Creek Papers, 1782-1893

These are miscellaneous, mostly important, papers relating to Creek tribal affairs. In 1782 Governor Martin held a conference at Savannah with the Tallahassee King and the Headmen and Warriors of the Upper and Lower Creek Nations. In addition to three documents concerning this conference, there are "talks" by John Crutchfield, who could not attend the original "talk," sent to the governor by George Walton, saying that the "Indians are illy used by a number of disorderly persons."

In 1798 there is an order to bring James Ford, an Army Captain, to trial for trading with the Indians without a permit. Some of the papers deal with murder and horse stealing, and there are requests for troops and orders concerning them. One item dated 1837 is a request for guards to be sent to New Orleans because of an epidemic there.

Interesting items: A very handsome document is the appointment of David B. Mitchell in 1817 as commissioner to make a treaty with the Creeks, signed by James Monroe, President of the United States. In 1893 Dr. Marion Elisha Tarvin sketches the history of the Creeks from 1519 to 1893, giving much information about the McGillivray family. There are three manuscript copies of Creek Laws dated in 1849, 1865 and 1873. A note on the first page of the 1849 manuscript reads: "The Laws of the Creek Nation Translated into its native tongue by Daniel B. Aspberry but not yet revised ..."