ing on the Commissioners consists in discharging duties which legitimately devolve on others.

We have had frequent complaints of the inequality of valuations, but, upon the most thorough investigation of these complaints, I am fully convinced that these complaints are chiefly groundless. I am quite confident that the valuations as returned by the Agents, which have been approved by the Commissioners, is the nearest possible approach to equality and justice that could be obtained, under all the circumstances attending this branch of the business.

This Treaty, sir, should be executed faithfully, to sustain the honor of the country, and to promote the best interest of the Cherokee people. And to secure this object no person should have been charged with any of ficial responsibi ity in its execution who is a Ross manwho joins Ross in denouncing the Treaty as a corrupt fraud practiced upon the Cherokee people.

At a time like this, no person should be subsisting on the Government, in this country, whose feelings and views coincide with this man Ross. The open and avowed opponents of the administration of the Federal Governmen are not the persons to execute this Treaty harmoniously. Ross should be distinctly informed that the Treaty will be executed at all hazards; and he should not be permitted longer to encourage the delusive hopes of the ignorant Indians that, through his mighty influence, the Treaty will yet be abrogated, or modified. No officer or agent of the Government should spend an idle day here, until the emigration of the Indians has actually taken place.

The silly idea of erecting fortifications here has quite astounded me. Every dollar expended in this country in fortifications and defensive works to protect the whites from the Indians is an idle waste of the public money.

The only fortifications needed in this country, in any event is good soldiers, well armed, under proper commanders. With proper forecast and preparation, no war can possibly arise here that might not be terminated in four weeks. With one thousand militia volunteers, raised in Georgia, I can drive every Cherokee Indian in the Nation to Arkansas, without the loss of a man, except by the contingency of natural death, &c. If, indeed, fortifications were needed, it would not be at the Agency, where our military chieftains purpose, but, in such an event, we should erect forts, to protect our women and children; but noth

ing of the sort will be necessary. Look at the map of this country! Here, where I have stood alone, as regards defensive preparations, for upwards of twelve months, is the very centre of the Cherokee Country, and in this County (Cass) and in the adjoining County of Cherokee, I presume we have at present 8,000 Indians, and in other bordering counties, in Georgia, 3,000 more, and in all these counties we have a very sparse white population. By way of instructing them into the nature of their true condition, I think the Government would do well, forthwith, to disarm every Indian in the country. The arms might be deposited at the proper point, ready to be returned to them again, on their departure to the West.

Let us never cease to urge upon the consideration of the Government its deep obligations to the treaty-making party. The Government cannot sustain its honor without sustaining these men. If Ross and his savage bands should murder these noble, patriotic men for their honest efforts to save their people, the lives of Ross and his associates would be the only adequate atonement.

Your old friend and obt. servt.,

WILSON LUMPKIN.

Note. It is due to my associate Commissioner, as well as myself, that I should state the fact that during our official connection every official letter, paragraph and sentence which bears our official signatures jointly was composed and written by myself, and then signed by us both, Judge Kennedy invariably approving of the drafts of my official correspondence, decisions and other papers. These facts are known to Col. Wm. H. Jackson, of Walton County, who copied these official writings, and who is still living at the time of this writing, as well as to many others who are yet in the land of the liv ing. Morover, these original drafts, in my own handwriting, are still in my possession, in a good state of preservation. But as they are more liable to be scattered and destroyed than this volume, I have been induced to make this note. It is proper to add that Judge Kennedy was very competent to have discharged much of this labor, to the credit of the office which we held, but he invariably urged me to its performance, alleging as a reason my more intimate knowledge of all these matters.

CHAPTER XV.

Whoever reads understandingly the correspondence presented in the preceding chapter will be able to comprehend and appreciate, to some extent, the magnitude and hazards of both life and reputation which were devolved on me as United States Commissioner under the Treaty of 1835. They will also find, presented in an uncontroverted and official form, the transactions connected with the whole subject. For the failure of the Federal administration in discharging its share of public duty connected with the subject, I offer the following apology. The President of the United States, Gen'l Jackson, from age, bodily infirmity, and long continued labor and care, in stations of the highest responsibility, and being at that moment a declining, and not a rising, sun, on account of the near approach of the termination of his brilliant Presidential course, his energy upon this occasion was less efficient than on many other important fields of strife and contest. His views were correct in every point connected with this subject.

His instructions and directions to all officers engaged in this service were ample and good; but his subordinates in office, especially those in the Cherokee Country, were guilty of many delinquencies and failures to discharge their duties with that energy and fidelity which that important service required. They no longer felt the influence of the setting sun. The long suspense of three or four months, produced by holding the office of Commissioner in reserve for Gen'l Carroll while he was engaged in the discharge of another more lucrative office, was, altogether inadvisable, and justly subjected Gen'l Jackson, at the time, to some censure, by those who felt the injury of this delay. For the want of a co-Commissioner the execution of the Treaty was greatly retarded, and afforded time for Ross and his co-workers to do much mischief, by impressing the minds of the ignorant Indians with the belief and delusive hope that the Treaty was invalid, and could never be executed. While I did all that could possibly be done, by a single Commissioner,

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for the want of a co-Commissioner very much that was most important to have been done promptly was greatly retarded.

After Mr. Van Buren and his new Cabinet came into office, I found them wholly destitute of the intimate knowledge of men and things connected with the then standing and condition of Cherokee affairs so actually necessary to carry forward to final consummation the emigration of the Cherokees, as provided for by the Treaty of 1835. Moreover, I found myself embarrassed and burthened at every step by the complexion of the military command, stationed in this country for the express purpose of aiding in the objects of my Commission. But I will not here enlarge upon this ubject, but rely upon my official correspondence, submitted in the preceding chapter. Before I take leave of this part of the subject, however, I will, in this chapter, present that portion of the official proceedings of the Commissioners which will best exhibit the intricacy and importance of some of the subjects adjudicated by them, especially the claims of a host of lawyers, under pretense of having rendered great and important services to the Cherokee Nation. Although the Commissioners entertained not the shadow of a doubt but that these lawyers had, from first to last, from beginning to end, been nothing more nor less than one unmitigated curse to the Cherokee people, and that they had been the prime and moving cause of most of the evils brought upon this people, and that their motives had been selfish and base, in protracting the calamities of these unfortunate Indians; yet the Commissioners were forced to the conclusion, from the words of the Treaty itself, as well as the testimony of those who negotiated the Treaty, that it was intended to provide for the payment of what is termed these men's legal services-services calculated to destroy the Indians. However, it being the duty of the Commissioners to execute the Treaty as it was written, they endeavored to lay aside every prejudice and prepossession, and administer even handed justice to the unrighteous as well as the righteous, and to administer the laws confided to their charge in strict conformity to its letter and spirit; and, to this end, they consulted and advised with the then Attorney General of the United States, the Hon. B. F. Butler, and in no instance did they depart from his legal opinions, in regard to the claims of these lawyers. In the first place, these claims were scrutinized and thoroughly investigated and exam

ined by the Commissioners, aided by all the light and evidence which could be procured, after which the Commissioners reduced their opinions to writing, and, in a formal way, made up their decisions on these claims. They then laid these claims against the Cherokee Nation before the Indian Committee, accompanied by all the information which had been procured in relation to them; and here follow the proceedings of the Indian Committee on these claims. The report of the Indian Committee is given in their own words, as written out by John Ridge, President of the Committee, and accompanied by the order of the United States Commissioners, confirming the report. As heretofore stated, the Commissioners did not assent to this report without reluctance, but deemed it best, under all the circumstances connected with the case, to acquiesce.

I will also give the decision of the Commissioners, as written out previous to laying these claims before the Indian Committee; and the amounts adjudged by the Commissioners to be due to these lawyers were some thousands of dollars less than that which was adjudged to be right by the Committee. Whereupon, the Commissioners, in respect to the opinions of the Indian Committee who were a party in interest, yielded something of their own opinions, and confirmed officially the opinions of the Indian Committee. It is my intention not only to submit to the reader of these pages the opinions of the Commissioners upon a portion of these lawyers' claims, but some extracts from the evidence upon which these opinions were based.

I would earnestly call the attention of the reader to what may be submitted in this chapter which has a strong political bearing in explanation of the history of Georgia. While Governor of Georgia, I often affirmed in my official communications to the Legislature, as well as in my official correspondence, that the difficulties which the State encountered in obtaining the consent of the Cherokees to their removal to the West was chargeable to a combination of selfish feed lawyers, imbecile or corrupt judges, political party aspirants, and deluded fanatics. Judge Wm. H. Underwood, when urging his claims before the Commissioners as the front leader of this combination of lawyers and politicians, is sufficiently explicit in his admissions to confirm the truth of my strongest accusations on this subject. Moreover, he admits that the Legislature of Georgia legislated him and his brother