"
Colonel Willett was altogether successful, though the inducements he
offered were probably aided by McGillivray's desire to visit New York and
meet General Washington. Other chiefs accompanied him, and on their way
they received many official attentions. An incident which occurred at
Guilford Court House, North Carolina, displays McGillivray's character in
a kindly light. A woman whose husband had been killed by Creek Indians and
who with her children had been made captive, visited McGillivray to thank
him for effecting their release, and it was disclosed that he had since
that time been contributing to the support of the family. At New York, the
recently organized Tammany Society turned out in costumes supposed to
represent Indian attire and escorted the visiting chiefs to Federal Hall.
Eventually Washington himself went to Federal Hall in his coach of state
and in all the trappings of official dignity, to sign the treaty concluded
with the Indians. The treaty, which laid down the pattern subsequently
followed by the government in its dealings with the Indians, recognized
the claims of the Creek nation to part of the territory it claimed, and
gave compensation for the part it relinquished by an annuity of fifteen
hundred dollars for the tribe, and an annuity of one hundred dollars for
each of the principal chiefs.
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