The Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, Volume I

8-1

Xo. 96

1830 .tlpr.. 29, CREEK N.ATIO~ '1'0 [J. H. EATO~] \ Creek :'\ation April 29th. 1830

To the Ilonble. the

('l'his is not an exact copy) (of the forwd. to Washington) (-No copy of the one sent wasl

Secretary of War

,Yashington City

Friend & Brother. l I consider it a duty which I owe to your Government as well as to my own people, to infomi you of certain transactions which hav~ recently transpired in the ~ation. In my former letter, I men- tioned that a Council was to be held at Fort ?IIitchell, at which I intended to renew my endavors to persuade my people to emigrate to the West. I attended there at the time appointed for the hold- ing of the Council, but found too few of the Chiefs there to form ·a council. None attended except a few from the Lower Towns. They waited three days, for others to come from the Upper Towns, l>ut not making their appearance, those who had met, were about dispersing, & postponing husiness until a full meeting might be obtained, but some white men present, observed that they must not go away withOllt writing to the President. This the did not wish to do, preferring to wait until the Agent should return from Wash- ington City. They wished to hear what tidings he would bring-, be- fore they wrote again; But the whitcmen told them that, if some- thing was not written, they were afraid that the Agent would be broke. Something was accordingly written by the whitcman, but what, I do not know. Whatever it was, the Indians (some of them) assign.ed it without hearing the letter read. It was not read in public to them. A short time after this, I saw in the Coh1mbns En- quirer, a letter published, purporting to have been the resut of the deliberations of that meeting. The letter I have cut out of th,! paper and herin enclose it to you, and beg the liberty of making one or two remarks on it. Its publication in a news paper, before its reception at ·washington, was rather an nnprecidented circumstance. But the letter contains some false representations. In the concludin~ sentence, Neothloceo Hopoy or Little Doctor, who is the Ikad Chief of the Upper Creeks, is represented as being present at the meeting; but such is not the fact-he was not there, and thon::th his name ap- pears to the letter, he never saw it or heard it read. Besides this some of the Indians whose signatures 111·e found to that letter, arc known to entertain different rnntiments to those expressed in that instrument; for they arc determined to.emigrate & nrc making ar- rangements at this time for that purpose. Our great Father seem~ not to know the extent of the intincnce which selfish whitcmen in the N.ation a1·e capahlc of excrcisinir over the Indians. 'l'hcy have great controul ovt>r the Chiefs as well as onr the common class, and to such extent that th<'Y can make them sign almost any paper or ~uhscrihc 10 any sentiment which they may dictate to the Jncli:ws. In the letter under consideration the lnclians arc made to use a (preserved.

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