An historical atlas of Indian affairs has for some time past been in
course of preparation under the direction of the Bureau of Ethnology,
Smithsonian Institution.
The chief aim of this atlas is to show upon a series of State and
Territorial maps the boundaries of the various tracts of country which
have from time to time been acquired through the medium of treaty
stipulation or act of Congress from the several Indian tribes resident
within the present territory of the United States from the beginning of
the Federal period to the present day.
Accompanying this atlas will be one or more volumes of historical
text, wherein will be given with some detail a history of the official
relations between the United States and these tribes. This will treat
of the various negotiations for peace and for the acquisition of
territory, the causes rendering such negotiations necessary, and the
methods observed by the Government through its authorized agents in
this diplomacy, as well as other matters of public concern growing out
of the same.
The following monograph on the history of the Cherokees, with its
accompanying maps, is given as an illustration of the character of the
work in its treatment of each of the Indian tribes.
The maps are intended to show not only the ancestral but the present
home of the Cherokees, and also to indicate the boundaries of the
various tracts of territory purchased from them by the Colonial or
Federal authorities from time to time since their first contact with
the European settlements. A number of purchases made prior to the
Federal period by individuals were unauthorized and unrecognized by the
Colonial authorities, and their boundaries, though given in the text,
are not laid down upon the map, because the same areas of territory
were afterwards included within the limits of Colonial purchases.
In the preparation of this article, more particularly in the tracing
out of the various boundary lines, much careful attention and research
have been given to all available authorities or sources of information.
The old manuscript records of the Government, the shelves of the
Congressional Library, including its very large collection of American
maps, local records, and the knowledge of "old settlers," as well as
the accretions of various State historical societies, have been made to
pay tribute to the subject.
In the course of these researches the writer has been met in his
inquiries with a degree of courtesy and kindly assistance that merits
public recognition.
Among others who have shown an earnest desire to promote the object
of these investigations are Hon. John M. Lea, vice-president State
Historical Society of Tennessee; General Robert N. Hood, Spencer
Munson, and R. H. Armstrong, of Knoxville, Tenn. The writer is also
deeply indebted to the Hon. Hiram Price, Commissioner of Indian
Affairs, and E. L. Stevens, chief clerk, for the readiness with which
they afforded him access to the records and files of the Indian
Bureau. This permission was earnestly supplemented by the intelligent
assistance and encouragement of Mr. C. A. Maxwell, chief of the Land
Division, as well as that of R. F. Thompson and Paul Brodie, of the
same Bureau, both of whom have taken special and constant pains to aid
these researches.
To Captain Adams, of the Bureau of Topographical Engineers, the hearty
thanks of the writer are due for many courtesies extended in the
examination of the voluminous and valuable collection of maps belonging
to that branch of the public service, and equal credit must be given to
Mr. G. P. Strum, principal draughtsman of the General Land Office, and
his assistants, for their uniform courtesy in affording access to the
official plats and records of that Bureau.
The officers of the Congressional Library have also shown a marked
degree of courtesy and interest.
* * * * *
The various cessions of land by the Cherokees alluded to in the text
are numerically designated upon the accompanying maps, and are as
follows: