Washington, George, as first President

By the President of the United States of America, A Proclamation. Whereas a Treaty of peace and friendship between the United States and the Creek nation, was made and concluded on the seventh day of the present month of August: And whereas I have, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, in due form ratified the said Treaty, Now therefore to the end that the same may be observed and performed with good faith on the part of the United States, I have ordered the said treaty to be herewith published; and I do hereby enjoin and require all officers of the United States, civil and military, and all other citizens and inhabitants thereof, faithfully to observe and fulfil the same. [New York: printed by Francis Childs and John Swaine, on or shortly after 14 August 1790]



Broadside (20 1/2 x 16 5/8 in.; 521 x 415 mm, uncut) on paper. Text of the treaty in two columns; some neat restoration at edges and central vertical fold, costing about a dozen letters. Hinged to a linen mat, framed, and glazed.

James McHenry (Secretary of War in the Washington and Adams administrations; "The James McHenry Papers … Sold by Order of the Heirs," Parke-Bernet, 2 May 1944, lot 230) — Thomas W. Streeter (Parke-Bernet, 20 April 1967, lot 1087)

Evans 22989; Sabin 96603; Streeter sale 2:1087; see Prucha, American Indian Treaties: The History of a Political Anomaly (1994), chapter 3, "Treaty-Making Procedures under the Constitution"

A very scarce broadside printing of a significant Indian treaty, likely printed for limited distribution among the administration. "The Creeks were friendly with the English through the American Revolution and afterwards in June 1784, entered into the Treaty of Pensacola with the Spaniards. One of the problems to which Washington devoted himself on becoming President was our relations with the Creeks, and, after one mission to them had failed, another under Col. Marinus Willett succeeded in getting the Creek leader, Alexander McGillivray, to New York, where this treaty of 7 August 1790 was signed" (Streeter). This was the third Indian treaty ratified by Washington, preceded only by agreements with the Wyandots and the Six Nations, both concluded at Fort Harmar on 7 January 1789—so this Creek Nation treaty was the first United States-Indian Peoples treaty negotiated, signed, and ratified by the President under the Constitution.

Secretary of War Henry Knox signed on behalf of the United States, while Alexander McGillivray signed for the Creek Nation, which comprised the Cusetahs, Little Tallisee, Big Tallisee, Tuckabatchy, Natchez, Cowetas, Broken Arrow, Coosades, and Alabama Oakfoys. The names of all of the "Kings, Chiefs and Warriors" who signed on behalf of these various Native Peoples appear at the foot of the broadside.

The ratification ceremony took place in Federal Hall with an exchange of gifts and handshakes; the Pennsylvania Packet described the compact in its 18 August issue as a "highly interesting, solemn and dignified transaction." Although this treaty never took full effect, Francis Paul Prucha has written that "this first foray of President Washington into treaty making was a significant beginning. He had felt his way toward a fixed procedure for sharing his responsibilities with the Senate, and he had persuaded the powerful Creek Nation to come to his seat of government for treaty negotiations. He was now more confident in dealing with other tribes that called for his attention" (p. 84).