To James Madison from John Lowrey, 16 February 1816
From John Lowrey
City Washington February 16th. 1816.
Father
I am directed by the highest authority of the Cherokee Nation to express to their Father the President of the United States that they rejoice at the successful termination of the late war in which the young Cherokee Warriors had the honor to participate with the young Warriors of the republic. The local situation of my nation made the events of the war highly interesting to the Cherokees as well as to the republic, & we claim no merit for having done our duty. Father I have the honor to present to you a duplicate of my instructions for my government & of the Cherokee Chiefs who accompany me on this occasion.1 I have the honor to be with the highest respect yr. Obt, Servt.
John Lowrey mark X
RC and enclosure (DNA: RG 107, LRRS, L-59:9); FC (DNA: RG 75, Records of the Cherokee Indian Agency, East); FC of enclosure (OkTG). RC and enclosure in chief John Ross’s hand, including signature, signed by Lowrey with his mark; docketed as received in the War Department in May 1816. For enclosure, see n. 1.
1. The enclosure is a copy of a 10 Jan. 1816 letter from Nanohetahee, principal chief of the Cherokees, to Lowrey and fellow Cherokee delegates John Walker, Major Ridge, Richard Taylor, John Ross, and Cheucunsenee (8 pp.), instructing the chiefs to “take our Father the President by the hand” and reaffirm the Cherokee alliance with the United States. They were also to pursue a “just settlement” of the boundary between the Creek and Cherokee nations, negotiate a land cession in South Carolina as requested by JM, protest against trespassing on Cherokee territory, seek reparations for damages to Cherokee property committed by U.S. troops during the Creek War, and ask the government to contract for ironworks and blacksmith shops to use the abundant ore on Cherokee lands. In an 11 Jan. 1816 postscript, Nanohetahee named Lowrey speaker for the delegation and requested that he provide the secretary of war with a copy of these instructions.