The Cherokee Nation of Indians. (1887 N 05 / 1883-1884 (pages 121-378))

This 1887 volume serves as a critical primary document in understanding how the Cherokee Nation lost its territory treaty by treaty. Royce, working within the U.S. Indian Commissioner's Office, traces the arc of Cherokee land cessions from first contact through the forced removal era and into the reservation period. The work meticulously catalogs each treaty, its provisions, and the circumstances under which it was signed, revealing the pattern of diplomatic manipulation and broken promises that characterized U.S.-Cherokee relations. What emerges is not merely a legal compendium but a record of a sovereign nation's gradual dispossession. The book was produced during a pivotal moment when the Cherokee Nation still possessed significant internal autonomy but faced mounting pressure from expanding American settlement and shifting federal policies. For researchers of indigenous history, this document offers both the substance of treaty negotiations and the institutional lens through which late 19th-century Americans understood Native nations.