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On the 9th of June, 1732, George II granted by charter to certain
"trustees" the right to establish the colony of Georgia, including
all the lands and territories from the most northerly stream of
Savannah river along the seacoast to the southward unto the most
southerly stream of Altamaha river, and westward. from the heads of
said rivers in direct lines to the South sea, and all islands within
20 leagues of the coast.
During the first year of the colony's existence, Governor James
Oglethorpe, who was placed in charge by the trustees, directed his
attention to providing for the emigrants suitable homes at Savannah,
Joseph's Town, Abercorn, and Old Ebenezer; the erection of a fort on
Great Ogeechee river, and the concluding of treaties of amity and
cession with the natives. "Having," according to one authority,
"confirmed the colonists in their occupation of the right bank of
the Savannah, and engaged the friendship of the venerable Indian
chief Tomo-chi-chi, and the neighboring Lower Creeks and Uchees, he
set out," etc.
On the 20th of May, 1733, at Savannah, Oglethorpe made a treaty with
the headmen of the Lower Creeks, the summary of which, as given by
Hugh McCall,1 is as follows:
| When Oglethorpe came
over from England he was not vested with full powers,
consequently the ratification of the treaty was to be
made in England. Soon after his arrival he sent runners
to the different towns, and invited a convention of the
kings and chiefs of the Creek nation, and entered into a
treaty of amity and commerce with them, making a
transfer of the whole nation and all their lands, and
agreeing to live under and become the subjects of his
majesty's government in. common with the white colonists
of Georgia. It was further stipulated that a free and
complete right and title, was granted to the trustees
for all the lands between Savannah and Altamaha rivers,
extending west to the extremity of the tide water, and
including all the islands on the coast from Tybee to St
Simons' inclusively, reserving to themselves the islands
of Ossabaw, Sapeloe and St Catherines, for the purposes
of hunting, bathing, and fishing also the tract of land
lying between Pipe-maker's bluff and Pallychuckola
creek, above Yamacraw bluff, now Savannah; which lands
the Indians reserved to themselves for an encampment,
when they came to visit their beloved friends at
Savannah. This treat} was signed by Oglethorpe on the
part of the king of England, and by Tomochichi and the
other chiefs and headmen on the part of the Creek
nation; it was transmitted to the trustees and formally
ratified on the 18th of Octoher, 1733. |
By this treaty the Indians also granted to the trustees all the
lands on Savannah river as far as the Ogeechee, and all the lands
along the seacoast as far as St John river and as high as the tide
flowed. McCall says the grant extended to the Altamaha, but White is
certainly correct in limiting it by the Ogeechee, as is shown by the
treaty of 1739 mentioned below.
In March, 1736, Governor Oglethorpe wrote to the trustees that
"King Tomo-Chachi and his nephew Tooanoghoni and the Beloved Man
Umpechee," had agreed they should possess the island of St Simons
but reserved St Catherine to themselves.
From a letter to Mr Causton, dated March 17, 1736, it would seem
that the lands had been purchased as far northwest as Ebenezer
creek, in what is now Effingham county. "You are to notice," he
says, "that the Trustees' orders for preventing Peoples settling
beyond the River Ebenezer be executed by the proper officer. The
Indians having complained that some persons have settled over
against Palachocola and some near the month of Ebenezer."
Another letter to the trustees, dated May 18, 1738, informs us of
what the Indians had made complaint, and shows also Governor
Oglethorpe's desire to keep faith with them. He says:
| Some private men have
taken great pains to incense the Indians against the
Spaniards and against the Colony of Georgia
particularly. Capt. Green who I am informed has advised
the Uchee Indians to fall upon the Saltzburgers for
settling upon their Lands, the occasion of which was an
indiscreet action of one of the Saltzburgers who cleared
and planted four acres of Land beyond the Ebenezer
contrary to my orders and without my knowledge. They
also turned their cattle over the River some of whom
strayed away and eat the Uchees corn 20 miles above
Ebenezer. But what next the Uchees more was that some of
the Carolina people swam a great Herd of Cattle over
Savannah and sent up Negroes and began a Plantation on
the Georgia side not far from the Uchees Town. The
Uchees instead of taking Green's advice and beginning
Hostilities with us sent up their Ding and 20 Warriors
with a Message of thanks to me for having ordered back
the Cattle and sent away the Negroes which I did as soon
as ever I arrived. They told me that my having done them
justice before they asked it made them love me and not
believe the stories that were told them against me and
that therefore instead of beginning a War with the
English they were come down to help me against the
Spaniards and that if I wanted them they would bring
down four score more of their warriors who should stay
with me a whole year. You see how God baffles the
attempts of wicked men.2 |
In another letter, July 26, 1736, incidental mention is made of a
cession of land by Opayhatchoo and his tribe. At this time the
cessions he had obtained did not reach to the upper Altamaha, as he
remarks: "The opposition from Carolina :forced me to give the
Indians large presents to procure their confirmation of the cession
of the Islands; and they have refused as yet to give leave to settle
the inland parts up the Alatamaha."
On the 21st of August, 1739, another, treaty was entered into at
Coweta with the Creeks, Cherokee, and Chickasaw. In this treaty the
Indians declare:
| that all the dominions,
territories and lands between the Savannah and St.
John's Rivers, including all the islands, and from the
St John's River to the Apalachie Bay and thence to the
mountains, do, y ancient right belong to the Creek
Nation, and that they would not suffer either the
Spaniards or any other people excepting the trustees of
the Colony of Georgia, to settle their lands. They also
acknowledge the grant which they formerly made to the
Trustees of all the lands on Savannah River as far as
the river Ogeechee, and all the lands along the seacoast
as far as St John's River, and as high as the tide
flowed, and all the islands, particularly St Simon's,
Cumberland, and Amelia, ete.3 |
It would appear from these facts that the policy adopted by this
colony at the outset in dealing with the Indians was a kind and just
one. Moreover, it was correct in method, as the grants from Indians
were not obtained by or on behalf of individuals, but by the
properly constituted authority for and on behalf' of the "trustees,"
who were the proprietors of this colony. Happily for the welfare of
the settlers, the active control had been placed in the hands of
Oglethorpe, who was unquestionably one of the most just, kind, and
truly worthy governors who ever ruled over an American colony. Yet,
as history testifies, though strictly just and prompt to repair or
amend an injury, he was watchful and prompt to resent an invasion of
or trespass on the rights of the colonists, whether by the natives
or by the whites from other settlements.
A letter to the trustees dated September 5, 1739, which refers to
the treaty of 1739, above mentioned, gives some additional evidence
of the just policy Oglethorpe had adopted in treating with the
Indians:
| I am just arrived at
this Place from the Assembled Estates of the Creek
Nation. They have very fully declared their rights to
and possession of all the Land as far as the River Saint
Johns and their Concession of the Sea Coast, Islands and
other Lands to the Trustees, of which they have made a
regular act. If I had not gone up the misunderstandings
between them and the Carolina Traders fomented y our two
neighboring Nations would probably have occasioned their
beginning a war, which I believe might have been the
result of this general meeting; but as their complaints
were reasonable, I gave them satisfaction in all of
them, and everything is entirely settled in peace. It is
impossible to describe the joy they expressed at my
arrival they met me forty miles in the woods and lay it
Provisions on the roads in the woods.4 |
In 1757, or early in 1758, the following act was passed "to
prevent private persons from purchasing lands from the Indians, and
for preventing persons trading with them without license:"
| Whereas the safety,
welfare, and preservation of this province of Georgia
doth, in great measure depend on the maintaining a good
correspondence between his majesty's subjects and the
several nations of Indians in amity with tho said
province: And whereas many inconveniences have arisen,
front private persons claiming lands, included in the
charter granted to the late honorable trustees for
establishing the colony of Georgia by his present
majesty, and since reinvested in the crown under
pretense of certain purchases made of them from the
Indians, which have given occasion for disputes with
those people; for remedy whereof, and for preventing any
differences or disputes with the Indians for the future,
and also for preventing persons trading with them
without license, Re it enacted, That from and after the
fifteenth day of February, one thousand seven hundred
and fifty-eight, if any person or persons, what so ever
shall attempt to purchase or contract for, or cause to
be purchased or contracted for, or shall take or accept
of a grant or conveyance of any lands, or tracts of
land, from any Indian, or body of Indians, upon any
pretense whatsoever, (except for the use of the crown,
and that by permission for this purpose first had and
obtained from his majesty, his heirs or successors, or
his or their governor or commander in chief of the said
province for the time being), every Buell purchase,
contract, grant, and conveyance, shall be, and is and
are hereby declared to be null and void, to all intents
and purposes whatsoever; and all and every person and
persons so offending shall, for every such offence,
forfeit the sum of one thousand pounds sterling money of
Great Britain, the on half thereof to his majesty, his
heirs and successors, for the use of the province, and
the other half to him or them who shall sue for the
same, by action of debt or information, in the general
court of this province, in which no assign, protection,
privilege, or wager of law, or more than one imparlance
shall be allowed.5 |
In 1763, by a treaty held at Augusta, the boundary line between
the settlements and the lands of the natives was fixed and afterward
actually surveyed by De Brahm. The line as determined by this
surveyor, whose field notes have been preserved,' as shown on the
following page; as but few copies of these notes exist, they are
given in full. It would appear from Governor Wright's "Report on the
condition of the Province of Georgia," made to the Earl of Dartmouth
in 1773, that the amount of land he obtained at this treaty was
estimated at 2,116,298 acres, as he makes therein this statement:
Answer to the third
Quere.
The extent of the Province along the front or Sea Coast
from Savannah River to St. Mary's River is computed to
be about on hundred 'Miles as the coast ]yes, but less
in a direct line from Tybee Inlet. The distance back up
Savannah River and from the head of St. Mary's River is
as far as His Majesty's 'territories extend which it is
impossible for me to determine, but the size and extent
within the Boundary Lines settled with the Indians is as
above and has been computed by His Majesty's Surveyor
General to contain about 6,695,429 Acres as follows
Vizr: Amount of bands ceded in the time of the Trustees
to General Oglethorpe 1,152,000 Acres.
Additional Cession to me at
the Congress in November 1763, 2,408,800 Acres.
Addition made by the
extension of this Province from the River Alatamaha to
the River St. Mary computed at 998,400 Acres.
Additional Cession 20,000 Acres in 1766.
Additional Cession at the
Congress held at Augusta the third of June
1773-2,116,298 Acres.
In all within the Indian
Boundary Line supposed to be 6,695,429 Acres.
|
This appears to refer to the territory obtained from the Indians.
If so, it shows that some 10,460 square miles had been purchased
previously to the date of the report, and that the policy of
extinguishing the Indian title by a correct and legitimate method
had been followed up to that time.
By the treaty at Augusta with the Creeks and Cherokee, in June 1773,
the following boundary was agreed on:
| Begin at the place where
the Lower Creek path intersects the Ogeechee river, and
along the main branch of said river to the source of the
southernmost branch of said river and from thence along
the ridge between the waters of Broad river and Oconee
river up to the Buffalo Lick, and from thence in a
straight line to the tree marked by the Cherokees near
the head of a branch falling into the Oconee river, and
from thence along the said ridge twenty miles above the
line already run y the Cherokees, and from thence across
to Savannah river by a line parallel with that formerly
marked by them, and the Creeks by Saleachie and
Taleachie and other head men of the Lower Creeks also
cede from the present boundary line at Phinhotaway creek
on the Altamaha river, up the said river to an island
opposite to the mouth of Barber creek, and from thence
across to Oguechee river opposite to the road about four
miles above Buch head, where a canoe ferry used to be
kept. |
The above facts are sufficient to show that the policy of the
colony in treating with the Indians in regard to their lands was
just and equitable up to the time it became a state.
1 History of Georgia, vol. i, p. 37.
2 Georgia Historical society Collections, vol. in,
pp. 35-36.
3 white, Historical Collections of Georgia (1555),
p. 121.
4 Georgia Historical Society Collections. vol. III,
p. 81.
5 Digest of the Laws of the state of Georgia from
1755 to 1799 (1800), p. 51.
6 In "History of the Province Georgia," by John
Gerar William do Brahm. Copied November 10, 1894. V. H. Pa Arits.
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First annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,
1879-80
Indian
Land Cessions in the United States
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