The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 24, July 1920 - April, 1921 Page: 72
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The Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Early in December, just before his inauguration as President,
Lamar received a long letter from Archibald Hotchkiss of Nacog-
doches. It cannot be shown to have influenced Lamar in deter-
mining his course toward the Cherokees, but it was not calculated
to change his belief that they had no real right to the soil which
they occupied. After tracing in a general way the history of the
Cherokees in Texas, HIotchkiss said:
In the year 1833 I became the agent of Burnet for the purpose
of carrying out the terms set forth in his contract; to wit: to settle
the land . . . a short time subsequent to my receiving this it
became necessary for me to repair to the seat of Government for
the purpose of transacting business for my [principal,] the prin-
ciple object of which was to induce them to remove the Indians
who had settled within [the bounds] of our grant, and by so doing
had to a very great extent impeded the settling of the lands. [I
received] assurances from the Government that they [would be
removed] immediately; but that promise was not realized [on ac-
count] of the increased internal difficulties of the country.
In the early part of 1835 I entered into a correspondence with
the Gov[ernmen]t of the State of Coahuila and Texas upon the
subject of removing the Indians representing the extreme difficulty
we had in obtaining colonists, who were willing to settle in the
vicinity of such dangerous neighbors as the Cherokees had allways
proved themselves to be in the United States; In answer to which
the Governor informed me that he was very sensible of the diffi-
culties under which I was laboring, but that the finances of the
State were at such a state of exhaustion that it was extremely
doubtful whether they would be able to do anything until the en-
sueing year, whereupon I offered upon behalf of my principals to
advance the means necessary for removing if the Government would
afford its countenance and authority for the undertaking, and the
corresponding order was sent to the political chief of Nacogdoches
for their removal forthwith sometime in the Spring of 1835 which
order was never executed but suppressed at the instigation of de-
signing men, the war of Independence which succeeded shortly
after put an end to all further action upon this subject.74 ..
Lamar's message of December 21, 1838, with regard to the In-
dian, has been mentioned. Further notice at this point is neces-
sary for an explanation of the attitude he assumed concerning the
rights of the Cherokees to the lands they occupied. He said that
the immigrant tribes had no legal or equitable claim to any por-
tion of the territory of Texas; that their immigration to Texas
'Hotchkiss to Lamar, December 5, 1838, Lamar Papers, No. 905.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 24, July 1920 - April, 1921, periodical, 1921; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101078/m1/78/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.