By 1827, the Muscogee/Creek nation gave up all of their land in Georgia, despite promises by the U.S. government and a Council of Chiefs determined not to cede any more land. After the Treaty of Fort Jackson, when millions of acres of land were ceded to the United States. the Muscogee/Creek nation were promised that they could retain the remaining lands until their chiefs chose to dispose of them, and the National Council of Muscogee/Creek chiefs vowed never to cede any more land. Yet, in 1825 the Treaty of Indian Springs was signed by Chief William McIntosh to cede almost all of their land in Georgia. Chief McIntosh, also called the "White Warrior" became a traitor to his nation, and met his fate when a knife was plunged into his heart. Now, President John Quincy Adams had to face up to the fact that the treaty had not been negotiated in good faith.
I will begin this story in 1821, when the National Council met at Indian Springs with U.S. commissioner James Meriwether over an incident of horses, slaves and other property stolen by the Muscogee/Creek Nation. The United States demanded $350,000, and offered an acre-for-acre swap of land west of the Mississippi. A poorly attended Council agreed that if any towns chose to move west, the Creek nation would give swap their lands. Many chiefs were angered by this deal and left the council. The few chiefs who remained signed a treaty to swap over 4 million acres of Creek land along the Ocmulgee River west to Flint in exchange for western lands and $216,000 in annual payments over the next 6 years. To make this deal, the most senior chief still present, William McIntosh convinced the council to suspend an 1817 law that forbade any sales of Creek land by the National Council.
The State of Georgia, and the federal government though were not going to stop until they obtained all of the Muscogee/Creek land in Georgia. Following a hotly contested campaign for governor, George M. Troup a first cousin of William McIntosh was elected and promised to acquire all of the remaining Creek lands. To assist in this effort, President James Monroe appointed James Meriwether as a commissioner to negotiate with the Muscogee/Creek Nations. Meriwether and the chiefs met a the capitol of New Echota, hoping to agree on cession of the lands. Here, Chief McIntosh offered Chief John Ross a bribe, but when the bribe was exposed to the Council, McIntosh was ejected. After this event the National Council met at a meeting at Tuckabatchee to make their position clear that no more land would be ceded. At this meeting they declared that any chief "be they ever so great, they all must abide [by] the laws. We have guns and ropes: and if any of our people should break these laws, those guns and ropes are to be their end". (Barnard and Schwartzman, 709-711). Despite this declaration, Secretary of War John Calhoun authorized James Meriwether and James Campbell to obtain as much land they could get for the lowest price.
Initial offers were made to the National Council, but it was rejected by Little Prince, the head chief of the Muscogee/Creek Nation and Opothle Yoholo the speaker of the upper Towns. Publicly, Chief McIntosh speaker of the Lower towns sided with the whole council, but secretly he continued to deal with Campbell and Merriwether. When this was exposed, McIntosh was immediately relieved of his position as speaker of the Lower Towns. In response McIntosh, took refuge at his plantain where he continued to secretly meet with the commissioners. On January 12th, 1825, McIntosh along with some like-minded chiefs met with the commissioners to hammer out a draft of a new treaty to cede even more land. McIntosh and the chiefs were well aware of the National Council's declaration and knew they had just signed their death warrant, so they appealed to President John Quincy Adams for protection. On February 12th, Chief McIntosh signed the Treaty of Indian Springs relinquishing almost all of the Muscogee/Creek lands remaining in Georgia, for $400,000 in annuities and $200,000 that was to be paid directly to McIntosh immediately after the ratification of the treaty.
The rival chiefs accused McIntosh of the worst case of treason and denounced the treaty as a fraud. Governor Troup, McIntosh's cousin assured McCintosh that nothing would happen to him and that he would be protected by the federal government, but on April 29, 1825 Menawa and 200 warriors from the Upper Creek Towns descended on his home. The warriors ordered all of the white guests and all women and children leave the building, and then set it on fire. McIntosh, who was met at the front door with heavy gunfire, retreated inside and continued to exchange gunfire from an upstairs window. As the smoke and flames overcame the building, McIntosh tried to make a run for it and was shot several more times. Finally, he met his fate a knife when a knife was plunged into his heart. Chief Opothle Yoholo, speaker of the Upper Creek Towns led a delegation of the National Council to Washington D.C. to petition President John Quincy Adams to have the treaty revoked. In his first State of the Union Address, Adams made a brief mention of the Indian Springs treaty, and the question of it's validity.
"The treaties which since the last session of Congress have been concluded with the several tribes will be laid before the Senate for their consideration conformably to the Constitution. They comprise large and valuable acquisitions of territory, and they secure an adjustment of boundaries and give pledges of permanent peace between several tribes which had been long waging bloody wars against each other.
On the 12th of February last a treaty was signed at the Indian Springs between commissioners appointed on the part of the United States and certain chiefs and individuals of the Creek Nation of Indians, which was received at the seat of Government only a very few days before the close of the last session of Congress and of the late Administration. The advice and consent of the Senate was given to it on the 3d of March, too late for it to receive the ratification of the then President of the United States; it was ratified on the 7th of March, under the unsuspecting impression that it had been negotiated in good faith and in the confidence inspired by the recommendation of the Senate. The subsequent transactions in relation to this treaty will form the subject of a separate communication."In 1826, the Treaty of Washington was signed in it's place, ceding all of the land belonging to the Creeks on the east side of the Chattahoochee River for a yearly annuity of $20,000 and a one-time payment of $217,600. The U.S. government would fund the relocation and provide a full-time Federal Indian Agent. By 1827, the Muskogee/Creek Nation was gone from Georgia.
References
Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2018). John Quincy Adams: First Annual Message. [online] Available at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29467 [Accessed 8 Jan. 2018].
O'Brien, S. (2005). In bitterness and in tears. Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press, p.227.
Schwartzman, G. and Barnard, S. (1991). A Trail of Broken Promises: Georgians and Muscogee/Creek Treaties, 1796-1826. The Georgia Historical Quarterly, [online] Vol. 75, No. 4 (Winter 1991), pp.697-718. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40582422 [Accessed 8 Jan. 2018].
En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Treaty of Indian Springs (1825). [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Indian_Springs_(1825) [Accessed 8 Jan. 2018].
En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Treaty of Washington (1826). [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Washington_(1826) [Accessed 8 Jan. 2018].
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