Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs - 1890

Page 32

. , . , , . . , XXVI REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. snming at the same time the obligation of extinguishing the Indian title as soon as it could be done peaceably and on reasonable terlns. (See House Report Xo. 93, Nineteenth Congress, second session.) At this time the Oconee River formed the eastern boundary of the I Creek Indian land#, and the quantity of land occupied by them west of . . said line amounted to 19,578,890 acres. In pursuance of the compact of . I\- . , , 1802 the Creeks ceded two tracts of land, one on the Oconee River, in the center of the State, the other on the Atlantic sea-board (7 Stata., . , p. 68). In 1805 they ceded another tract west of and adjoining the first (7Stats., p. 96), the land relinquished amounting to 2,713,890 acres. (See House Report No. 98, aforesaid, p. 3.) In 1814 they ceded the whole of that portion of Georgia south of a line directly west of the mouth of Goose Creek and Altamaha River (7 Stats., p. 120), and in 1818 two more tracts, one in the southefn part of the State, on the Ocmnlgee River, and the other in the northern, between the Chattahoochee and the Ulcofauhatchee (7 Stats., p. 171). In 1821 (7 Stats., p. 215) they relinquished the remainder of their lands east of the Flint and Uhatta-hoochee Rivers, aggregating 11,735,590 acreR, leaving at least one-third of the lands still in possession of the Creeks and over 7,000,000 acres in , . the possession of the Cherokees within the chartered limits of the State with titles uncxtingoished. (See House Report No. 98, p.3.) By treaties of 1826 and 1827 (7 Stats., pp. 286,289, 307) the Creeks completed the cession of all their lands. In the mean time the Government had obtained from the Cherokees by the treaty of 1817 (7 Stats., 156) all the right claimed by them to land below TallulalahRiver and between the Chattahoocl~eeR iver and the Cherokee treaty line of 1785 (7 Stats., p. la), except a tract known as Wafford's Settlement, and in 1819 they ceded all the lands in the State east of the Chestatee River and the Blue Ridge Mountains (7 , Stats., p. 195). In 1824 they ceded the tract known as Wafford's Settle-ment (7 Stats., p. 228), but not until the treaty of 1835 (7 Stats., p. 478), did theunited States effect the complete extinguishment of the Indian . titlein the State and fully and finally execute the terms of the compact of 1802. . / INDIAN LANDS RETAINED IN THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES. -.. From this period no Indians within the limits of the thirteen original % , States retained their original title of occupancy, and only in Massachn. setts, New Pork, and North Uarolina are they found holding a tribal relation and in possession of specific tracts. Jfassacht&setts.-The Marshpee Indians occupy a tract of land in Barn. stable County, Mass., have a board of overseers appointed by the State, who by the acts of 1789,1808, and 1819, govern all their internal affairs and hold their lands in trust. The act of 1819 provides that all real estate acquired or purchased by individuals shall be their sole property and estate, and may be sold and disposed of by deed, will, or otherwise.