196 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196 



quite often many of them would meet in her cabin for prayer. Lah-to- 

 tau-yie is supposed to be the first Cherokee converted to Christ. 

 Her children all became Christians, and many of her decendants are 

 now Uving, and honor the profession by consistent living. 



The first Treaty with the United States was made in 1785, [^^] by 

 which land was again given up and Boundary lines confirmed. Owing 

 to the encroachments of white settlers, and the miserable wars with 

 the Carolinas, in 1791, [^] and '98 p^] still more land was ceded away. 



By this time many of the people had become disgusted and dis- 

 satisfied with so much ''Treating for Land" and their thoughts, 

 instinctivly, turning vv^est, they soon decided, in that direction to 

 seek for themselves a future home. 



Adventurous persons then started out on prospecting tours, going 

 as far as the Arkansas River. 



The first Company who returned gave wonderful accounts of the 

 Good Country at the "far West," they had found plenty of water, 

 good timber, rich soil for farming, and game in abundance: immense 

 herds of Buffalo, deer and antelopes, flocks of wild turkeys, geese and 

 ducks, and the waters teeming with fish of all kinds. A veritable 

 paradise, go they must. 



George Lowrey was the son of Charles Lowrey, a Scotch trader, 

 who had married a cherokee woman named Tah-nie, p^l and had 

 settled in the Cherokee Nation. George was the oldest of several 

 children, and was born about the year 1770 at Tah-skeegee a place on 

 the bank of the Tennessee River, p^] 



He grew up as most other Indian lads of his time, but was very 

 observant and selfreliant; when he was ten or twelve years old he had 

 the misfortune to lose his father; he was killed and robbed while 

 crossing the Mountains in Tennessee, with pack-mules. 



George Guess, or "Se-quoh-yah," as he was usually called, and 

 John Leach, his cousins, and about the same age as himself, were his 

 constant companions, and the Trio grew up together intimate friends. 



Once, when about seventeen years old, while out on a hunting 

 expedition, with several others of the Tribe, they met with a Company 

 of white hunters; this accidental meeting proved to be quite an im- 

 portant, as well as a very pleasing incident to the Indians, as it was the 

 means of changing the life-purpose of at least two of them. 



M The Treaty of Hopewell, November 28, 1785. 



M The Treaty of Holston, July 2, 1791. 



»i> The Treaty of Tellico, October 2, 1798. 



»• Da:ni, a feminine name that we cannot translate. It is encountered in old manuscripts, and it is borne 

 by living individuals. 



" These statements are somewhat at variance with Starr (1921, pp. 366-367), whose genealogical table 

 shows that the name of MajorLowery's father was also George, not Charles, and that Major Lowrey was the 

 second son, not the first. According to Starr, the name of Major Lowrey's mother was Nannie, but such 

 may well have been the English form of Da:ni. 



