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SoutheastTreaty

Treaty of Pontotoc Creek with the Chickasaw, 1832

In 1832 the Chickasaw ceded all land east of the Mississippi to be sold by the United States, with net proceeds paid to them.

Signed
October 20, 1832
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 6.4 million acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On October 20, 1832, General John Coffee, authorized by the President, met "the whole Chickasaw Nation, in General Council assembled" at the council house on Pontotoc Creek. The treaty they signed opens with the Chickasaw "oppressed in their present situation; by being made subject to the laws of the States in which they reside." It says that, being "ignorant of the language and laws of the white man," they could not understand or obey them, and "rather than submit to this great evil, they prefer to seek a home in the west."

In Article 1 the Chickasaw ceded "all the land which they own on the east side of the Mississippi river." The treaty states no acreage and no lump-sum price. Under Articles 2 and 3 the United States would survey and sell the land at auction and private sale, then pay the nation the money from sales, minus the cost of surveying and selling.

The Chickasaw promised to try to find a western home. If they failed before the first public sale, each family could select land from the surveys: for example one section for a single man of twenty-one and two sections for a family of five or fewer, with extra for those who held slaves. Article 11 created a perpetual national fund from the proceeds.

The Statutes at Large record a proclamation on March 1, 1833.

Good to know. The preamble, which presents the Chickasaw as asking for relief from state law, is the treaty's own wording.

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. Rather than submit to this great evil, they prefer to seek a home in the westTribal Treaties Database (OSU)
  2. all the land which they own on the east side of the Mississippi riverTribal Treaties Database (OSU)
  3. ChickasawStatutes at Large, vol. 7 (GovInfo)

Research notes. The preamble is the treaty's own wording; it presents the Chickasaw as having asked for relief from state law. Acreage is not stated.

What the treaty did to the land

About 6.4 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

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

Sources

  1. digitreaties.org/treaties/treaty/124046931reference work
Research notes

Chickasaw paid for own removal from land-sale proceeds (Wikipedia, pointer). Unratified 1830 Franklin treaty precedes (see TLA-U-FRANKLIN).

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