TREATY OF FORT ADAMS WITH CHOCTAW
DECEMBER 17, 1801
7 Stat., 66.
Ratified April 30, 1802.
Proclaimed May 4, 1802.
A treaty of friendship, limits and accommodation between the United States of America and the
Chactaw nation of Indians.
THOMAS JEFFERSON, President of the United States of America, by James Wilkinson, of the state
of Maryland, Brigadier-General in the army of the United States, Benjamin Hawkins, of North
Carolina, and Andrew Pickens, of South Carolina, commissioners plenipotentiary of the United
States on the one part, and the Mingos, principal men and warriors of the Chactaw nation,
representing the said nation in council assembled, on the other part, have entered into the
following articles and conditions, viz:
ARTICLE 1. Whereas the United States in Congress assembled, did by their commissioners
Plenipotentiary, Benjamin Hawkins, Andrew Pickens, and Joseph Martin, at a treaty held with the
chiefs and head men of the Chactaw nation at Hopewell, on the Keowe, the third day of January, in
the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-six, give peace to the said nation,
and receive it into the favor and protection of the United States of America; it is agreed by the
parties to these presents respectively, that the Chactaw nation, or such part of it as may reside
within the limits of the United States, shall be and continue under the care and protection of the
said States; and that the mutual confidence and friendship which are hereby acknowledged to
subsist between the contracting parties shall be maintained and perpetuated.
ARTICLE 2. The Mingos principal men and warriors of the Chactaw nation of Indians, do
hereby give their free consent, that a convenient and durable wagon way may be explored, marked,
opened and made under the orders and instructions of the President of the United States, through
their lands to commence at the northern extremity of the settlements of the Mississippi Territory,
and to be extended from thence, by such route as may be selected and surveyed under the authority
of the President of the United States, until it shall strike the lands claimed by the Chickasaw
nation; and the same shall be and continue for ever, a high-way for the citizens of the United
States and the Chactaws; and the said Chactaws shall nominate two discreet men from their nation,
who may be employed as assistants, guides or pilots, during the time of laying out and opening the
said high-way, or so long as may be deemed expedient, under the direction of the officer charged
with this duty, who shall receive a reasonable compensation for their services.
ARTICLE 3. The two contracting parties covenant and agree that the old line of
demarkation heretofore established by and between the officers of his Britannic Majesty and the
Chactaw nation, which runs in a parallel direction with the Mississippi river and eastward
thereof, shall be retraced and plainly marked, in such way and manner as the President may direct,
in the presence of two persons to be appointed by the said nation; and that the said line shall be
the boundary between the settlements of the Mississippi Territory and the Chactaw nation. And the
said nation does by these presents relinquish to the United States and quit claim for ever, all
their right, title and pretension to the land lying between the said line and the Mississippi
river, bounded south by the thirty-first degree of north latitude, and north by the Yazoo river,
where the said line shall strike the same; and on the part of the commissioners it is agreed, that
all persons who may be settled beyond this line, shall be removed within it, on the side towards
the Mississippi, together with their slaves, household furniture, tools, materials and stock, and
that the cabins or houses erected by such persons shall be demolished.
ARTICLE 4. The President of the United States may, at his discretion, proceed to execute
the second article of this treaty; and the third article shall be carried into effect as soon as
may be convenient to the government of the United States, and without unnecessary delay on the one
part or the other, of which the President shall be the judge; the Chactaws to be seasonably
advised, by order of the President of the United States, of the time when, and the place where,
the re-survey and re-marking of the old line referred to in the preceding article, will be
commenced.
ARTICLE 5. The commissioners of the United States, for and in consideration of the
foregoing concessions on the part of the Chactaw nation, and in full satisfaction for the same, do
give and deliver to the Mingos, chiefs and warriors of the said nation, at the signing of these
presents, the value of two thousand dollars in goods and merchandise, net cost of Philadelphia,
the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged; and they further engage to give three sets of
blacksmith's tools to the said nation.
ARTICLE 6. This treaty shall take effect and be obligatory on the contracting parties,
so soon as the same shall be ratified by the President of the United States of America, by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof.
In testimony whereof, the commissioners plenipotentiary of the United States, and the Mingos,
principal men, and warriors, of the Choctaw nation, have hereto subscribed their names and affixed
their seals, at Fort Adams, on the Mississippi, this seventeenth day of December, in the year of
our Lord one thousand eight hundred and one, and of the independence of the United States the
twenty-sixth.
James Wilkinson,
Benjamin Hawkins,
Andrew Pickens,
Tuskona Hopoia, his x mark,
Toota Homo, his x mark,
Mingo Hom Massatubby, his x mark,
Oak Shumme, his x mark,
Mingo Pooscoos, his x mark,
Buckshun Nubby, his x mark,
Shappa Homo, his x mark,
Hiupa Homo, his x mark,
Illatalla Homo, his x mark,
Hoehe Homo, his x mark,
Tuspena Chaabe, his x mark,
Muclusha Hopoia, his x mark,
Capputanne Thlueco, his x mark,
Robert McClure, his x mark,
Poosha Homo, his x mark,
Baka Lubbe, his x mark,
Witnesses present:
Alexander Macomb, jun. secretary to the commission,
John McKee, deputy superintendent, and agent to the Choctaws,
Henry Gaither, lieutenant colonel, commandant,
John H. Brull, major, Second Regiment Infantry,
Bw. Shaumburgh, captain, Second Regiment Infantry,
Frans. Jones, Assistant Quartermaster General
Benjamin Wilkinson, lieutenant and paymaster, Third United States Regiment,
J.B. Walbach, aid-de-camp to the commanding general,
J. Wilson, lieutenant, Third Regiment Infantry,
Samuel Jeton, lieutenant, Second Regiment of Artillery and Engineers,
John F. Carmichael, surgeon, Third Regiment United States Army.
Source: Indian Affairs. Laws and Treaties. Vol. II. (Treaties.) Compiled and Edited by Charles J.
Kappler, LL. M., Clerk to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Washington: Government Printing
Office. 1904.