Cherokee Treaty May 6, 1828
In 1808-1809, the Cherokee nation divided and some of its members decided to move west of the Mississippi River to pursue a hunter lifestyle where game was plentiful rather than to live the more settled lifestyle prevalent in the east. A portion of tribal land in Georgia was ceded to the U.S. in exchange for land in Arkansas Territory. Disputes with neighboring tribes and encroachment of white settlers led to the western (Arkansas) Cherokees to sign this treaty on May 6, 1828 that had them exchanged their land again to move further west into the Indian territory (present-day Oklahoma). The treaty granted additional benefits to eastern Cherokees who chose to migrate, and it was hoped that enticement would lead them to peaceably relinquish all remaining claims to land in Georgia, including Cobb County. When further negotiations failed and the events of the Trail of Tears occurred a decade later, the eastern Cherokees were escorted to the Indian Territory to join those already settled there as a result of this treaty.
Plaque courtesy Lat34North.com.
Original page, with additional info, here.
Photo credit: David Seibert.