Treaty of New Echota is signed between the US government and representatives of a minority Cherokee political faction, c

John Ross was the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1828 to 1866; he served longer in that position than any other person. Ross led the nation through such tumultuous events as forced removal to Indian Territory and the American Civil War. Ross was of Native and European American descent. His father was a European man from Highland, Scotland. His mother was a Native American woman from the Cherokee Nation.

Ross's parents sent him for formal schooling to institutions that served other bicultural Cherokee people. At the age of twenty, Ross was appointed as a US Indian agent in 1811. During the War of 1812, he served as adjutant of a Cherokee regiment under the command of European American general, Andrew Jackson.