Cherokee Settlement Patterns in Nineteenth Century Georgia

CHEROKEE SETTLEMENT PATTERNS IN NINETEENTH CENTURY GEORGIA Doughs C. Wilms" More than three decades ago, Carl O. Sauer called attention to original land surveys as a documentary source in reconstructing the past stages of a cultural landscape. (J) Sauer felt that land surveys could furnish clues to an area's original natural environment as well as the man-made improvements constructed by native culture groups existing at the time of early European settlement. Recently, Louis De Vorsey demonstrated the value of land surveys by using large scale land plats in a study that reconstructed the orginal eighteenth century forest cover in a small area of the Georgia Piedmont. (2) The present study, covering a larger area in northwest Georgia, used similar land plats to identify those areas in Georgia occupied by the Cherokee Indians prior to their removal to areas west of the Mississippi River in the 1830's. GEORGIA'S LAND LOTTERIES. Georgia's authorities anticipated Indian removal and had the Cherokee lands surveyed in 1831 while it was still in the possession of the tribe. The surveyors, in addition to running lot lines, noted water bodies, soil quality, tree types, terrain, and such cultural features as paths, roads, cultivated fields, and Indian towns. Consequently, the surveyor's observations as preserved in their notes, maps, and land plats, constitute a valuable record of a unique cultural landscape as it existed on the eve of white settlement. The history of Georgia's land distribution system is worthy of note and is briefly outlined here. Beginning in 1805, Georgia instituted a novel land distribution system to replace the old headlight method which had persisted throughout the colonial period. Newly acquired lands generally were incorporated into one or two large counties, then surveyed into land districts, and further subdivided into land lots. A lottery was held and the land lots distributed to the fortunate drawers. On payment of a small grant fee, title was given to the person who had drawn the lot. Later, the large counties were divided into a number of smaller ones as they became more densely populated. (3) Georgia's lotteries usually followed Indian land cessions and lottery dates reflect the westward movement of Georgia's settlement frontier (Figure 1). Ceded lands usually occupied large areas between major rivers and westward migration moved from one principle stream to another. The last movement to take place within Georgia was across the upper Chattahoochee River and northwest into the Cherokee country. *Dr. Wilms is assistant professor of geography at East Carolina University. This paper was accepted in February 1974. Vol. XIV, No. 1 47 NDlAN LAND CESSIONS WITHIN GEORGIA FROM INITIAL SETTLEMENT TO 18J2 (With Dates of Land Lotteries)¡¡§ Cherokee Georgia HEADRIGHT GRANTS Source: Haifa County Map or Qaorfffa. T80S Figure 1 This area was distributed in Georgia's last lottery and was known variously as the 1832 Land Lottery or the Cherokee Lottery. In 1831, Georgia's surveyors entered the Cherokee territory pursuant to a legislative act passed the previous year. The area included more than 6,800 square miles and was divided into four sections, the dividing lines of each running north to south. Each section was divided into a number of districts, most of which were nine square miles. A total of 93 districts were surveyed in Cherokee County. The districts, in turn, were divided into either 160-acre land lots or 40-acre gold lots. (4) In all there were 60 land and 33 gold districts. Instructions to the surveyors were explicit. They were to mark surveyed lines on trees or posts, note all streams and their names, give an 48Southeastern Geographer estimate of the quality of the land in each lot, and record all Indian improvements. Improved land included cleared and cultivated land, homes, outbuildings, and ferries. Each surveyor was required to keep a field notebook and upon completing his survey was to draw a map of his district showing water courses and also lots, each of which was to be correctly labeled and numbered. (5) In 1838, James F. Smith reproduced at a reduced size the land district maps at a scale of one inch to two miles. Figure 2 is a copy of...