TIP #535 - THE JACKSON PURCHASE The Jackson Purchase was a tremendous effort between agents of the United States and the Chickasaw Indian Nation. Isaac Shelby, now an elderly man who had fought in the Revolutionary War and had served on two occasions as Governor of the State of Kentucky was involved. General Andrew Jackson who had been recognized as the hero of the Battle of New Orleans and later served as President of the United States was there. The proud Chickasaw nation was well represented by their chiefs, head men and mighty warriors. Levi and George Colbert, Chinubby (the Boy King), and Tishomingo were among those present for this historical event wherein the United States was set to purchase a large area of land later to be known as the Jackson Purchase area. A treaty was signed in northwestern Mississippi on October 19, 1818 and later ratified by the U. S. Senate and confirmed by President James Monroe on January 7, 1819. The Chickasaw Indian Nation, by this treaty, relinquished all of their lands east of the Mississippi River and north of the Mississippi state line. In return for the land they were to receive $300,000 at the rate of $20,000 annually for fifteen years. This treaty enlarged Tennessee and Kentucky by about 2,000 and 6,000 square miles respectively. The land in Kentucky became known as the Jackson Purchase or the Purchase District; lands in Tennessee were called West Tennessee. The treaty reads: "To settle all territorial controversies, and to remove all grounds of complaint or dissatisfaction that might arise to interrupt the peace and harmony which have so long and so happily existed between the United States, America and the Chickasaw Indians, James Monroe, President of the United States, Nation, by their chiefs, head men, and warriors, in full council assembled, of the other part, have agreed on the following articles which, when ratified by the President and Senate of the United States of America, shall form a treaty binding on all parties." ARTICLE 1: Peace and friendship are hereby firmly established and made perpetual between the United States of America and the Chickasaw Nation of Indians. ARTICLE 2: To obtain the object of the foregoing article, the Chickasaw Nation of Indians cede to the United States of America (with exception of such reservation as shall be hereinafter mentioned) all claim or title which the said nation has to the land lying north of the south boundary of the States of Tennessee, which is bounded on the south by the 35th degree of north latitude, and which lands, hereby ceded, lie within the following boundaries, viz: Beginning on the Tennessee River, about thirty-five miles, by water, below Col. George Colbert's Ferry, where the 35th degree of north latitude strikes the same; thence due west, with said degree of north latitude, to where it cuts the Mississippi River at or near the Chickasaw Bluffs; thence up the Mississippi River to the mouth of the Ohio River; thence up the Ohio River to the mouth of the Tennessee River; thence up the Tennessee River to the place of the beginning. ARTICLE 3: In consideration of relinquishment of claim and cession of lands in the preceding article and to perpetuate the happiness of the Chickasaw Nation of Indians, the Commissioners of the United States, before named, agree to allow the said Nation the sum of twenty thousand dollars per annum, for fifteen successive years, to be paid annually; and as a further consideration for the objects aforesaid, and at the request of the Chiefs of the said Nation, the Commissioners agree to pay Capt. John Gordon of Tennessee, the sum of one thousand and one hundred and fifteen dollars, it being a debt due by General William Colbert of said Nation, to the aforesaid Gordon; and the further sum of two thousand dollars, due by said Nation of Indians, to Capt.. David Smith, now of Kentucky, for the sum by him expended, in supplying himself and forty-five soldiers from Tennessee, in the year 1795, when assisting them (at their request and invitation) in defending their towns against invasion of the Creek Indians; both which sums (on the application of the said nation) are to be paid within sixty days after the ratification of this treaty, to the aforesaid Gordon and Smith. ARTICLE 4: The Commissioners further agree on the further and particular application of the chiefs, and for the benefit for the poor and warriors of the said Nation, that a tract, of land, containing four miles square, to include a salt lick, or springs, on or near the River Sandy, a branch of the Tennessee River, and within the land hereby ceded, be reserved, and to be laid off in a square of oblong, so as to include the best timber, at the option of their beloved chief, Levi Colbert, and Major James Brown, or either of them; who are hereby made agents and trustees for the Nation, to lease the said salt lick, or springs, on the following express conditions, viz: For the benefit of this reservation, as before recited, the trustees or agents are bound to reasonable quantity of salt to be paid annually to the said Nation, for the use thereof, and that, from and after two years after the ratification of this treaty, no salt, made at the works to be erected on this reservation, shall be sold within the limits of the same for a higher price than one dollar per bushel of fifty pounds weight; on the failure of which the lease shall be forfeited, and the reservation revert to the United States. ARTICLE 5: The Commissioners agree that there shall be paid to Oppassantuby a principal chief of the Chickasaw Nation, within sixty days after the ratification of this treaty, the sum of five hundred dollars as a full compensation for the reservation of two miles square, on the north side of the Tennessee River secured to him and his heirs by the treat held with the said Chickasaw Nation on the 29th day of September, 1816; and the further sum of twenty five dollars to John Lewis, a half breed, for a saddle lost while in the service of the United States and to show the regard of the President of the United States has for the said Chickasaw Nation at the request of the chiefs of the said Chickasaw Nation, the Commissioners agree that the sum of one thousand eighty nine dollars shall be paid to Maj. James Colbert, interpreter, within the period stated within the first part of this article, it being the amount of the sum of money taken from his pocket in the month of June, 1816, at the theater in Baltimore. And the said Commissioners as a further regard for said Nation, do agree that the reservation made to George Colbert, and Levi Colbert in the treaty held at the Council House of said Nation of the twenty-sixth day of September 1816, the first to Col. George Colbert on the north side of the Tennessee River, and those to Maj. Levi Colbert, on the east side of the Tombigbee River, shall inure to the sole use of said George Colbert and Maj. Levi Colbert, their heirs and assigns, forever, with their butts and bounds, as defined by said treaty, and agreeable to the marks and boundaries as laid off and marked by the surveyor of the United States where that is the case; and where the reservations have not been laid off and marked by the surveyor of the United States the same shall be so done as soon after the ratification as practicable on the application of their legally appointed agent under them, and agreeably to the definition in the before recited treaty. This agreement is made on the following express condition: That the said land and those living on it shall be subject to the laws of the United States, and all legal taxation that may be imposed on the land or citizens of the United States inhabiting the territory where the said land is situated. The Commissioners further agree that the reservation secured to John Mc Cleish, on the north side of Tennessee River, by the before recited treaty, in consequence of his having been raised in the State of Tennessee and marrying a white woman, shall inure to the sole use of the said John Mc Cleish, his heirs and assigns, forever, on the same conditions attached to the lands of Col. George Colbert and Maj. Levi Colbert in this article. ARTICLE 6: The two contracting parties covenant and agree that the line of the south boundary of the State of Tennessee, as described in the second Article of this treat, shall be ascertained and marked by commissioners appointed by the President of the United States; that the marks shall be bold, the trees to be blazed and both sides of the line, and the fore and aft trees shall be marked U.S.; and that the Commissioners shall be attended by two persons to be designated by the Chickasaw Nation, and the said Nation shall have due and reasonable notice when said operation is to be commenced. It is further agreed by the commissioners that all improvements actually made by individuals of Chickasaw Nation, which shall be found within the lands ceded by this treaty, that a fair and reasonable compensation shall be paid thereof to the respective individuals having made or owned the same. ARTICLE 7: In consideration of the friendly and conciliatory disposition evinced during the negotiating of this treaty by the Chickasaw chiefs and warriors but more particularly as a manifestation of the friendship and liberality of the President of the United States, the Commissioners agree to give, on the ratification of this treat, to Chinnubby, King of the Chickasaw Nation, to Teshuamingo, William Mc Gilvery, Anpassantubby, Samuel Seeley, James Brown, Levi Colbert, Ickaryoucuttahah, George Pettygrove, Immartarharmicco, Chickasaw Chiefs, and to Malcolme Mc Gee, interpreter to this treaty one hundred fifty dollars in cash; and to Maj. William Glover, Col. George Colbert, Hopoyahaummar, Immauklusharhopoyea, Tushkarhopoye, Hopoyeahaummar, Jr., James Colbert, Coweamarthiar, Illsvhouesthopoyea, military leaders, hundred dollars each; and do further agree that any annuity heretofore secured to the Chickasaw Nation of Indians be treaty to be paid in goods shall hereafter be paid in cash. In testimony whereof the said Commissioners and undersigned chiefs and warriors have set their hands and seals. Done at the treaty grounds east of Old Town this nineteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighteen. (October 19, 1818) From Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties: Volume II - Treaties. Senate Document No. 452. (Signed by) Isaac Shelby, Andrew Jackson, and the Aforesaid Chiefs and Others. In Kentucky, the purchase became part of the state as an extension of Christian County with Old Wadesboro named as its capital. The land was then divided into eight counties: Hickman in 1821 with Columbus, later Columbia as the county seat; Calloway in 1822 (Wadesboro, later Murray), Graves in 1823 (Mayfield), McCracken in 1824 (Wilmington, later Paducah), Marshall in 1842 (Benton), Ballard in 1842 (Blandville, later WIckliffe), Fulton in 1845 (Hickman) and Carlisle in 1886 (Bardwell). This land forms a peninsula that goes northward from Tennessee and is bounded by the Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to the east, north and west. Large earthquakes in 1811-12 changed the landscape of the area in the west with Reelfoot Lake being formed. Earliest residents of the area other than the Indians, included Louis Jolliett and Jacques Marquette in 1673 and Ren Robert LaSalle in 1682. Fort Jefferson was established in 1780. During the Civil War, this was known as Confederate area. Now it is the location of Murray State University, Paducah Community College, Mid-Continent Baptist College, an area of agriculture, industries, rich uranium fields, railroads and river industries. Kenlake and Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Parks are located here and the Jackson Purchase area has become a high tourism area. Bill Utterback, a well-known researcher has provided much information on the Jackson Purchase area and is considered an expert in this area. The following two sites of Bill's will show extensive maps of the area and FAQ's about this beautiful addition to the State. http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygraves/temp/JPL.htm maps http://users.arn.net/~billco/jacksonfaq1.html The following URL will explain more about the mapping of the area. http://www.sos.state.ky.us/Land/JacksonPurchase/jppubliclands.asp If you have family in the Jackson Purchase area, I would recommend highly that you subscribe the Jackson Purchase Area query list by sending a subscribe message to: KYJACKSONPURCHASE-L-REQUEST@rootsweb.com. This is hosted by Bill Utterback and he provides a plethora of information, files and records via the list. (c) Copyright 7 April 2005, Sandra K. Gorin Colonel Sandi Gorin SCKY Links: http://www.public.asu.edu/~moore/Gorin.html Sandi's Puzzlers: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gensoup/gorin/puz.html Gorin Publishing: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/