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Chickasaw Nation Timeline

The following timeline reflects dates of events influencing the Chickasaw Nation, past and present:

  • 1539

    Hernando DeSoto’s expedition from Spain lands in Florida with over 600 soldiers, 300 horses and pigs, and 100 war dogs, as well as priests, a physician and craftsmen.desoto

  • Pre 1540

    The origin of the Chickasaw Indians is a mystery.

  • Dec 9, 1540

    Hernando DeSoto reached Chicaca.

  • Dec 25, 1540

    The wedding of Sa-owana abd Juan Ortiz

  • March 1541

    The Chickasaw attack the DeSoto camp desoto_small

  • late 1500's

    Epidemics of smallpox and measles and inter-tribal warfare diminish the Chickasaw populations in the late

  • 1669

    Visit of South Carolina traders

  • 1673

    Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet exploring the Mississippi River

  • 1682

    Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle and Henri Tonti make contact with the Chickasaw Native Indians and the French establish a colony and trading posts

  • 1698

    British traders visit to the Chickasaw villages and establish trading links. The Chickasaw become allied with the British

  • 1702

    The Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713) and the Chickasaw were allied to the British

  • March 25, 1702

    Chickasaw’s meet with Beinville in Mobile

  • 1715

    Bienville plotted with Choctaws against the Chickasaws

  • 1720

    James Adair’s report on the Chickasaw Nation

  • 1729

    The Nachez Revolt (1729 – 1731) The Chickasaw fight with the Natchez against the French

  • 1736

    The Chickasaw Wars (1736, 1739 and 1752) were fought between the Chickasaw tribe allied with the British against the French and their Choctaw allies

  • 1736

    Chickasaw’s visit John Wesley in Georgia

  • 1740

    James Logan Colbert arrived to the Chickasaw Nation.

  • 1744

    The English trader, James Adair, establishes a long term, friendly relationship with the Chickasaw, and eventually publishes a manuscript about the tribe

  • 1750-70

    Malcolm McGee and John MvIntosh joined the Chickasaws

  • 1752

    Marquis de Vaudrevil’s ill-fated attack

  • 1754

    The Chickasaws again fight with the British during the French Indian War, aka the Seven Years War

  • 1796

    William Colbert and others visit President George Washington. The ‘civilizing programs’ began, instigated by George Washington, which led to the name of the Five Civilised Tribes

  • May 1799

    First missionary, Re. Bullen, arrived in the Chickasaw nation

  • July 1799

    First school is established among the Chickasaw

  • 1801

    Chickasaw granted right of way for a road

  • 1802

    U.S. Congress appropriated funds to build the Natchez Trace. The first Post Office was also established in the Chickasaw nation

  • 1816

    Treaty of 1816 at National Council House

  • 1820

    Permission granted to establish of first Chickasaw Mission

  • 1821

    Rev. T.C. Stuart and group reached the Chickasaw nation

  • 1823

    Monroe Mission, named after President James Monroe, is organized into a church

  • 1830

    The Indian Removal Act of 1830

  • Oct 20, 1832

    The Treaty of Pontotoc Creek (October 20, 1832) ceded Chickasaw lands east of the Mississippi in exchange for land west of the Mississippi

  • 1833

    Land office opened and the sale of lands began.

  • 1837

    Treaty of Doaksville, when the Chickasaws agreed to occupy the westernmost district of the Choctaw nation in central Oklahoma

  • 1837

    Removal to Indian Territory begins

  • 1856

    Modern day Chickasaw Nation is created

  • 1861

    The Civil War erupted, the Chickasaw Nation was the first of the Five Civilized Tribes to become allies of the Confederate States of America

  • 1887

    The Dawes Act

  • 1889

    First Land Rush, 50,000 new settlers

  • 1893

    President Grover Cleveland appoints Senator Henry L. Dawes, to negotiate land with the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminole tribes. The Dawes Rolls, or the Final Rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes, entitled an allotment of land to tribe members, in return for abolishing their governments and recognizing Federal laws

  • 1934

    The individual allotment policy of the Dawes Act was terminated by the Indian Reorganization Act

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