ceek Indian Chief William McIntosh (c. 1790-1825) was best 
remembered for signing the Treaty of Indian Springs on February 
12, 1825, in which he and several other chiefs gave up large tracts of 
theie ancestral lands to the state of Georgia. In 1802, Georgia agreed 
to cede its western property to the United States, while the federal 
government proceeded gradually to "extinguish" Indian title to all 
the lands within the area. The settlers became increasingly impatient 
to claim the lands as their own, while Creek Indians watched 
anxiously as their territories diminished around them. In 1811, at 
the  Broken Arrow Council, a tribal law was enacted forbidding 
Indians to sell any more of the Creek nation's lands, under penalty of 
death. In May of 1825, an "execution" squad headed by Menawa 
found, shot, and killed McIntosh and two other chiefs for breaking 
the pact at Indian Springs, even though McIntosh had been 
promising protection by the state of Georgia.