The estimates of the numbers are very numerous and very conflicting.

After carefully consulting all accessible authorities, I have come to the conclusion that the above is probably pretty near the truth.

It is the deliberate, official opinion of four trained experts, who had ample opportunities for investigation, and who examined the matter with care.

But it is very possible that in allotting the several tribes their numbers they err now and then, as the boundaries between the tribes shifted continually, and there were always large communities of renegades, such as the Chickamaugas, who were drawn from the ranks of all.
2.

This is one of the main reasons why the estimates of their numbers vary so hopelessly.