Dates: 1834-1846.

 

History:

Chickasaw Cession

The United States government entered into negotiations with the Chickasaw Nation in the early 1830s. The government wanted the tribe to cede lands in an area encompassing present-day Alcorn, Benton, Chickasaw, Calhoun, Clay, DeSoto, Itawamba, Lee, Lafayette, Marshall, Monroe, Panola, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Tate, Tippah, Tishomingo, Tunica, and Union counties, as well as portions of Coahoma, Quitman, Tallahatchie, Webster, and Yalobusha counties in Mississippi. Negotiations concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Pontotoc Creek in October of 1832. The treaty called for the aforementioned lands to be sold and the proceeds given to the Chickasaw Nation. The treaty was renegotiated in May of 1834 to include Chickasaws with significant white ancestry, and thereafter the land was opened up for sale.

 

Scope and Content Note:

This collection consists of two Chickasaw Cession land office record books. Both volumes provide the township, section, and range of various tracts of land and the names of landowners, including Native Americans. Notes regarding the ownership of a particular tract of land are sometimes present. Plate maps identify creeks and rivers and state boundary lines, and they are dated at the bottom of each page. The names of land-sale agents are penciled on selected sections.

The first volume, containing 167 numbered pages and an index, covers lands situated in the eastern ranges of the cession. The second volume, containing 140 numbered pages, covers lands situated in the western ranges of the cession. Some of the plat maps in this volume are continued on the verso of some pages. This volume also includes plat maps of lands in the Choctaw survey.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Land Cession Record Book (Ranges East). 1834-1846. 1 bound volume.

Box 1

 

Series 2: Land Cession Record Book (Ranges West). 1834-1846. 1 bound volume.

Box 2