Understanding the Armstrong Roll

The Armstrong Roll was created after the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek.  This is a lengthy treaty and supplement. Reading the entire treaty and supplement will provide you with a better understanding of this roll.

Where they lived:
Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek--Article II. The United States under a grant specially to be made by the President of the U.S. shall cause to be conveyed to the Choctaw Nation a tract of country west of the Mississippi River, in fee simple to them and their descendants, to inure to them while they shall exist as a nation and live on it, beginning near Fort Smith where the Arkansas boundary crosses the Arkansas River, running thence to the source of the Canadian fork; if in the limits of the United States, or to those limits; thence due south to Red River, and down Red River to the west boundary of the Territory of Arkansas; thence north along that line to the beginning. The boundary of the same to be agreeably to the Treaty made and concluded at Washington City in the year 1825. The grant to be executed so soon as the present Treaty shall be ratified.

Treaty of 1825--Article I. The Choctaw Nation do hereby cede to the United States all that portion of the land ceded to them by the second article of the Treaty of Doak Stand, as aforesaid, lying east of a line beginning on the Arkansas, one hundred paces east of Fort Smith, and running thence, due south, to Red river: it being understood that this line shall constitute, and remain, the permanent boundary between the United States and the Choctaws; and the United States agreeing to remove such citizens as may be settled on the west side, to the east side of said line, and prevent future settlements from being made on the west thereof.

Treaty of Doak Stand--Article II. For and in consideration of the foregoing cession, on the part of the Choctaw nation, and in part satisfaction for the same, the Commissioners of the United States, in behalf of said States, do hereby cede to said nation, a tract of country west of the Mississippi River, situate between the Arkansas and Red River, and bounded as follows:-- Beginning on the Arkansas River, where the lower boundary line of the Cherokees strikes the same; thence up the Arkansas to the Canadian Fork, and up the same to its source; thence due South to the Red River; thence down Red River, three miles below the mouth of Little River, which empties itself into Red River on the north side; thence a direct line to the beginning.

Choctaws wishing to become citizens of United States

• Additional Armstrong Roll Resources
  • Letters and Correspondence
    • Department of War, Office Indian Affairs, September 28, 1833
    • Mississippi, Lowndes County, October 10, 1833.
    • Department of War, October 11, 1833
    • Department of War, November 1, 1833
    • Washington City, February 18, 1834.
    • Department of War, Office Indian Affairs, 31 March 1834.
    • Department of War April 8, 1834
  • Additional Data Concerning the Armstrong Rolls
    • Choctaws who served a campaign under General Anthony Wayne in 1794
    • Indian Population
    • Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek

View Armstrong Roll
 

Footnote 1. Reservation, 640 acres.  Not a Indian Reservation as we have today.

Notes About this Publication:

Source: Armstrong Roll of Choctaw, 1831, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs

Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and then ocr'd. Minimal editing has been done, and readers can and should expect some errors in the textual output.

This site includes some historical materials that may imply negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These items are presented as part of the historical record and should not be interpreted to mean that the WebMasters in any way endorse the stereotypes implied.