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Treaty

Chickasaw at Chickasaw Country (1805)

In 1805 the Chickasaw, in debt to traders, ceded hunting land for $20,000, which the nation says came to 2.25 million acres.

Signed
July 23, 1805
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 3.4 million acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On July 23, 1805, U.S. commissioners James Robertson and Silas Dinsmoor signed "articles of arrangement" in the Chickasaw country with the mingo chiefs and warriors of the Chickasaw nation. Article I opens: "WHEREAS the Chickasaw nation of Indians have been for some time embarrassed by heavy debts due to their merchants and traders." The Chickasaw agreed to cede a tract from the left bank of the Ohio River down to the Tennessee River, up to the mouth of the Duck River, and along the road from Nashville to Natchez. A one-mile-square tract at the mouth of the Duck River was reserved for the chief O'Koy.

In return the United States agreed to pay $20,000 "for the use of the nation at large, and for the payment of the debts due to their merchants and traders." George Colbert and O'Koy were each to receive $1,000, which the text says was granted at the national council's request for services to the nation. King Chinubbee received an annuity of $100 for life. Article IV barred U.S. citizens from settling on part of the cession for three years.

The Chickasaw Nation's own history page says that when U.S. officials first asked Colbert and Chinnubbee for a land cession, the two leaders "said they had no land to sell." It says the U.S. agent then "discovered or revealed" that tribal members owed more than $20,000 to trading companies. The nation gives the cession as 2.25 million acres of hunting land in present-day Kentucky, central Tennessee and northern Alabama. The OSU database records ratification on May 22, 1807.

Good to know. The 2.25 million acre figure is the Chickasaw Nation's; the treaty states no acreage. Its page says the agent "discovered or revealed" the debts, leaving unclear whether he found or arranged them.

Summarized with AI assistance from 5 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.

  1. WHEREAS the Chickasaw nation of Indians have been for some time embarrassed by heavy debts due to their merchants and tradersTreaty with the Chickasaw, 1805 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. Twenty thousand dollars for the use of the nation at large, and for the payment of the debts due to their merchants and tradersTreaty with the Chickasaw, 1805 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. the two Chickasaw leaders said they had no land to sellFirst Chickasaw Land Cession (Chickasaw Nation, chickasaw.tv)
  4. discovered or revealed that tribal members owed more than $20,000 to trading companiesFirst Chickasaw Land Cession (Chickasaw Nation, chickasaw.tv)
  5. 2.25 million acres of hunting land in present-day Kentucky, central Tennessee and northern AlabamaFirst Chickasaw Land Cession (Chickasaw Nation, chickasaw.tv)

Research notes. The Chickasaw Nation's page says the agent 'discovered or revealed' the debts, so it is not clear whether they were found or arranged by the agent. The 2.25 million acre figure comes only from the Chickasaw Nation's page. The treaty text does not state an acreage.

What the treaty did to the land

About 3.4 million acres given up. Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.

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.

This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:

Native legal and land defense, nationally

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Sources

  1. treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-chickasaw-1805-0079reference work
    July 23, 1805. | 7 Stat., 89. / scan: TREATY WITH THE CHICKASAW, 1805 79

Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.