relief, and were for a time supplied by the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, but afterwards, on being taken under charge of the military authorities, were transferred to Neosho, Missouri.
Relations with the Southern Confederacy renounced.—During the month of February, 1863 (as reported580 by John Ross from Philadelphia), a special meeting of the Cherokee national council was convened at Cowskin Prairie, and the following legislation was enacted:
1. Abrogating the treaty with the Confederate States, and calling a general convention of the people to approve the act.
2. The appointment of a delegation with suitable powers and instructions to represent the Cherokee Nation before the United States Government, consisting of John Ross, principal chief, Lieutenant-Colonel Downing, Capt. James McDaniel, and Rev. Evan Jones.
3. Authorizing a general Indian council to be held at such time and place as the principal chief may designate.
4. Deposing all officers of the nation disloyal to the Government.
5. Approving the purchase of supplies made by the treasurer and directing their distribution.
6. Providing for the abolition of slavery in the Cherokee Nation.
RAVAGES OF WAR IN THE CHEROKEE NATION.
In the latter part of the winter of 1862 and early spring of 1863 the military authorities conceived the propriety of returning the refugee Cherokees to their homes in time to enable them to plant their spring crops. Two military expeditions were organized, one to move from Springfield, Mo., under the command of General Blunt, and the other from Scott's Mills, in charge of Colonel Phillips.581 The Indians were furnished with the necessary agricultural implements, seeds, etc., and were promised complete protection from the incursions of their enemies. The refugees, in charge of Indian Agent Harlan, set out for their homes a week after the army had marched, reaching Tahlequah in safety, and immediately scattering themselves throughout the country engaged busily in planting their crops. Their labors had only fairly commenced when they were alarmed by the reported approach of Stand Watie and his regiment of Confederate Cherokees. The Indians immediately suspended their labors, and, together with the troops under Colonel Phillips, were compelled to take refuge in Fort Gibson. Their numbers were, as reported by the superintendent, now increased to upwards of six thousand, by the addition of many who, up to this time, had remained at their homes. The troops of Stand Watie, alleged to number some seven hundred, scoured the country at their pleasure, and not only everything of value that had previously escaped confiscation in the nation, but everything that had been brought back with them by the refugees to aid in their proposed labors, was either carried off or destroyed. The failure of these expeditions in accomplishing the objects for which they were organized rendered it necessary that the refugees should be fed and maintained at Fort Gibson, some 200 miles distant from the base of supplies. This situation of affairs remained practically unchanged until the close of the war, except that the number of destitute Indians requiring subsistence from the Government increased to sixteen or seventeen thousand. The United States forces continued to occupy Forts Smith and Gibson, and the Indians were thus enabled to cultivate, to a limited extent, the lands within the immediate protection of those posts, but their country was infested and overrun by guerrillas, who preyed upon and destroyed everything of a destructible character. There was no portion of country within the limits of the United States, perhaps, that was better suited to the demands of stock-raising, and the Cherokees had, prior to the war, entered largely into this pursuit. Many of them were wealthy and numbered their herds by hundreds and even thousands of head. Almost the entire nation was surrounded by all the comforts and many of the luxuries of a civilized people. When they were overwhelmed by the disasters of war, and saw the labors and accumulations of more than twenty years' residence in that pleasant and fruitful country swept away in a few weeks, the sullen bitterness of despair settled down upon them. Their losses in stock alone aggregated, according to the best estimates, more than 300,000 head. Is it any wonder that the springs of hope should dry up within their breasts?
TREATY CONCLUDED JULY 19, 1866; PROCLAIMED AUGUST 11, 1866.
Held at Washington, D. C., between Dennis N. Cooley, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and Elijah Sells, superintendent of Indian Affairs for the southern superintendency, on behalf of the United States, and the Cherokee Nation of Indians, represented by its delegates, James McDaniel, Smith Christie, White Catcher, S. H. Benge, J. B. Jones, and Daniel H. Ross, John Ross, principal chief, being too unwell to join in these negotiations.582
MATERIAL PROVISIONS.
Whereas existing treaties between the United States and the Cherokee Nation are deemed to be insufficient, the contracting parties agree as follows, viz:
1. The pretended treaty of October 7, 1861, with the so-called Confederate States, repudiated by the Cherokee National Council February 18, 1863, is declared to be void.
2. Amnesty is declared for all offenses committed by one Cherokee against the person or property of another or against a citizen of the United States prior to July 4, 1866. No right of action arising out of acts committed for or against the rebellion shall be maintained in either the United States or the Cherokee courts, and the Cherokee Nation agree to deliver to the United States all public property in their control which belonged to the United States or the so-called Confederate States.
3. The confiscation laws of the Cherokee Nation shall be repealed, and all sales of farms and improvements are declared void. The former owners shall have the right to repossess themselves of the property so sold. The purchaser under the confiscation laws shall receive from the treasurer of the nation the money paid and the value of the permanent improvements made by him. The value of these improvements shall be fixed by a commission, composed of one person appointed by the United States and one appointed by the Cherokee Nation, who in case of disagreement may appoint a third. The value of these improvements so fixed shall be returned to the Cherokee treasurer by returning Cherokees within three years.
4. All Cherokees and freed persons who were formerly slaves to any Cherokee, and all free negroes, not having been such slaves, who resided in the Cherokee Nation prior to June 1, 1861, who may within two years elect not to reside northeast of the Arkansas River and southeast of Grand River, shall have the right to settle in and occupy the Canadian district southwest of the Arkansas River; and also the country northwest of Grand River, and bounded southeast by Grand River and west by the Creek country, to the northeast corner thereof; from thence west on north line of Creek country to 96° west longitude; thence north with said 96° so far that a line due east to Grand River will include a quantity of land equal to 160 acres for each person who may so elect to reside therein, provided that the part of said district north of Arkansas River shall not be set apart until the Canadian district shall be found insufficient to allow 160 acres to each person desiring to settle under the terms of this article.
5. The inhabitants electing to reside in the district described in the preceding article shall have the right to elect all their local officers and judges, also their proportionate share of delegates in any general council that may be established under the twelfth article of this treaty; to control all their local affairs in a manner not inconsistent with the constitution of the Cherokee Nation or the laws of the United States, provided the Cherokees residing in said district shall enjoy all the rights and privileges of other Cherokees who may elect to settle in said district as herein before provided, and shall hold the same rights and privileges and be subject to the same liabilities as those who elect to settle in said district under the provisions of this treaty; provided, also, that if any rules be adopted which, in the opinion of the President, bear oppressively on any citizen of the nation he may suspend the same. And all rules or regulations discriminating against the citizens of other districts are prohibited and shall be void.
6. The inhabitants of the aforesaid district shall be entitled to representation in the national council in proportion to their numbers. All laws shall be uniform throughout the nation. The President of the United States is empowered to correct any evil arising from the unjust or unequal operation of any Cherokee law and to secure an equitable expenditure of the national funds.
7. A United States court shall be created in the Indian Territory; until created, the United States district court nearest the Cherokee Nation shall have exclusive original jurisdiction of all causes, civil and criminal, between the inhabitants of the aforesaid district and other citizens of the Cherokee Nation. All process issued in said district against a Cherokee outside of said district shall be void unless indorsed by the judge of the district in which the process is to be served. A like rule shall govern the service of process issued by Cherokee officers against persons residing in the aforesaid district. Persons so arrested shall be held in custody until delivered to the United States marshal or until they shall consent to be tried by the Cherokee court. All provisions of this treaty creating distinctions between citizens of any district and the remainder of the Cherokee Nation shall be abrogated by the President whenever a majority of the voters of such district shall so declare at an election duly ordered by him. No future law or regulation enacted in the Cherokee Nation shall take effect until ninety days after promulgation in the newspapers or by written posted notices in both the English and Cherokee languages.
8. No license to trade in the Cherokee Nation shall be granted by the United States unless approved by the Cherokee national council, except in the districts mentioned in article 4.
9. The Cherokee Nation covenant and agree that slavery shall never hereafter exist in the nation. All freedmen, as well as all free colored persons resident in the nation at the outbreak of the rebellion and now resident therein or who shall return within six months and their descendants, shall have all the rights of native Cherokees. Owners of emancipated slaves shall never receive any compensation therefor.
10. All Cherokees shall have the right to sell their farm produce, live stock, merchandise, or manufactures, and to ship and drive the same to market without restraint, subject to any tax now or hereafter levied by the United States on the quantity sold outside of the Indian Territory.
11. The Cherokee Nation grant a right of way 200 feet in width through their country to any company authorized by Congress to construct a railroad from north to south and from east to west through the Cherokee Nation. The officers, employés, and laborers of such company shall be protected in the discharge of their duties while building or operating said road through the nation and at all times shall be subject to the Indian intercourse laws.
12. The Cherokees agree to the organization of a general council, to be composed of delegates elected to represent all the tribes in the Indian Territory, and to be organized as follows:
I. A census shall be taken of each tribe in the Indian Territory.
II. The first general council shall consist of one member for each tribe, and an additional member for each one thousand population or fraction thereof over five hundred. Any tribe failing to elect such members of council shall be represented by its chief or chiefs and headmen in the above proportion. The council shall meet at such time and place as the Superintendent of Indian Affairs shall approve. No session shall exceed thirty days in any one year. The sessions shall be annual; special sessions may be called by the Secretary of the Interior in his discretion.
III. The council shall have power to legislate upon matters pertaining to intercourse and relations of the tribes and freedmen resident in Indian Territory; the arrest and extradition of criminals and offenders escaping from one tribe or community to another; the administration of justice between members of different tribes and persons other than Indians and members of said tribes or nations; and the common defense and safety. All laws enacted by the council shall take effect as therein provided, unless suspended by the President of the United States. No law shall be enacted inconsistent with the Constitution or laws of the United States or with existing treaty stipulations. The council shall not legislate upon matters other than above indicated, unless jurisdiction shall be enlarged by consent of the national council of each nation or tribe, with the assent of the President of the United States.
IV. Said council shall be presided over by such person as may be designated by the Secretary of the Interior.
V. The council shall elect a secretary, who shall receive from the United States an annual salary of $500. He shall transmit a certified copy of the council proceedings to the Secretary of the Interior and to each tribe or nation in the council.
VI. Members of the council shall be paid by the United States $4 a day during actual attendance on its meetings and $4 for every 20 miles of necessary travel in going to and returning therefrom.
13. The United States may establish a court or courts in the Indian Territory, with such organization and jurisdiction as may be established by law, provided that the judicial tribunals of the Cherokee Nation shall retain exclusive jurisdiction in all civil and criminal cases arising within their country in which members of the nation shall be the only parties, or where the cause of action shall arise in the Cherokee Nation, except as otherwise provided in this treaty.
14. Every society or denomination erecting or desiring to erect buildings for missionary or educational purposes shall be entitled to select and occupy for those purposes 160 acres of vacant land in one body.
15. The United States may settle any civilized Indians, friendly with the Cherokees, within the latter's country on unoccupied lands east of 96°, on terms agreed upon between such Indians and the Cherokees, subject to the approval of the President of the United States. If any tribe so settling shall abandon its tribal organization and pay into the Cherokee national fund a sum bearing the same proportion to such fund as said tribe shall in numbers bear to the population of the Cherokee Nation such tribe shall be incorporated into and ever after remain a part of that nation on equal terms with native citizens thereof.
If any tribe so settling shall decide to preserve its tribal organization, laws, customs, and usages not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the Cherokee Nation, it shall have set apart in compact form for use and occupancy a tract equal to 160 acres for each member of the tribe. Such tribe shall pay for this land a price agreed upon with the Cherokees, subject to the approval of the President of the United States, and in case of disagreement the price to be fixed by the President.
Such tribe shall also pay into the national fund a sum to be agreed upon by the respective parties, not greater in proportion to the whole existing national fund and the probable proceeds of the lands herein ceded or authorized to be ceded or sold than their numbers bear to the whole number of Cherokees, and thereafter they shall enjoy all the rights of native Cherokees.
No Indians without tribal organization, or who having one shall have determined to abandon the same, shall be permitted to settle in the Cherokee country east of 96° without the permission of the proper Cherokee authorities. And no Indians determining to preserve their tribal organization shall so settle without such consent, unless the President, after a full hearing of the Cherokee objections thereto, shall deem them insufficient and authorize such settlement.
16. The United States may settle friendly Indians on any Cherokee lands west of 96°; such lands to be selected in compact form and to equal in quantity 160 acres for each member of the tribe so settled. Such tribe shall pay therefor a price to be agreed upon with the Cherokees, or, in the event of failure to agree, the price to be fixed by the President. The tract purchased shall be conveyed in fee simple to the tribe so purchasing, to be held in common or allotted in severalty as the United States may decide.
The right of possession and jurisdiction over the Cherokee country west of 96° to abide with the Cherokees until thus sold and occupied.
17. The Cherokee Nation cedes to the United States, in trust to be surveyed, appraised, and sold for the benefit of that nation, the tract of 800,000 acres sold to them by the United States by article 2, treaty of 1835, and the strip of land ceded to the nation by article 4, treaty of 1835, lying within the State of Kansas, and consents that said lands may be included in the limits and jurisdiction of said State. The appraisement shall not average less than $1.25 per acre, exclusive of improvements.
The Secretary of the Interior shall, after due advertisement for sealed bids, sell such lands to the highest bidders for cash in tracts of not exceeding 160 acres each at not less than the appraised value. Settlers having improvements to the value of $50 or more on any of the lands not mineral and occupied for agricultural purposes at the date of the signing of this treaty, shall, after due proof under rules to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, be allowed to purchase at the appraised value the smallest quantity of land to include their improvements, not exceeding 160 acres each.
The expenses of survey and appraisement shall be paid out of the proceeds of the sale of the lands, and nothing herein shall prevent the Secretary of the Interior from selling to any responsible party for cash all of the unoccupied portion of these lands in a body, for not less than $800,000.
18. Any lands owned by the Cherokees in Arkansas or in States east of the Mississippi River may be sold by their national council, upon the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.
19. All Cherokees residing on the ceded lands desiring to remove to the Cherokee country proper shall be paid by the purchasers the appraised value of their improvements. Such Cherokees desiring to remain on the lands so occupied by them shall be entitled to a patent in fee simple for 320 acres each, to include their improvements, and shall thereupon cease to be members of the nation.
20. Whenever the Cherokee national council shall so request, the Secretary of the Interior shall cause the country reserved for the Cherokees to be surveyed and allotted among them at the expense of the United States.
21. The United States shall at its own expense cause to be run and marked the boundary line between the Cherokee Nation and the States of Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas as far west as the Arkansas River, by two commissioners, one of whom shall be designated by the Cherokee national council.
22. The Cherokee national council shall have the privilege of appointing an agent to examine the accounts of the nation with the United States, who shall have free access to all the accounts and books in the Executive Departments relating to the business of the Cherokees.
23. All funds due the nation or accruing from the sale of their lands shall be invested in United States registered stocks and the interest paid semi-annually on the order of the Cherokee Nation, and applied to the following purposes: 35 per cent. for the support of the common schools of the nation and educational purposes; 15 per cent. for the orphan fund, and 50 per cent. for general purposes, including salaries of district officers. The Secretary of the Interior, with the approval of the President, may pay out of the funds due the nation, on the order of the national council, an amount necessary to meet outstanding obligations of the Cherokee Nation, not exceeding $150,000.
24. Three thousand dollars shall be paid out of the Cherokee funds to the Rev. Evan Jones, now in poverty and crippled, as a reward for forty years' faithful missionary labors in the nation.
25. All bounty and pay of deceased Cherokee soldiers remaining unclaimed at the expiration of two years shall be paid as the national council may direct, to be applied to the foundation and support of an orphan asylum.
26. The United States guarantee to the Cherokees the quiet and peaceable possession of their country and protection against domestic feuds and insurrection as well as hostilities of other tribes. They shall also be protected from intrusion by all unauthorized citizens of the United States attempting to settle on their lands or reside in their territory. Damages resulting from hostilities among the Indian tribes shall be charged to the tribe beginning the same.
27. The United States shall have the right to establish one or more military posts in the Cherokee Nation. No sutler or other person, except the medical department proper, shall have the right to introduce spirituous, vinous, or malt liquors into the country, and then only for strictly medical purposes. All unauthorized persons are prohibited from coming into or remaining in the Cherokee Nation, and it is the duty of the United States agent to have such persons removed as required by the Indian intercourse laws of the United States.
28. The United States agree to pay for provisions and clothing furnished the army of Appotholehala in the winter of 1861 and 1862 a sum not exceeding $10,000.
29. The United States agree to pay out of the proceeds of sale of Cherokee lands $10,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to defray the expenses of the Cherokee delegates and representatives invited to Washington by the United States to conclude this treaty, and also to pay the reasonable costs and expenses of the delegates of the Southern Cherokees.
30. The United States agree to pay not exceeding $20,000 to cover losses sustained by missionaries or missionary societies, in being driven from the Cherokee country by United States agents and on account of property taken and destroyed by United States troops.