of the men whom Seagrove finally grew to regard as a confirmed
traitor was the chief, McGillivray. He was probably quite right in his
estimate of the half-breed's character; and, on the other hand,
McGillivray doubtless had as an excuse the fact that the perpetual
intrigues of Spanish officers, American traders, British adventurers,
Creek chiefs who wished peace, and Creek warriors who wished war, made
it out of the question for him to follow any settled policy. He wrote to
Seagrove: "It is no wonder the Indians are distracted, when they are
tampered with on every side. I am myself in the situation of a keeper
of Bedlam, and nearly fit for an inhabitant." [Footnote: American State
Papers, IV., McGillivray to Seagrove, May 18, 1793.] However, what he
did amounted to but little, for his influence had greatly waned, and
in 1793 he died.

The Indians the Aggressors.

On the Georgia frontier the backwoodsmen were very rough and lawless,
and were always prone to make aggressions on the red men; nevertheless,
even in the case of Georgia in 1791 and '92, the chief fault lay with
the Indians. They refused to make good the land cession which they had
solemnly guaranteed at the treaty of New York, and which certain of
their towns had previously covenanted to make in the various more or
less fraudulent treaties entered into with the State of Georgia
separately. In addition to this their plundering parties continually
went among the Georgians. The latter, in their efforts to retaliate,
struck the hostile and the peaceful alike; and as time went on they made
ready to take forcible possession of the lands they coveted, without
regard to whether or not these lands had been ceded in fair treaty.

In the Tennessee country the wrong was wholly with the Indians. Some of
the chiefs of the Cherokees went to Philadelphia at the beginning of the
year 1792 to request certain modifications of the treaty of Holston,
notably an increase in their annuity, which was granted. [Footnote:
_Do_., Secretary of War to Governor Blount, Jan. 31, 1792.]

Their Outrages on the Tennesseeans.

The General Government had conducted the treaties in good faith and had
given the Indians what they asked. The frontiersmen did not molest them
in any way or trespass upon their lands; yet their ravages continued
without cessation. The authorities at Washington made but feeble efforts
to check these outrages, and protect the southwestern settlers. Yet at
thi