Treaty of Pontotoc Creek signed

Background. Prior to 1832, the Chickasaw Nation faced increasing pressure from non-Native squatters and Mississippi state laws that challenged their sovereignty. The federal government failed to uphold treaty obligations to remove intruders. Earlier attempts, such as the 1830 Franklin Treaty, were unsuccessful because the delegation sent to examine western lands stalled, and the Senate refused to ratify the agreement.

Negotiations. In 1832, the Chickasaw National Council agreed to meet with John Coffee to negotiate a land transfer treaty. In November 1832, more than 40 chiefs from the Chickasaw Council, representing clans and villages, signed a letter by Levi Colbert to President Andrew Jackson complaining about the negotiations with Coffee, the president's appointee. The Chickasaw's subsequent negotiations between 1832 and 1837 reflected in part their dissatisfaction with finding new land.

Terms. The treaty ceded 6,283,804 acres of the remaining Chickasaw homeland in Mississippi. In exchange, the United States agreed to survey new lands west of the Mississippi River. Chickasaw landholders were to be compensated for improvements on their lands, and all proceeds from federal land sales were to be turned over to the Chickasaw to fund their removal.