In point of numbers the Cherokee population now considerably exceeds
that first enumerated by the early colonial authorities. As early
as 1715 the proprietors of the South Carolina Plantation instructed
Governor Robert Johnson to cause a census to be taken of all the
Indian tribes within that jurisdiction, and from his report it appears
that the Cherokee Nation at that time contained thirty towns and an
aggregate population of 11,210, of whom 4,000 were warriors. Adair
alleges that in 1735, or thereabouts, according to the computation
of the traders, their warriors numbered 6,000, but that in 1738 the
ravages of the small-pox reduced their population one-half within one
year. Indeed, this disaster, coupled with the losses sustained in
their conflicts with the whites and with neighboring tribes, had so
far wasted their ranks that a half century after the census taken by
Governor Johnson they were estimated by the traders to have but 2,300
warriors.[10] By the last report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs
the total population is estimated to number 22,000.[11] It is true that
considerable of this increase is attributable to the fact that several
other small tribes or bands, within a few years past, have merged their
tribal existence in that of the Cherokees. Independent of this fact,
however, they have maintained a slow but steady increase in numbers for
many years, with the exception of the severe losses sustained during
the disastrous period of the late southern rebellion.