细节
PICKERING, Timothy. Autograph letter signed ("T. Pickering"), as Secretary of State, to [James McHenry], Department of State, 8 July 1796. 1½ pages, 4to, small acidic ink hole repaired catching one "s", remnants of tipping on left edge of verso.
FIXING THE CHEROKEE BOUNDARY AND BUILDING AMERICA'S FIRST NAVAL FORCE
Pickering passes on two concerns of President George Washington to the new War Secretary James McHenry: "The President, in two letters I have received this week, mentions these points for consideration. 1. 'How soon & in what manner' the Cherokee boundary can and ought to be run & marked, agreeably to the treaty of Holston. 2. What can be done relative to the appointment of an Indian agent (superintendent) in the room of Governor Blount; and the agents for carrying on the Indian trade. He will expect a report as soon as our opinions are formed." Turning to naval affairs, Pickering says: "I have conversed with Mr. [Oliver] Wolcott: We are both of opinion that the first step towards building the frigate, is to send Mr. Fox to the different Navy yards, to take an account of the timber, and to converse with the principal builders, to see on what terms & within what time they will, any of them, undertake to have her completed. We think it ineligible and fruitless to advertise for a contract..."
Washington seeks to stabilize America's western frontiers with the Cherokees, while preparing for a possible naval war with the revolutionary France. The 1791 Treaty of Holton declared friendship between the American government and the Cherokee in eastern Tennessee, but it did not define a boundary. Josiah Fox (1763-1847) was an English-born naval architect who learned his craft at the Portsmouth ship yards. He came over to America in 1793 to study timber samples and American naval techniques. Naval officers, recognizing his great talents, hired him as a draftsman and he spent the remainder of his life in the United States. Eventually, Adams made Fox the chief builder for the ill-fated Chesapeake. Provenance: Frank T. Siebert Library of the North American Indian and the American Frontier, sale Sotheby's, 21 May 1999, lot 321.
FIXING THE CHEROKEE BOUNDARY AND BUILDING AMERICA'S FIRST NAVAL FORCE
Pickering passes on two concerns of President George Washington to the new War Secretary James McHenry: "The President, in two letters I have received this week, mentions these points for consideration. 1. 'How soon & in what manner' the Cherokee boundary can and ought to be run & marked, agreeably to the treaty of Holston. 2. What can be done relative to the appointment of an Indian agent (superintendent) in the room of Governor Blount; and the agents for carrying on the Indian trade. He will expect a report as soon as our opinions are formed." Turning to naval affairs, Pickering says: "I have conversed with Mr. [Oliver] Wolcott: We are both of opinion that the first step towards building the frigate, is to send Mr. Fox to the different Navy yards, to take an account of the timber, and to converse with the principal builders, to see on what terms & within what time they will, any of them, undertake to have her completed. We think it ineligible and fruitless to advertise for a contract..."
Washington seeks to stabilize America's western frontiers with the Cherokees, while preparing for a possible naval war with the revolutionary France. The 1791 Treaty of Holton declared friendship between the American government and the Cherokee in eastern Tennessee, but it did not define a boundary. Josiah Fox (1763-1847) was an English-born naval architect who learned his craft at the Portsmouth ship yards. He came over to America in 1793 to study timber samples and American naval techniques. Naval officers, recognizing his great talents, hired him as a draftsman and he spent the remainder of his life in the United States. Eventually, Adams made Fox the chief builder for the ill-fated Chesapeake. Provenance: Frank T. Siebert Library of the North American Indian and the American Frontier, sale Sotheby's, 21 May 1999, lot 321.