The approximate ceded areas shaded in orange and green in relation to the future U.S. states of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.
The Treaty of Doak's Stand (7 Stat. 210, also known as Treaty with the Choctaw) was signed on October 18, 1820 (proclaimed and legally binding on January 8, 1821) between the United States and the Choctaw Indian tribe. The Treaty of Doak's Stand was the seventh of sixteen treaties that were ratified from the period from 186 through 1866 between the United States government and the Choctaw nation during a time of rapid westward expansion of white settlers. Based on the terms of the accord, the Choctaw were forced to give up approximately 5 million acres or roughly one-third of their remaining Choctaw homeland in the east in exchange for 13 million westward acres in the Canadian Kiamichi, Arkansas, and Red River watersheds. The Choctaw reluctantly signed the agreement in an effort to maintain peace as they were threatened by the US commissioners that if they did not agree to move west, they would perish.
In October 1820, US General and future US President Andrew Jackson and retired US General Thomas Hinds were sent by President James Monroe as commissioners who represented the United States to negotiate and write a treaty to surrender a large portion of Choctaw country in Mississippi. They met with tribal representatives at Doak's Stand on the Natchez Trace. The treaty’s name is based on the site of the meeting, which took place at a Mississippi tavern known as Doak’s Stand. US commissioners met with the chiefs Pushmataha, Mushulatubbee, and Apuckshunubbee, who represented the three major regional divisions of the Choctaw. Chiefs of the towns and other prominent men accompanied them, such as Colonel Silas Dinsmore.
Dinsmore was a former US Indian agent to the Choctaw; his passport ruling in 1812 had stirred a brief controversy with General Andrew Jackson. Dinsmore was at the negotiations to settle a land claim; he believed the policy of the American government toward the Indian tribes was too harsh. His attitude suggested a potential confrontation, but Jackson paid no attention to him.[1]
The convention began on October 10 with a talk by Jackson (whom the Choctaw nicknamed Sharp Knife), to more than 500 Choctaw. After Jackson presented his proposal to exchange Choctaw land for territory in present-day Arkansas, Pushmataha accused the general of deceiving them about the quality of land west of the Mississippi. Pushmataha said, "I know the country well ... The grass is everywhere very short ... There are but few beavers and the honey and fruit are rare things." Jackson finally resorted to threats to pressure the Choctaw to sign a treaty. He shouted, "Many of your nation are already beyond the Mississippi, and others are every year removing .... If you refuse ... the nation will be destroyed." On October 18, 1820, the chiefs signed the treaty.[1]
Not only did the Choctaw nation object to the treaty, but also, the white settlers already living in Arkansas were concerned. The white Arkansan settlers believed that their life, liberty, and happiness had been threatened by the US Government because the Choctaw would also settle on the same land. The white settlers also thought the Choctaw received a windfall from the treaty. “Indignant Arkansans felt as though their future had been annihilated by their government in favor of the Choctaws, who now controlled land on both sides of the Mississippi River.”[2] The Mississippi Gazette, in 1821, referred to the treaty as a “death blow” to Arkansas Territory. From the moment the Treaty was ratified, both white settlers in Arkansas and the Choctaw argued for changes and amendments. The Treaty of Doak's Stand would later influence the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit, which forced the ceding of additional Choctaw lands as part of the Indian Removal Act signed by then-President Andrew Jackson.
Article IV prepared the Choctaw to become citizens of the United States when he or she became acculturated. This article would later influence Article XIV in the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek.
ART. IV. The boundaries hereby established between the Choctaw Indians and the United States, on this side of the Mississippi river, shall remain without alteration until the period at which said nation shall become so civilized and enlightened as to be made citizens of the United States and Congress shall lay off a limited parcel of land for the benefit of each family or individual in the nation. ...
WHEREAS it is an important object with the President of the United States, to promote the civilization of the Choctaw Indians, by the establishment of schools amongst them; and to perpetuate them as a nation, by exchanging, for a small part of their land here, a country beyond the Mississippi River, where all, who live by hunting and will not work, may be collected and settled together. And whereas it is desirable to the state of Mississippi, to obtain a small part of the land belonging to said nation; for the mutual accommodation of the parties, and for securing the happiness and protection of the whole Choctaw nation, as well as preserving that harmony and friendship which so happily subsists between them and the United States, James Monroe, President of the United States of America, by Andrew Jackson, of the State of Tennessee, Major General in the Army of the United States, and General Thomas Hinds, of the State of Mississippi, Commissioners Plenipotentiary of the United States, on the one part, and the Mingoes, Head Men, and Warriors, of the Choctaw nation, in full Council assembled, on the other part,: have freely and voluntarily entered into the following articles, viz ...
—Treaty of Doak's Stand, 1820
The terms of the treaty were:
1. Choctaw land (in Mississippi) ceded to the U.S. 2. Boundary of western land (in Arkansas) ceded to the Choctaw nation. 3. Marking of boundaries by Choctaw-appointed guide. 4. Boundaries may not change until the Choctaw are civilized and enlightened so as to become citizens of the United States. 5. Corn, Blankets, kettles, rifle guns, bullet moulds & nippers, and ammunition to be given to Choctaws, who moved from ceded territory to lands west of the Mississippi River (Oklahoma), for one year. 6. U.S. agent appointed, goods and supplies to be sent, and a blacksmith will be appointed to Choctaws in ceded lands. Property of removed Choctaws to be sent to them. 7. Selling of Choctaw lands to support Choctaw schools on both sides of the Mississippi River. 8. Annuity of $6000 US annually for 16 years for discontented Choctaws. 9. Agents may confiscate Whiskey, except at public stands or introduced by the agent or the Chiefs of the district.
Choctaw Reservation
The Reservation granted to the Choctaw in Arkansas was defined and land between the Red River in the South, and the Canadian and Arkansas Rivers in the North. In the West, the boundary ran from the Source of the Candian River.[3] This was, at the time, in Mexico. The land actually owned by the United States began where the Canadian and Red Rivers crossed the 100th Meridian West, what is today the Oklahoma-Texas border.
Along the Red River, the border ran East until it reached the point where the Little River enters the Red River, what is today Fulton, Arkansas. The border then ran Northeast to the easternmost boundary of the Cherokee Reservation, established in 1817.[4] That Reservation begain where Point Remove Creek entered the Arkansas River, what is today Morrilton, Arkansas.[5] From there, it ran East along the Arkansas River, through Fort Smith, to where the Canadian River enters the Arkansas. From there it followed the Canadian River to its source, or realistically the 100th Meridian.
1 2 Remini, Robert. "Expansion and Removal". Andrew Jackson. History Book Club.
↑ Everett, Derek R. “On the Extreme Frontier: Crafting the Western Arkansas Boundary.” The Arkansas Historical Quarterly 67, no. 1 (2008): 1–26. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40038311.
Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States government for the relocation of Native Americans who held original Indian title to their land as an independent nation-state. The concept of an Indian territory was an outcome of the U.S. federal government's 18th- and 19th-century policy of Indian removal. After the American Civil War (1861–1865), the policy of the U.S. government was one of assimilation.
The Trail of Tears was the forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850, and the additional thousands of Native Americans within that were ethnically cleansed by the United States government.
The term Five Civilized Tribes was applied by the United States government in the early federal period of the history of the United States to the five major Native American nations in the Southeast: the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminoles. White Americans classified them as "civilized" because they had adopted attributes of the Anglo-American culture.
The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was a treaty which was signed on September 27, 1830, and proclaimed on February 24, 1831, between the Choctaw American Indian tribe and the United States Government. This treaty was the first removal treaty which was carried into effect under the Indian Removal Act. The treaty ceded about 11 million acres (45,000 km2) of the Choctaw Nation in what is now Mississippi in exchange for about 15 million acres (61,000 km2) in the Indian territory, now the state of Oklahoma. The principal Choctaw negotiators were Chief Greenwood LeFlore, Mosholatubbee, and Nittucachee; the U.S. negotiators were Colonel John Coffee and Secretary of War John Eaton.
Greenwood LeFlore or Greenwood Le Fleur served as the elected Principal Chief of the Choctaw in 1830 before removal. Before that, the nation was governed by three district chiefs and a council of chiefs. A wealthy and regionally influential Choctaw of mixed-race, who belonged to the Choctaw elite due to his mother's rank, LeFlore had many connections in state and federal government. In 1830 LeFlore led other chiefs in signing the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, which ceded the remaining Choctaw lands in Mississippi to the US government and agreed to removal to Indian Territory. It also provided that Choctaw who chose to stay in Mississippi would have reserved lands, but the United States government failed to follow through on this provision.
The Treaty of New Echota was a treaty signed on December 29, 1835, in New Echota, Georgia, by officials of the United States government and representatives of a minority Cherokee political faction, the Treaty Party.
Three agreements, each known as a Treaty of Hopewell, were signed between representatives of the Congress of the United States and the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw peoples. They were negotiated and signed at the Hopewell plantation in South Carolina over 45 days during the winter of 1785–86.
Mushulatubbee was the chief of the Choctaw Okla Tannap, one of the three major Choctaw divisions during the early 19th century. When the Principal Chief Greenwood LeFlore stayed in Mississippi at the time of removal, Mushulatubbee was elected as principal chief, leading the tribe to Indian Territory.
Pushmataha was one of the three regional chiefs of the major divisions of the Choctaw in the 19th century. Many historians considered him the "greatest of all Choctaw chiefs". Pushmataha was highly regarded among Native Americans, Europeans, and white Americans, for his skill and cunning in both war and diplomacy.
Choctaw Country is the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation's official tourism designation for Southeastern Oklahoma. The name was previously Kiamichi Country until changed in honor of the Choctaw Nation headquartered there. The current definition of Choctaw Country includes ten counties, being Coal, Atoka, Bryan, Choctaw, McCurtain, Pushmataha, Le Flore, Latimer, Haskell, and Pittsburg counties. The department created the term as one of six designated travel regions within the state. However, other definitions of Southeastern Oklahoma may include additional counties.
Miller County was a county that existed from April 1, 1820 to 1838, first as part of Arkansas Territory and later the State of Arkansas. It included much of what is southeastern Oklahoma and the northeastern counties in Texas. It was named for James Miller, the first governor of the Arkansas Territory.
The Treaty of Washington City was a treaty signed on January 20, 1825 between the Choctaw and the United States Government.
The Treaty of Mount Dexter was signed between the United States and the Choctaws. The treaty was signed November 16, 1805. The 4,142,720-acre (16,765.0 km2) area ceded was from the Natchez District to the Tombigbee Alabama River watershed, mostly in present-day Mississippi.
Apuckshunubbee was one of three principal chiefs of the Choctaw Native American tribe in the early nineteenth century, from before 1800. He led the western or Okla Falaya District of the Choctaw, of which the eastern edge ran roughly southeast from modern Winston County to Lauderdale County, then roughly southwest to Scott County, then roughly south-southeast to the western edge of Perry County. His contemporaries were Pushmataha and Moshulatubbee, who respectively led the southern district Okla Hannali and the north-eastern district Okla Tannap.
The Choctaw Trail of Tears was the attempted ethnic cleansing and relocation by the United States government of the Choctaw Nation from their country, referred to now as the Deep South, to lands west of the Mississippi River in Indian Territory in the 1830s by the United States government. A Choctaw Miko (chief) was quoted by the Arkansas Gazette as saying that the removal was a "trail of tears and death." Since removal, the Choctaw have developed since the 20th century as three federally recognized tribes: the largest, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, and the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in Louisiana.
The Cherokee have participated in over forty treaties in the past three hundred years.
Silas Dinsmoor was an appointed U. S. Agent to the Cherokee (1794–1798) and to the Choctaw (1801–1813). He later served as a surveyor in Alabama before eventually retiring to Boone County, Kentucky, where he is buried at the Dinsmore Homestead.
James Lawrence McDonald (c. 1801 — September 1831), was a member of the American Indian tribe called the Choctaw and the first Native leader of his generation to be trained in the American legal system. Thus, he is known as the first Native American lawyer. He was also the first Native activist to make the case for Indian rights directly to American political leaders and to negotiate for those rights in a formal agreement. McDonald did not believe in the use of force in resisting American westward expansion. Instead, he believed that political negotiations between Native American leaders and the United States would be more effective in the fight against the displacement of Natives and would allow for the long-term survival of Native American communities. McDonald urged the U.S. Congress to protect the rights of Native Americans and delayed the removal of his tribe from ancestral lands. As an advisor to Choctaw chiefs and eventual lawyer of the tribe, McDonald successfully negotiated peace treaties with the United States federal government. These negotiations allowed fair compensation for previously ceded land that was undervalued in earlier agreements. He also promoted programs of Indian education and wrote on behalf of the elected tribal governments. McDonald’s work as a lawyer and political activist paved a new path in which future Native American leaders were able to defend the rights of their territory using the American legal system. His career marked the birth of a new approach to federal power, and by extension, the beginning of political activism that was to inspire tribal leaders across the continent.
The Treaty of Pontotoc Creek was a treaty signed on October 20, 1832 by representatives of the United States and the Chiefs of the Chickasaw Nation assembled at the National Council House on Pontotoc Creek in Pontotoc, Mississippi. The treaty ceded the 6,283,804 million acres of the remaining Chickasaw homeland in Mississippi in return for Chickasaw relocation on an equal amount of land west of the Mississippi River.
The History of the Choctaws, or Chahtas, are a Native American people originally from the Southeast of what is currently known as the United States. They are known for their rapid post-colonial adoption of a written language, transitioning to yeoman farming methods, having European-American lifestyles enforced in their society, and acquiring some customs from Africans they enslaved.
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