In the early part of the year 1807, Col. Elias Earle, of South
Carolina, proposed to the Secretary of War the establishment of iron
works, with suitable shops, in the Cherokee Nation, on substantially
the following conditions, viz: That a suitable place should be looked
out and selected where sufficient quantities of good iron ore could
be found, in the vicinity of proper water privileges, for such an
establishment; that the Indians should be induced to make a cession of
a tract of land, not less than 6 miles square, which should embrace the
ore bed and water privilege; that so much of the land so ceded as the
President of the United States should deem proper should be conveyed to
him (Earle), including the ore and water facilities, whereon he should
be authorized to erect iron works, smith shops, and so forth. Earle,
on his part, engaged to erect such iron works and shops as to enable
him to furnish such quantities of iron and implements of husbandry
as should be sufficient for the use of the various Indian tribes in
that part of the country, including those on the west side of the Ohio
and Mississippi Rivers; also to deliver annually to the order of the
Government of the United States such quantities of iron and implements
as should be needed for the Indian service, and on such reasonable
terms as should be mutually agreed upon.
The Secretary of War referred the propositions of Colonel Earle to
the President of the United States, who gave them his sanction, and
accordingly Agent Meigs, of the Cherokees, was instructed[175] to
endeavor to procure from the Cherokees such a cession as was proposed,
so soon as Colonel Earle should have explored the country and selected
a suitable place for the proposed establishment. Colonel Earle made the
necessary explorations, and found a place at the mouth of Chickamauga
Creek which seemed to meet the requirements of the case.
Thereupon Agent Meigs convened the Indians in council at Highwassee,
Tennessee, at which Colonel Earle was present, and concluded a
treaty[176] with them. By its terms, in consideration of the sum of
$5,000 and 1,000 bushels of corn, the Cherokees ceded a tract of
country 6 miles square at the mouth of Chickamauga Creek, on the
south side of Tennessee River, to be laid off in square form so as to
include the creek to the best advantage for such site. The treaty also
contained a proviso that in case the ore supply should fail at this
point, the United States should have full liberty to procure it within
the Cherokee territory at the most suitable and convenient place.
Twenty-five hundred dollars of the consideration was at once paid in
cash to the Indians and 1,000 bushels of corn agreed to be delivered
to them the following spring. Colonel Earle carried the treaty to
Washington at the next session of Congress for ratification.[177]
President Jefferson transmitted it to the Senate with a favorable
message,[178] but before any action was taken by that body it was
ascertained that the tract selected and ceded was within the limits of
the State of Tennessee.
The matter of ratification was therefore postponed, with the hope
that the State of Tennessee would consent to relinquish her claim to
the land. In this the President was disappointed. No further action
was taken for several years, until, it having become evident that no
concession would be made in the matter by the legislature of Tennessee,
the United States Senate[179] unanimously rejected the treaty. In
consequence of this action, Colonel Earle made claim[180] against the
Government either for the value of his time and expenses incurred in
exploring the Cherokee country, selecting the site, and procuring the
conclusion of the treaty, or, as an alternative, that the consent of
the Cherokees should be secured to the cession of another tract of
similar area and character.
The latter proposition was accepted, and Agent Meigs was advised[181]
that Mr. Earle had been granted permission to select some other site
suitable for his iron works, and instructed that in case he did so,
negotiations should again be opened with the Cherokees for an exchange
of the tract covered by the cession of 1807 for the one newly selected.
Success, however, does not seem to have attended this second attempt,
and Agent Meigs was advised[182] by the Secretary of War that $985 had
been paid Colonel Earle for damages sustained by him in the Cherokee
country while detained there by the Indians, which amount must be
deducted from the Cherokee annuity.
A third attempt of a similar character was made in 1815, when[183]
Colonel Earle was appointed to negotiate, in conjunction with the
Indian agent, a treaty with the Cherokees or Chickasaws for the
purchase of a 6-mile square tract for the erection of his proposed
iron works. Like the previous efforts, it was without results.[184]