Governor McMinn, being the executive of the State of Tennessee, could
hardly be supposed to present the views of the Secretary of War to the
Cherokees on the subject of their removal in milder terms or manner
than they had been communicated to him. The public officer in that
State who should have neglected such an opportunity of compelling
the Cherokees to appreciate the benefits of a wholesale emigration
to the West would have fared but ill at the polls in a contest for
re-election. The people of both Tennessee and Georgia were unalterably
determined that the Indians should be removed from their States, and no
compromise or temporary expedient of delay would satisfy their demands.
Millions of acres of valuable lands, rich in all the elements
that combine to satisfy the necessities and the desires of the
husbandman--mountain, valley, and plain--comprising every variety
of soil, fertilized by innumerable running streams and clothed with
heavy forests of the finest timber, were yet in the possession of
the native tribes of this region. Other lands in great quantities,
available for white settlement and occupation, both in Kentucky and
the adjoining States, were, it is true, lying idle. In point of soil,
water, and timber they were doubtless equal if not superior to the
Indian possessions. But the idea was all-prevalent then as it is now
in border communities, that, however attractive may be the surrounding
districts of public lands open to the inclination of anybody who
desires to settle thereon, the prohibited domain of a neighboring
Indian reservation must of necessity surpass it, and no application of
the principles of reason, philosophy, or justice will serve to lessen
the desire for its possession. Governor McMinn convened[253] a council
of the Cherokees, at which he presented to them in the strongest light
the benefits that would accrue to their nation in the increasing
happiness, prosperity, and population such as would attend their
removal to the Arkansas, while, on the other hand, nothing but evil
could follow their continued residence east of the Mississippi. Their
lands would be constantly encroached upon by white settlers; border
desperadoes would steal their stock, corrupt their women, and besot
their warriors. However anxious the Government might be to protect them
in the uninterrupted enjoyment of their present possessions, it would,
from the circumstances of the case, be utterly unable to do so. He
therefore proposed to them that they should, as a unit, agree to remove
west of the Mississippi, and that the United States should pay them
for their lands the sum of $100,000, in addition to all expenses of
removal; which amount, upon their prompt and indignant refusal, he at
once offered to double, but with as small measure of success.
The treaty of 1817 had made provision for the taking of a census of
the whole Cherokee people during the month of June of the following
year. The census was to form the basis for an equitable distribution of
the annuities and other benefits of which the Cherokee Nation was in
receipt, between the portion who continued to abide in their eastern
homes and those who had removed to the Arkansas country, in proportion
to their respective numbers. Pending this enumeration no annuities had
been paid them, which produced much annoyance and dissatisfaction among
both parties.
In consequence of the hostile and vindictive attitude manifested
toward the emigrant party by the remainder of the nation and the many
obstacles sought to be thrown in the path of removal, the authorities
of the United States had hitherto refused to comply with the census
provision of the treaty of 1817. Governor McMinn, after the rejection
of both his purchase and his removal propositions, then proposed (in
answer to the demand of the Cherokee council that he should cause the
census to be taken in the manner provided) that if they would pass a
formal vote of censure upon such of their officers as he should name
as having violated the treaty by the use of intimidating measures
against the Arkansas emigrants, he would cause the work of taking
the census to be at once begun. The council also declined to do this,
admitting that if such conduct had characterized any of their officers
it was deserving of censure but denying that any proof of the charges
had been submitted. They at last, however, as an evidence of their
good disposition toward the United States, consented to the removal
of one of the offensive officers named from his position as a member
of the council, and the Secretary of War authorized[254] the taking
of the census to be proceeded with. Governor McMinn, in summing up
the results of this council,[255] assumes that about one-half of the
nation had already committed themselves to the policy outlined in
the treaty of 1817, by the fact that since December 28 of that year
718 families had enrolled themselves for removal (aggregating, with
those already removed, 5,291 individuals), besides 146 families who
had elected to take reservations in severalty. The lack of tangible
results following this council was promptly reported to the Secretary
of War by both Governor McMinn and Agent Meigs. The latter advised the
authorities[256] that a fully authorized and representative delegation
of the Cherokee Nation would shortly proceed to Washington, and that,
in his judgment, the nation was rapidly becoming satisfied of their
inability to long postpone what to every impartial observer must appear
as inevitable--an exchange of their country for a location west of the
Mississippi River.
This delegation in due time[257] arrived at the capital, and a series
of councils or interviews was at once entered upon between themselves
and the Secretary of War, as representing the President. Many and
just were the causes of complaint presented to the Secretary by the
delegation. The recital of their wrongs, the deep affection manifested
for their native hills and streams, and the superstitious dread with
which they looked upon removal to a new country as being the decisive
step in their dispersion and destruction as a people were calculated to
excite the sympathy of an unprejudiced mind. It had long been evident,
however, that the simple minded barbarian was unable to cope with the
intelligent and persistent demands of civilization, and that, with or
without his consent, the advancing host of white settlers would ere
many years be in full enjoyment of his present possessions.