200 The Winning of the West 



was actually made, behaved better than their supe- 

 riors had promised, for they persuaded the Creeks 

 to declare peace with the Chickasaws as well as with 

 the whites. 84 Many of the peaceful Creeks had be- 

 come so alarmed at. the outbreak that they began to 

 exert pressure on their warlike brethren ; and at last 

 the hostile element yielded, though not until bitter 

 feeling had arisen between the factions. The fact 

 was, that the Creeks were divided much as they 

 were twenty years later, when the Red Sticks went 

 to war under the inspiration of the Prophet ; and it 

 would have been well if Wayne had been sent South, 

 to invade their country and anticipate by twenty 

 years Jackson's feats. But the nation was not yet 

 ready for such strong measures. The Creeks were 

 met half way in their desire for peace ; and the en- 

 tire tribe concluded a treaty the provisions of which 

 were substantially those of the treaty of New York. 

 They ceased hostilities, together with the Cherokees. 

 The concluding stage of the negotiations was 

 marked by an incident which plainly betrayed the 

 faulty attitude of the National Government toward 

 Southwestern frontiersmen. With incredible folly, 

 Timothy Pickering, at this time Secretary of War, 

 blindly refused to see the necessity of what had been 

 done by Blount and the Tennessee frontiersmen. In 

 behalf of the administration he wrote a letter to 



84 Robertson MSS., Robertson to Blount, Jan. 13, 1795; 

 Blount to Robertson, Jan. 20, 1795, and April 26, 1795; Rob- 

 ertson to Blount, April 20, 1795; "Knoxville Gazette," Aug. 

 25, 1792, Oct. 12, 1793, June 19, 1794, July 17, Aug. 4, and 

 Aug. 15, 1794; American State Papers, pp. 284, 285, etc., etc. 



