Ellicott's Camp and Observatory

Ellicott's Camp and Observatory. George Washington's Commissioner of Limits. The 1795 Treaty of San Lorenzo defined the international border dividing Spanish Florida from the newly formed United States., No one who signed the treaty had ever seen it, but the point of land formed by the confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers (today's Lake Seminole) marked the western end of the East Florida border., To survey and mark the new border, the United States and Spain appointed two commissioners. Col. Andrew Ellicott, a friend of George Washington and the surveyor who marked the lines of the District of Columbia, was the U.S. commissioner. Estevan Minor represented Spain., The two men arrived here aboard two schooners on August 23, 1799, and set up an observatory on the heights that overlook River Landing Park. They started taking readings of the stars and sun two days later, using these to show the latitude and longitude of the confluence. The work went well, but the United States and Spain did not include the Creek Nation in their discussions, and many Native Americans were not happy about it., A message arrived on September 17 from a man that Ellicott called "Indian Will" - probably William Perryman - warning that a party of Tallassee warriors planned to attack the surveyors. Col. Benjamin Hawkins, the U.S. Agent for Indian Affairs, was present and called the military escort to arms. No battle took place, but Ellicott and Minor thought it "best to retreat." Boarding their schooners, they sailed away down the Apalachicola River. , Ellicott's Observatory , The temporary astronomical observatory used here in August-September 1799 was the second such facility in Florida history. The tools used by the surveyors were primitive by modern standards, and their estimates of latitude and longitude were slightly off. , Col. Benjamin Hawkins , Col. Hawkins, the U.S. Agent for Indian Affairs, joined the survey party here in September 1799. Like Endicott, he was a veteran of the American Revolution appointed to office by President Washington. , Andrew Ellicott , An officer of the American Revolution, Andrew Ellicott was a noted surveyor and engineer. He surveyed the western border of Pennsylvania, and George Washington appointed him to mark the limits of the new nation's capital, Washington, D.C.