Description:

Wool John

Two pages, 7.25” x 9.75”; C[herokee]. N[ation]. New Echota, Georgia; April 27, 1837. Written on lined paper, the letter is tipped into a larger sheet, so that both sides are visible, to an overall size of 9” x 11”. Lightly toned, with a single deep vertical fold along the right side. Tiny separations at top and bottom along said fold, affecting the mount, but not the letter itself.

The growing population of the United States created a strong appetite for new land. Despite strong opposition, President Andrew Jackson was able to garner enough support to pass the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The law authorized the government to terminate the land titles of the Five Civilized Tribes to their land in the Southeast. The army was tasked with the forcible removal of the Indians, beginning with the Choctaw in 1831.

Writing to Alabama Governor Clement Comer Clay to reschedule a visit, General John Wool provides an update of the removal of the Creek in 1837: “…The troops under my command have recently collected and sent to Ross’s Landing for emigration 350 Creeks who sought refuge among the Cherokees. Most of them were found in the mountains of Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina. Every thing appears to be very quiet throughout this country at the present time. The excitement among the Indians as well as the white people appears to have entirely subsided. The excitement among the Whites was produced in consequence of my orders prohibiting the retail of ardent spirits…” Wool signs his full name and adds his rank: “John E. Wool / Brig. Genl / Comdg.”

The removal of the Creek had originally begun in 1834, but many had managed to evade the army and found refuge with the Cherokee Nation in New Echota, from where Wool writes this letter. In 1835, Jackson signed the Treaty of New Echota, which ceded these Georgia lands from the Cherokee in exchange for land further west and a payment of $5 million dollars. Although the treaty was never approved by the Cherokee National Council, or their principal chief; the U.S. Senate ratified the treaty resulting in more vigorous efforts to remove the Creek and all Indians, from Georgia. The following year, in 1838, the Cherokee would suffer the most extreme conditions as they were forced to leave their lands and head west.

Although John Wool letters are not scarce, this is the first we have seen with content about Indian removal. Letters with content about the Indian Removals of the 1830s are always desirable, one by a commanding officer to a notable governor is especially so.

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