1721, in North Carolina Colonial Rei ! 1886,
• Adair, James, American Indians, p. JJ7. London, 177'.
cuming's treaty — L730 35
the Alabamas," on Coosa river, a few miles above the present Mont-
gomery, Alabama. From this central vantage point they had rapidly
extended their influence among all the neighboring tribes until in
1721 it was estimated that 3,400 warriors who had formerly traded
with Carolina had been ••entirely debauched to the French interest,"
while 2,000 more were wavering, and only the Cherokee could still be
considered friendly to the English. 1 From this time until the final
withdrawal of the French in IT*'.:; the explanation of our Indian wars
is to be found in the struggle between the two nations for territorial
and commercial supremacy, the Indian being simply the cat's-paw of
one o]- the other. For reasons oftheir own. the Chickasaw, whose
territory lay within the recognized limits of Louisiana, soon became the
uncompromising enemies of the French, and as their position enabled
them in a measure to control the approach from the Mississippi, the
Carolina government saw to it that they were kept well supplied with
guns and ammunition. British traders were in all their towns, and
on one occasion a French force, advancing against a Chickasaw
palisaded village, found it garrisoned by Englishmen flying the British
flag. 2 The Cherokee, although nominally allies of the English, were
strongly disposed to favor the French, and it required every effort of
the Carolina government to hold them to their allegiance.
In 1730, to further lix the Cherokee in the English interest, Sir
Alexander Cuming was dispatched on a secret mission to that tribe,
which was again smarting under