Murder of Boudinot and the Ridges.—Immediately following the adjournment of the Takuttokah council three of the leaders of the Treaty party, John Ridge, Major Ridge his father, and Elias Boudinot were murdered456 in the most brutal and atrocious manner. The excitement throughout the nation became intense. Boudinot was murdered within 300 yards of his house, and only 2 miles distant from the residence of John Ross. The friends of the murdered men were persuaded that the crimes had been committed at the instigation of Ross, as it was well known that the murderers were among his followers. Ross's friends, however, at once rallied to his protection and a volunteer guard of six hundred patrolled the country in the vicinity of his residence.457
A number of the chiefs and prominent men of the Old Settler and Ridge parties fled to Port Gibson for safety. From there on the 28th of June, John Brown, John Looney, John Rogers, and John Smith, signing themselves as the executive council of the Western Cherokees, addressed a proposition to John Ross to send a delegation of the chiefs and principal men of his party with authority to meet an equal number of their own at Fort Gibson, with a view to reach an amicable agreement between the different factions. Ross responded458 by inviting them to meet at the council convened upon his call on the 1st of July, which was declined. A memorial was thereupon459 addressed to the authorities of the United States by Brown, Looney, and Rogers as chiefs of the Western Cherokees, demanding protection in the territory and government guaranteed to them by treaty. Against this appeal the Ross convention or council in session at Illinois camp-ground filed a protest.460 Between the dates of the appeal and the protest a part of the Old Settlers, acting in concert with Ross and his adherents, passed resolutions461 declaratory of their disapproval of the conduct of Brown and Rogers, and proclaimed their deposition from office as chiefs. Looney escaped deposition by transferring his fealty to the Ross party.
Unification of Eastern and Western Cherokees.—It is proper to remark in this connection that on the 12th of July the Ross council adopted resolutions uniting the Eastern and the Western Cherokees "into one body politic under the style and title of the Cherokee Nation." This paper, without mentioning or referring to the treaty of 1835, speaks of the late emigration as constrained by the force of circumstances. The council also passed462 a decree, wherein after reciting the murders of the Ridges and Boudinot, and that they in conjunction with others had by their conduct rendered themselves liable to the penalties of outlawry, extended to the survivors a full amnesty for past offenses upon sundry very stringent and humiliating conditions. They also passed463 a decree condoning the crime of the murderers, securing them from any prosecution or punishment by reason thereof, and declaring them fully restored to the confidence and favor of the community.
Treaty of 1835 declared void.—At a council held at Aquohee Camp a decree was passed on the 1st of August, declaring the treaty of 1835 void, and reasserting the Cherokee title to their old country east of the Mississippi. Later in the same month a decree was passed,464 citing the appearance before them, under penalty of outlawry, of the signers of the treaty of 1835, to answer for their conduct. This act called forth465 a vigorous protest from General Arbuckle, commanding Fort Gibson, and was supplemented by instructions466 to him from the Secretary of War to cause the arrest and trial of Ross as accessory to the murder of the Ridges in case he should deem it wise to do so.
Constitution adopted by the Cherokee Nation.—A convention summoned by Ross and composed of his followers, together with such members of the Treaty and Old Settler parties as could be induced to participate, convened and remained in session at Tahlequah from the 6th to the 10th of September, 1839. This body adopted a constitution for the Cherokee Nation, which was subsequently accepted and adopted by the Old Settlers or Western Cherokees in council at Fort Gibson on the 26th of the following June, and an act of union was entered into between the two parties on that date.
Division of Cherokee territory proposed.—A proposition had been previously467 submitted by the representatives of the Treaty and Old Settler parties, urging as the only method of securing peace the division of the Cherokee domain and annuities. They recommended that General Arbuckle and Captain Armstrong be designated to assign to them and to the Ross party each their proportionate share according to their numbers, but the adoption of this act of union avoided any necessity for the further consideration of the proposal. As a means also of relieving the Cherokees from further internal strife, General Arbuckle had,468 pursuant to the direction of the Secretary of War, notified them that, in consequence of his public acts, John Ross would not be allowed to hold office in the nation, and that a similar penalty was denounced against William S. Coody for offensive opinions expressed in the presence of the Secretary of War.469 Little practical effect was however produced upon the standing or influence of these men with their people.
Skeptical of the sincerity of the promises of peace and good feeling held out by the act of unification, John Brown, a noted leader and chief of the Old Settler Cherokees, in conjunction with many of his followers, among whom were a number of wandering Delawares, asked and obtained permission from the Mexican Government to settle within the jurisdiction of that power, and they were only persuaded to remain by the earnest assurances of the Secretary of War that the United States could and would fully protect their interests.470
Cherokees Charge the United States with Bad Faith
No sooner had the removal of the Cherokees been effectually accomplished than the latter began to manifest much dissatisfaction at what they characterized a lack of good faith on the part of the Government in carrying out the stipulations of the treaty of 1835. The default charged had reference to the matter of payment of their claims for spoliations, improvements, annuities, etc. Each winter at least one delegation from the nation maintained a residence in Washington and urged upon the Executive and Congress with untiring persistency an adjudication of all disputed matters arising under the treaty.
At length the term of President Van Buren expired and was succeeded by a Whig administration. Then as now, the official acts of an outgoing political party were considered to be the legitimate subject of