ROYCE] TREATY OF DECEMBER 29, 1835. 295 
void, and reasserting the Cherokee title to their old country east of the 
Mississippi. Later in the same month a decree was passed,! citing the 
appearance before them, under penalty of outlawry, of the signers of the 
treaty of 1855, to answer for their conduct. This act called forth? a 
vigorous protest from General Arbuckle, commanding Fort Gibson, and 
was supplemented by instructions’ to him from the Secretary of War 
to cause the arrest and trial of Ross as accessory to the murder of the 
Ridges in case he should deem it wise to do so. 
Constitution adopted by the Cherokee Nation —A convention summoned 
by Ross and composed of his followers, together with such members of 
the Treaty and Old Settler parties as could be induced to participate, 
convened and remained in session at Tahlequah from the 6th to the 
10th of September, 1839. This body adopted a constitution for the 
Cherokee Nation, which was subsequently accepted and adopted by the 
Old Settlers or Western Cherokees in council at Fort Gibson on the 26th 
of the following June, and an act of union was entered into between 
the two parties on that date. 
Division of Cherokee territory proposed.—A proposition had been pre- 
viously * submitted by the representatives of the Treaty and Old Set- 
tler parties, urging as the only method of securing peace the division 
of the Cherokee domain and annuities. They recommended that General 
Arbuckle and Captain Armstrong be designated to assign to them and 
to the Ross party each their proportionate share according to their 
numbers, but the adoption of this act of union avoided any necessity 
for the further consideration of the proposal. As a means also of re- 
lieving the Cherokees from further internal strife, General Arbuckle 
had, pursuant to the direction of the Secretary of War, notified them 
that, in consequence of his public acts, John Ross would not be allowed 
to hold office in the nation, and that a similar penalty was denounced 
against William 8. Coody for offensive opinions expressed in the pres- 
ence of the Secretary of War.® Little practical effect was however pro- 
duced upon the standing or influence of these men with their people. 
Skeptical of the sincerity of the promises of peace and good feeling 
held out by the act of unification, John Brown, a noted leader and chief 
of the Old Settler Cherokees, in conjunction with many of his followers, 
among whom were a number of wandering Delawares, asked and ob. 
tained permission from the Mexican Government to settle within the 
jurisdiction of that power, and they were only persuaded to remain by 

1 August 21, 1839. 
2 September 4, 1839, et seq. 
3 November 9, 1839. 
4 January 22, 1840. 
5 April 21, 1840. 
® Coody,in an interview with the Secretary of War, persisted in considering the 
murders of Boudinot and the Ridges as justifiable. General Arbuckle’s letter of 
notification bore date April 21, 1840. 
