To Thomas Jefferson from John Drayton, 30 August 1802
From John Drayton
South Carolina
Charleston August 30th: 1802:
Sir
I have the honor of herewith transmitting you, a certified copy of a Talk, lately received from the head men of the Upper Cherokee indians. The purport, I flatter myself will be gratifying to you: and I have written them, that I will promptly transmit any matters, which you may think proper to communicate to them through me, on the subject.
With high respect and consideration I have the honor to be Sir Yr. most obt. svt.
John Drayton
RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Thomas Jefferson Eqe President of the United States of America”; endorsed by TJ as received 12 Sep. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure not found.
The Cherokees most directly affected by, and most concerned about, encroachments by settlers from Georgia lived in the UPPER Towns, located in western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and northern Georgia. Cherokee leaders who spoke for the nation as a whole tended to be from the Lower Towns, which were along the Tennessee River. The Glass, who was from the Lower Towns, brought up the problem of the settlements during his visit to Washington in the summer of 1801, but continuing dissatisfaction in the Upper Towns helped undermine the U.S. commissioners’ attempt to negotiate with the Cherokees later that year (William G. McLoughlin, Cherokee Renascence in the New Republic [Princeton, 1986], 28, 30, 58–61, 78–83; Thomas Foster, ed., The Collected Works of Benjamin Hawkins, 1796–1810 [Tuscaloosa, Ala., 2003], 369–84; Vol. 34:506; Vol. 35:196n, 308).