Did the US government pay the Cherokee for their lands in Georgia?

Question

According to the Treaty of New Echota, ratified by the US Senate in 1836, the US government was supposed to pay the Cherokee Nation $5 million for their lands in and around Georgia. In exchange, the Cherokee would leave that region and settle across the Mississippi. **Did the government actually pay the $5 million?**

Answer 1

Yes, it was paid to some degree. It was paid slowly due to bureaucratic sloth (possibly intentional), and were diverted in some cases by government agents and tribal leaders. Payment vouchers were issued, and ledgers were kept of these disbursements; however, these records are often incomplete and probably inaccurate.