Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
What are the Royce Maps & Why Study Them?
We have been asked why is the Missouri Trail of Tears Association is interested in the 1884 Royce Map? It’s simple. This map, made long after the events, greatly adds to a fuller understanding of the Trail of Tears events and the Missouri story. When attempting to document and share the story of the Trail of Tears as it crossed sparsely populated 1830’s Missouri, only exploring the Royce map can offer the important context necessary to explain and expand upon what we know about 1830’s Missouri Trial of Tears events. When we describe the geography and character of the United States – which were contemporaneous with the events in, and geography of, the ever-shrinking Cherokee homeland – we are able to provide more context to what occurred in Missouri.
The Royce Maps are historical maps of American Indian territory that the native nations ceded to the United States or was reserved by the native nations between 1784 and 1894. They were published along with a table that gives information about the treaty that ceded or reserved the land including when and where the treaty was concluded and a citation to find the treaty. It’s incredible information, but quite fussy to use. The easiest way to make sense of the information is to use the “Schedule of Indian Land Cessions” table together with the maps.
The Schedule of Indian Land Cessions comprises 709 entries and “indicates the number and location of each cession by or reservation for the Indian tribes from the organization of the Federal Government to and including 1894, together with descriptions of the tracts so ceded or reserved, the date of the treaty, law or executive order governing the same, the name of the tribe or tribes affected thereby, and historical data and references bearing thereon.” – Pritzker Legal Research Center
A New Set of Monographs
Below, the Brevards and the Cherokee, 1837 – Monograph (45) begins. It describes the conditions and power dynamics in the pre-colonial area up through the Cherokee removal in 1838.These events occurred from 1721 through 1831. This was a period of great expansion for the United States. Each of the treaty areas shown in the Royce map were lost by the the Cherokee and tell a story of power, broken promises, and cruelty. These treaty areas are captured in the Royce map and they were each integral to the events and logistics involved in the eventual Cherokee Removal to “Indian Country.” This project attempts to document events ranging in time from Hernando De Soto’s arrival in the territory which was to become the United States and continues through his contact with the Cherokee tribe. Then the through to the end of the removal events.
Brevards and the Cherokee, 1837 – Monograph (45)
- Table of Contents
- Chapter 1: Europeans Arrive In the New World (45.01)
- Chapter 2: English Interests Prevail (45.02)
- Chapter 3: A New Nation Fights a Two Front War (45.03)
- Chapter 4: Treaties with a New Nation (45.04)
- Chapter 5: A Bold Expansion Plan (45.05)
- Chapter 6: A Barrier To Manifest Destiny (45.06)
- Chapter 7: Are the Cherokee a Sovereign Nation? (45.07)
- Chapter 8: The War of 1812 (45.08)
- Chapter 9: United We Stand – Divided We Fall (45.09)
- Chapter 10: Consent to Cession? (45.10)
- Chapter 11: The Cherokee Unite (45.11)
- Chapter 12: Keep Moving Westward? (45.12)
- Chapter 13: “[T]he most solemn guarantee of the United States” (45.13)
- Chapter 14: Arrival in “Indian Country” (45.14)
38 (+) Treaty Areas
Part of this project seeks to provide you with a deep dive into the individual treaty areas by showing detailed maps and more. At the bottom of this page you can find a link to each of the 38 treaty areas lost to the colonial powers and their successor, the fledgling United States.
1884 Royce Map
Above is the 1884 Royce, C. C. Map of the former territorial limits of the Cherokee “Nation of” Indians; Map showing the territory originally assigned Cherokee “Nation of” Indians. Link: https://www.loc.gov/item/99446145/. If you give the map some time after you open the link you will be surprised at the the high level of detail that unfolds.
Applying the Power of GIS to a paper and ink map created in 1884
The image above is a semi-transparent image of the 1884 Royce map georeferenced over modern boundary lines. Royce named it the “Map of the Former Territories of the Cherokee “Nation” of Indians…” We used GIS to convert the paper map to a very complex and digitally sharable map.
Citations
- Royce Map – Cherokee Treaty Maps
- Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/item/99446145/
- Chicago citation style: Royce, C. C. Map of the former territorial limits of the Cherokee “Nation of” Indians ; Map showing the territory originally assigned Cherokee “Nation of” Indians. [S.l, 1884] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/99446145/.
Royce Treaty Area Map Links:
- Royce Treaty Area 1
- Royce Treaty Area 2
- Royce Treaty Area 3
- Royce Treaty Area 4
- Royce Treaty Area 5
- Royce Treaty Area 6
- Royce Treaty Area 7
- Royce Treaty Area 8
- Royce Treaty Area 9
- Royce Treaty Area 10
- Royce Treaty Area 10A
- Royce Treaty Area 10B
- Royce Treaty Area 11
- Royce Treaty Area 12
- Royce Treaty Area 13
- Royce Treaty Area 14
- Royce Treaty Area 15
- Royce Treaty Area 16
- Royce Treaty Area 17
- Royce Treaty Area 18
- Royce Treaty Area 19
- Royce Treaty Area 20
- Royce Treaty Area 21
- Royce Treaty Area 22
- Royce Treaty Area 23
- Royce Treaty Area 24
- Royce Treaty Area 25
- Royce Treaty Area 26
- Royce Treaty Area 27
- Royce Treaty Area 28
- Royce Treaty Area 29
- Royce Treaty Area 30
- Royce Treaty Area 31
- Royce Treaty Area 32
- Royce Treaty Area 33
- Royce Treaty Area 34
- Royce Treaty Area 35
- Royce Treaty Area 36
- Treaty Area Statistics
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Suggested Readings: More Monographs