ROYCE. ] TREATY OF DECEMBER 29, 1835, 283 
sentiment favorable to the ratification of the treaty, Jolin Ross was 
manifesting his usual zeal and activity in the opposite direction. Early 
in the spring of 1836 he made his appearance in Washington, accom- 
panied by a delegation, and presented two protests against the ratifica- 
tion of the treaty, one purporting to have been signed by Cherokees 
residing within the limits of North Carolina to the number of 3,250, 
and the other representing the alleged sentiments of 12,714 persons 
residing within the main body of the nation. Mr. Ross also demanded 
the payment of the long withheld annuities to himself as the duly au- 
thorized representative of the nation, which was declined unless special 
direction to that effect should be given by an authentic vote of the tribe 
from year to year. He was further assured that the President had 
ceased to recognize any existing government among the Eastern 
Cherokees.! 
Treaty ratified by United States Senate.—In spite of the opposition of 
Mr. Ross and his party, the treaty was assented to by the Senate by 
one more than the necessary two-thirds majority,? and was ratified and 
proclaimed by the President on the 23d of May, 1836.2 By its terms 
two years were allowed within which the nation must remove west of 
the Mississippi. 
Measures for execution of the treaty.— Preparatory steps were promptly 
taken for carrying the treaty into execution. On the 7th of June Gov. 
Wilson Lumpkin, of Georgia, and Gov. William Carroll, of Tennessee, 
were designated as commissioners under the 17th article, and vested 
with general supervisory authority over the execution of the treaty. 
The selection and general supervision (under the foregoing commission- 
ers) of the agents to appraise the value of Cherokee improvements was 
placed in charge of Benjamin F. Curry, to whom detailed instructions 
were given for bis guidance. General John E. Wool was placed in 
command of the United States troops within the Cherokee Nation, but 
with instructions? that military force should only be applied in the 
event of hostilities being commenced by the Cherokees. 
The Ross party refuse to acquiesce—Jobn Ross and his delegation, 
having returned home, at once proceeded to enter upon a vigorous 
campaign of opposition to the execution of the treaty. He used every 
means to incite the animosity of his people against Ridge and his 
friends, who had been instrumental in bringing it about and who were 
favorable to removal. Councils were held and resolutions were adopted 
denouncing in the severest terms the motives and action of the United 
States authorities and declaring the treaty in all its provisions abso- 
‘Commissioner of Indian Affairs to John Ross, March 9, 1836. 
2 Hon. P. M. Butler, in a confidential letter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 
March 4, 1842, says: “The treaty, as the Department is aware, was sustained by the 
Senate of the United States by a majority of one vote.” 
“United States Statutes at Large, Vol. VII, p. 478 et seq. 
4 July 25, 1836. 
5 July 30, 1836. 

