Major-general Jackson, of Tennessee, and Major-general Thomas Hinds, of Mississippi, were appointed commissioners on the part of the United States to treat upon the subject. The chiefs, head men, and warriors of the Choctâ nation were assembled at Doak's Stand, near the eastern limit of the present county of Madison, and on the 20th of October a treaty was signed for the relinquishment of nearly five and a half millions of acres. This cession comprised all the lands, except a few reservations which lie west of a line drawn northwardly from a point on the former Choctâ boundary, near the southeast corner of the present county of Simpson, "to the source of Black Creek, a tributary of the Yazoo; thence along said creek westward to its mouth; thence by a direct line to the Mississippi, one mile below the mouth of the Arkansas River."

The Legislature at the next session erected the ceded territory, for temporary government, into the "county of Hinds," in honor of the commissioner from Mississippi. During the same session a joint resolution was adopted, tendering "the thanks of the General Assembly and of the state to Major-general Andrew Jackson, and our distinguished fellow-citizen, Major-general Thomas Hinds, commissioners plenipotentiary on the part of the United States to treat with the Choctâ tribe of Indians,' for their patriotic and indefatigable exertions in effecting a treaty with said Indians, whereby their claim has been extinguished to a large portion of land within this state, and whereby a fund has been provided for public exigencies, our settlements on the Mississippi rendered more contiguous, and the state we represent more powerful in its resources and more respectable as a member of the confederacy."*

The territory acquired by this treaty for many years subsequently was known and designated as the "New Purchase;" and hundreds from the old counties, lured by the prospect of securing large bodies of fine lands at cheap rates, began to prepare for settling the country. Subsequently this purchase. was erected into the counties of Hinds, Simpson, Copiah, Rankin, Madison, Bolivar, Yazoo, Washington, and Holmes.

Heretofore the General Assembly had convened at Natchez or Washington, near the extreme southwestern part of the state, and at least two hundred and fifty miles from the newly-erected county of Monroe, east of the Tombigby. It had been deter

* Acts of 1821, p. 113, 114.

mined to establish the future seat of the state government at some point nearly central to the geographical limits of the state. Hence, at the autumnal session of the General Assembly, on the 28th of November, a bill was passed, authorizing "Thomas Hinds and William Lattimore, the commissioners heretofore appointed, and Peter A. Vandorn, to locate the future capital of the state" upon certain lands near the Pearl River, within the "New Purchase," and to prepare suitable buildings for the next session of the General Assembly. The same act declares that the future capital "shall be called and known by the name of "Jackson," in honor of Major-general Andrew Jackson."* Thus was the name of the early patron and defender of Mississippi perpetuated to posterity as identified with her future progress as an independent state.†

"Acts of the General Assembly" of winter session, 1820, p. 137.

General Jackson died at the Hermitage, on the Cumberland River, in Tennessee, on the 8th of June, 1845, mourned by the whole nation, and honored by the civilized world. The following general order contains the national notice of his death:

"GENERAL ORDER.

"Washington, June 16, 1845.

"The President of the United States, with heartfelt sorrow, announces to the army, the navy, and the marine corps, the death of ANDREW JACKSON. On the evening of Sunday, the eighth day of June, about six o'clock, he resigned his spirit to his heavenly Father. The nation, while it learns with grief the death of its most illustrious citizen, finds solace in contemplating his venerable character and services. The Valley of the Mississippi beheld in him the bravest, and wisest, and most fortunate of its defenders. The country raised him to the highest trusts in military and in civil life, with a confidence that never abated, and an affection that followed him in undiminished vigor to retirement, watched over his latest hours, and pays its tribute at his grave. Wherever his lot was cast, he appeared among those around him, first in natural endowments and resources, not less than first in authority and station. The power of his mind impressed itself on the policy of his country, and still lives, and will live forever, in the memory of its people. Child of a forest region, and a settler of the wilderness, his was a genius which, as it came to the guidance of affairs, instinctively attached itself to general principles, and, inspired by the truth which his own heart revealed to him in singleness and simplicity, he found always a response in the breasts of his countrymen. Crowned with glory in war, in his whole career as a statesman he showed himself the friend and lover of peace. With an American heart, whose throbs were all for Republican freedom and his native land, he yet longed to promote the widest intercourse and the most intimate commerce between the many nations of mankind. He was the serv ant of humanity. Of a vehement will, he was patient in council, deliberating long, hearing all things, yet, in the moment of action, deciding with rapidity. Of a noble nature, and incapable of disguise, his thoughts lay open to all around him, and won their confidence by his ingenuous frankness. His judgment was of that solidity that he ever tempered vigor with prudence. The flushings of anger could never cloud his faculties, but rather kindled and lighted them up, quickening their energy without disturbing their balance. In war, his eye at a glance discerned his plans with unerring sagacity; in peace, he proposed measures with instinctive wisdom, of which the in spirations were prophecy. In discipline stern, in a just resolution inflexible, he was full of the gentlest affections, ever ready to solace the distressed and to relieve the needy; faithful to his friends, fervid for his country. Indifferent to other rewards, he aspired

Meantime, by an act of the Legislature, approved February 9th, 1821, the county of Monroe had been recognized as within the limits of the state; and the state authority was extended over it by an act entitled "An act to form a county east of the Tombigby River, and for other purposes." Since that time, Monroe county has formed an integral part of the State of Mississippi.

Yet the county of Monroe was separated from the counties near the Mississippi by the territory of the Choctâ nation, which had been reduced in width at this point, by the "new purchase," to about one hundred and twenty miles from Jackson. To connect these remote settlements, a public road was opened from the old "Nashville Trace," in a northeast direction, through the Choctâ nation, until it intersected the military road leading from Florence, on the Tennessee River, to the city of Orleans. This road passed through the new purchase, by way of the old Choctâ agency and Raymond, to the town of Columbus, thus connecting the settlements on the Tombigby with those near the Mississippi. For several years this road was known as the "Robinson Road," after its projector, Raymond Robinson, who erected the first house, and gave name to the present town of Raymond.

Population began to crowd rapidly into the "New Purchase," throughout life to an honorable fame, and so loved his fellow-men, that he longed to dwell in their affectionate remembrance. Heaven gave him length of days, and he filled them with deeds of greatness. He was always happy: happy in his youth, which shared the achievement of our national independence; happy in his after years, which beheld the Valley of the West cover itself with the glory of free and ever-increasing states; happy in his age, which saw the people multiplied from two to twenty millions, and freedom and union make their pathway from the Atlantic to the Pacific; thrice happy in death, for, while he believed the liberties of his country imperishable, and was cheered by visions of its constant advancement, he departed from this life in full hope of a blessed immortality, through the merits and atonement of his Redeemer. "Officers of the army, the navy, and marine corps will wear crape on the left arm and on their swords, and the colors of the several regiments will be put in mourning for the period of six months. At the naval stations, and on public vessels in commission, the flags will be worn at half-mast for one week; and on the day after this order is received, twenty-one minute guns will be fired, beginning at 12 o'clock. At each military station, the day after the reception of this order, the national flag will be displayed at half-staff from sunrise to sunset; thirteen guns will be fired at daybreak; half-hour guns during the day, and at the close of the day a general salute. The troops will be paraded at 10 o'clock and this order read to them, on which the labors of the day will cease.

"Let the virtues of the illustrious dead retain their influence, and when energy and courage are called to trial, emulate his example.

"GEORGE BANCROFT,

"Acting Secretary of War and Secretary of the Navy."

"Acts of Mississippi in 1821, p. 35, 36.

from which the Indians gradually retired, some into the nation northward, and many westward, across the Mississippi River, thus leaving forever the homes of their ancestors.

[A.D. 1830.] Extension of the State Jurisdiction over the Indian Country.-After the organization of the state government, the population gradually increased, and extended into all the counties south of the former Indian boundary, until the close of the year 1820, when the aggregate number, exclusive of Monroe county, amounted to more than seventy-five thousand souls. From this time emigration was more active, and contributed to augment the population rapidly until the year 1830, when the "New Purchase," with its seven new counties, had received a large agricultural population, increasing the inhabitants of the state to one hundred and thirty-six thousand souls, exclusive of Indians. About this time the rage for the fine cotton lands of Mississippi, both in the upland regions of the Yazoo and Pearl Rivers, no less than the lowlands of the Mississippi, began to rouse the spirit of exploration in search of other lands beyond the limits of the white settlements, The white people had again begun to press upon the Indian territory, and the Indians themselves began to find their country too circumscribed to admit of further restrictions. The Chickasas had already been compelled to retire from the limits of the State of Tennessee to the occupancy of a district in North Mississippi, less than one tenth of their limits in the year 1800.

The Choctâs, occupying the middle portion of the state, were restricted to less than one tenth of the territory occupied by them thirty years before. The impatient white population, which was crowding into the state from Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, demanded the final withdrawal of the Indian tribes to the west side of the Mississippi, and the subsequent survey and sale of the lands occupied by them. In order to constrain them to emigrate west of the Mississippi, the jurisdiction of the state was extended over their country, and themselves made amenable to its laws. The savage can not be forced into civilization; and abhorring the restraints of civil government and the steady advance of the white man, they agreed to enter into negotiations with the Federal authorities. for the final cession and relinquishment of their country east of the Mississippi, and to accept in lieu of it the lands pro

vided for them west of the Arkansas Territory. The "Treaty of Dancing Rabbit," concluded on the 27th day of September, 1830, completed the stipulations for the sale and relinquishment of all the remaining lands of the Choctâ nation on the east side of the Mississippi.* Two years were allowed for their final removal from the country, and every assistance by

# It may be well here to enumerate the principal treaties of the Federal government with the native tribes of the original Mississippi Territory for the relinquishment and sale of lands previous to the "Treaty of Dancing Rabbit" and that of Pontotoc, which finally extinguished the last remains of Indian title within the State of Mississippi:

1. The Treaty of Fort Adams, concluded December 17th, 1801.-By this treaty the Choctâs relinquished the southern portion of the present State of Mississippi, near the West Florida line, between the Pearl and Chickasâhay Rivers, comprising 2,245,720

acres.

2. The Treaty of Chickasá Bluffs, concluded October 24th, 1801.-By this treaty the Chickasâs ceded to the United States the right of way for a public road through their country, formerly known as the "Nashville Trace," leading from Nashville to the Natch. ez settlements.

3. Treaty of Fort Confederation, concluded October 17th, 1802.-By this treaty the Choctâs ceded to the United States the lands east of the Chickasâhay River, extend. ing to the Tombigby, near the Florida line.

4. Treaty of Chickasá Country, concluded July 23d, 1805.-By this treaty the Chickasâs ceded to the United States 345,600 acres in the eastern portion of their country, north of the Tennessee River, and comprising the original "county of Madison," in the great bend of the Tennessee River.

5. Treaty of Mount Dexter, concluded November 16th, 1805.-By this treaty the Choctâs ceded to the United States large bodies of land in the southern portion of the territory between the Amité and Tombigby Rivers, comprising 5,987,000 acres. This treaty ratifies and confirms preceding treaties.

6. Treaty of City of Washington, concluded January 7th, 1806.-By this treaty the Cherokees ceded to the United States 1,209,000 acres, chiefly in Tennessee and upon the Holston River, and partly in the Mississippi Territory, comprising a portion of Madison county.

7. Treaty of Fort Jackson, concluded August 9th, 1814.-By this treaty the Creek aation, humbled and subdued, are compelled to cede to the United States 14,692,000 acres in the eastern half of the Mississippi Territory, west of the Tallapoosa River, and 7,500,000 acres in Georgia.

8. Treaty of Chickasa Council house, concluded September 20th, 1816.-By this treaty the Chickasâ nation ceded to the United States 408,000 acres on their eastern, or Creek frontier, lying upon the eastern tributaries of the Upper Tombigby, embracing the country originally comprised in the large "county of Monroe." The Creek claim to the same lands had been relinquished by the treaty of Fort Jackson.

9. Treaty of Turkey Town, concluded October 4th, 1816.-By this treaty the Cherokees ceded to the United States 1,395,200 acres of land in the eastern half of Tennessee, including the head waters of Elk River, and as far south as the Great Bend of Tennessee River, above the Muscle Shoals, east of Madison county.

10. Treaty of Choctá Trading-house, concluded October 24th, 1816.-By this treaty the Choctas ratify and confirm the treaties previously entered into before the Creek war. 11. Treaty of Doak's Stand, concluded October 20th, 1820.- By this treaty the Choctâs ceded to the United States an extensive scope of country lying north of the Mount Dexter treaty line, and bounded on the north by a line drawn northwestwardly from the Ocktibbeha Creek to the Mississippi River, one mile below the mouth of the Arkansas River. This cession, for many years, was called the "New Purchase," and comprised 5,447,267 acres. See Land Laws of the United States, compilation of 1827.