192 CHEROKEE NATION OF INDIANS. 
on the north bank of Tennessee River opposite the mouth of Hiwassee 
River, 73 miles and 166 poles from the beginning.! 
CONTROVERSY CONCERNING ‘‘DOUBLEHEAD” TRACY, 
Colonel Martin, who was employed by Commissioner Meigs, also sur- 
veyed under the latter’s direction during the same month the four small 
reserved tracts described in the treaty of October 25, 1805.! One of 
these afterwards produced much controversy. The language of the 
treaty called for three square miles on the north bank of Tennessee River, 
opposite to and below the mouth of Hiwassee River. Colonel Meigs, who 
was one of the commissioners who negotiated the treaty and was there- 
fore entirely familiar with its intent, caused this tract to be surveyed 
adjoining the main line of cession, extending from Duck River to the 
mouth of Hiwassee and north of that line, which placed the tract 
opposite to and above the mouth of Hiwassee, instead of ‘opposite to 
and below” the mouth of that river.’ 
As above stated, while this reserve was ostensibly for the location of 
a military post and factory or trading establishment, it was really in- 
tended for the Cherokee chief Doublehead and other influential persons, 
as the price of their influence in securing from the Cherokees the exten- 
sive cession of land granted by the treaty. 
This was sought to be secured by means of a secret article attached 
to the treaty. This article was reported to the War Department by the 
treaty commissioners? and made a matter of record, but it was never 
sent to the State Department nor to the Senate for the advice and con- 
sent of that body. After Agent Meigs had erected the Hiwassee gar- 
rison buildings on the tract, suit was brought in 1809 by Colonel Me- 
Lung against the agent for the recovery of the land and mesne profits, 
basing his claim to title upon a grant from the State of North Carolina, 
of date long prior to the treaty of 1805. The suit was decided in the 
plaintiff’s favor by the Tennessee courts. Subsequently, in 1838, John 
Riley made application to the Government for compensation for the loss 
of his one-third interest in this tract. The question was submitted to 
the Attorney-General of the United States for his opinion. He decided 
that the secret article, not having been submitted to the Senate for ap- 
proval, was not to be considered as any part of the treaty; but that, if 
the commissioners had any authority for making such an agreement, the 
defective execution of their powers ought not to prejudice parties act- 
ing in good faith and relying on their authority; nevertheless, no relief 
could be had except through the action of Congress. 
This secret article was also applicable to the small tract at and below 
the mouth of Clinch River, to the 1 mile square at the foot of Cumber- 
! See field notes of Colonel Martin on file in office of Indian Affairs. 
* Letter of R. J. Meigs to Secretary of War, March 4, 1811. 
* Letter of Meigs and Smith to Secretary of War, January 10, 1806. 
