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GEOEGIA AND GEORGIANS 539
glove with the Indian agent. But Governor Troup was not intimidated.
It was in the controversy which ensued that Georgia's rock-ribbed chief-
magistrate sounded the famous note of defiance: '' The argument is ex
hausted. We must stand by our arms!" The final treaty to which
Judge Lumpkin refers was concluded at the old Agency on the Flint,
where, on November 15, 1827, the disaffected Upper Creeks, for the sum
of $27,491, agreed to relinquish the remaining Creek lands within the
state limits. Eighty-four chiefs and head men were parties to this sur
render. John Cromwell and Thomas L. McKinney signed the compact
on behalf of the United States Government; and one of the most
dramatic chapters in the history of Georgia was brought to an end.
Out of the land acquired by the state, under the treaty of Indian
Springs, which in the last analysis proved final, the Legislature of Geor
gia created five great counties, viz., Carroll, Coweta, Lee, Muscogee and
Troup from each of which others were subsequently formed.
Hop-o-eth-le-yo-ho-lo, the the representative of Big Warrior, the chief
of the Upper Creeks, attended the council meeting at Indian Springs.
He was the silver-tongued orator of the tribe, and, on this occasion, was
aroused to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, in opposition to the proposed
relinquishment of the Creek lands. Several speeches were made by him
in the course of the proceedings; and, when the treaty was finally
signed, he leaped upon the large rock to the south of the Varner House,
and gave vent to his indignation in the following fiery outburst. Said
he:
'' Brothers—The Great Spirit has met here with his painted children
of the woods and with our palefaced brethren. I see his golden locks in
the sunbeams. He fans the warrior's brow with his wings and whispers
sweet music in the winds. The beetle joins his hymn and the mocking
bird his song. You are charmed. Brothers, you have been deceived. A
snake has been coiled in the shade, and you are running into his mouth,
deceived by the double-tongue of the pale-face chief Mclntosh and drunk
with the fire of the pale-face. Brothers, the hunting grounds of our
fathers have been stolen by our chief and sold to the pale-face, whose
gold is in his pouch. Brothers, our grounds are gone, and the plow of
the pale-face will soon upturn the bones of our fathers. Brothers, are
you tame? Will you submit? Hop-o-eth-le-yo-ho-lo says no!" Then
turning to Mclntosh who was standing with the commissioners at a win
dow, some few feet distant, he exclaimed: "As for you, double-tongued
snake, whom I see through the window of the pale-face, before many
moons have waned, your own blood shall wash out the memory of this
hated treaty. Brothers, I have spoken."
Governor Troup announced himself a candidate for re-election while
popular excitement was at its height, following the Treaty of Indian
Springs. The prospect of acquiring all the remaining Creek lands with
in the borders of the state was -well calculated to arouse the enthusiasm
of the people. It was also a trophy for the Troup administration. As
we have already observed, an amendment to the state constitution had