Forced the Choctaw to cede roughly 5 million acres of Mississippi homeland, foreshadowing the 1830 Indian Removal Act.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- October 18, 1820
- Choctaw land ceded
- approximately 5 million acres acres
- Western land granted
- 13 million acres in Arkansas/Red River area acres
- US commissioners
- Andrew Jackson and Thomas Hinds
- Choctaw chiefs present
- Pushmataha, Mushulatubbee, Apuckshunubbee
- Treaty rank
- Seventh of nine major US-Choctaw treaties (1786–1866)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Rapid westward expansion by white settlers created intense pressure on Choctaw lands in Mississippi. President James Monroe dispatched General Andrew Jackson and General Thomas Hinds as commissioners to negotiate a land exchange, with Jackson ultimately threatening the Choctaw chiefs that refusal would lead to the nation's destruction.
On October 18, 1820, at a Mississippi tavern called Doak's Stand on the Natchez Trace, Choctaw chiefs Pushmataha, Mushulatubbee, and Apuckshunubbee signed the treaty under duress. The Choctaw surrendered approximately one-third of their remaining eastern homeland in exchange for 13 million acres west of the Mississippi in the Canadian, Kiamichi, Arkansas, and Red River watersheds.
Both white Arkansas settlers, who feared Choctaw encroachment on their lands, and the Choctaw themselves immediately contested the treaty. The Mississippi Gazette called it a 'death blow' to Arkansas Territory. The treaty directly influenced the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, which completed the forced removal of the Choctaw under the Indian Removal Act signed by President Andrew Jackson.
Political Outcome
Choctaw ceded ~5 million acres of Mississippi land in exchange for ~13 million acres west of the Mississippi; treaty was contested by both Choctaw and white settlers and later superseded by the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek.
Choctaw held their full Mississippi homeland territory
Choctaw ceded ~one-third of eastern lands, receiving western territory; white settlement pressure intensified