Cherokee at Tellico Garrison on Cherokee Ground (1804)
At Tellico in 1804 the Cherokee ceded a four-mile strip at Wafford's Settlement for $5,000 in goods and added yearly goods.
- Signed
- October 24, 1804
- Senate
- Ratified
- Land given up
- about 76,000 acres
What happened
What happened
On October 24, 1804, Daniel Smith and Return J. Meigs, commissioners for the United States, met principal Cherokee chiefs at Tellico garrison, "on Cherokee ground." The treaty has only two articles. The text says the chiefs had considered "certain propositions" from the commissioners and "unanimously agreed."
In Article 1 the Cherokee nation "relinquish and cede" a tract along the boundary line between Georgia and the Cherokee nation. It begins northeast of the most northeast plantation in what the text calls Wafford's settlement. It runs four miles into Cherokee land at right angles to the line, and is drawn wide enough to include "all the plantations in Wafford's settlement."
In Article 2 the United States agreed to deliver $5,000 in goods, or that sum in money at the Cherokee's option, when the treaty was signed. It also promised $1,000 a year in goods or money, in addition to the annuity already agreed. The text says these were "for, and in consideration of" the cession.
The OSU database lists a proclamation date of May 17, 1824, about twenty years after signing.
Summarized with AI assistance from 3 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error
What the sources say, and how this was checked
Well supported by the sources below.
the Cherokee nation relinquish and cede to the United States, a tract of land bounding, southerly, on the boundary line between the State of Georgia
Treaty with the Cherokee, 1804 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)all the plantations in Wafford’s settlement
Treaty with the Cherokee, 1804 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)Proclamation, May 17, 1824
Treaty with the Cherokee, 1804 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
Research notes. The 'Proclamation, May 17, 1824' note on the OSU page is unusual (20 years after signing); no reason is given. No acreage is stated in the text.
What the treaty did to the land
About 76,000 acres given up. Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.
ceded to the United Statesabout 76,000 acres
Land of the Cherokee in Georgia, ceded 1804 (area 52)
Ceded by the Cherokee in 1804, the Wafford settlement tract in Georgia.
What happened next
Everything the record holds about this land and this treaty, in order: what earlier agreements said, what this one did, and what the United States, the courts and the nations did afterwards.
Who is doing the work today
The nations connected to this treaty come first, then groups returning land and defending treaty rights. Support goes directly to them.
Who is doing the work
This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:
Native legal and land defense, nationally
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
- NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.
Sources
Sources
- treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-cherokee-1804-0073reference work
Oct. 24, 1804. | 7 Stat., 288. / scan: 73
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.