It is perhaps pertinent to remark before proceeding further that by
the terms of an act of Congress approved July 29, 1848 (United States
Statutes at Large, Vol. IX, p. 264), an appropriation of $5,000 was
made to defray the expenses of removing the Catawba Indians from
Carolina to the country west of the Mississippi River, provided
their assent should be obtained, and also conditioned upon success
in securing a home for them among some other congenial tribe in that
region without cost to the Government.
These Catawbas were but a miserable remnant of what a century and a
half earlier had been one of the most powerful and warlike of the
Southern tribes. They once occupied and controlled a large region
of country in the two Carolinas, though principally in the Southern
province. Their generally accepted western limit was the Catawba
River and its tributaries, the region between this river and Broad
River being usually denominated a neutral hunting ground for both the
Catawbas and the Cherokees. An enmity of long standing had existed
between the Catawbas and the Six Nations, and war parties of both
nations for many years were wont to make long and devastating forays
into each other's territory. The casualties of war and the ravages of
infectious diseases had long prior to the beginning of the present
century rendered the Catawbas insignificant in numbers and importance.
Their territorial possessions had been curtailed to a tract of some
fifteen miles square on the Catawba River, on the northern border of
South Carolina, and the whites of the surrounding region were generally
desirous of seeing them removed from the State.
In pursuance therefore of the provisions of the act of 1848 an effort
was made by the authorities of the United States to find a home for
them west of the Mississippi River. Correspondence was opened with
the Cherokee authorities on the subject during the summer of that
year, but the Cherokees being unwilling to devote any portion of their
domain to the use and occupation of any other tribe without being fully
compensated therefor, the subject was dropped.