Treaty of Colerain, June 29, 1796

Tracking various treaties with Native tribes and what, or who, was covered by each is a confusing business.  This is so for several reasons.  Often major treaties between countries, such as the Treaty of Paris of 1783 or Jay's Treaty of 1794, did not cover Native claims, or covered them in a cursory manner.  Further, treaties with one tribe did not always apply to another unless leaders for that tribe had specifically signed off.  Sometimes, tribes were overlooked altogether, and often had to go to war and/or sign more treaties to receive some protection.

All of this happened in the lead-up to the treaty of Colerain between the Creek/Muscogee and the federal government.  The Washington Administration had already come to an agreement with the Creek people in the Treaty of Washington, in 1790.  However, they were still embroiled in the latter phase of the Cherokee War (1775-1794).  Matters with the Cherokee were partially resolved in the Treaty of the Holston in 1791, and treaties laying out the boundaries for the Choctaw and Chickasaw were clarified in the Treaty of Hopewell, also 1791.  However, the land allotted in each of these treaties overlapped with land promised the Creek in the original Treaty of Washington.  Boundaries among these four major Southeastern tribes had to be clearly delineated.  There was every indication that, if the Creek weren't satisfied, they could ally with those Cherokee bands still at war and create more conflict on the frontier.

Benjamin Hawkins, Indian Agent for the Creek, George Clymer, who had signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and Andrew Pickens, a partisan leader and Indian fighter from South Carolina who may have inspired Mel Gibson's character in The Patriot met at a trading station (then called a factory) founded by James Seagrove (more on him later).  By this treaty, the Creeks affirmed the Treaty of Washington and agreed to respect the boundaries set forth for the other tribes in the Hopewell and Holston treaties.  The treaty also officially informed Creek leaders that the United States was actively negotiating with Spain and Britain regarding the boundaries of Florida, something that wouldn't become official until decades later.  Incidentally, during this treaty, the Creek leaders signed on behalf of the Seminole, who weren't officially invited to the parley but whose rights were dealt with anyway, something that would be a source of contention later between the two tribes.

Of course, the treaty contained the usual provision about returning escaped slaves, something no one at the negotiations seriously believed the Creeks or Seminoles would do.  Later treaties for all the tribes involved would virtually undue the agreements reached at Colerain, and the Indian Removal Act of 1830 would mark the final abrogation of this treaty.  The site of the treaty signing is marked by an engraved post funded by the Daughters of the American Revolution.