Treaty of Washington (1826) with the Creeks
In 1826 a Washington treaty declared the 1825 Indian Springs treaty null and void and took a new cession of Creek land in Georgia.
- Signed
- January 24, 1826
- Senate
- Ratified
- Land given up
- about 4.9 million acres
What happened
What happened
On January 24, 1826, Secretary of War James Barbour signed a treaty in Washington with chiefs and head men of the Creek Nation. Its preamble says that "a great majority of the Chiefs and Warriors" had protested the Indian Springs treaty of February 12, 1825. They said it was signed "by persons having no sufficient authority to form treaties, or to make cessions."
The United States said it was unwilling that cessions of land "should be made to them, unless with the fair understanding and full assent of the Tribe making such cession." Article 1 then declared the 1825 treaty, which the United States had ratified on March 7, 1825, "null and void."
But the new treaty also took land. In Article 2 the Creeks ceded all their land in Georgia east of the middle of the Chattahoochee River, plus a second tract on the river's western bank. The United States agreed to pay $217,600 to be divided among the chiefs and warriors, and a perpetual annuity of $20,000. A supplementary article of March 31, 1826 extended the lines of the second tract to fifty miles and forty-five miles. Article 6 provided for the friends and followers of William McIntosh, who wished to move west, to send a deputation to examine land there.
The Encyclopedia of Alabama says: "The Creeks did not, however, have their territory restored in the new treaty." The Statutes at Large record a proclamation on April 22, 1826.
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.
is hereby declared to be null and void, to every intent and purpose whatsoever
Statutes at Large, vol. 7 (GovInfo)unless with the fair understanding and full assent of the Tribe making such cession
Statutes at Large, vol. 7 (GovInfo)The Creeks did not, however, have their territory restored in the new treaty.
Treaty of Indian Springs (1825), Encyclopedia of Alabamabe fifty miles, in a direct line below the point designated in the second article of said Treaty
Supplementary article to the Treaty with the Creeks, March 31, 1826, 7 Stat. 289 (U.S. Statutes at Large, govinfo.gov)
Research notes. The acreage of the 1826 cession is not stated in the treaty or its supplementary article.
What the treaty did to the land
About 4.9 million acres given up. Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.
ceded to the United Statesabout 4.0 million acres
Land of the Creek in Georgia, ceded 1826 (area 127)
Ceded by the Creek in the January 1826 Treaty of Washington, giving up their land in Georgia east of the middle of the Chattahoochee River.
ceded to the United Statesabout 866,000 acres
Land of the Creek in Georgia, ceded 1826 (area 131)
Ceded by the Creek in the January 1826 Treaty of Washington, a second tract in Georgia on the west bank of the Chattahoochee, enlarged by a supplement in March 1826.
ceded to the United States
Land of the Creek in Georgia, ceded 1826 (area 128)
Kept by the Creek as the Ocmulgee tract when they ceded land in November 1805, then given up in the January 1826 Treaty of Washington.
ceded to the United States
Land of the Creek in Georgia, ceded 1826 (area 129)
Kept by the Creek as a 1,000-acre tract around Indian Spring in the January 1821 Treaty of Indian Springs, then given up in the January 1826 Treaty of Washington.
ceded to the United States
Land of the Creek in Georgia, ceded 1826 (area 130)
Kept as a 640-acre Ocmulgee River tract for General McIntosh in the January 1821 Treaty of Indian Springs with the Creek, then given up in the January 1826 Treaty of Washington.
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.
- 1805
- 1821
Land kept
Land set aside as a reservation for the Creek
By Treaty of Indian Springs (1821) with the Creeks
- 1826
This treaty
About 4.9 million acres ceded to the United States by the Creek
In 1826 a Washington treaty declared the 1825 Indian Springs treaty null and void and took a new cession of Creek land in Georgia.
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:
- Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town
- Kialegee Tribal Town
- Muscogee (Creek) Nation
- Poarch Band of Creek Indians
- Thlopthlocco Tribal Town
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
- digitreaties.org/treaties/treaty/169371358reference work
Research notes
Kappler page from Kappler index (OSU).
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.