Historic Timeline

1540 - The Spanish explorer, Hernando De Soto and his party are the first whites seen by the Cherokees.

1629 - The first traders from the English settlements began trading among the Cherokees.

1721 - The Cherokee Treaty with the Governor of the Carolinas is thought to be the first concession of land

1785 - Treaty of Hopewell is the first treaty between the U.S. and the Cherokees.

1791 - Treaty of Holston signed. Includes a call for the U.S. to advance civilization of the Cherokees by giving them farm tools and technical advice.

1802 - Jefferson signs Georgia Compact.

1817 - Treaty makes exchange for land in Arkansas. Old settlers begin voluntary migration and establish a government there. In 1828, they are forced to move into Indian territory.

1819 - Amendment to the Treaty of 1817. This is the Treaty under which Daniel Davis (he was specifically named in the Treaty) receives his reservation, in fee simple, in the State of Georgia.

1822 - Sequoyah's Cherokee Syllabary completed, quickly leads to almost total literacy among the Cherokee

1822 - Cherokee's Supreme Court established

1824 - First written law of Western Cherokees.

1825 - New Echota, Georgia authorized as Cherokee capital.

1827 - Modern Cherokee Nation begins with Cherokee Constitution established by a convention; John Ross elected chief

1828 - Cherokee Phoenix published in English and Cherokee; Andrew Jackson elected President of the United States; Gold is discovered in Dahlonega, Georgia.

1828-1830 - Georgia Legislature abolishes tribal government and expands authority over Cherokee country.

1832 - United States Supreme Court decision Worcester vs Georgia establishes tribal sovereignty, protects Cherokees from Georgia laws. President Jackson won't enforce decision and Georgia holds lottery for Cherokee lands.

1835 - Treaty Party signs Treaty of New Echota, giving up title to all Cherokee lands in southeast in exchange for land in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).

1838 - Federal Government builds a mint in Dahlonega, Georgia to coin the huge amount of Gold that was being mined on the land taken from the Cherokees.
1838-1839 - Trail of Tears. United States government forced removal of 17,000 Cherokees, in defiance of Supreme Court decision. More than 4,000 die from exposure and disease along the way

1839 - Assassination of Treaty Party leaders, Major Ridge, John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot for breaking pact not to sign Treaty of New Echota. Factionalism continued until 1846. A new constitution was ratified at a convention uniting Cherokees arriving from the east with those in the west.

1849-1858 - Most of the gold mining ceased in the Dahlonega area after gold was discovered in California.

1880 - Mining again flourished in Dahlonega until around 1915 and has been decreasing steadily since.

1906-1910 - Special government agent Guion Miller took a census of Eastern Cherokee Indians for a payment settlement resulting from a U.S. Court of Claims decision on May 18, 1905, entitling Cherokees living either east or west of the Mississippi to participate in a monetary award for various treaty violations. (Called the Guion Miller Roll)

1924 - The descendants of the Cherokees who remained in North Georgia applied to be admitted to the North Carolina tribe but were turned down.

1960's - Laws were abolished which had been on the Georgia law books since the early 1800 s that had forbidden Cherokees to own land, testify against whites in court, etc. (Part of the Civil Rights Act).

1978 - U.S. Government, Bureau of Indian Affairs, set up a Branch of Acknowledgment and published regulations (Title 25 CFR Part 83) wherein Native American groups could file a petition to be recognized as an Indian Tribe with same rights as other recognized tribes.

1979 - The Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee of Dahlonega, Georgia filed a letter of intent to petition for Federal Acknowledgment.

1979 - 1996 - The Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee retained its Indian identity as a group and continued to work toward Federal Acknowledgment.

1995 - The Georgia Tribe of Easter Cherokee was recognized by the State of Georgia as an Indian Tribe.

1997- The Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee was awarded a grant by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources, Association of Native Americans (ANA) for the purpose of helping complete its petition for Federal Acknowledgment.