usand ways that they never found in the red men any solid
substantial, or agreeable quality. They were brave, but so is a bulldog.

There is no wonder that Georgia wanted to get rid of them as neighbors.
The people showed their anxiety in this matter when, in 1802, they
conveyed to the United States Government all the valuable lands that now
form the States of Alabama and Mississippi; the consideration being that
the General Government would secure from the Indians, and open up to
settlement, the lands which they then held in the State. In 1808 the
Cherokees asked the United States to allow them to examine the public
land west of the Mississippi, and, if pleased, to settle on it.
Permission was given, and the Cherokees sent a party to explore
the lands. The country suited them so well that many of the Indians
emigrated at once. The General Government thus had an opportunity to
carry out the contract of 1802, but failed to do so. It had another
opportunity in 1814, when the conquered Creeks sued for peace. The
General Government had the right to demand of them the cession of the
land they occupied in Georgia. Instead, it took land in Alabama, which
it sold for its own benefit.

And so the matter went on from year to year, and the people waited
patiently; for they had become aware, from costly experience, that one
of the prices they have to pay for popular government is the occasional
rule of the political demagogue.

In 1827, when the people of Georgia began to grow restive under the
failure of the government to carry out its contracts, the Cherokees
had declared themselves to be an independent state. They had their own
printed constitution and code of laws. So that here in the limits of
Georgia there were three governments going on at one and the same
time. The United States prohibited any person from settling on Indian
territory, or trading with any Indian, without a special license from
the proper authority. In addition to this, the State of Georgia had
found it necessary to extend her criminal courts over the Cherokee
territory, in order to protect her own citizens.

The half-breeds among the Cherokees were very shrewd and unscrupulous.
They had caused some of their tribe to take possession of lands ceded
to Georgia by the Creeks, and in this way sought to add confusion to the
discussion that was then going on. The Indians took possession by force.
They were armed and painted, and led by Chief Ridge. Fourteen or f