Sunday, March 29, 2009

Treaty of the Holston

The Treaty of the Holston was signed in 1791 by representatives of the United States and the Cherokee Nation. It ended the hostilities between the two nations, set boundaries, and allowed settlers to travel down the Tennessee River. In return for safe travel, the Cherokee nation received a one thousand dollar annuity and trade goods.

This monument by the point where First Creek empties into the Tennessee River is very close to the actual spot of the treaty signing. Here is the full view:

This speaks to the people of East Tennessee, as many native East Tennesseans today have a mixture of Scots-Irish and Cherokee ancestry.

5 comments:

B SQUARED said...

That's quite a combination of ancestry.

Hilda said...

I like the sculpture and the ancestral mix sounds very interesting.

Lowell said...

Fascinating. Did you know the U.S. government, out of 150 treaties made with Indian nations, didn't keep one of them?

Bob Crowe said...

I'm really sorry I haven't be by more often lately - way too much work and way to much time out shooting, even though I really don't have it to spare. This is superb. The composition is just perfect to get the interplay of expressions. I especially like that you covered the left eye of the man in the background.

Knoxville Girl said...

@Jacob: all I have to say about that fact is "Trail of Tears."