Based on the date, it seems most likely that his crime was signing the Treaty of New Echota. The penalty was death for selling Cherokee land -- called the Blood Law. If Taylor signed the treaty, which he likely did, then he would have been marked for assassination as were the other signers. The assassination of the treaty signers sparked the so-called Cherokee Civil War that lasted into the 1840s. I would have expected Taylor would have moved west before 1838 since the Ridges, Boudinot, and Watie moved soon after signing the treaty in 1835. As you can tell, the above is conjecture based on the time period. By the way, I believe all these men -- John Ridge, Major Ridge, Elias Boudinot, and Stand Watie -- were Masons as was Chief John Ross and others. My friend Patrick Menges has studied the Masons and included much about it in this Doctorial Thesis about the Cherokee and the American Civil War.

Ken