sent of the Cherokees" to new grants of land and estabiisli ment of boundaries. sioners are remarkable for their reiterated assertion of the In- The instrnctions giyen to these commis- dians' unquestioned right to do as they please abont eeding these lands. Such phrases as these: "Should thc Indians refuse to cede to the United Statcs any of the above-designated lands," cede," and "you will endeavor to procure the consent of the Indians," are proof of the fulness of the recognition tho United States Go crnment at that time gave of the Indians' "right of oceupan and vou will endcavor to prerail apon them to cy;" also of the realization on the part of the Government that these Indian nations were powers whose good-will it was of im portance to conciliate. "It is of importance,"" the instructions say, "that the Indian nations gencrally should be convineed of the certainty in which they may at all times rely upon the friendship of the United States, and that the President will never abandon them or their children;" and, "It will be in cumbent on you to introduce the desires of the Government in sucl a manner as will peruit you to drop them, as you may find them illy received, without giving the Indians an opportu nity to reply with a decided negative, or raising in them un- friendly and inimical dispositions. You will state none of them in the tone of demands, but in the first instauce merely mention them as propositions which you are authorized to make, and their assent to whieh the Government would eonsider as new testimonials of their friendship."

Neverthcless, the Cherokees did reply with "a decided nega tive." They utterly refused to cede any more lands, or to give their consent to the opening of any more roads through their territory. Bat it only took four years to bring then to the point where thcy were ready to acquiesce in the wishes of the Government, and to make once more the effort to secure to themselves an unmolested region, by giving up several large tracts of land and a right of way on several roads. In 1805 they