Treaty of Moultrie Crek

Sept. 18, 1823

Treaty of Moultrie Crek Reservation land of the Seminoles in the 1820s and 1830s. Published in 1831 by A. Finley
Prior to this treaty many Muskogee speaking peoples (Creek) had been coming south to Florida due to settler encrouchment and the Red Stick War. Conflict between white settlers and Indigenous peoples in Florida increased when the US acquired Florida from Spain ~1821 (Adams-Onis treaty). Negotiators on the Native side included Mikasuki leader Neamathla who was previously a leader of the Red Sticks. Also party to the Treaty were Yamasees and Yuchis people. Treaty established a large reservation in central Florida, which was to remove all Native peoples from the coastal areas, and gave them 20 years to remain in Florida. This was followed less than ten years later by the Treaty of Payne's Landing which required the forced removal of all Native people to the west of the Mississippi. The treaty explicitly required the return of runaway slaves who made it to the reservation, indicating the prevalance of this at the time. Implementation of this stipulation "was uneven", and the continued presence of Black peoples on the reservation (Afro-Indigenous peoples, Maroons, and runaway slaves) led to "increased friction" with the colonial government. Many people resisted moving onto the reservation and as usual the US did not provide the funding promised to feed the displaced peoples. Compounding this problem was a severe dought in 1825.