The U.S.

Eastern Cherokee or Guion Miller Roll

The Guion Miller Roll is a list of Eastern Cherokees who applied for money awarded in 1905
because of a 1902 lawsuit in which the Eastern Cherokee tribe sued the United States for funds
due them under the treaties of 1835, 1836 and 1845. Claimants were asked to prove they
were members of the Eastern Cherokee tribe at the time of the treaties, or descended from
members who had not been affiliated with any other tribe. Guion Miller, an agent of the Interior
Department, was appointed as a commissioner of the Court of Claims to compile a list of
claimants. He made an extensive enrollment of the Cherokees in 1907 and 1908.
Documentation included application forms, correspondence and affidavits necessary to prove
eligibility for a claim. Each applicant was asked:

• His or her full English and Indian name.

• Place of birth.
• Name of husband or wife.
• Names of children.
• Place of birth and date of death of parents and grandparents.
• Names and ages of brother and sisters.
• Names of uncles and aunts.

The Guion Miller roll may help you find your ancestors if they were:

• Alive on 28 May 1906.

• Members of the Eastern Cherokee tribe at the time of the treaties of 1835, 1836 and 1845.
• Descendants of members of the Eastern Cherokee tribe during the years of the treaties.
• Not affiliated with any Indian tribe other than the Eastern Cherokee.

Claim documents were kept whether they were paid or rejected. Rejected applications fall into
five groups.

• Those who left the Cherokee Nation in the East before 1835.
• Those who filed after the final application date of 31 August 1907
• Illegitimate children (rejected even when their brothers and sisters were admitted).
• Those who had dual tribal ancestry.
• Those who failed to prove the required relationship.

Treaty of 1835 http://cherokee1838.tripod.com/treaty_of_1835.htm

Treaty of 1846 http://cherokee1838.tripod.com/treaty_of_1846.htm
Eastern Cherokee Removal 1837-1939) http://cherokee1838.tripod.com/cherokee_removal.htm

After considerable coercion, some Cherokee leaders finally signed the infamous Treaty of
New Echota on 29 December 1835. This treaty required the Cherokees to cede their
last remaining land east of the Mississippi River and relocate westward to the so-called
Indian Territory. The deadline for such removal was two years after the date of Senate
ratification of the treaty. The United States Senate ratified the treaty on 23 May 1836,
thus the Cherokee removal was supposed to be completed no later than 23 May 1838. A
census of the Cherokees, conducted by the Federal Government in 1835, indicated that
there were 16,542 Cherokees in the eastern Nation. The U.S. Government immediately
began preparations for the removal of these Cherokee people to the lands in the west, an
area which is now in the State of Oklahoma. However, most Cherokees resisted removal.

In 1837 there were two fairly sizeable groups of Treaty Supporter Cherokees, who
voluntarily removed under Government supervision, and several other smaller bands that
removed to the west under their own cognizance.