In 1904 the Eastern Cherokees won large cash settlements from the United States because of violations of the treaties of 1835-36 and 1845. Over a million dollars was appropriated by Congress to settle the claims. The payments were to go to all living persons who had been members of the Eastern Cherokee tribe at the time of the treaty, or to their descendants if they were deceased. Over 46,000 people filed claims.This series of volumes presents detailed abstracts of those applications including numerous verbatim transcriptions of affidavits by the applicants, their families and friends. Since most of the applicants were descendants, rather than original tribe members, and had to prove their descent, the quantity of genealogical information in these volumes is staggering.About nine-tenths of the applicants lived west of the Mississippi in the early 1900s when they made their applications, with the balance living predominantly in the southeast. Although the applicants had to have Indian ancestry, the majority were nominally white; a significant number of blacks are also included. There is a complete name index.