![Tellico-blockhouse-vonore-tennessee](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Tellico-blockhouse-vonore-tennessee.jpg)
The Treaty With The Cherokee, 1798, also known as the First Treaty of Tellico, was signed on October 2, 1798, in the
Overhill Cherokee
Overhill Cherokee was the term for the Cherokee people located in their historic settlements in what is now the U.S. state of Tennessee in the Southeastern United States, on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. This name was used by 1 ...
settlement of
Great Tellico
Great Tellico was a Cherokee town at the site of present-day Tellico Plains, Tennessee, where the Tellico River emerges from the Appalachian Mountains. Great Tellico was one of the largest Cherokee towns in the region, and had a sister town nea ...
near
Tellico Blockhouse
The Tellico Blockhouse was an early American outpost located along the Little Tennessee River in what developed as Vonore, Monroe County, Tennessee. Completed in 1794, the blockhouse was a US military outpost that operated until 1807; the garrison ...
in Tennessee. This treaty served as an addendum to the
Treaty of Holston
The Treaty of Holston (or Treaty of the Holston) was a treaty between the United States government and the Cherokee signed on July 2, 1791, and proclaimed on February 7, 1792. It was negotiated and signed by William Blount, governor of the South ...
and was the only treaty between the United States and Native Americans executed during the administration of President
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
.
The treaty was signed by Thomas Butler and George Walton, commissioners of the United States, and some thirty-nine Cherokee
chief
Chief may refer to:
Title or rank
Military and law enforcement
* Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force
* Chief of police, the head of a police department
* Chief of the boa ...
s and warriors, in the presence of
Silas Dinsmoor
Silas Dinsmoor (September 26, 1766 – June 17, 1847) was an appointed U. S. Agent to the Cherokee (1794–1798) and to the Choctaw (1801–1813). He later served as a Surveying, surveyor in Alabama before eventually retiring to Boone County, Ken ...
, Agent of the United States among the
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
, and thirteen other witnesses, including
Charles R. Hicks, who served as interpreter.
Terms
Preamble The treaty begins with a long preamble, stating the reasons why it was necessary to make another treaty. Among the reasons cited are these two clauses; viz. "for the purpose of doing justice to the
Cherokee Nation
The Cherokee Nation (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ ''Tsalagihi Ayeli'' or ᏣᎳᎩᏰᎵ ''Tsalagiyehli''), also known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It ...
of Indians" and "in order to promote the interest and safety of the said States."
Article 1. Peace renewed and declared perpetual.
Article 2. The treaties subsisting between the parties in full force; "together with the construction and usage under the respective articles; and so to continue."
Article 3. Limits and boundaries of the Cherokee nation to remain the same, "where not altered by the present treaty."
Article 4. The Cherokee Nation "do hereby relinquish and cede to the United States all the lands within the following points and lines:"
ere follows a boundary, by which a considerable district of land, now in East Tennessee, was ceded to the United States.
Article 5. The line described in the treaty to be marked immediately, "which said line shall form a part of the boundary between the United States and the Cherokee Nation."
Article 6. In consideration of the preceding cession, the United States agree to pay $5,000 on signing, and $1,000 annually, in addition to previous stipulations of this kind ; "and will continue the guarantee of the remainder of their country forever, as made and contained in former treaties."
Article 7. The "Kentucky road, running between the Cumberland mountain and the Cumberland river" across a small corner of Cherokee country, "shall be an open and free road for the use of the citizens of the United States"; and in consideration of this grant, "until settlements shall make such hunting improper", the Cherokees are to be permitted "to hunt and take game upon the lands relinquished and ceded by this treaty."
Article 8. Due notice to be given of the payment of the annual stipends, and the United States to furnish provisions for a "reasonable" number of Cherokees, who shall assemble on these occasions.
Article 9. Horses stolen from Cherokees by whites to be paid for by the United States; and horses stolen from whites by Cherokees, to be paid for by a deduction from the annuity.
Article 10. The Agent of the United States residing among the Cherokees to have a sufficient piece of ground allotted "for his temporary use" and the provision that this treaty was to "be carried into effect on both sides with all good faith."
See also
*
List of United States treaties
This is a list of treaties to which the United States has been a party or which have had direct relevance to U.S. history.
Pre-Revolutionary War treaties
Before the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776, the sovereign of the United ...
*
Cherokee treaties
The Cherokee have participated in over forty treaties in the past three hundred years.
Pre-American Revolution
;Treaty between two Cherokee towns with English traders of Carolina, 1684 : Established a steady trade in deerskins and Indian slaves. ...
References
External links
* (hit next five times for map of Treaty of Tellico)
{{John Adams
1798 in the United States
1798 treaties
Cherokee Nation (1794–1907)
Cherokee and United States treaties
History of Tennessee
Tellico
1798 in Tennessee
Native American history of Tennessee