[...]

McIntosh is linked to history not by his exploits in war but by his stand on the question of Indian removal, which both canonized and condemned him in the Creek nation.

The shadow of the land-hungry white man first fell over the Creek in 1802 when an agreement was signed by Georgia and the federal government, in which both sides stipulated that the "United States shall, at their own expense, extinguish, for the use of Georgia, as early as the same can be peaceably effected, on reasonable terms, the Indian title to the lands within the forks of the Oconnee and Oakmulgee Rivers...and that the United States shall...also extinguish the Indian title to all the other lands within the State of Georgia."

It was a deadly land grab, a contract that would eventually deprive the Creek of their ancestral land. Of course, they were not consulted.
From 1803 to 1821 many Indian delegations came to Washington to "extinguish"-the favorite euphemism of early nineteenth-century politicians for stealing land from the American Indians-the titles to their homes.

Year after year the acres disappeared. In one treaty council fifteen million acres of Indian land were signed away; the United States government paid $1,250,000 for the lands. The Creek became alarmed. In 1811, at the famous Broken Arrow council they passed a tribal law forbidding, under penalty of death, any Creek chief from selling the nation's land.

The State of Georgia became impatient and pressured Washington into calling more councils and forcing the Creek to give up more land. But after Broken Arrow the chiefs refused to meet.
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The United States answered Georgia that it was doing all it could peaceably. As Colonel McKenney wrote at the time, the improvements for the Creek that Georgia complained so bitterly about was "only a continuation of the policy adopted by Washington...one would think [this policy] needed no defence before a civilised and Christian people...."

Under pressure-and obvious bribery-McIntosh and some lesser chiefs signed the treaty of Indian Springs on February 12, 1825, giving Georgia large tracts of Indian land.
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The Creek, whom McKenney described as "greatly excited", sent out an execution squad searching for McIntosh who claimed protection promised by Georgia. On May 1, McIntosh was shot and killed with Etomie Tustennuggee, another chief. A half-breed, Sam Hawkins, was hanged and his brother Ben severely wounded.

McIntosh left behind him a divided tribe. One faction believed he had done right and followed his son, Chilly McIntosh, to the west after they had signed away their lands in Washington on January 24, 1826, for $100,000. The other faction soon gave up their lands to Georgia and crossed into Alabama. That state also demanded they be removed. At last "this wretched people," as McKenney called them, also followed Chilly McIntosh to the west. There was still no immediate peace; both factions fought until a bitter peace was finally hammered out.