Treaties with the Choctaw


While I have read information many places, most of the information on Treaties between the United States and the Choctaw I have is coming from the book The Removal of The Choctaw Indians, Arthur H. DeRosier, Jr., 1970, University of Tennesse Press, Knoxville, TN. I highly recommend this book.

The first treaty between the United States and the Choctaws took place on December 17, 1801. In it the Choctaws ceded 2,641,920 acres of land along the Yazoo River. This is called the treaty of Fort Adams. The next treaty was the treaty of Fort Confederation on October 17, 1802, "this treaty called for a complete delineation of the Choctaw Nation." (page 30) The next treaty was on August 31, 1803, the Treaty of Hoe Buckintoopa, which ceded an additional 853,760 acres of land in Alabama and Mississippi to the United Sttates. By this time, the idea of a policy of accumulating debt against the Choctaws at trading houses, and then offering the elimination of that debt with the cession of land was in full effect. By 1805, the Treaty of Mount Dexter was signed on November 16, this cost the Choctaw people 4,142,720 acres, for which the Choctaws only received a little more than $2,000 after $48,000 in debts were paid to a trading house, this also was to allow for a $3,000 a year annuity. This treaty was not ratified until 1808. In 1820, the Treaty of Doaks Stand occurred. In it for  5,169,788 acres of land in Mississippi, the Choctaws would get 13,000,000 acres of land in the west. This land was in present day Arkansas and Oklahoma, and had been ceded by the Ouachita Indians to the United States government. It was the hope that the Choctaws would now  voluntarily move to the new territory. This didn't happen. The Territory in Arkansas contained many white settlers, which incensed the Arkansas government, so in 1825 a new treaty was signed which would resurvey the territory, and place the line outside of where the white settlers lived in arkansas. It was during this treaty in Washington D.C. in 1825 that Chief Pushmataha died, with Chief Apuckanabbee dying on the way to Washingon. Some of the terms for this treaty included, a waiver of all debts, an annuity and continuation of an annuity as agreed to in the treaty of 1820. The government emphasized their desire for the Choctaws to leave Mississippi and go to  the new territory. The final treaty I am going to discuss is the Treaty of 1830, known as the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. This is the treaty that required the Choctaw Nation to give up all their remaining land, 10,423,130 acres and remove to their new territory in what is now Oklahoma. The fact that all the land promised to the Choctaws in Oklahoma was not given seems to have escaped notice in many books, but after the removal of the other 4 "civilized tribes" some of the land was occupied by the other tribes.  The treaty required for all Choctaws to be removed to the new territory in 3 years, unless within 6  months of the treaty a member of the Nation signed up under Article 14 of the treaty with Col. William Ward, the local Indian Agent. William Ward however, opposed this article, and "lost" requests, as well as evaded those who tried to sign up under the Article. For those that did get to sign up, portions of land was given to them, 640 acres to each adult male or female, 320 acres for each child over 10, and 160 acres for those under 10. Some of the other articles contained provisions for special gifts and payments to the chiefs and leaders of the time (bribes in other words). The supplements to the treaty were written after the Armstrong Rolls in 1831, which were the accounting of the total Choctaw nation to be used in planning their removal.



This page was last updated on: March 26, 2008
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