The Treaty of Payne's Landing (Treaty with the Seminole, 1832) was an agreement signed on 9 May 1832 between the government of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and several chiefs of the

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

Indians in the

Territory of Florida The Territory of Florida was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 30, 1822, until March 3, 1845, when it was admitted to the Union as the state of Florida. Originally the major portion of the Spanish t ...

, before it acquired statehood.

Background

By the

Treaty of Moultrie Creek The Treaty of Moultrie Creek was an agreement signed in 1823 between the government of the United States and the chiefs of several groups and bands of Indians living in the present-day state of Florida. The treaty established a reservation in th ...

in 1823, the Seminoles had relinquished all claims to land in the

Florida Territory The Territory of Florida was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 30, 1822, until March 3, 1845, when it was admitted to the Union as the state of Florida. Originally the major portion of the Spanish ...

in return for a reservation in the center of the Florida peninsula and certain payments, supplies and services to be provided by the U.S. government, guaranteed for twenty years. After the election of

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

in 1828, the movement to transfer all Indians in the United States to west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

grew, and in 1830 the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

passed the

Indian Removal Act The Indian Removal Act was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for ...

. Determined to move the Seminoles west, the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, ...

appointed

James Gadsden James Gadsden (May 15, 1788December 26, 1858) was an American diplomat, soldier and businessman after whom the Gadsden Purchase is named, pertaining to land which the United States bought from Mexico, and which became the southern portions of Ar ...

to negotiate a new treaty with them. In the spring of 1832 the Seminoles on the reservation were called to a meeting at Payne's Landing on the

Oklawaha River The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 21, 2011 Ocklawaha River flows north from central Florida until it joins the St. Johns River near Palatka. Its name is derive ...

. The negotiations were conducted in obscurity, if not secrecy. No minutes were taken, nor were any detailed accounts of the negotiations ever published. This was to lead to trouble later.Missall. p. 83. The U.S. government wanted the Seminoles to move to the Creek Reservation in what was then part of the

Arkansas Territory The Arkansas Territory was a territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1819, to June 15, 1836, when the final extent of Arkansas Territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Arkansas. Arkansas Post was the first territo ...

(which later became part of the

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...

), to become part of the

Creek Nation The Muscogee Nation, or Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is a federally recognized Native American tribe based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The nation descends from the historic Muscogee Confederacy, a large group of indigenous peoples of the South ...

, and to return all runaway slaves to their lawful owners. None of these demands were agreeable to the Seminoles. They had heard that the climate at the Creek Reservation was harsher than in Florida. The Seminoles of Florida did not consider themselves part of the Creeks. Although many of the groups in Florida had come from what whites called Creek tribes, they did not feel any connection. Some of the groups in Florida, such as the

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

Yamasee The Yamasees (also spelled Yamassees or Yemassees) were a multiethnic confederation of Native Americans who lived in the coastal region of present-day northern coastal Georgia near the Savannah River and later in northeastern Florida. The Yamas ...

s and the

Yuchi The Yuchi people, also spelled Euchee and Uchee, are a Native American tribe based in Oklahoma. In the 16th century, Yuchi people lived in the eastern Tennessee River valley in Tennessee. In the late 17th century, they moved south to Alabama, G ...

s had never been grouped with the Creeks. Finally, runaway slaves, while often held as slaves by the Seminoles (under much milder conditions than with whites), were fairly well integrated into the bands, often inter-marrying, and rising to positions of influence and leadership.

Treaty contents

The treaty negotiated at Payne's Landing called for the Seminoles to move west if the land were found to be suitable. The delegation of seven chiefs who were to inspect the new reservation did not leave Florida until October 1832. After touring the area for several months and conferring with the Creeks who had already been settled there, the seven chiefs signed on March 28, 1833 at

Fort Gibson Fort Gibson is a historic military site next to the modern city of Fort Gibson, in Muskogee County Oklahoma. It guarded the American frontier in Indian Territory from 1824 to 1888. When it was constructed, the fort was farther west than any ot ...

, Arkansas Territory a statement that the new land was acceptable. Upon their return to Florida, however, most of the chiefs renounced the statement, claiming that they had not signed it, or that they had been forced to sign it, and in any case, that they did not have the power to decide for all the tribes and bands that resided on the reservation. Even some U.S. Army officers observed that the chiefs "had been wheedled and bullied into signing." Furthermore, "there is evidence of trickery by the whites in the way the treaty is phrased." Several villages had been allowed to stay in the area of the

Apalachicola River The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately 160 mi (180 km) long in the state of Florida. The river's large watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, drains an area of approximately into the Gulf of Mexico. The distance to its far ...

after 1823 when the rest of the Seminoles had been forced into the new reservation. Gadsden was able to persuade the chiefs of these villages to move, however, and they went west in 1834. The

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

finally ratified the Treaty of Payne's Landing in April 1834.Missall. pp. 8690.

Refusal to move

The treaty had given the Seminoles three years to move west of the

. The government interpreted the three years as starting in 1832, and expected the Seminoles to move in 1835.

Fort King Fort King (also known as Camp King or Cantonment King) was a United States military fort in north central Florida, near what later developed as the city of Ocala. It was named after Colonel William King, commander of Florida's Fourth Infantry and ...

, in what is now

Ocala Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County within the northern region of Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 63,591, making it the 54th most populated city in Florida. Home to ...

was reopened in 1834. A new Seminole agent,

Wiley Thompson Wiley Thompson (September 23, 1781 – December 28, 1835) was a United States representative from Georgia. Born in Amelia County, Virginia, Thompson moved to Elberton, Georgia, and served as a commissioner of the Elbert County Academy in 1808. He ...

, was appointed in 1834, and the task of persuading the Seminoles to move fell to him. He called the chiefs together at Fort King in October 1834 to talk to them about the removal to the west. The Seminoles informed Thompson that they had no intention of moving, and that they did not feel bound by the Treaty of Payne's Landing. Thompson then requested reinforcements for Fort King and Fort Brooke, reporting that, "the Indians after they had received the Annuity, purchased an unusually large quantity of Powder & Lead." Brigadier General Duncan L. Clinch,

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

commander for Florida, also warned Washington that the Seminoles did not intend to move, and that more troops would be needed to force them to move. In March 1835 Thompson called the chiefs together to read a letter from Andrew Jackson to them. In his letter, Jackson said, "Should you ... refuse to move, I have then directed the Commanding officer to remove you by force." The chiefs asked for thirty days to respond. A month later the Seminole chiefs told Thompson that they would not move west. Thompson and the chiefs began arguing, and General Clinch had to intervene to prevent bloodshed. Eventually, eight of the chiefs agreed to move west, but asked to delay the move until the end of the year, and Thompson and Clinch agreed. Five of the most important of the Seminole chiefs, including Micanopy of the Alachua Seminoles, had not agreed to the move. In retaliation, Thompson declared that those chiefs were removed from their positions. As relations with the Seminoles deteriorated, Thompson forbid the sale of guns and ammunition to the Seminoles.

Osceola Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Asi-yahola in Muscogee language, Creek), named Billy Powell at birth in Alabama, became an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfather was a S ...

, a young warrior beginning to be noticed by the whites, was particularly upset by the ban, feeling that it equated Seminoles with slaves and said, "The white man shall not make me black. I will make the white man red with blood; and then blacken him in the sun and rain ... and the buzzard live upon his flesh." In spite of this, Thompson considered Osceola to be a friend, and gave him a rifle. Later, though, when Osceola was causing trouble, Thompson had him locked up at Fort King for a night. The next day, in order to secure his release, Osceola agreed to abide by the Treaty of Payne's Landing and to bring his followers in. The situation grew worse. In August 1835 Private Kinsley Dalton (for whom

Dalton, Georgia Dalton is a city and the county seat of Whitfield County, Georgia, United States. It is also the principal city of the Dalton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Murray and Whitfield counties. As of the 2010 census, the ci ...

is named) was killed by Seminoles as he was carrying the mail from Fort Brooke to Fort King. In November Chief Charley Emathla, wanting no part of a war, led his people towards Fort Brooke where they were to board ships to go west. This was considered a betrayal by other Seminoles. Osceola met Emathla on the trail and killed him. The

Second Seminole War The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Native Americans and Black Indians. It was part of a ser ...

was beginning.

Signatories

*Holati Emartla, his x mark *Jumper, his x mark *Fuch-ta-lus-ta-Hadjo, his x mark *Charley Emartla, his x mark *Coa Hadjo, his x mark *

Ar-pi-uck-i Ar-pi-uck-i, also known as Abiaka or Sam Jones, (c. 1760 – c. 1860) was a powerful spiritual ''alektca'' ( medicine chief) and war chief of the Miccosukee, a Seminole–Muscogee Creek tribe of the Southeast United States. Ar-pi-uck-i succes ...

, or Sam Jones, his x mark * Ya-ha Hadjo, his x mark *Mico-Noha, his x mark *Tokose-Emartla, or Jno. Hicks. his x mark *Cat-sha-Tusta-nuck-i, his x mark *Hola-at-a-Mico, his x mark (aka

Billy Bowlegs Holata Micco (alternate spellings: Halpatter-Micco, Halbutta Micco, and Halpuda Mikko, meaning Alligator Chief; known by whites as Chief Billy Bowlegs or Billy Bolek) (c. 1810 – 1859) was an important leader of the Seminoles in Florida during ...

) *Hitch-it-i-Mico, his x mark *E-ne-hah, his x mark *Ya- ha- emartla Chup- ko, his mark *Moke-his-she-lar-ni, his x mark Witnesses: *Douglas Vass, Secretary to Commissioner, *John Phagan, Agent, *Stephen Richards, Interpreter, *Abraham, Interpreter, his x mark, *Cudjo, Interpreter, his x mark, *Erastus Rogers, *B. Joscan.Treaty With The Seminole, May 9, 1832. , 7 Stat., 368. , Proclamation, April 12, 1834.Indian Affairs: Laws And Treaties Vol. II, Treaties, compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler. Washington : Government Printing Office, 1904.

Notes and references

References

* Missal, John and Mary Lou Missal. 2004. ''Seminole Wars: America's Longest Indian Conflict''. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida.

External links

Treaty of Payne's Landing original text
from johnhorse.com

from the

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