In the summer of 1790, twenty-six Creek leaders led by Alexander McGillivray traveled to New York and signed a treaty on behalf of the "Upper, Middle, and Lower Creek and Semanolies composing the Creek nation of Indians." Creek leaders ceded a significant portion of their hunting grounds to the United States and agreed to turn runaway slaves over to federal authorities, although the Creek leaders averred that convincing the Creek people to honor the new boundary lines or to return African Americans would be difficult at best. The United States granted the Creeks the right to punish non-Indian trespassers in their territory but refused to allow the Creeks to punish non-Indians who committed crimes on Creek lands. For their part, the Creeks agreed to turn over Creek people accused of crimes to the U.S. courts. In a secret side agreement to the treaty, McGillivray received a commission as a brigadier in the U.S. Army and was granted permission to import goods through the Spanish port of Pensacola without paying American duties.
