S6 MYTHS OF THE CHEKOKEE (i;th. a.n.n.19 



of OIK" huiulrcfl dollars for Rlack-fox. the ayed head chief of the nation. 

 The signers of the instrument, including l)oul)lehead and ToUuuteeskee, 

 were accompanied to Washington by the same commissionei-s who had 

 procured the pr(>vious treaty. In consecjuence of some misunderstand- 

 ing, the l)oundaries of the ceded tract were still further extended in a 

 supplementary treaty concluded at the Chickasaw Old Fields on the 

 Tennessee, on Septem))er 11, 1S07. As the country between Duck 

 river and the Teimessee was claimed also by the Chickasaw, their title 

 was extinguished by separate treaties.' The ostensible compensation 

 for this last Cherokee cession, as shown by the treaty, was two thou- 

 sand dollars, but it was secretly agreed bj- Agent Meigs that what he 

 calls a "silent consideration''' of one thousand dollars and some rifles 

 should lie given to the chiefs who signed it." 



In lb07 Colonel Elias Earle, with the consent of the Government, 

 obtained a concession from the Cherokee for the establishment of iron 

 works at the mouth of Chickamauga creek, on the south side of Ten- 

 nessee river, to be supplied from ores mined in the Cherokee country. 

 It "was hoped that this would be a considerable step toward the civili- 

 zation of the Indians, besides enabling the Government to obtain its 

 supplies of manufactured iron at a cheaper rate, but after prolonged 

 efl'ort the project was finally abandoned on account of the refusal of 

 the state of Tennessee to sanction the grant. '^ In the same year, by 

 arrangement with the general government, the legislature of Tennessee 

 attempted to negotiate with the Cherokee for that part of their unceded 

 lands l.ying within the state limits, but without success, owing to the 

 unwillingness of the Indians to part with an}' more territory, and their 

 .special dislike for the people of Tennessee.' 



In 1810 the Cherokee national council registered a further advance 

 in civilization by formally abolishing the custom of clan revenge, 

 hitherto universal among the tribes. The enactment bears the signa- 

 tures of Black-fox (Ina'li), principal chief, and seven others, and reads 

 as follows: 



In Council, Oostinaleh, A/jri! IS, ISIO. 



1. Be it known this day, Tluit tlie various clans or tribes which compose the Cher- 

 okee nation have unanimously passed an act of ol)livion for all lives for which they 

 may have been indebted one to the other, and have mutually agreed that after this 

 evening the aforesaid act shall become binding upon every clan or tribe thereof. 



2. The aforesaid clans or tribes have also agreed that if, in future, any life should 

 be lost without malice intended, the innocent aggressor shall not l.)e accounted guilty; 



1 Indian Treaties, pp. 132-136, 1837; Royce, Cherokee Nation, Fifth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 

 pp. 193-197, 1888. 



-Meigs, letter, September 28. 1807, .\meriean .State Paper.'*: Indian ,\fFairs, i, p. ~M, 1832; Royce, 

 op. cit., p. 197. 



^See treaty, December 2, 1807, and Jefferson's message, with inclosures, March 10, 1808, .\merican 

 State Papers: Indian Affairs, i, pp. 7.52-7.54. 1832; Royce, op. cit., pp. 199-201. 



<lbid., pp. 201,202. 



