USA > Louisiana > The province and the states, a history of the province of Louisiana under France and Spain, and of the territories and states of the United States formed therefrom, Vol. I > Part 44
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In an open letter, dated January 9, 1809, Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Cherokees, granting permission for such of them as desired to do so to remove to the Arkansas river in what is now Indian territory. Ere long small bands of Cherokees, Chicka- saws, Choctaws and other tribes accepted the offer and went West. In 1808 the Cherokees of the lower towns signified their willingness to make the exchange proposed, but the upper towns refused. It was not until 1817 that many of the Cherokees form- ally made the exchange, and were given a large tract between the Arkansas and White rivers. In tinie the other tribes followed their example, but it was many years before the last of them were removed. It was at first the policy of the government to let them take their time, when nothing was to be gained by pre- cipitancy. In 1816 the western lines of Missouri and Arkansas territories, as they were first established, were run, beyond which the soil was reserved for the Indians.
The proclamation of the king of Great Britain in October, 1763, prohibited the whites from settling on the Indian lands. This policy was continued by the United States after the Revolu- tion, but circumstances soon demanded a change. The frontier line was too ragged and irregular. Isolated settlements far in the Indian country, and Indian reservations far east of the frontier, afforded the occasion for constant tumult between the two races. The first step was to remove all of the Indians west "of the Mississippi, and to restrain the western movements of the whites. The law of 1804 authorized an exchange of western land owned by the government for eastern land occupied by the Indians; but did not provide for the expense of concluding such .exchanges. To meet this want, the following resolution, intro- duced in the United States senate in December, 1816, became a law: "Resolved, That an appropriation be made by law to authorize the President of the United States to negotiate treaties with the Indian tribes, which treaties shall have for their object an exchange of territory owned by any tribe residing east of the Mississippi for other lands west of that river." Many treaties
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for the removal of the Indians soon succeeded the passage of this law.
The annual general account of debits and credits for the fiscal year ending April 1, 1812, at the government trading posts west of the Mississippi, showed the following result: Des Moines trading-house, debits $33,826, credits $38,112; Osage, debits $35,546, credits $37,476; Natchitoches, debits $35,669; credits $32,035. During the fiscal year ending March 31, 1815, the Des Moines trading-house produced 22,621 pounds of lead. On March 31, 1815, there was on hand at the Osage factory $9,806 worth of merchandise; at the Natchitoches factory $5,386 worth, and at the Des Moines factory $12,301 worth. The Natchitoches factory had on hand furs and peltries worth $8,265. The factor at Fort Osage was George C. Sibley, at Des Moines, John Johnson, and at Natchitoches, Thomas M. Linnard. In 1812 the factory buildings at Fort Madison were burned by the Indians, entailing a loss of sixty packs of peltries valued at $1,800," one hundred and twenty bear skins worth $129, and the buildings which had cost $3,321. The trading-house at Arkansas was either very small, or not conducted at all, before and during the War of 1812. The factor there received for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1815, $2,058 for furs, peltries, etc., sold by him. In a statement made March 31, 1815, it was shown that from 18t1 to 1815 the Des Moines trading-house had gained $12,739, the Osage, $14,282, and the Natchitoches, $12,003, while every house east of the Mississippi, except the one at Chickasaw Bluffs, had lost. In 1814 Gov. William Clark, in order to counteract British influence with the tribes of Missouri river Indians, distributed among them presents valued at $11,847 .*
In establishing the factory system, the government thought to monopolize traffic with the Indians; but almost from the start, private traders, both American and British, managed to gain the bulk of the trade. This they easily accomplished by going among the Indians with the goods, just as commercial men of the present day go with samples to their customers. The private traders extended large credit to trustworthy Indians, and saved them the trouble of a long journey to the government trading-houses. So individual traders became rich, while those of the government barely held their own. "In the event of the abolition of the fac- tories, the first inquiry that naturally presents itself is, What is to be substituted in place of them? To obtain all these
* American State Papers: Indian Affairs: Vol. 11.
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furs (of the Upper Missouri and Upper Mississippi rivers and their branches), the government ought to establish at St. Louis a store with a capital of about one hundred thousand dollars, which ought to be augmented according to the augmentation of the trade. That store ought to be furnished with all kinds of goods suited to the Indian trade, well assorted in quality and quantity, and the articles in proportion to the sum. These goods ouglit to be selected on the notes of a man who under- stands perfectly well the Indian trade, and who should also know exactly what suits every nation in particular. That store, so established, could equip (without exclusive privilege) for the present about twenty-five or thirty traders for the Missouri, Mis- sissippi and all the rivers that empty in these two. But to enable those traders, so equipped, to enter into competition with the British traders, the government ought, as much as possible, to sell these goods at a very moderate advance, and take their furs and peltries at a reasonable price. By these means the govern- ment would employ its capital to the advantage of its citizens, to the annoyance of British traders; and I am bold to say, it is the only means to destroy the British trade; besides which, our two territories would be greatly benefited thereby. Twenty-five or thirty traders would employ about two hundred men. . I dare give here my decided opinion, which is founded on premises that I believe just, that a company well conducted, which should have the Indian trade (not exclusively) from Cedar Island, above the Poncas, to all the forks of the Missouri, could bring down annually (once well established) from that extent of country, a considerable sum in furs and pelts, which could be estimated at more than two hundred thousand dollars. This sum will appear exaggerated, but I found my opinion on the returns of the Northwest Company of Canada, which, though not well known, on "account of the profound silence they have kept on this subject, have been thought, through the observations of knowing men, to be at least two hundred thousand pounds sterling; and this sum is principally got by the trade car- ried on with those tribes of Indians that reside in the neighbor- hood of the branches on the left side of the Missouri."*
In 1815 the following special agents were employed west of the Mississippi by the government: Peter Chouteau among the Osages; Nicholas Boilvin among the tribes on the Mississippi
* From letter of Gov Ninian Ed vards. datedlat Kaskaskia. Illinois Territory, No- vember, 1815, and addressed to Hon. William H. Crawford, Secretary of War Washington, D. C.
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above the Illinois, Manuel Lisa among the Missouri river tribes above the Kansas, "lias been of great service in preventing British influence the last year by sending large parties to war ;"* Maurice Blondeau among the Sacs and Foxes; Peter Menard among the Shawanese, Delawares, Peorias and Piankeshaws on the Missis- sippi below St. Louis; William Lovely among the Cherokees on the Arkansas; Auguste P. Chouteau special agent among the Osages ; and Judge Bullet sub-agent on the Arkansas. The fol- lowing interpreters were employed by the year: Samuel Solo- mon, Hypolite Bolon, John A. Cameron (Sioux), Lewis Dorion (Iowas and Sacs), Paul Louis (Osages), Noel Mograine (Osages).
In 1815 the Quapaws were on the Mississippi; the Cherokees (many of themi) in what is now Indian territory; the Pianke- shaws on St. Francis river ; the Shawanese near Cape Girardeau; the Delawares on White and Meramec rivers ; the Peorias on St. Francis river ; the Osages on the Osage and Arkansas rivers ; the Kansas on the Missouri and Kansas rivers; the Iowas on the Missouri and Grand rivers ; the Otoes on the Missouri and Platte rivers; the Pawnees on the Missouri and Platte rivers; the Omalas, Poncas, Chehaws and Arickarees on the Missouri; the Sioux on both sides of the Missouri in the present Dakotas; and the Sacs and Foxes on both sides of the Missouri near the present Sioux City, Iowa.
On August 24, 1818, an important treaty with the Arkansas tribe was concluded, by which the United States obtained all of their lands west of the Mississippi, except a reservation in the southeast part of Arkansas territory. In September, 1818, a large cession in what is now Indian territory was obtained. from the Osages. From time to time, treaties of peace were held with all the western tribes adjacent to the whites. In 1818 the gov- ernment, by withholding merchandise, ammunition and annuities, forced a peace between the Osages on one side and the Delawares, Shawanese and Cherokees on the other. A bloody war had been waged between those tribes; and it was afterward renewed in violation of the treaty.
In 1817, during this war, a large body of Cherokees, Dela- wares, Shawanese and Quapaws, numbering in all about six hun- dred men, among whom, it is claimed, were eleven Americans, entered the territory of the Osages under pretenses of peace, but with the intention of cutting off Clermont's band on the Verdigris
* American State Papers: Indian Affairs.
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and slaughtering every person therein. Clermont happened to be away with a large hunting party, but the next chief was called out and promptly butchered. This large force then fell upon the village and slaughtered men, women and children indis- criminately, amid scenes of barbarity and cruelty rarely wit- nessed. They wound up this atrocious act by destroying all the growing corn and vegetables and burning the village. Many were taken prisoners, to be subjected to slavery or burned at the stake. The Osages retaliated as soon as possible by killing three Cherokee hunters whom they captured and by committing other acts of carnage.
In 1818 Benjamin O'Fallon was sent to Council Bluffs as agent among the Pawnees, of which proceeding a full account will be found elsewhere in this volume. During the same year, at the suggestion of the Shawanese and Delawares ncar Cape Girardeau, steps were taken to exchange a tract farther west for their lands on the Mississippi, but a long delay occurred. White sctflers persisted in crossing the river and locating on their lands in spite of the vigilance of the government agents. In 1819 the Kicka- poos exchanged their eastern lands for a tract in the present Kansas. By this time schools had been started among the tribes in the present Indian territory. In 1820 the Choctaws ceded a large tract on the left bank of the Mississippi at the mouth of the Arkansas in exchange for one of equal extent in the present Indian territory. In this year, also, the Omahas ceded a tract fifteen miles square at Council Bluffs. The Weas, upon crossing the river, were at first placed among the Shawanese and Dela- wares near Cape Girardeau. From this time for many years there was a steady exodus to the west side. By reason of the fact that the government had established the factories under treaty agreements, it became necessary to secure the consent of the Indians to their abandonment before the system could be abolished. This consent was secured from 1820 to 1824 by special treaties.
In 1824 Edward W. Duval was agent among the Cherokees on the Arkansas ; George Gray, among the Caddoes at Sulphur Fork near Natchitoches ; Benjamin O'Fallon, among the Pawnees and others at Council Bluffs; Richard Graham, a general agent at St. Louis; Lawrence Taliafero, among the Sioux on Minnesota river; Thomas Forsyth, among the Sacs and Foxes at Fort Arm- strong, Rock Island; and Nicholas Boilvin, among the Winne- bagoes and others at Prairie du Chien.
In 1824 the Iowas and the Sacs and Foxes ceded all their claims to land in northern Missouri, and the Arkansas ceded their large
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reserve in southeast Arkansas. It was designed to incorporate the Quapaws with the Caddoes. In 1825 several other small tribes gave their consent to removal to the west side. In 1819-20 the trouble over the boundary between Arkansas and the Indian domain to the west occurred. In 1825 the Creeks ceded a large tract east of the Mississippi and were given acre for acre in the present Indian territory. From 1824 to 1826 many treaties for the purpose of definitely fixing the boundaries between the west- ern tribes were held by the commissioners of the government. In 1825 other large cessions were obtained from the Osages and the Kansas. About 1815 the Delawares abandoned their land in southeast Missouri, and went farther west of their own accord. In 1825 the Shawanese were assigned to a tract fifty by one hun- dred miles in the present Indian territory. In this year treaties of limits were held with the Poncas, Tetons, Yanctons, Yancton- ites, Siounes, Ogallalas, Cheyennes, Hunkpapas, Arickarees, Mandans, Minnetarees, Missouris, Otoes, Pawnees, Omahas; and others by Major O'Fallon and General Atkinson.
An important treaty with the Assiniboines was concluded in September, 1825, by Peter Wilson ; but as he had no authority to make it, his act was disavowed by the government authorities, though one substantially the same was concluded later. The Quappas, or Quapaws, reached the Caddoe reserve on Red river in March, 1826, but were later removed. Owing to continued hostilities, a second treaty of peace between the Osages on one side and the Shawanese, Delawares, Piankeshaws, Peorias, Weas, Senecas, and Kickapoos on the other, was found necessary to be made in October, 1826. Another important treaty was one held for the purpose of cementing peace between the Sioux and their neighbors: First, between the Sioux and the Chippewas; sec- ond, between the Sioux and the confederated Sacs and Foxes; third, between the Sioux and the Iowas, all concluded at Prairie du Chien in August, 1825. War between the Sioux and the Chippewas had continued almost uninterruptedly from time im- memorial; the government agents, therefore, regarded this to be one of the most important of the early treaties. By the treaty, the Jowas and the Sacs and Foxes were confined south of a line extending across the present Iowa approximately on the parallel of the Upper Iowa river and the Sioux north of such parallel. The boundary between the Sioux and the Chippewas extended across the present Minnesota a short distance north of St. Paul, except that it passed up the divide between the basins of the Mis- sissippi and the Red river of the Northi.
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In 1825 the Otoes resided on the Platte twenty-five miles west of the Missouri, and consisted of about fourteen hundred persons, of whom about two hundred and seventy-five were warriors. The Grand Pawnees and Pawnee Loups resided on the Platte about . one hundred and thirty miles west of the Missouri. The Pawnee Republics lived on the Republican fork of Kansas river.
The Grand Pawnees embraced about five thousand five hundred per- sons ; the Pawnee Loups, about three thousand five hundred ; and the Pawnee Republics, about twelve hundred and fifty persons. The three tribes could muster about two thousand warriors. The. Mahas, or Omahas, lived on Elk Horn river, about eighty miles northwest of Council Bluffs, and embraced about two thousand seven hundred and fifty persons. The Poncas, or Poncars, lived at the mouth of White Paint creek on the Missouri, about three hundred miles by water from Council Bluffs. They consisted of about one thousand people. The Yanctons had no fixed habita- tion, but wandered over the country north of the Missouri and on the Big Sioux. They numbered about three thousand persons. The Yanctonites were without settled habitation and roamed over the territory on the Upper Jacques and St. Peter's. They con- sisted of about four thousand persons. The Tetons roamed over the territory south of the great bend of the Missouri, and as far west as the Black Hills. Their general rendezvous was near the Missouri ; they numbered about three thousand souls. The
Ogallalas occupied the country between the Teton river and the Black Hills. They rendezvoused at the mouth of the Teton, and numbered fifteen hundred persons. The Siounes occupied the country on both sides of the Missouri, between the Teton and the Cheyenne rivers, and embraced about four thousand souls. The Cheyennes, formerly on the Red river of the North, resided along the river Cheyenne from near its mouth to the Black Hills; they numbered about three thousand persons. Their principal rendezvous was near the Black Hills. The Hunkpapas, a branch of the Sioux, numbering about fifteen hundred souls, occupied the country between the Missouri and the headwaters of St. Peter's. The Arickarees, a branch of the Pawnees, had lived near the Mandans for about thirty years; they embraced about twenty-five hundred persons. 'The Mandans and Minnetarees lived together on Knife river on the Missouri at the mouth of Knife river. They numbered about three thousand people. Fearing the Assiniboines, they hunted mostly south of the Mis- souri. The Crows occupied the country between the Black Hills and the Rocky mountains, on the Big Horn and other southern
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branches of the Yellowstone; they numbered several thousand persons. The Kiowas and the Arapahoes occupied the country on the headwaters of the Arkansas and the Platte, and together numbered several thousand souls. The Blackfeet occupied the country between the great falls of the Missouri and the Rockies, and north beyond Maria's river into Canada. They numbered about five thousand warriors. The Assiniboines, a branch of the Sioux, roamed over the country north of the Missouri from Lake Traverse to Milk river. They often descended as far south as the Missouri to attack the Mandans and Minnetarees. They had about two thousand warriors, and were under the influence of Hudson's Bay Company .*
"The events of the last two or three wars, from General Wayne's campaign in 1794, to the end of the operations against the southern tribes in 1818, have entirely changed our position with regard to the Indians. Before those events, the tribes near- est our settlements were a formidable and terrible enemy ;" since then their power has been broken, their warlike spirit subdued, and themselves sunk into objects of pity and commiseration. While strong and hostile, it has been our obvious policy to weaken them ; now that they are weak and harmless, and most of their lands fallen into our hands, justice and humanity require us to cherish and befriend them. To teach them to live in houses, to raise grain and stock, to plant orchards, to set up land marks, to divide their possessions, to establish laws for their government, to get the rudiments of common learning, such as reading, writ- ing and ciphering, are the first steps toward improving their con- dition. But, to take these steps with effect, it is necessary that previous measures of great magnitude should be accomplished : that is, that the tribes now within the limits of the states and territories should be removed to a country beyond those limits, where they could rest in peace, and enjoy in reality the perpetuity of the lands on which their buildings and improvements would be mad'e. And the country west of Missouri and Arkansas, and west of the Mississippi river, north of Missouri, is the one destined to receive them. In this way a constant tide of Indian emigration is now going on from the States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois to the west of the Mississippi. They cross at St. Louis and St. Genevieve under my superintendency."+
"The great object to be accomplished is the removal of these
* Report of Gen. Henry Atkinson and Maj. Benjamin O'fallon to the War De- partment in November, 1825.
i William Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, March, 1826.
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tribes to the territory designated, on conditions which shall be satisfactory to themselves and honorable to the United States. This can be done only by conveying to each tribe a good title to an adequate portion of land, to which it may consent to remove ; and by providing for it there a system of internal government, which shall protect their property from invasion, and, by the regular progress of improvement and civilization, prevent that degeneracy which has generally marked the transition from the one to the other state."*
The military movements up the Mississippi and Missouri rivers in 1819 were conducted on a large scale and were later attended with important results. The barracks near Council Bluffs were built large enough to house one thousand soldiers. Several tlou- sand men were sent there, to be distributed to other posts to be established later on the Upper Missouri. A strong body of troops was sent to the mouth of St. Peter's river for the purpose of building a fort and of holding the Sioux in check. At this time various military roads, designed to unite the different posts, were projected. The government built Jefferson barracks in 1826, and the same year built an arsenal in St. Louis. Fort Madison, in the present Iowa, was begun as early as 1809 or 1810. Early in the decade of the twenties Cantonment Jesup, a short distance southwest of Natchitoches, Cantonment Gibson, at the mouth of the Neosho, and Cantonment Towson, near the mouth of the Kimishi, were built by the war department.
The fur traders, thrown in constant contact with the Indians, were the cause of many of the first encounters between the two races. The party under General Ashley, which was defeated and driven back by the Arickarees, no doubt through British influence, was re-enforced by Colonel Leavenworth, and the Indians were partly subdued. This was one of the first large campaigns against them in the Louisiana Purchase. To facilitate the movements of the troops, roads were projected between Natchitoches, Fort Towson, Fort Gibson, Fort Smith, Little Rock, Fort Leavenworth, Council Bluffs, Fort Des Moines, Fort Snelling, St. Louis and Prairie du Chien. More than one mill- ion pounds of lead ore were mined in Missouri in 1826.
In 'the autunm of 1827 a detachment of troops was sent from Jefferson barracks against the Winnebagoes along the Mis- sissippi. That tribe, still under British influence, had continued to commit many petty acts of hostility against the United States.
* Communication of James Monroe to the United States Senate, January, 18.25.
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The detacliment punished them severely, captured several of the leading hostiles, and restored tranquillity. In 1829 six companies, commanded by Major Riley, left Jefferson barracks to act as an escort for a large caravan of traders bound for Santa Fe. In the caravan were seventy-nine men and thirty-eight wagons laden with goods. They had several engagements with the Kan- sas tribes, but easily landed the traders in safety at their destina- tion.
From 1828 to 1832 important treaties concerning the removal of the Choctaws, Chickasaws, Cherokees and Creeks were con- cluded, and large numbers of those tribes were escorted to their homes in the west. Small scattered bands of Shawanese, Dela- wares, Kaskaskias, Peorias, and other tribes, were likewise removed.
Despite their treaty to the contrary, the Sacs and Foxes per- sistently refused to abandon their ancient home at the mouth of Rock river; indeed, many who had been removed to the west side returned, and began repeated and galling acts of hostility against tlie United States. They fell upon a band of friendly Menomonies near Fort Crawford, killed twenty-six of them and wounded many more. These various acts led to the Black Hawk war in 1832. An army under Generals Gaines and Atkinson was sent against them, and they were finally subdued and removed to the west side.
In 1834 the Arkansas legislature memorialized congress to remove the troops from Fort Gibson to Fort Smith. It was shown that, when the eastern boundary of Arkansas was removed forty miles farther to the west, the troops were moved from Fort Smith to Fort Gibson ; but when the line was brought back, the troops were not returned to Fort Smith, thus leaving that point exposed to Indian depredations. The prayer of the memorialists was granted.
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