Cherokee Phoenix

CHEROKEE PHOENIX

Published April, 28, 1832

Page 2 Column 2b

CHEROKEE PHOENIX.

NEW ECHOTA , April 28.

In the New York Journal of Commerce of 31 March, we notice the following article copied from the Post.

We have letters from Washington of Saturday evening, announcing that Governor Cass on Thursday, concluded a treaty with the Creek Indians in Alabama and Georgia, providing for the cession of their lands--and for their emigration beyond the Mississippi of all those who may not prefer taking reservations and living under the state laws. 'The provisions of the treaty,' says a correspondent, are very liberal for the Creeks, and highly satisfactory to them. The treaty was finally signed and exchanged this morning between the President and the Creek deputation. Thus the great question is narrowed down to the Cherokees of Georgia. Even as to them, the question is lessening in importance. Letters received here this morning from the Cherokee country state that a large body of the Indians, including all those north of High Tower have enrolled for emigration.---Post

Who the author of these letters are(sic) is not said, but they are from the Cherokee Country. It is not at all surprising to us to see these statements circulated in the public Journals--we are already hardened to the thousands of misrepresentations to which we and our people have of late been subject:- it appears to be the study of those who advocate the removal of the Cherokees to the west of the Mississippi, to misrepresent the true feelings of our people. We have therefore thought perhaps a brief statement of facts would not be unacceptable to our readers. It is well known to all those who have the least knowledge of the geography of the Cherokee Country that the Hightower River lies within but a short distance from the Georgia line, some parts not more than eight or ten miles north and west of Chattahoochy and Chestatee rivers, of course a much larger portion of the Cherokee Country lies north of Hightower River, the whole Chartered limits of Ten. ' more than one half of the limits of Georgia is on the north of Hightower. How comes it then that a letter writer from the Cherokee Country makes this unwarranted statement, 'that a large body of the Indians' including all those north of Hightower, have enrolled for emigration?--It cannot be through ignorance as he is said to be from the Cherokee Country--therefore we shall mark him down whoever he may be, as a willful circulator of falsehood. The enrolling agents of the General Government, who have been busily employed during the last winter do not pretend to put down the Cherokee who have enrolled for emigration at more than five hundred; and let it be remembered that a greater part of these are not Cherokees. I can confidently say that there are yet fifteen thousand Cherokees in the nation both north and south of the Hightower who have not enrolled for emigration. We live on the north of the Hightower River and we have not seen nor heard of more than one Indian having enrolled for emigration within twenty miles round. It is true that a man by the name of Rogers lived only two miles from this place ' have enrolled, but he is a white man, ' not an Indian, more than that, he has left his wife and children, and proceeded on his journey for Arkansas Country, with the intention of returning to his family soon as he receives his pay from the United States Agent of Arkansas for the improvements left; such a trick as this si not uncommon among the emigrants. A majority of the late emigrants were from the south and east of Hightower and the plain reason of this is the whites have encroached on them, set shops where they sell liquor to the Indians and in their fits of intoxication they are persuaded to enroll others in order to flee from the 'Poney Club' have been induced to accept of the offers of Government agents.

The above statements would have been considered quite unnecessary, but for the currency which has been given in a paper of high respectability seeming to give credit to the letters mentioned in the Post.