Treaty of New York (1790)

Informed of European legal customs by his Scottish father, McGillivray provided his formal signature on behalf of the Creek delegation.

[1]: 196  Creek leaders ceded a significant portion of their hunting grounds, including land stretching to the Oconee River, to the United States and agreed to turn fugitive American slaves over to federal authorities, but Muscogee leaders averred that convincing their people to honor the new boundary lines and return enslaved African-Americans would be difficult at best.

In a secret side agreement, McGillivray was also granted a commission as a brigadier in the United States Army, with an annual salary of $1,500.

[1]: 80 [2]: 256–257 [3]: 207–208 McGillivray was granted permission to import goods through the Spanish port of Pensacola without paying American duties.

[further explanation needed] Historian Joseph J. Ellis says Washington hoped to stop the (de facto genocidal) removal of Native American populations from U.S. territory, and envisioned Indian nations would some day be admitted to the American union as U.S. states.