Native Americans in Giles County

Native Americans in Giles County. . The land that was to become Giles County was claimed as hunting lands by both the Chickasaw and Cherokee Nations. The treaties of Hopewell between the U.S. Government and the Cherokees (1785) and the Chickasaws (1786) established boundaries between an expanding America and the existing Native American Nations., In 1805 the Chickasaw Nation ceded to the United States a large tract of land, which included most of Giles County. This opened up Southern Middle Tennessee for settlement and allowed the United States to honor many of its Revolutionary War land grants. Congress passed legislation in April, 1806 establishing the Congressional Line, a boundary between the Chickasaw Nation and the growing white settlements in the area. The designation ran from the intersection of the Elk River with the southern boundary line of Tennessee due north to the Duck River. The present-day Sam Davis Avenue marks the line through the City of Pulaski. South and West of the Line, the U.S. maintained control and the Chickasaw Nation held claim. In 1809, 1810, and 1811, U.S. soldiers were sent to remove all settlers off land held in claim by the Chickasaw Nation., Although the State of Tennessee could not legally grant title to land South and West of the line until 1811, the State General Assembly, in 1809, passed legislation establishing Giles County with included instructions that a town named Pulaski be laid off on Richland Creek as close to the center of the County as possible. This land was South and West of the Congressional Line, which required that title to the property be obtained from the U.S. Government rather than from the State of Tennessee., In 1806 Dearborn's Treaty was signed and the Cherokee Nation ceded all right, title and interest or claim to all properties in Southern Middle Tennessee. “The waters of the Elk” were added by an Elucidation in 1807. The remaining section of Giles County was opened for settlement in 1816 when the Chickasaw Nation ceded to the United States all right or title to lands on the north side of the Tennessee River. In 1818, the Chickasaw Nation ceded all remaining properties in Tennessee.