On October 25, 1805, the Treaty of Tellico ceded from the Cherokee Indians to the United States possession of 7,032 square miles of land in Tennessee and 1,086 square miles of land sought of the Cumberland River in what is now Bell, Whitley and McCreary Counties in Kentucky. As payment, the Cherokee received $14,000 in cash and goods and an annuity of $3,000. (Source: Clark, Dr. Thomas D., The Kentucky Encyclopedia, "Tellico Land Cessions.")
Procedures for patenting land acquired by the Treaty were established by an Act of the General Assembly in 1810. The patent process was amended in 1811.