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SoutheastTreaty

Treaty of Indian Springs (1821) with the Creeks

In 1821 the Creek Nation ceded Georgia land east of the Flint River; the United States agreed to pay Creek debts to Georgians.

Signed
January 8, 1821
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 3.8 million acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On January 8, 1821, Daniel M. Forney and David Meriwether signed a treaty at the Indian Spring, in the Creek Nation, for the United States. Chiefs, head men and warriors of the Creek Nation signed with them.

The Creeks ceded the land east of a line that ran up the Flint River to its western head, then straight to the Chattahoochee. They kept title to one thousand acres laid out so as to "include the Indian Spring in the centre." They also kept six hundred and forty acres on the Oakmulgee River that took in the improvements held by "General M'Intosh." Several one-mile-square tracts stayed Creek land only "so long as the present occupants shall remain," and a tract on the Flint was reserved for the United States agency.

The United States agreed to pay $10,000 at signing, $40,000 after ratification, and then yearly payments for thirteen years: $5,000 for two years, $16,000 for five years and $10,000 for six years. It also agreed to pay the state of Georgia whatever balance the Creeks owed Georgia citizens, up to $250,000. In return, the Georgia commissioners signed a release of claims against the Creek nation for property taken or destroyed before the 1802 act of Congress regulating trade with the Indians.

The Statutes at Large record a proclamation on March 2, 1821. The text does not state the acreage ceded.

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.

  1. one thousand acres, to be laid off in a square, so as to include the Indian Spring in the centre thereofStatutes at Large, vol. 7 (GovInfo)
  2. making, in the whole, fourteen payments in fourteen successive yearsStatutes at Large, vol. 7 (GovInfo)
  3. release, exonerate, and discharge, the said Creek nation from all and every claim and claimsStatutes at Large, vol. 7 (GovInfo)

Research notes. Acreage is not stated in the treaty. This story does not cover later Creek treaties.

What the treaty did to the land

About 3.8 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. 1821

    This treaty

    About 3.8 million acres ceded to the United States by the Creek. Land set aside as a reservation for the Creek

    In 1821 the Creek Nation ceded Georgia land east of the Flint River; the United States agreed to pay Creek debts to Georgians.

  2. 1826

    Land lost

    Land ceded to the United States by the Creek

    By Treaty of Washington (1826) with the Creeks

    area 129 area 130

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. digitreaties.org/treaties/treaty/100377992reference work
Research notes

Land description from memory.

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