By 1830, the Cherokee Nation had been reduced to the current northwest corner of Georgia (see map), plus adjoining areas in Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Even while Cherokee Indians remained on their homeland in Georgia, the General Assembly on Dec. 21, 1830 enacted legislation claiming "all the Territory within the limits of Georgia, and now in the occupancy of the Cherokee tribe of Indians; and all other unlocated lands within the limits of this State, claimed as Creek land" (Ga. Laws 1830, p. 127). The reason for the state of Georgia claiming the Cherokee ancestral lands for their own, was the discovery of gold in 1829.  In the summer of 1829, Habersham county began to attract much attention with the announcement that gold had been discovered in that area.  Lying on the Georgia / Cherokee Nation boundry, it wasn't long until prospectors from all over the southeast began to intrude into the Cherokee nation and found gold in large quantities.  This actually helped fuel the nation's first gold rush. 

By the winter of 1829, several thousand gold prospectors had crossed into the Nation.  Initial attempts by the United States Army and later the Georgia militia failed to stop the rising tide of white intruders.  By 1830, Governor George Gilmer initiated legislation to take possession of the Cherokee Nation despite the protests of the native inhabitants.  The act provided for surveying the Cherokee lands in Georgia; dividing them into sections, districts, and land lots; and authorizing a lottery to distribute the land.  On Dec. 26, 1831, the legislature designated all land in Georgia that lay west of the Chattahoochee River and north of Carroll County as "Cherokee County" (see map) and provided for its organization (Ga. Laws 1831, p. 74). However, the new county was not able to function as a county because of its size and the fact that Cherokee Indians still occupied portions of the land. On Dec. 3, 1832, the legislature added areas of Habersham and Hall counties to Cherokee County, and then divided the entire area into nine new counties -- Cass (later renamed Bartow), Cobb, Floyd, Forsyth, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Murray, Paulding, and Union -- plus a reconstituted and much smaller Cherokee County.

Georgia's 82nd county was named for Georgia governor Wilson Lumpkin, who held office at the time of the county's creation. Formerly U.S. representative and later elected U.S. senator, Lumpkin was active in all three roles in seeking removal of Georgia's Cherokee Indians.