Note: The Qualla Boundary was formed through lands purchased by William Holland Thomas, a Euro-American Cherokee leader, on behalf of Cherokees who resisted Removal in the 1830s. The land was formally recognized by the U.S. government in 1866 and in the 1870s, was surveyed and mapped as land existing outside of federal and state control. Because the land was directly purchased, the Qualla Boundary is not part of the reservation system.
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