Treaty of Doaksville with the Choctaw and Chickasaw, 1837

What happened

On January 17, 1837, chiefs and commissioners of the Choctaw met a Chickasaw delegation at Doaksville, near Fort Towson, in the Choctaw country. They signed articles of convention. This was an agreement between the two nations, not a treaty in which the United States acquired land. The Chickasaw Nation's website says so too, and adds that President Jackson sent it to the Senate, which approved it in February 1837.

Article 1 let the Chickasaws form a district within the Choctaw country, called the Chickasaw district of the Choctaw Nation. It was to have an equal representation in the Choctaw general council and an equal footing with the other districts. The Chickasaws would be subject to the same laws as the Choctaws. They kept control of the rest of their own funds. Article 2 sets out the district's boundaries along the Red River and the Canadian River.

In Article 3 the Chickasaws agreed to pay the Choctaws $530,000. Thirty thousand dollars was due with the 1837 Choctaw annuity, and $500,000 was to be invested in safe stocks under the direction of the United States. The Chickasaw Nation's page says that, because of this agreement, the Chickasaw found themselves under the Choctaw Nation's laws and constitution after Removal, and calls it a trying time for its people. The Statutes at Large page records it as approved and confirmed on March 24, 1837.

Good to know. This was an agreement between the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations, not a cession of land to the United States.

Summarized with AI assistance from 5 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error