[The Cherokee Nation vs. The State of Georgia.] Sect. 7. And be it further enacted, that after the first day of June eighteen hundred and thirty, all Indians then and at that time residing in said territory, and within any one of the counties as aforesaid, shall be liable and subject to such laws and regulations as the legislature may hereafter prescribe. Sect. 3. And be it further enacted, that all laws, usages, and customs, made, established, and enforced in the said territory, by the said Cherokee Indians, be, and the same are hereby on and after the first of June eighteen hundred and thirty, declared null and void. Sect. 9. And be it further enacted, that no Indian or descendant of an Indian, residing within the Creek or Cherokee nations of Indians, shall be deemed a competent witness or party to any suit in any court created by the constitution or laws of this state to which a white man may be a party. IRLEY HUDSON, Speaker of the house of representatives. Assented to December 20, 1828. JOHN FORSYTH, ACT OF 19 DECEMBER 1829. An act to add the territory lying within the chartered limits of Georgia, and now in the occupancy of the Cherokee Indians, to the counties of Carroll, De Kalb, Gwinett, Hall and Habersham, and to extend the laws of this state over the same, and to annul all laws and ordinances made by the Cherokee nation of Indians, and to provide for the compensation of officers serving legal process in said territory, and to regulate the testimony of Indians, and to repeal the ninth section of the act of eighteen hundred and twenty-eight upon this subject. Sect. 1. Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the state of Georgia, in general assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same; that from and after the passing of this act, all that part of the unlocated territory within the limits of this state, and which lies between the Alabama line and the old path leading from the Buzzard roost on the Chattahoochee, to Sally Hughes's, on the Hightower river, thence to Thomas Pelets, on the old federal road, thence with said road to the Alabama line: be, and the same is hereby added to and shall become a part of the county of Carroll. Sect. 2. And be it further enacted, that all that part of said territory lying and being north of the last mentioned line, and south of the road running from Charles Gait's ferry on the Chattahoochee river to Dick Roes, to where it intersects with the path aforesaid: be, and the same is hereby added to and shall become a part of the county of De Kalb. Sect. 3. And be it further enacted, that all that part of said territory lying north of the last mentioned line, and south of a line commencing at the mouth of Baldridge's creek, thence up said creek to its source; from thence to where the federal road crosses the Hightower; thence with said road to the Tennessee line: be, and the same is hereby added to and shall become a part of the county of Gwinett. [The Cherokee Nation vs. The State of Georgia.] Sect. 4. And be it further enacted, that all that part of said territory lying north of said last mentioned line, and south of a line to commence on the Chestatee river, at the mouth of Yoholo creek, thence up said creek to the top of the Blue ridge; thence to the head waters of Notley river; thence down said river to the boundary line of Georgia: be, and the same is hereby added to and shall become a part of the county of Hall. Sect. 5. And be it further enacted, that all that part of said territory lying north of said last mentioned line, within the limits of this state, be, and the same is hereby added to and shall become a part of the county of Habersham. Sect. 6. And be it further enacted, that all the laws, both civil and criminal, of this state, be, and the same are hereby extended over said portions of territory respectively; and all persons whatever residing within the same, shall, after the first day of June next, be subject and liable to the operation of said laws in the same manner as other citizens of this state, or the citizens of said counties respectively; and all writs and processes whatever, issued by the courts or officers of said courts, shall extend over and operate on the portions of territory hereby added to the same respectively. Sect. 7. And be it further enacted, that after the first day of June next, all laws, ordinances, orders and regulations, of any kind whatever, made, passed, or enacted by the Cherokee Indians, either in general council or in any other way whatever, or by any authority whatever of said tribe, be, and the same are hereby declared to be null and void and of no effect, as if the same had never existed; and in all cases of indictment or civil suits, it shall not be lawful for the defendant to justify under any of said laws, ordinances, orders, or regulations; nor shall the courts of this state permit the same to be given in evidence on the trial of any suit whatever. Sect. 8. And be it further enacted, that it shall not be lawful for any person or body of persons, by arbitrary power or by virtue of any pretended rule, ordinance, law or custom of said Cherokee nation, to prevent by threats, menaces, or other means, to endeavour to prevent any Indian of said nation residing within the chartered limits of this state, from enrolling as an emigrant, or actually emigrating or removing from said nation; nor shall it be lawful for any person or body of persons, by arbitrary power or by virtue of any pretended rule, ordinance, law or custom of said nation, to punish in any manner, or to molest either the person or property, or to abridge the rights or privileges of any Indian for enrolling his or her name as an emigrant, or for emigrating or intending to emigrate from said nation. Sect. 9. And be it further enacted, that any person or body or persons offending against the provisions of the foregoing section, shall be guilty of a high misdemeanour, subject to indictment, and on conviction shall be punished by confinement in the common jail of any county of this state, or by confinement at hard labour in the penitentiary, for a term not exceeding four years, at the discretion of the court. Sect. 10. And be it further enacted, that it shall not be lawful for any person or body of persons, by arbitrary power, or under colour of any pretended rule, ordinance, law or custom of said nation, to prevent or offer to prevent, or deter any Indian head man, chief or warrior of said nation, residing within the chartered limits of this state, from selling or ceding to the United States for the use of Georgia, the whole or any part of said territory, or to prevent or offer to prevent any Indian head man, chief or warrior, of said nation, residing as aforesaid, from [The Cherokee Nation vs. The State of Georgia.] meeting in council or treaty, any commissioner or commissioners on the part of the United States, for any purpose whatever. Sect. 11. And be it further enacted, that any person or body of persons offending against the provisions of the foregoing sections, shall be guilty of a high misdemeanour, subject to indictment, and on conviction shall be confined at hard labour in the penitentiary for not less than four nor longer than six years, at the discretion of the court. Sect. 12. And be it further enacted, that it shall not be lawful for any person or body of persons, by arbitrary force or under colour of any pretended rules, ordinances, law, or custom of said nation, to take the life of any Indian residing as aforesaid, for enlisting as an emigrant; attempting to emigrate; ceding or attempting to cede, as aforesaid, the whole or any part of said territory; or meeting or attempting to meet in treaty or in council, as aforesaid, any commissioner or commissioners as aforesaid; and any person or body of persons offending against the provisions of this section shall be guilty of murder, subject to indictment, and on conviction shall suffer death by hanging. Sect. 13. And be it further enacted, that should any of the foregoing offences be committed under colour of any pretended rules, ordinances, custom, or law of said nation, all persons acting therein, either as individuals or as pretended executive, ministerial or judicial officers, shall be deemed and considered as principals, and subject to the pains and penalties herein before described. Sect. 14. And be it further enacted, that for all demands which may come within the jurisdiction of a magistrate's court suit may be brought for the same in the nearest district of the county to which the territory is hereby annexed, and all officers serving any legal process on any person living on any portion of the territory herein named shall be entitled to recover the sum of five cents for every mile he may ride to serve the same after crossing the present limits of said counties, in addition to the fees already allowed by law; and in case any of said officers should be resisted in the execution of any legal process issued by any court or magistrate, justice of the inferior court, or judge of the superior court of any of said counties, he is hereby authorised to call out a sufficient number of the militia of said counties to aid and protect him in the execution of this duty. Sect. 15. And be it further enacted, that no Indian or descendant of any Indian, residing within the Creek or Cherokee nations of Indians, shall be deemed a competent witness in any court of this state to which a white person may be a party, except such white person resides within the said nation. WARREN JOURDAN, Speaker of the house of representatives. THOMAS STOCKS, President of the senate. Assented to 19 December 1829. GEORGE R. GILMER, Governor. [The Cherokee Nation vs. The State of Georgia.] At the session of the legislature of the state of Georgia in 1830, laws were passed relating to the Cherokee country, copies of which could not be procured, although diligent efforts have been made to obtain them. The fol lowing statement of these acts and of their purposes is abstracted from the supplemental bill, ante page 32. “An act to authorize the survey and disposition of lands within the limits of Georgia, in the occupancy of the Cherokee tribe of Indians, and all other unlocated lands within the limits of the said state, claimed as Creek land; and to authorize the governor to call out the military force to protect surveyors in the discharge of their duties; and to provide for the punishment of persons who may prevent, or attempt to prevent, any surveyor from performing his duties, as pointed out by this act, or who shall wilfully cut down or deface any marked trees, or remove any land-marks which may be made in pursuance of this act; and to protect the Indians in the peaceable possession of their improvements, and of the lots on which the same may be situate." This act received the assent of the governor of the state on the 21st December 1830; and by its provisions surveyors are authorized to be appointed to go on the territory occupied by the Cherokees and all other unlocated land, within the limits of the state claimed as Creek land, and to lay it off into districts and sections, which are to be distributed by lottery among the people of Georgia, reserving the present occupancy of such improvements as the individuals of the Cherokee nation reside upon, with the lots on which such improvements stand, and excepting from such reservations such improvements as the Cherokees may have recently made near the gold mines. "An act to declare void all contracts hereafter made with the Cherokee Indians, so far as the Indians are concerned;" which act received the assent of the governor of the state on the 23d December 1830. By this act it is declared that no Cherokee shall be bound by any contract thereafter to be entered into with a white person or persons, nor be liable to be sued in any of the courts of law or equity of the state on such contract. "An act to provide for the temporary disposal of the improvements and possessions purchased from certain Cherokee Indians and residents;” which act received the assent of the governor of the state on the 22d December 1830. By this act the governor of the state is authorized to take possession of improvements, under a treaty of the 6th May 1828, which was made between the Cherokee Indians west of the Mississippi and the United States. By the same act the governor is authorized to take possession of other improvements claimed by Georgia under other treaties. "An act to prevent the exercise of assumed and arbitrary power by all persons under pretext of authority from the Cherokee Indians and their laws, and to prevent white persons from residing within that part of the chartered limits of Georgia occupied by the Cherokee Indians, and to provide a guard for the protection of the gold mines, and to enforce the laws of the state within the aforesaid territory." This act received the assent of the governor of the state on the 22d Decem [The Cherokee Nation vs. The State of Georgia.] ber 1830. By this act it is made a high misdemeanour punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary, at hard labour, for four years, for the Cherokees to call a council or legislative assembly in their territory, under their constitution and laws, or to hold such council or assembly, or to hold any court or tribunal whatever, or to serve process or execute the judgments of their own courts, with various other provisions of a like character. White persons are excluded from the territory, unless they go under a license from the governor of the state, and take the oath of allegiance to the state of Georgia, when they are authorized to reside within the limits of the Cherokees. The turnpike roads and toll bridges erected by the Cherokees are abolished. And the governor is authorized to station an armed military force in the territory to guard the gold mines in the country of the Cherokees, to which the state of Georgia asserts an exclusive right, and to enforce the laws of Georgia upon them. "An act to authorize the governor to take possession of the gold, silver, and other mines, lying and being in that section of the chartered limits of Georgia, commonly called the Cherokee country, and those upon all other unappropriated lands of the state, and for punishing any person or persons who may hereafter be found trespassing upon the mines." This act received the assent of the governor of the state on the 2d of December 1830. By the preamble to this act, the title to the mines in the Cherokee country is asserted to be in the state of Georgia. By its provisions twenty thousand dollars are appropriated, and placed at the disposal of the governor, to enable him to take possession of these mines; and it is made a crime in the Cherokees, punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary of Georgia, at hard labour, for four years, to work those mines. THE END. |