The present Cherokee population is of a composite character. Remnants of other nations or tribes have from time to time been absorbed and admitted to full participation in the benefits of Cherokee citizenship. The various classes may be thus enumerated: 1. The full blood Cherokees. 2. The mixed blood Cherokees. 3. The Delawares. 4. The Shawnees. 5. White men and women intermarried with the foregoing. 6. A few Creeks who broke away from their own tribe and have been citizens of the Cherokee Nation for many years. 7. A few Creeks who are not citizens, but have taken up their abode in the Cherokee country, without any rights. 8. A remnant of the Natchez tribe, who are citizens. 9. The freedmen adopted under the treaty of 1866. 10. Freedmen not adopted, but not removed as intruders, owing to an order from the Indian Department forbidding such removal pending a decision upon their claims to citizenship. If the Government of the United States shall in this last resort of the Cherokees prove faithful to its obligations and maintain their country inviolate from the intrusions of white trespassers, the future of the nation will surely prove the capability of the American Indian under favorable conditions to realize in a high degree the possibilities of Anglo-Saxon civilization. _Table showing approximately the area in square miles and acres ceded to the United States by the various treaties with the Cherokee Nation:_ +----------------------+------------------+----------------+----------+ | |State where ceded | Area | Area in | | Date of treaty. |lands are located.| in square | acres. | | | | miles. | | +----------------------+------------------+----------------+----------+ |1721 |South Carolina | 2,623 | 1,678,720| |November 24, 1755 | do | 8,635 | 5,526,400| |October 14, 1768 |Virginia | 850 | 544,000| |October 18, 1770 {| do | 4,500 | 2,880,000| | {|West Virginia | 4,300 | 2,752,000| | {|Tennessee | 150 | 96,000| | {|Kentucky | 250 | 160,000| |1772 {| do | 10,135 | 6,486,400| | {|West Virginia | 437 | 279,680| | {|Virginia | 345 | 220,800| |June 1, 1773 |Georgia | 1,050 | 672,000| |March 17, 1775 {|Kentucky | 22,600 |14,464,000| | {|Virginia | 1,800 | 1,152,000| | {|Tennessee | 2,650 | 1,696,000| |May 20, 1777 |South Carolina | 2,051 | 1,312,640| |July 20, 1777 {|North Carolina | 4,414 | 2,824,960|