Indian removals in Indiana

Indian removals in Indiana began in in the early 1830s and was mostly completed by 1846. The removals were preceded by several treaties, beginning in 1795, that gradually purchased most of the state from various tribes. The removals were part of a larger nationwide Indian Removal Act passed by the United States Congress and being carried out by the administration of United States President Andrew Jackson. By the time the removals began to occur, most of the tribes, like the Shawnee and the Wea, had left the state voluntarily, migrating into Canada and Missouri. The only significant tribes remaining were the Miami and the Pottawatomie, both of which were already confined to reservation from previously signed treaties.

The largest tribe in the state, the Miami Tribe, was the last to be removed, although many in the tribe were permitted to remain on lands they owned privately, and guaranteed to them under the Treaty of St. Mary's. The terms of the treaties were considered generous at the time, and all Indians except the village of 859 Pottawatomie, led by Chief Menominee, voluntarily left the state. The tribe of Chief Menominee were forcibly removed in the 1838 Potawatomi Trail of Death, were at least forty member of the tribe died. The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians were the only other Indians left in the state after the end of the removals.

Early treaties

Background

The Algonquin Tribes that had previously lived in Indiana returned to the area near close of the Beaver Wars after their confederacy gained the upper hand in the war with the Iroquois. By 1701, when the Great Peace of Montreal was established, most of the tribes had returned. The Miami were dominant in the region, but the Shawnee and Pottawatomie both had a significant presence in northern and western Indiana.

When the Indiana Territory was established in 1800, there were two American settlements in what would become modern Indiana—Vincennes and Clark's Grant—both were on the southern periphery of the state, and early settlement was confined to those areas; most of the state was still owned by native tribes, except for a small section taken by the Treaty of Greenville and the conclusion Northwest Indian War. The Miami Tribe was the largest tribe in Indiana and claimed ownership of the entire state, but they where mostly settled in the central and northern part of Indiana, and also held a large part of north-west Ohio. The Pottawatomie were centered in modern Michigan, but had several settlements in northern Indiana. The Shawnee were permitted to settle in west-central Indiana by the Miami at the end of the French and Indian Wars, when they drove out Ohio by the Iroquois. Other minor tribes Algonquin tribes, including the Wea, Lenape, Piankeshaw, and the Kickapoo, were scattered across the state. It was because much of the state belonged to the tribes that it was named "Indiana Territory".

Treaties with Harrison

When William Henry Harrison was appointed governor of the territory in 1800, he initially had no power to negotiate with the tribes. In 1803, he was granted authority to conduct negotiations with the tribes to open up new land for settlement, primarily to settle the American claim to the Vincennes tract. [cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wh9.html| title= William Henry Harrison Biography|publiher= whitehouse.gov|accessdate=2008-06-19] The Vincennes Tract and Clark's Grant, where the only parts of the state that where open to settlement during the early years of the territory. The Vincennes Tract had been purchased by the French from the natives in the mid-18th century and transferred to Great Britain after the French and Indian War, and finally to the Americans at the end of the American Revolution. Clark's Grant was awarded to George Rogers Clark for his part in the American Revolution, and was held by right of conquest. Harrison's first treaty in 1803, the Treaty of Vincennes, was to get the Wea and the Miami to recognize American ownership of the tract. cite web|url=http://www.surveyhistory.org/greenville_&_grouseland_treaty_lines1.htm|title= Greenville and Grouseland Treaty Lines|publisher=surveryhistory.org|accessdate=2008-09-08]

[
Vincennes in 1810, Tecumseh threatens William Henry Harrison when he refuses to rescind the Treaty of Fort Wayne.]

The first significant treaty to expand the area open for settlement, was negotiated in 1805 at Harrison's home in Vincennes. The Treaty of Grouseland purchased all the land in southern Indiana south of the Grouseland Line. The line stared at the north-eastern corner of the Vincennes Tract and passed east north-east to Greenville Treaty Line. Settlers, like Squire Boone, moved quickly into the new land, establishing new towns like Corydon—the future capitol—in 1808, and Madison in 1809.

The next major treaty was the 1809 Treaty of Fort Wayne, in which Harrison purchased 3 million acres (12,000 km²) of land from the Miami. [Including land in Illinois and Indiana.] The Shawnee were not included in the negotiations, and the western tract of land the Miami sold was inhabited by the Shawnee. [The Miami claimed most of Indiana and claimed that the other tribes lived there only by the permission of the Miami.] The Shawnee tribe was angered by the treaty, and because Harrison refused to rescind, it became a direct cause of Tecumseh's War. Harrison's victory in the conflict led to the enforcement of the terms of the treaty. In total, Harrison concluded thirteen treaties purchasing land across the Northwest, purchasing more than 2.5 million acres (10,000 km²), of land in Indiana. [Owen, pp 65, 66, 79, 80, 92] [Funk, p. 167] With a third of Indiana open to settlement, there was no pressing need to expand American control again until after Indiana gained statehood.

On August 30, 1815, after the War of 1812, Thomas Posey negotiated a treaty with the ten chiefs of the Kickapoo. The tribe had become unhappy with settlers who were squatting on their land, and Posey hoped to avoid any escalation. He purchased all their land in Indiana, which was most of present day Vermillion County for blankets, weapons, hatchets, and trinkets totaling $3,000 in value, and an annual annuity of $2,000 in silver for ten years. The treaty was no recognized by the Miami, who claimed the Kickapoo's land, but settlement continued in the area. [cite book|title=Terre Haute|author= McCormick, Mike| pages= 20|year=2005| publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=0738524069|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=EaOr8to39F0C]

Treaties after statehood

In 1818 Jonathan Jennings, the first Governor of Indiana, negotiated the Treaty of St. Mary's with the tribes of central Indiana. The treaty was negotiated successfully, purchasing all the land south of the Wabash River except for a reservation for the Miami between the Eel River and the Salamanie River. The method by which the lands were assigned privately to members of the tribe would later protect the Miami in that reservation from Indian removals. The Miami were in good standing with the state because they had remained loyal during the War of 1812, and had opposed Tecumseh. The Wea, who inhabited the area around modern Lafayette, were given compensation for their land and the tribe left Indiana for the west. [Treaty of St Mary's Article 3] The treaty also purchased a narrow tract of land through the Pottawatomie lands for the construction of the Michigan Road. [Dunn, p. 387] In the Treaty the Miami also recognized the validity of an earlier treaty with the Kickapoo, leading to the Kickapoo tribe also leaving the state for the west. [St Mary's Treaty, Article 5]

The Treaty of Chicago was negotiated between the Michigan Pottawatomie tribe and the US government opened up a narrow tract of land north of the southern tip of Lake Michigan, and as far west as South Bend. [cite web|url=http://www.kansasheritage.org/PBP/books/treaties/t_1821.html|title= Text of 1821 Treaty|publisher=Kansas Heritage.org|accessdate=2008-09-08] The 1826 Treaty of Mississinwas with the Miami and Pottawatomie most of what remained of the Miami reservation in north-western Indiana and north-eastern Ohio, and confined the Miami to their reservation along the Wabash River they obtained through the Treaty of St. Mary's, and opening up land in Kansas and Missouri for the tribe to move to. The 1832 Treaty of Tippecanoe purchased north-eastern Indiana, leading to most of the minor tribes still remaining in Indiana to leave the state. More land was opened to them in Kansas and Missouri, but some of the tribes went even further north and west. The treaty also cut Pottawatomie holdings to a tract of land along the Yellow River.

Removals

Pottawatomie

In 1830 the Indian Removal Act was passed by the United States Congress. Although, in theory, the removals were supposed to voluntary, considerable pressure was put on tribal leaders to accept relocation agreements. Congress empowered President Andrew Jackson to offer any native tribes in existing states land on the west side of the Mississippi River in exchange for their territory. [cite web|url=http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Indian.html|title=Indian Removal Act|publisher=Library of Congress|accessdate=2008-09-08] The tribes in Indiana had maintained peaceful relations with the Americans for a generation and were offered what was considered at the time to be generous compensation for their lands, although the agreements were always entirely honored by the government. Most of the tribes had already left the state by 1835.

Miami

In 1836 the Treaty of Yellow River was negotiated with the Pottawatomie, with the goal of purchasing all their remaining lands in Indiana. The tribe was offered $1 per acre for their land and a 320 acre parcel of land for each member of the tribe in Kansas, in addition to other guarantees. The treaty was overwhelming approved and most of the tribe moved to Kansas, where they remained until modern times. The village near Twin Lakes, led by Chief Menominee, refused to take part in the negotiations and did not recognize the treaty's authority over his band. The whole tribe was required to vacate their land by 1838, but Menominee refused. In September of 1838, Governor David Wallace authorized General John Tipton to remove the tribe in what became known as the Potawatomi Trail of Death. The group of 859 Pottawatomie were force marched to Kansas, killing at least 40. [Funk, pp. 45–46]

Later treaties led to most of the remaining Miami leaving the state, all in exchange for compensation and tracts of land in the west. In the 1840 Treaty of the Wabash, two thirds of the Miami Reservation was sold, but much of the tribe was permitted to remain on the land as private landholders under the terms of the Treaty of St. Mary's. The remaining part of the reservation was sold in 1846 under a similar agreement. [Funk, pp. 15–16] In all, about half of the Miami left Indiana in exchange for compensation and land in the west.

References

Sources

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See also

* History of Indiana
* Trail of Death

External links