"Cherokees! The President of the United States has
sent me with a powerful army, to cause you, in obedience to the treaty
of 1835 [the Treaty
of New Echota], to join that part of your people who have already established
in prosperity on the other side of the Mississippi. Unhappily, the two
years which were allowed for the purpose, you have suffered to pass away
without following, and without making any preparation to follow; and now,
or by the time that this solemn address shall reach your distant settlements,
the emigration must be commenced in haste, but I hope without disorder.
I have no power, by granting a farther delay, to correct the error that
you have committed. The full moon of May is already on the wane; and before
another shall have passed away, every Cherokee man, woman and child in
those states must be in motion to join their brethren in the far West.
My friends! This is no sudden determination on the part
of the President, whom you and I must now obey. By the treaty, the emigration
was to have been completed on or before the 23rd of this month; and the
President has constantly kept you warned, during the two years allowed,
through all his officers and agents in this country, that the treaty would
be enforced.
I am come to carry out that determination. My troops already
occupy many positions in the country that you are to abandon, and thousands
and thousands are approaching from every quarter, to render resistance
and escape alike hopeless. All those troops, regular and militia, are your
friends. Receive them and confide in them as such. Obey them when they
tell you that your can remain no longer in this country. Soldiers are as
kind-hearted as brave, and the desire of every one of us is to execute
our painful duty in mercy. We are commanded by the President to act towards
you in that spirit, and much is also the wish of the whole people of America.
Chiefs, head-men and warriors! Will you then, by resistance,
compel us to resort to arms? God forbid! Or will you, by flight, seek to
hid yourselves in mountains and forests, and thus oblige us to hunt you
down? Remember that, in pursuit, it may be impossible to avoid conflicts.
The blood of the white man or the blood of the red man may be spilt, and,
if spilt, however accidentally, it may be impossible for the discreet and
humane among you, or among us, to prevent a general war and carnage. Think
of this, my Cherokee brethren! I am an old warrior, and have been present
at many a scene of slaughter, but spare me, I beseech you, the horror of
witnessing the destruction of the Cherokees.
Do not, I invite you, even wait for the close approach
of the troops; but make such preparations for emigration as you can and
hasten to this place, to Ross's Landing or to Gunter's Landing, where you
all will be received in kindness by officers selected for the purpose.
You will find food for all and clothing for the destitute at either of
those places, and thence at your ease and in comfort be transported to
your new homes, according to the terms of the treaty.
This is the address of a warrior to warriors. May his
entreaties by kindly received and may the God of both prosper the Americans
and Cherokees and preserve them long in peace and friendship with each
other!
