Treaty of Indian Springs began Creek removal to Ok

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Treaty of Indian Springs began Creek removal to Oklahoma

Jonita Mullins
Phoenix Correspondent


The early Muscogee (Creek) Tribe was a confederation of many tribes or
clans who lived along the rivers of the southeastern United States and
built mounds for religious ceremony and burial. When Europeans began to
establish their American colonies, they gave the Muscogee Tribe the name
Creek because these native people built their towns along the banks of
rivers and tributary creeks.

In fact, to further define the tribe they were referred to as Upper
Creeks — those living along rivers from northwestern Georgia to
central Alabama — and the Lower Creeks who lived further southeast.

The Creeks built their tribal government around their towns. Each town
had its own chief or king.

In 1825, the chief for the town of Coweta, Georgia was William McIntosh,
the son of a Scottish trader and full-blood Creek woman named Senoia.
Growing up in a mixed-race family, he was comfortable with both cultures
and could speak both Muscogee and English.

He quickly became a recognized leader among the Lower Creeks and
frequently negotiated with the Georgia government on behalf of his
people. He was a prosperous trader, owning two plantations and operating
a ferry at Indian Springs.

In 1825, McIntosh was persuaded to sign the Treaty of Indian Springs,
ceding all Creek land in Georgia in exchange for land in Indian
Territory. This treaty was immediately opposed by the Upper Creeks and
even many Lower Creeks. A Creek Council declared McIntosh's actions
treason and sentenced him to death. A group of his opponents went to his
home late one night, set fire to his house and then shot him as he fled
the flames.

The Creeks from Coweta and other Lower Towns began their removal to
Indian Territory in late 1827. The first steamboat to land in the Three
Forks area was the Facility, bringing 780 Creeks to the Creek Agency on
the Verdigris River. They arrived in February of 1828.

Around this time, A.P. Chouteau sold his trading post on the east bank
of the Verdigris River near present day Okay to David Brearley, the
newly appointed Creek agent. Brearley had been put in charge of
overseeing the Creek removal.

Over the next few years, several more steamboats arrived at the Creek
Agency carrying the Lower Creeks to their new home. But the Upper Creeks
continued to resist the pressure from Democratic leaders such as
President Andrew Jackson to move west.

They finally were forced to sign a treaty agreeing to give up their
Georgia lands. Ironically, the treaty they signed had much worse terms
for them than the one McIntosh signed. The U.S. Army rounded up the
Upper Creeks and moved them forcibly over the Trail of Tears to Indian
Territory.

The Creek Nation in Indian Territory was bounded by the Verdigris and
Arkansas rivers on the north and the forks of the Canadian on the south.
The Lower Creeks, who arrived first, settled in the north along the
Arkansas and Verdigris and established the towns of Creek Agency, Koweta
and Tulsey Town.

The Upper Creeks came later and chose to live along the Canadian
branches at North Fork Town and Okmulgee. Because of past animosities,
tensions still existed between the two groups. But they chose to work
through their difficulties, and as they did, they began to prosper in
their new towns in Indian Territory.