Bird's Fort Treaty Ratification Proclamation, 1843
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Sam Houston made Indian policy a principal concern of his second administration. On July 1, 1842, he appointed a commission to "treat with any and all Indians on the Frontiers of Texas." The Indians, too, were more open to negotiation after the costly wars under the Lamar administration had reduced their numbers. In August, they agreed to a peace council at the Waco village on October 26, 1842. They failed to attend on that date, but on March 31, 1843, chiefs of nine tribes accepted an invitation to a Grand Council to conclude a treaty of peace. They met six months later and on September 29, 1843 signed one of the few Indian treaties ratified by the Republic of Texas Senate.
By the President of the Republic of Texas
Proclamation
To all and singular to whom
these presents shall come, Greeting:
Whereas, a treaty of peace and
friendship between the Republic
of Texas and the Delaware, Chicka-
saw, Waco, Tah-woc-cany, Keechi, Cad-
-do, Ana-dah-kah, Ionie, Biloxi,
and Cherokee tribes of Indians, was
concluded and signed at Bird's Fort,
on the Trinity River, on the twenty
ninth day of September, in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hun-
=dred and forty three, by G.W. Terrell and
E.H. Tarrant, Commissioners on the part
of the Republic of Texas, and certain
chiefs, Headmen and warriors of the tribes
of Indians aforesaid, on the part of said
Tribes; which treaty is, in the following words,
to wit:
A Treaty of Peace and Friend-
=ship, Between the Republic of Texas,
and the Delaware, Chickasaw, Waco,
Tah-woc-cany, Keechi, Caddo, Ana-Dah-
kah, Ionie, Biloxi, and Cherokee tribes
of Indians, concluded and signed at