Try these quotes (highlighting added):
The 1819 East Tennessee District
The Hiwassee District
Located in southern East Tennessee. "That said tract of country be laid off into one surveyors’ district, and shall be known by the name of the Hiwassee District...the Surveyor General...shall... survey the lands lately acquired by treaty from the Cherokee tribe of Indians, lying between the Hiwassee, Big Tennessee and Little Tennessee Rivers, and north of Little Tennessee..." 51 North of the Little Tennessee? This was the land in southeast Blount County that can found on various treaty boundary line maps and particularly TSLA map #408. [See note 18]
In 1833, it became ‘lawful’ "to make entries...for any vacant and un-appropriated land lying in Blount County, within the Hiwassee District..." 52 Additionally, we have the Calhoun’s Treaty of 10 March 1819 where we find: beginning on the Tennessee River, at "...the mouth of the Hiwassee; thence along its main channel, to the first hill which closes in on said river, about two miles above Hiwassee Old Town, thence, along the ridge that divides the waters of the Hiwassee and Little Tellico, to the [Little] Tennessee River, at Tallassee; thence, along the main channel, to the junction of the Cowee and Nanteyalee: thence along the ridge in the fork of said river, to the top of the Blue Ridge; thence along Blue Ridge, to the Unicoy turnpike road; thence by a straight line, to the nearest main source of the Chestatee; thence along its main channel, to the Chatahouchee; thence to the Creek Boundary..." 53 Here the Cherokees still retain rights to a small strip of land along west side of the Blue Ridge, so when the Hiwassee District was created, its south east line would not have run to the North Carolina line.
In 1825, "another register...to be denominated the ‘Register of the Hiwassee District,’ who shall keep his office at Athens, in the county of M’Minn ..." 54 Also in that year, the register of the Hiwassee District was to copy any Hiwassee District record that was in the land office at Knoxville. 55 There is no extant original extant map of the Hiwassee District, however there is a TVA redrawing of an 1851 map. (TSLA map #408)
49. D. Morton Rose, Jr., Knoxville, TN. Early Land Grants in Sevier County, NC-TN (South of the French Broad River) Tennessee Ancestor, Vol. 9 (2). August 1993. pp. 83-92. Additionally. Mr. Rose states in private conversation, August 1996, that he had never seen section and range lines mentioned in old Sevier County land documents.
51. Ibid. p. 386.
52. Ibid. p. 426.
53. Ibid. p. 36.
54. Ibid. p. 405.
55. Ibid. p. 409.
REF: http://www.tngenweb.org/tnland/survdist.htm
The 1836 East Tennessee District
The Ocoee District
In 1833, "...the laws and jurisdiction of the State of Tennessee...are hereby extended to the southern limits of the State, over that tract of country now in the occupancy of the Cherokee Indians..." 71 Here was the Cherokee’s last hold out. Then came the Ocoee District in 1836.
Located in the southeast corner of East Tennessee. "That the public lands of this State ceded by the Cherokee Nation of Indians to the United States by treaty of the 23rd day of May, 1836, shall constitute a surveyors’ district, which shall be known by the name of ‘Ocoee District’..." 72 In this treaty, called the Treaty of New Echota or Treaty of Removal, the Cherokee Nation ceded all lands that were owned, claimed or possessed by them, east of the Mississippi River. The treaty also provided for the removal of the Indians, two years after ratification. 73
We can set the boundaries from existing maps: the State Line on the east and south, the Tennessee River on the west, the Hiwassee River on the north. Also a small strip of land north of the Hiwassee River and west of the Blue Ridge. [See Hiwassee District section] There were survey conflicts between the Ocoee and the Hiwassee Districts, involving the exact placement of the dividing line between the two Districts. This involved islands in the Hiwassee River and similar claims among other things. 74
The office of the Surveyor General of the District was established at Cleveland, Bradley County. 75 ~ There is no extant original map of the Ocoee District. There is a map, ca. 1850-60, surveyed by Capt. O. M. Poe. (TSLA map #898)
60. Rhea, Matthew. Map of the State of Tennessee, 1832. Reprinted and included with reprint of: Morris, Eastin, The Tennessee Gazetteer. Orig. pub. W. Hasell Hunt & Co. Nashville, TN 1834, reprint, The Gazetteer Press, Nashville, TN 1971.
72. Ibid. p. 436.
73. Ibid. p. 41.
74. Ibid. pp. 427, 429-430, 435.
75. Ibid. pp. 440, 447.
REF: Same reference as above
