The Cherokee Nation of Indians. (1887 N 05 / 1883-1884 (pages 121-378))Royce, Charles C.
History
The Cherokee Nation of Indians. (1887 N 05 / 1883-1884 (pages 121-378))
Royce, Charles C.
Cherokee Indians -- Government relations; Cherokee Indians -- Treaties
_President Jackson's method for compelling Cherokee removal._--In
connection with this subject of an investigation into the affairs of
the Cherokees, a confidential letter is to be found on file in the
office of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, from Hon. P. M. Butler,
of South Carolina, who had a few months previous to its date[472]
been appointed United States agent for the Cherokees, interesting as
throwing light on the negotiation and conclusion of the treaty of 1835.
Mr. Butler says it is alleged, and claimed to be susceptible of proof,
that Mr. Merriweather, of Georgia, in an interview with President
Jackson, a considerable time before the treaty was negotiated, said
to the President, "We want the Cherokee lands in Georgia, but the
Cherokees will not consent to cede them," to which the President
emphatically replied, "You must get clear of them [the Cherokees] by
legislation. Take judicial jurisdiction over their country; build fires
around them, and do indirectly what you cannot effect directly."
PER CAPITA PAYMENTS UNDER THE TREATY.
In the same letter Mr. Butler, in alluding to the existing difficulties
in the Cherokee Nation, observes that prior to the preceding October
the Ross party had been largely in the ascendency in the nation,
but that at their last preceding election the question hinged upon
whether the "per capita" money due them under the treaty of 1835
should be immediately paid over to the people. The result was in favor
of the Ridge party, who assumed the affirmative of the question, the
opposition of Ross and his party being predicated on the theory that
an acceptance of this money would be an acknowledgment of the validity
of the treaty of 1835. This, it was feared, would have an unfavorable
effect on their efforts to secure the conclusion of a new treaty on
more satisfactory terms. On the settlement of this per capita tax,
Mr. Butler remarks, will depend the peace and safety of the Cherokee
Nation, adding that should the rumors afloat prove true, to the effect
that the per capita money was nearly exhausted, neither the national
funds in the hands of the treasurer nor the life of Mr. Ross would be
safe for an hour from the infuriated members of the tribe.
POLITICAL MURDERS IN CHEROKEE NATION.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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