| Year |
History |
| 1540 |
Only one Cherokee village
mentioned in De Soto narratives near present Murphy NC, called "Chalaque"
or "Xalaque" |
| 1566 |
May have been visited by Pardo |
| 1674 |
Woodward said that some Cherokee
were living on upper branches of the Savannah River |
| 1684 |
South Carolina government made
treaty with the Cherokee signed by five chiefs of the Toxawa and three
of the Keowa |
| 1690 |
James Moore and Col. Maurice
Mathews journeyed across Appalachians in search of gold but repelled by
Indians, probably Cherokee |
| 1693 |
Some Cherokee chiefs ventured to
Charleston to ask for protection against Catawba, Shawnee, and Congaree |
| 1700 |
Acquired guns |
| 1701 |
A part of five French Canadians
penetrated Cherokee country |
| 1711 |
Began trading furs |
| 1713 |
310 Cherokee took part in
Moore's expedition against the Tuscarora under Captains Harford and
Thurston; 70 Cherokee originally joined Catawba and other northern
Indians in the outbreak of the Yamasee War but soon withdrew and made
peace with the British; Cherokee and Chickasaw expelled the Shawnee from
the Cumberland Valley |
| 1730 |
After peace mission by Sir
Alexander Cuming, seven Cherokee were taken to visit English court |
| 1736 |
A Swiss named Christian Gottlieb
Priber, represented as a French Jesuit captured by British and
imprisoned in Fredrica, Georgia where he died |
| 1738 |
Smallpox epidemic resulted in
50% depopulation, soon received Shawnee refugees of Chickasaw war, part
of Yuchi and Tuskegee came to live with tribe |
| 1755 |
Conflicts with Creeks culminated
in victory of Taliwa after which the Creeks removed from the Tennessee
Valley; settlers pushed the Cherokee from their northern towns |
| 1759 |
At first allied with the British
in the French and Indian War assisting them in an attack on Fort
Duquesne, but British treachery resulted in their changing sides in the
conflict |
| 1760 |
Destroyed Fort Loudon which had
been established in their country after defeating a British force of
over 1,600 near present Franklin North Carolina; Col. Grant burned all
of the Middle and Lower Towns forcing treaty upon tribe |
| 1763 |
Final peace between the British
and Cherokee resulted in the influx of settler into Cherokee territories
resulting in the ceding of land |
| 1769 |
Defeated severely by the
Chickasaw at the Chickasaw Oldfields |
| 1770 |
Ceded more lands in Lochabar
Treaty |
| 1776 |
Sided with the British during
the Revolutionary War eventually resulting in four major military
incursions into Cherokee territories by Virginia and North Carolina
generals |
| 1777 |
Ceded considerable land to South
Carolina and Georgia in DeWitts Corners Treaty |
| 1783 |
North Carolina passed act
extending boundaries further into tribal land |
| 1784 |
State of Franklin formed for
four years in what is now Tennessee |
| 1785 |
Tribe ceded lands to Franklin in
treaty at Dumplin Creek |
| 1786 |
Tribe ceded lands to Franklin in
treaty at Chotee Ford, treaty at Hopewell established boundaries with
the United States |
| 1792 |
Ceded lands in Philadelphia
treaty, 700 Creek and Cherokee warriors attacked Buchanan's Station near
Nashville |
| 1793 |
More than one thousand Creek and
Cherokee attacked and destroyed Cavitt's Station near Knoxville |
| 1794 |
Peace restored at Tellico
blockhouse |
| 1804 |
Osage killed four Cherokee
hunting in Arkansas |
| 1806 |
Lands ceded in Tellico treaty |
| 1813 |
Killed 21 Osage in retaliation
for the killing of a chief |
| 1817 |
Additional lands ceded in treaty
with Gen. Andrew Jackson at Cherokee Agency; dissatisfaction with the
terms of the treaty, Chief The Bowle removed and his band removed to
Spanish territory with remnants of other tribes ... later joined by
Tahchee and other chiefs |
| 1818 |
Osage ceded Arkansas lands to
Cherokee for Oklahoma lands; 3,500 Cherokee voluntarily migrated to
Arkansas |
| 1819 |
Lands ceded in Washington D.C.
treaty |
| 1820 |
Eastern Cherokee formed a
government modeled after that of the United States, many relocated to
Arkansas and formed light horse self police |
| 1821 |
Sequoya created syllabary,
Cherokee learned to read in their language; 300 mostly Cherokee killed
30-100 Osage in battle |
| 1823 |
Sequoya moved to Arkansas;
Cherokee, Delaware, Kickapoo, Miami, and Illinois united against Osage
to try to gain Oklahoma territories |
| 1824 |
Parts of the Bible translated
into syllabary; and estimated 2,000 lawless mostly Whites, Cherokee, and
Delaware in southeastern Oklahoma, Fort Towsend established to protect
settlers |
| 1826 |
Cherokee/Osage War; Texas
Fredonian Rebellion |
| 1827 |
Western Cherokee formed a
constitutional form of government; San Houston joined Cherokee tribe;
Texas Cherokee Chief The Bowle had Fredonia Indian leader assassinated |
| 1828 |
Weekly paper the Cherokee
Phoenix established in Cherokee and English |
| 1829 |
Sam Houston established a store
in northeastern Oklahoma allied with Creek, Osage, and Cherokee;
combined 250-300 Cherokee, Choctaw, Shawnee, and Delaware campaign
against Waco, Tawakoni, and Comanche killing 300; Cherokee war party
attacked Tawehash village killing all occupants; more eastern Cherokees
began to remove to the west |
| 1830 |
President Andrew Jackson signed
Removal Act |
| 1831 |
Joseph Vann elected Cherokee
president, Cherokee won Cherokee Nation v. Georgia |
| 1832 |
Cherokee won Worchester v.
Georgia, but President Jackson refused to enforce Supreme Court rulings |
| 1834 |
John Ross arrested and the
offices of the Cherokee Phoenix were burned |
| 1835 |
Treaty of New Echota, sold all
eastern territories |
| 1836 |
Texas attacked the Cherokee
killing Chief The Bowle and expelling the Cherokee |
| 1838 |
Forced removal under Gen.
Winfield Scott and 7,000 soldiers, "Trail of Tears" to Indian
Territory, 4,000 Cherokee died en route; some went to Texas who,
under Gen. Sam Houston, immediately waged war on the refugees who
thereafter removed to Indian Territory (Sam Houston had been brought up
among the Cherokee) |
| 1839 |
6,000 Western Cherokee
(Old Settlers) with three chiefs and unwritten laws were brought
together with 14,000 bitterly separated Eastern Cherokees, 2,000
Ridgeites (Treaty Party) and 12,000 Rossites who had lost 4,000 on the
Trail of Tears; the Eastern had an elaborate government, a written
constitution, and a court system ... intra-tribal war loomed; Treaty
Party leaders John Ridge, Major Ridge, and Elias Boudinot were
assassinated thereby weakening Treaty Party, Eastern and Western
factions could not agree on government form resulting in civil war |
| 1842 |
Qualla Reservation set aside for
North Carolina Cherokee who had evaded removal by hiding in mountains |
| 1846 |
Civil war settled by treaty with
the United States |
| 1850 |
Beginning of Cherokee golden
decade even though East/West wounds had not healed |
| 1861 |
Cherokee controlled by mixed
blood slave owners who favored the South, most and almost all of Western
Cherokees were indifferent about Civil War, Confederate Army occupied
Indian Territory, tribe voted to secede from Union; 3,000 New Settler
fought for the Confederacy, 1,000 Old Settlers fought for the Union, 400
North Carolina Cherokee fought for the South; Cherokee units fought at
Wilson Creek and Pea Ridge and participated in the massacre of 700
pro-Union Creek trying to escape to Kansas; |
| 1862 |
John Ross allowed himself to be
captures by the Union and sat out the war in Philadelphia; Cherokee
Chief/General Stand Watie order Ross's house burned, 7,000 Cherokee
refugees removed to Kansas to escape fighting with many freezing to
death and starving |
| 1865 |
Cherokee General Stand Watie
last Confederate General to surrender; all previous Cherokee treaties
with United States invalidated, new treaties would take land for
railroad development, White settlement, and relocation of other tribes |
| 1866 |
Readmitted to Union, freed Black
slaves |
| 1867 |
Joined by Delaware in Oklahoma |
| 1870 |
Joined by Shawnee in Oklahoma |
| 1880 |
Tribal ownership of lands
abolished; impoverished Cherokee had leased most lands to White
settlers; Whites outnumbered Cherokee in territories |
| 1887 |
Dawes Act ultimately resulted in
further reduction of territories |
| 1901 |
Cherokee became citizens and
allowed to vote |
| 1906 |
Cherokee Nation terminated,
lands granted in severalty |
| 1907 |
Oklahoma Land Rush and statehood |
| 1948 |
Present Cherokee government
created with Wheeler-Howard Indian Reorganization Act |
| 1961 |
Cherokee allotted $15 million by
U.S. Claims Commission for Cherokee Outlet |
