2. MAKING THE TREATY OF 1835
In March 1835 Colonel Brooks received instructions to treat with the Caddoes for their land. The instructions said:
You will endeavor to procure a cession of their right to any land in that state. After considerable search and inquiry, I have not been able to ascertain, with precision, either the extent of the country occupied by them or the tenure by which it is held. The report of Colonel Many, a copy of which is enclosed, contains the best information in the possession of this Department on the subject. It appears probable, from this report, and from an examination of the map, that after the boundary line between the United States and Mexico is permanently established, the district of country occupied by these Indians may contain from six hundred thousand... to one million... of acres. It is believed that the Caddo Indians are desirous of removing from the state of Louisiana, and their condition would be no doubt benefited by such removal.
On June 3, 1835, Brooks employed Larkin Edwards who was interpreter for the Caddoes, to visit the Caddo villages and inform the chiefs and people of the Caddo nation of his arrival at the agency-house with instructions to treat with them for the purchase of their land; and that he had brought a great many presents for them, and expected them to assemble at the agency-house. On June 25, the Caddoes assembled to the number of four hundred and eighty-nine, men, women, and children, and, as instructed by Brooks, selected a council to represent them in negotiating the treaty. On June 26, the head chief, Tarshar, and underchief, Tsauninot, with twenty-three chosen councillors, met Brooks at twelve o'clock, and presented themselves as the chosen representatives of the Caddoes assembled, to listen to whatever he had to say to them, and to make such replies as justice to themselves might seem to require. The council pipe was lighted and passed around, and Brooks proceeded without further ceremony to state the object of his present mission.
He told them that the President was pleased to hear that they w ere desirous of selling their lands, and had delegated him to arrange for a council and to make the transaction, provided they could reach an agreement as to the price and conditions of payment; that in the event of an agreement (as the land was to be purchased for the white settlers), the Caddoes would be required to remove within a reasonable time after the President had approved the bargain; that he had come prepared to make them an offer that would place them in a state of independence, compared with their present destitution; that he was aware of the fact that many people purporting to be their friends, had advised them not to depart with their lands, but he said, "I have never deceived you, and am again sent, as your friend, to obtain that from you which is of no manner of use to yourselves, and which the whites will soon deprive you of, right or wrong."
After Brooks had informed them that his business had been stated, and that he awaited a reply, Tsauninot, underchief of the Caddoes in the absence of the chief, addressed them:
Brothers: We salute you, and through you, our great father, who has sent you again with words of comfort to us. We are in great want, and have been expecting you to bring us relief; for you told us, before you departed last fall, that you had no doubt our great father would treat with us for our country, and would supply us with things of much more value to us than these lands, which yield no game. ... It is true that we have been advised by many not to make a treaty at all; that we would be cheated out of our land, and then driven away like dogs; and we have been promised a great deal if we refused to meet you in council. But we have placed no reliance on the advice and promises of these men, because we know what they want, and what they will do; and we have warned our people, from time to time, not to heed such tales, but wait and see what our great father would do for us. We now know his wishes, and believe he will deal justly with us. We will therefore go and consult together, and let you know tomorrow morning what we are willing to do.
After the council adjourned Brooks exhibited samples of goods intended for them, in the event they agreed to the treaty. In the afternoon he gave them presents, and informed them they were tokens of friendship, which had nothing to do with the bargain he wished to make for their land.
On June 27, the council convened at ten o'clock in the morning, and Tsauninot informed Brooks that when he communicated the proceedings of the council of June 26 to his people they hung down their heads and were sorrowful, after which their head chief, Tarshar, rose and said:
My Children: For what do you mourn? Are you not starving in the midst of this land? And do you not travel far from it in quest of food ? The game we live on is going farther off, and the white man is coming near to us; and is not our condition getting worse daily? Then why lament for the loss of that which yields us nothing but misery? Let us be wise then, and get all we can for it, and not wait till the white man steals it away, little by little, and then gives us nothing.
After Tarshar's talk they all sprang to their feet with cries of satisfaction and voiced their agreement to sell their lands.
The Caddo council, having secured the consent of their people, were now ready to continue treaty negotiations. According to Brooks they requested him to make a reservation of four leagues of land in the southeast corner of their territory, bordering on the Red River to the heirs of Francois Grappe, and a reservation to Larkin Edwards anywhere within their territory that Edwards should select.
Brooks informed the Caddoes that their great father, the President, and his head men were opposed to Indian reservations, for there were always bad men seeking every opportunity to cheat the Indian out of everything they possessed, but he would state their wishes relative to the grant in such a form that, if not approved, they would not effect the main bargain. Then Brooks and the Caddoes tried to reach an agreement on the price to be paid for their land, but as an agreement could not be reached at this time, the council adjourned until June 28.
On the morning of June 28, white men of suspicious characters were found within the Indian encampment, and were warned to depart. Captain Thomas J. Harrison, of the third regiment of United States infantry, was directed to post a chain of sentinels around the camp to guard it from all intrusions of the whites, and to allow no one to enter without a pass signed by the commissioner. A white man, Francois Bark, was arrested soon afterward but discharged, on his promise that he would immediately depart, and not return among the Indians while they were engaged in making the treaty.
On July 1,1835, Brooks and the Indian council reached a satisfactory agreement on the price to be paid for their possession. This was the first treaty that the Caddoes had ever made with the United States. By agreement the Caddoes were to relinquish to the United States all their land contained in the following boundaries:
Bounded on the west by the north and south line which separates the United States from . . . Mexico, between the Sabine and Red River wheresoever the same shall be defined and acknowledged to be by the two governments. On the north and east by the Red river, from the point where the said north and south boundary line shall intersect the Red river whether it be in the territory of Arkansas or the State of Louisiana, following the meanders of the said river down to its junction with the Pascagoula bayou. On the south by the said Pascagoula bayou to its junction with Bayou Wallace, by said Bayou and Lake Wallace to the mouth of the Cypress bayou thence up said bayou to the point of its intersection with the first mentioned north and south lines, following the meanders of the said water-courses; but if the said Cypress be not clearly definable, so far then from a point which shall be definable by a line due west, till it intersects the first mentioned north and south boundary line. ...
They further agreed to remove at their own expense from the boundaries of the United States within one year after the signing of the treaty. The United States agreed to pay the Caddoes eighty thousand dollars, thirty thousand to be paid in goods on the signing of the treaty, and ten thousand dollars in money on September 1, 1836, then ten thousand dollars per year for four years.
In the articles supplementary to the treaty it was agreed that the legal representatives of Francois Grappe, deceased, and his three sons Jacques, Dominique, and Belthazar Grappe, should receive four leagues of land located in the southeast corner of the lands ceded to the United States. It was further agreed that Larkin Edwards and his heirs should receive one section of land to be selected from the lands ceded to the United States by the Caddo Indians.
John W. Edwards, the interpreter, translated the treaty and supplementary treaty into the Caddo language. After he had finished, each member of the council was asked if he understood the interpreter clearly, and if he was ready to sign his name to the document, all of which being answered in the affirmative, the formality of signing was concluded in the presence of several witnesses. After the pipe was passed around, and congratulations exchanged between Brooks and the Caddo representatives on having concluded the treaty, they shook hands and separated in friend ship.
By July 10, all the goods and horses, amounting to thirty thousand dollars, had been delivered to the chiefs and head men of the Caddo nation, in compliance with the third article of the treaty. Brooks said that the Indians appeared to be well satisfied with the goods received, and with the whole proceeding, from the beginning to the end. The treaty was ratified by the United States Senate on January 26, 1836, and signed by President Andrew Jackson, on February 2, 1836.