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CHAPTER XV
GOVERNOR GILMER's ADMINISTRATION WITNESSES A DRAMATIC SPECTACLE
ON THE CHEROKEE BORDER—THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD CAUSES A RUSH
OF POPULATION INTO THIS REGION—LAWLESSNESS PREVAILS—THE
CHEROKEES—PREHISTORIC MOUNTAINEERS OF THE'SOUTHERN APPA
LACHIANS—RAPID GROWTH OF' THE NATION—SEQUOYA'S ALPHABET
—THE CHEROKEE CONSTITUTION—BUT THE EXTENSION OF JURISDIC
TION OVER THE TERRITORY BLIGHTS THE SPLENDID FUTURE OF THESE
INDIANS—THE CHEROKEES APPEAL TO WASHINGTON—PRESIDENT
JACKSON, HOWEVER, Is A FRONTIERSMAN—HE FAVORS A REMOVAL OF
THE RED MEN TO THE WEST—COMPLIES WITH THE DEMANDS OF GOV
ERNOR GlLMER FOR A WITHDRAWAL OF FEDERAL TROOPS FROM THE
CHEROKEE BORDER—THE EXECUTION OF GEORGE TASSEL—GOVERNOR
GILMER DEFIES THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT—MISSIONARIES
ARRESTED IN CHEROKEE GEORGIA—FOUND IN THE TERRITORY WITH
OUT LICENSE—SOME OF THEM FOMENTERS OF STRIFE—WORCESTER
AND BUTLER DEFY THE AUTHORITY OF THE STATE AND SUFFER IMPRIS
ONMENT—SEEK REDRESS FROM THE FEDERAL AUTHORITIES—THE
OTHER PRISONERS AVAIL THEMSELVES OF THE EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY
OFFERED BY GOVERNOR GILMER—WHILE THE CASE Is PENDING, IM
PORTANT EVENTS OCCUR—UNDER THE CENSUS OF 1830 GEORGIA GAINS
A NEW CONGRESSMAN—NINE CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS—MEMBERS OF
CONGRESS DURING THIS PERIOD—Two NEW COUNTIES CREATED—
RANDOLPH AND SUMTER—THE GEORGIA MEDICAL COLLEGE AT AUGUSTA
Is CHARTERED.
Governor Gilmer's administration witnessed a dramatic spectacle on
the Cherokee border. The law enacted on December 20, 1828, was not
to go into effect for eighteen months. Its validity even then might be
questioned, since the Cherokees held these lands by an ancient title if
not by a divine right; and there was hardly an acre of ground among
these mountains which was not consecrated to them by the bones of
dead ancestors. Certainly these lands were sacred to the Cherokees
for eighteen months. But men whose veins are fired by the gold fever
are seldom disturbed by ethical considerations. The spirit of adven
ture, the promise of untold wealth, the golden spur of fortune, these
render them indifferent even to legal barriers; and under the sway of
such a maddening impulse men will risk life, defy danger, commit
crime, all for the promised gold of an elusive El Dorado.
But let us trace briefly the circumstances leading up to this climax.
The Cherokees were the prehistoric mountaineers of the Southern
Appalachians. According to standard authorities, the name is derived
from "Chera," a word signifying "fire." The prophets of the nation
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