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Treaty

Creeks at Washington, DC (1805)

In Washington in 1805 the Creek ceded land between the Oconee and Ocmulgee rivers and granted a horse path, for payments over eighteen years.

Signed
November 14, 1805
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 2.1 million acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On November 14, 1805, Secretary of War Henry Dearborn signed a convention in Washington with Creek chiefs and head men, including Oche Haujo and William McIntosh, "duly authorized and empowered by said nation."

In Article I the chiefs agreed, "in consideration of certain sums of money and goods," to cede "all right, title, and interest" in a tract between the Oconee and Ocmulgee rivers. The tract runs from the high shoals of the Apalachee, where the Fort Wilkinson line touches it, to the mouth of the Ulcofauhatche, then down the Ocmulgee to the Oconee. The Creek kept a tract five miles long and three wide at the old Ocmulgee fields. The President could place a military post and trading house on it, and white people got free use of the Ocmulgee for navigation and net fishing between the Oconee junction and the Ulcofauhatche.

Article II gave the United States the right to a horse path through the Creek country from the Ocmulgee to the Mobile. The Creek chiefs would keep boats at the rivers and houses of entertainment for travelers.

The United States agreed to pay $12,000 a year for eight years, then $11,000 a year for ten more, eighteen payments in all, and to supply two blacksmiths and two strikers for eight years. The Charlton County Historical Society says that in 1796 at Colerain the Creek "positively refused to cede" this territory to Georgia. The sources here do not explain what changed.

Summarized with AI assistance from 4 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. cede, relinquish, and forever quit claim unto the United States all right, title, and interestTreaty with the Creeks, 1805 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. paid annually to the Creek nation, by the United States for the term of eight years, twelve thousand dollarsTreaty with the Creeks, 1805 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. a right to a horse path, through the Creek country, from the Ocmulgee to the MobileTreaty with the Creeks, 1805 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  4. they positively refused to cede any of the territory between the Oconee and the Ocmulgee rivers to GeorgiaColerain (Charlton County Historical Society)

Research notes. The reason the Creek agreed in 1805 after refusing in 1796 is not shown in the sources cited, and no motive is claimed. The Charlton County source is an early local history, quoted as written; it records the 1796 refusal as made to Georgia. No acreage is stated.

What the treaty did to the land

About 2.1 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.

  1. 1805

    This treaty

    About 2.1 million acres ceded to the United States by the Creek. Land set aside as a reservation for the Creek

    In Washington in 1805 the Creek ceded land between the Oconee and Ocmulgee rivers and granted a horse path, for payments over eighteen years.

  2. 1826

    Land lost

    Land ceded to the United States by the Creek

    By Treaty of Washington (1826) with the Creeks

    area 128

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

Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.

Sources

  1. treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-creeks-1805-0085reference work
    Nov. 14. 1805. | 7 Stat., 96. / scan: TREATY WITH THE CREEKS, 1805. 85

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