The OHIO
HISTORICAL Quarterly
VOLUME 66 ?? NUMBER 2 ?? APRIL 1957
The Removal of the Wyandots from
Ohio
By CARL G. KLOPFENSTEIN *
The history of the removal of the
Woodland Indians of the
eastern half of the United States to
new homes in the West in
the 1830's and 1840's under the
auspices of the United States
government was a significant phase of
the westward movement
of the white man across the
continent--if only for the fact that it
was one solution employed in answering
the complex problems
involved in the clash between two
seemingly incompatible cultures.
Although the removal idea dated from
the time of the Louisiana
Purchase in 1803,1 the formulation of a
definite removal policy
did not emerge until the administration
of President James Monroe.
On January 25, 1825, President Monroe submitted to congress a
special message in which he proposed
"the removal of the Indian
tribes from the lands which they now
occupy within the limits of
the several States and Territories to
the country lying westward
and northward thereof, within our
acknowledged boundaries."2 In
* Carl G. Klopfenstein is professor of
history and chairman of the department of
history at Heidelberg College, Tiffin.
His article was read as a paper at a
meeting of the American Indian Ethnohistoric
Conference which was held in Columbus,
November 2-3, 1956, under the joint sponsor-
ship of Ohio State University and the
Ohio Historical Society.
1 The first direct and official proposal
for Indian removal appears as the central idea
in the rough draft of a constitutional
amendment drawn up by President Jefferson in
July 1803 to allay his qualms on the
constitutionality of the purchase of Louisiana.
Annie H. Abel, "The History of
Events Resulting in Indian Consolidation West of the
Mississippi," Annual Report of
the American Historical Association for 1906 (Wash-
ington, 1908), I, 241-242.
2 James D. Richardson, ed., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of
the
Presidents (Washington, 1896-99), II, 280-282.
120
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
exchange, the United States would give
each tribe a good title to
an adequate portion of land to which it
might consent to remove
and provide there a system of internal
government to protect the
property of the Indians and to prevent
their degeneracy by regular
progress of improvement and
civilization. Monroe further suggested
the appointment of commissioners to
explain to the several tribes
the goal of the government and to make
suitable arrangements
for their removal.
Congress did not act to implement the
policy during that session
or during the succeeding
administration. The war department,
charged with handling Indian affairs,
merely continued its policy of
encouraging the voluntary emigration of
Indians through its Indian
agents. With the advent of the Jackson
administration in 1829,
however, the Indian removal policy was
to become more positive,
albeit relentless. In his first annual
message to congress Jackson
urged legislation on this subject. On
May 28, 1830, congress, over
bitter opposition to it, passed a
removal act. It authorized the
president to have territory west of the
Mississippi divided into dis-
tricts suitable for exchange, to
negotiate such exchanges, and to aid
in the removal of Indians.3
In the execution of the removal act,
the Jacksonians made their
initial treaties in the northern states
with the Ohio tribes. The
remaining historic Indian tribes of
Ohio--the Ottawas, the
Shawnees, the so-called Senecas of
Lewistown and Sandusky, and
the Wyandots--were at this time
residing on certain clearly defined
reservations within the state granted
to them by the treaty of
Maumee Rapids of 1817 and the
supplementary treaty of St. Mary's
of 1818. The most influential and most
civilized of these tribes,
the Wyandots, were located on two
reserves: one of 147,840 acres
centered at Upper Sandusky, called the
"Grand Reserve," and the
other of 16,000 acres situated at the
Big Spring on the trace leading
from Upper Sandusky to Fort Findlay.
Under the act of 1830 the primary
negotiations with Ohio Indians
were with the Senecas of Sandusky. In
February 1831 a delegation
of chiefs from this band went to
Washington to negotiate the
3 United States Statutes at Large, IV, 411-412.
THE REMOVAL OF THE WYANDOTS 121
cession of their lands. The war
department appointed James B.
Gardiner, an Ohio politician seeking a
post in the Indian service, to
treat with the chiefs. On February 28,
1831, Gardiner concluded
a treaty with the Senecas by which the
latter ceded their reservation
in Ohio in exchange for an equivalent
tract in northeastern
Oklahoma and government assistance in
their removal.4
The successful conclusion of this
treaty, coupled with a desire
to make its views and policy known to
the other Ohio tribes, led
the war department to commission
Gardiner as a special agent. He
was to determine the disposition of the
Indians to cede their reserva-
tions and to emigrate west. If he found
them favorably inclined,
Gardiner was to negotiate treaties of
cession and removal.5 In
carrying out his mission, Gardiner,
assisted by John McElvain, the
Ohio Indian agent, negotiated such
treaties with the mixed band
of Senecas and Shawnees at Lewistown,
the Shawnees, and the
Ottawas on July 20, August 8, and
August 30, respectively.6
The special agent was not so successful
in his dealings with the
Wyandots. The Wyandot leaders were
reluctant even to discuss the
subject, though they did give some
indication of willingness to
consider his propositions providing the
government was willing
to defray the expense of sending a
delegation of chiefs to examine
the country designated for them in the
West. Since this demand
became a sine qua non of any
further discussions, Gardiner procured
the assent of the war department to it.7
This expedition, led by William Walker,
a quarter-blood and
influential member of the tribe, spent
over a month in its examina-
tion. When the delegation returned to
Upper Sandusky, it rendered
an unfavorable report, stating in
conclusion that it was "decidedly
of opinion that the interests of the
nation will not be promoted,
nor their condition ameliorated, by a
removal to the country
examined," and recommending to the
chiefs and the nation at
4 Ibid., VII, 348-350.
5 Secretary of War John H. Eaton to
Gardiner, March 29, 1831. Unless otherwise
noted, the official communications cited
hereafter are in the files of the office of
Indian affairs, known as Record Group
75, in the National Archives, Washington, D.C.
6 U. S. Stat. at Large, VII, 351-364.
7 Gardiner to Secretary of War Lewis
Cass, August 22, 1831; Samuel S. Hamilton
to Gardiner, September 5, 1831.
122
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
large "to cease all contention,
bickerings, and party strifes; settle
down & maintain their position in
the State of Ohio."8
This adverse account extinguished
Gardiner's hopes for the
cession of the "Grand
Reserve." In his disappointment Gardiner
labeled the report "an ingenious tissue of preconcerted
misrepre-
sentations," and alleged:
"The delegation never saw the country
which I had proferred to them in behalf
of the government! . . .
They were but six days, in all, on the
western line of the State of
Missouri, and ... occupied most of that
time in the sport of bear-
hunting, on horseback and with
dogs!"9
Seeking to salvage something from the
collapse of his negotiations
for the "Grand Reserve,"
Gardiner next treated with the separate
band of Wyandots residing on the Big
Spring reservation. He met
the leaders in council and succeeded in
negotiating a treaty with
them on January 19, 1832.10 For these
16,000 acres, lying in
Crawford, Hancock, and Seneca counties,
the United States was to
pay the Indians $1.25 per acre and a
fair equivalent for the im-
provements made thereon. Since these
Wyandots did not wish to
emigrate west, they were, as they
thought proper, to join their kin
either in Canada, or on the Huron River
in Michigan Territory, or
on the "Grand Reserve" at
Upper Sandusky. Following a controversy
over the matter with the chiefs at
Upper Sandusky, the Big Spring
chiefs reached an agreement with them,
approved by the war de-
partment, by which the Big Spring
Wyandots would remove to the
"Grand Reserve" and share
with their brethren there the proceeds
from the sale of the Big Spring
reserve.11 The resolution of this
problem marked the close of the
Gardiner negotiations with the
Wyandots.
Although the other Ohio tribes were to
emigrate to new homes
in the West during the 1830's under the
terms of their treaties
with the United States, the Wyandots
were to remain steadfast
in their possession of the "Grand
Reserve" at Upper Sandusky
8 This report may be found in J. Orin
Oliphant, ed., "The Report of the Wyandot
Exploring Delegation, 1831," Kansas
Historical Quarterly, XV (1947), 253-258.
9 Gardiner to Cass, January 28, 1832.
10 U. S. Stat. at Large, VII,
364-365.
11 Correspondence on the Subject of the
Emigration of Indians Between the 30th
November 1831, and 27th December 1833, Senate
Documents, 23 cong., 1 sess.,
Document No. 512, vol. 3, pp. 542-544.
THE REMOVAL OF THE WYANDOTS 123
and in their refusal to remove west.
Cognizant of a division within
the tribe on the subject of
removal--the so-called "Christian" party
was opposed to it and the
"Pagan" party favorable to it--the war
department was to conduct unofficial
and official negotiations with
the Wyandots throughout the decade. The
most notable of these
negotiations occurred in 1834. In that
year congress appropriated
the sum of one thousand dollars for
holding a treaty negotiation
with the Wyandots.12 Secretary
of War Lewis Cass promptly com-
missioned Governor Robert Lucas of Ohio
to undertake the
assignment.13
In his negotiations with the Wyandots,
which lasted intermittently
from August 6 to October 23, 1834,
Governor Lucas, assisted by
John A. Bryan, his secretary, and John
McElvain, made a determined
though vain effort to persuade the
Wyandots to cede their lands
and emigrate.14 As in 1831,
the dispatch of an exploring party to
the West and its presentation of an
unfavorable report on the
lands visited contributed greatly to
the collapse of the negotiations.15
The continued opposition of the
principal leaders of the tribe to
emigration also played some part in
Lucas' failure.
In transmitting his final report on the
negotiations to the war
department in March 1835,16 Lucas,
nevertheless, expressed the
belief that a majority of the Wyandots
were now willing to migrate.
The governor, therefore, was anxious to
keep the negotiations open
even though the funds for them were
exhausted. Lucas was willing
to do this on his own responsibility
without requesting additional
monetary aid from Washington. Nothing
further, however, de-
veolped on the issue during the
remainder of that year.
Early in January 1836, William Walker,
the newly elected prin-
cipal chief for the year, contacted
Governor Lucas relative to a
12 U. S. Stat. at Large, IV, 678.
13 Cass to Lucas, July 11, 1834.
Shrimplin Collection, Ohio Historical Society. A
copy of this letter is in the National
Archives.
14 Journal of Proceedings, in Shrimplin
Collection; also, Lucas to Cass,
March 22, 1835.
15 McElvain to Lucas, August 27, 1834.
Official Governors' Papers, 1832-36, Ohio
Historical Society. This letter, along
with most of the papers in the Shrimplin
Collection, is reproduced in Dwight L.
Smith, ed., "An Unsuccessful Negotiation for
Removal of the Wyandot Indians from
Ohio, 1834," Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly, LVIII (1949), 305-331.
16 Lucas
to Cass, March 24, 1835.
124
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
renewal of negotiations.17 A short time later this chief advised
the governor of the probability of some
of the chiefs going to
Washington to obtain the assent of the
president to the sale of
sixty sections from the eastern end of
the "Grand Reserve." On
March 19 Walker notified Lucas that the
chiefs were sending such
a delegation to Washington, accompanied
by their late sub-agent,
John McElvain.18 Lucas
informed the war department of this
pending visit and its purpose, which he
wholeheartedly endorsed.19
On the arrival of the chiefs in
Washington, Cass commissioned
John A. Bryan, then in the city and
well acquainted with these
Indians through the negotiations of
1834, to treat with them.20 On
April 23, 1836, Bryan concluded a
treaty with William Walker,
John Barnett, and Peacock, the members
of the delegation.21 The
Wyandots ceded to the United States for
sale a strip five miles wide
on the eastern end of the "Grand
Reserve," as well as two small
tracts lying outside the reserve that
had been retained by the tribe
under the treaties of Maumee Rapids and
St. Mary's. The United
States was to survey and sell these
lands for the Indians. The chiefs
might halt the sale at any time the
prices brought were not satis-
factory to them.
The treaty further stipulated that a
sum, not to exceed $20,000,
from the proceeds of the land sales be
used for rebuilding mills,
repairing and improving roads, establishing
of schools, and "other
public objects for the improvement of
their condition," as they were
deemed necessary by the chiefs. The
balance of the proceeds, after
the deduction of the expenses of the
negotiations, the execution of
the treaty, and the sale of the lands,
was to be divided among the
tribe. The Wyandot leaders thus secured
funds with which to im-
prove the condition of the tribe and to
forestall its removal for a few
years longer.
The war department continued its
efforts to achieve this latter
17 Walker to Lucas, January 13, 1836, enclosure in Lucas to President
Jackson,
January 20, 1836.
18 Walker
to Lucas, March 19, 1836. Shrimplin Collection.
19 Lucas to Cass, March 28, 1836.
20 Cass
to Bryan, April 19, 1836. War Department (Record Group 70), National
Archives.
21 U. S. Stat. at Large, VII,
502.
THE REMOVAL OF THE WYANDOTS 125
objective without success between 1837
and 1840. The increasing
pressure of white settlement in Ohio,
the seeming anxiety of the
"Pagan" party within the
tribe to sell and remove, and new ap-
propriations by congress in 1837 and
1838 for negotiating with the
Wyandots motivated the renewed efforts.
With the inconclusive end
to negotiations conducted by William E.
Hunter, a former Ohio
congressman, in 1840, it remained for
an old friend of the Wyandots
and former Indian agent, John Johnston,
to succeed where others
had failed.
The advent of a Whig administration in
Washington in 1841 was
to bring John Johnston back on the
scene after an absence of twelve
years. As Indian agent in the 1820's he
had witnessed and aided
the voluntary migration of many Ohio
Indians to new homes in
the West. He was now to have the
opportunity to effect the removal
of the last of the redmen in Ohio, the
Wyandots.
On March 3, 1841, congress appropriated
three thousand dollars
for holding further treaty negotiations
with the Wyandots.22
Johnston, in Washington to secure a
position in the Indian service,
requested the assignment, and on March
26, John Bell, the new
secretary of war, commissioned him for
this purpose.23 T. Hartley
Crawford, the commissioner of Indian
affairs, gave the new com-
missioner detailed instructions.24
Crawford directed Johnston to seek
the cession of all Wyandot lands in
Ohio, allowing for reservations
to individual Indians only if
absolutely necessary. In consideration
for such a cession, Johnston was to
offer the Wyandots an increase
in their annuity from the existing
$6,900 to $12,000; the grant of
320 acres to each head of a family or
adult Indian from the public
domain southwest of the Missouri River;
the assumption of the
expenses of their removal and
subsistence for one year thereafter by
the United States; and the payment of
their debts to an amount not
exceeding $10,000. Crawford cautioned
that the United States would
not honor any debts for liquor or ones
contracted after the signing
of a treaty. Finally, he insisted it
was not necessary for the Wyandots
to send another exploring party to the
West during the negotiations.
22 Ibid., V, 419.
23 Bell to Johnston, March 26, 1841.
24 Crawford to Johnston, March 26, 1841.
126
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Johnston held his first deliberations
with the Wyandots in two
general councils in April 1841. He was
to spend the next eleven
months in his task. Two major issues
arose during the negotiations
to hamper the conclusion of a treaty:
(1) the desire of the Wyandot
chiefs for a definite location in the
West, preferably near the
Delawares and Shawnees in eastern
Kansas, and (2) the amount of
the annuity. The continued opposition
to emigration by various
whites, half-breeds, and some Indians,
the problem of the debts of
the Indians, and the cleverness of the
chiefs were other factors con-
tributing to the prolongation of the
negotiations.
Following his initial conferences with
the Indians, Johnston sub-
mitted several suggestions to the
Indian office for approval.25 He
requested permission for the Wyandots
to send another delegation
west to secure and to fix a home for
the tribe near the Delawares
and Shawnees. Having been advised of
the willingness of the Kansas
Indians to sell a portion of their
holdings adjoining those of the
Delawares and Shawnees, Johnston
recommended the use of such
lands as the nucleus of a tract for the
Wyandots. Lastly, he asked
for authority to treat with the band of
Wyandots residing on the
Huron River in Michigan Territory for
emigration with their Ohio
brethren. Crawford granted this last
request but vetoed the taking
of any measures either for another
exploring party or the procure-
ment of a tract of land from the
Delaware, Shawnee, or Kansas
Indians for the Wyandots.26
Following the clarification of these
points, Johnston returned to
Upper Sandusky to renew his talks with
the Indians. The Wyandot
leaders now expressed dissatisfaction
with the amount of the annuity
offered them in payment for their
lands. They demanded a perpetual
annuity of $20,000. Johnston,
thereupon, proposed the following
terms as the basis for a treaty: an
annuity of $13,000; provision for
the support of a school during the
pleasure of the president; payment
of their debts and for their
improvements; erection of a grist and
saw mill on their new lands; and
removal of the tribe and subsistence
for one year thereafter at the expense
of the United States.
25 Johnston to Crawford, May 11, 1841.
26 Crawford to Johnston, May 17, 1841.
THE REMOVAL OF THE WYANDOTS 127
Having exceeded his original
instructions, specifically with respect
to the annuity, Johnston sought the
sanction of Crawford to treat
on these terms. In defense of his offer
of a larger annuity and the
maintenance of a school, Johnston
argued the United States would
realize at least four to five hundred
thousand dollars from the sale of
the Wyandot lands in Ohio, and could
thus afford to grant the
Wyandots a permanent annuity of
$15,000--$14,000 for the annuity
and $1,000 for a school. He also
reiterated his earlier request for
permission to send an exploring party
west to determine a location
for the tribe. In his opinion the
Wyandots would not consider a
cession of their lands without first
settling the matter of their future
home.27
In the light of the demand for a larger
annuity and other con-
siderations, Crawford, reasserting his
disapproval of another ex-
ploring party to the West, now sent
Johnston altered instructions as
the basis for a treaty.28 The
new terms stipulated that the United
States advance to the Wyandots the
necessary funds to meet the
payment of their debts, the costs of
their removal, and the expense
of their subsistence for one year
thereafter. The Indians were now to
be offered a quantity of land
equivalent to their present reservation
rather than a grant of 320 acres per
head of family or adult Indian.
From the proceeds of the sale of the
ceded lands the United States
would deduct the several sums advanced
to the Wyandots and pay-
ment at $1.25 per acre for any lands
granted them in the West.
On the balance from the proceeds the
United States would pay an
interest of five percent as an annuity.
Johnston objected specifically to the
suggestion of the payment
by the Wyandots of $1.25 for lands
given them in the West. To
interject this element into the
negotiations at this time, in his
judgment, would ruin the chances for a
treaty. He also doubted
the wisdom of refusing to permit the
Indians to send another
deputation west to fix a location for
the tribe if the Indians in-
sisted on this. On this latter issue
the Wyandots were now cor-
responding with the Delawares and
Shawnees to effect an agreement
27 Johnston
to Crawford, June 19, 1841.
28 Crawford
to Johnston, July 7, 1841.
128
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
with these tribes for a part of their
lands. If this proved successful,
Johnston confidently expected to
conclude a treaty by January 1842.29
His confidence was not without
foundation. The Wyandots,
meeting in council on November 20 and
deliberating for two days,
authorized the chiefs to make a treaty
of cession and removal. At
the same time, they rejected as
insufficient the permanent annuity
of $15,000 which Johnston, again
ignoring his instructions, now
offered them. As the year closed, the
chiefs were indicating a will-
ingness to accept an annuity of
$17,500, but Johnston was adhering
to his offer of $15,000. Early in
January 1842 the Wyandot leaders
once more informed Johnston of their
two primary conditions for a
treaty--a permanent annuity of $17,500
and the successful termina-
tion of negotiations with the Delawares
and Shawnees for lands on
which to settle in the West.30
On February 9 Johnston forwarded
another appeal to the war de-
partment to accept the position of the
Indians on these points.31 He
clearly indicated that the Wyandots
were unwilling to consider any
proposition other than the payment of a
specific annuity for their
lands. With respect to the location of
the tribe in the West, Johnston
asserted that, if he made a treaty, he
would assign to them lands
from the tract set aside for emigrating
Indians. He saw no objection,
however, to the Wyandots reaching terms
with the Delawares and
Shawnees for lands but promised not to commit
the government
on this matter. He concluded his report
with this observation, "With
the Wyandots they are about to part
with their last stake, the home
of themselves and their ancestors from
time immemorial, the struggle
to give up their patrimony has been
long and hard and at last been
decided amidst many painful regrets and
forebodings."
This appeal evoked no further
instructions from the Indian office.
Johnston, convinced of the
impossibility of a treaty based on the
terms proposed by the war department,
proceeded to negotiate a
treaty on his own responsibility. On
March 17, 1842, he concluded
29 Johnston to Crawford, August 6, 1841;
Johnston to Crawford, September 17, 1841.
30 Johnston to Crawford, November 29, 1841; Greene County Torchlight (Xenia),
December 2, 1841; Johnston to Crawford,
December 28, 1841; Johnston to Crawford,
January 13, 1842.
31 Johnston to Crawford, February 9, 1842.
THE REMOVAL OF THE WYANDOTS 129
with the Wyandots the treaty which
marked the end of Indian land
tenure in Ohio and provided for the
removal of the last of that
proud race from the state.32
The Wyandots ceded all their remaining
lands in Ohio and the
two small tracts in Michigan Territory
on the Huron River. They
retained only the three and one-half
acres which embraced the stone
meeting house and burial grounds at
Upper Sandusky. In considera-
tion for this cession the United States
granted a tract of 148,000
acres west of the Mississippi "to
be located upon any land . . . now
set apart or may in the future be set
apart for Indian use and not
already assigned to any other tribe or
nation."
The United States agreed to pay for the
improvements made by
the Indians on the ceded lands. Two
appraisers, appointed by the
president, were to make the evaluation
of them. Although the
government might survey and sell the
lands prior to that time, the
Indians were to continue in the use and
occupancy of their im-
provements until April 1, 1844. The
buildings and farm of the
Methodist Episcopal Church were to
remain in the possession of
the incumbents until the same date.
The financial clauses reflected an
acceptance of the position of the
Indians on the annuity issue and other
matters. They stipulated
the payment to the Wyandots of a
perpetual annuity of $17,500
in specie, beginning in the current
year and including all former
annuities. Within three years the
United States was to remit $500
per annum for the support of a school.
The government also con-
tracted to meet the debts of the
Wyandots due to citizens of the
United States in accordance to a
schedule to be annexed to the
treaty.
As for removal, the Wyandot chiefs
agreed to move their people
west at the cost to the United States
of $10,000--half payable upon
their departure for the West and half
payable upon the arrival of
the tribe at its destination. The
government promised to provide and
support a blacksmith and an assistant,
to erect a suitable shop and
residence for them, and to furnish
annually sufficient quantities of
32 Charles J. Kappler, ed., Indian
Affairs, Laws and Treaties (Washington, 1903),
II, 534-537.
130
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
iron, steel, coal, files, tools, and
other items for such an establish-
ment. The United States also engaged to
maintain a sub-agent and
interpreter among the Wyandots.
Having made the best treaty possible in
his opinion, Johnston
urged that it receive the approbation
of the war department. He
defensively but righteously declared:
"That I was constrained to
close it against the views of the . . .
Secretary of War, is to me a
subject of unfeigned regret, yet I
humbly trust to stand justified
under a careful review of all the
circumstances."33
In his anxiety to forward the treaty
for action Johnston admittedly
had left unfinished two items relative
to it. Since high waters had
prevented their attendance at the final
parley, Johnston had not ob-
tained the consent of the Huron River
Wyandots to the treaty. Be-
cause the dispersion of their debts
over a wide area in small amounts
necessitated some weeks to collect the
data for the schedule of
indebtedness of the Wyandots, Johnston
had not completed this
task before dispatching the treaty to
the Indian office. By May he
had forwarded an abstract of the
indebtedness, noting that $21,000
would meet these obligations. He had
also sent the duly signed
assent of the Huron River Wyandots to
the treaty.34
The commissioner of Indian affairs
submitted the treaty to the
secretary of war on May 19. Five days
later the president transmitted
the treaty to the senate for
ratification. On August 17 the senate
ratified the document with several
inconsequential amendments
calling for changes in the wording of
three articles and the in-
sertion of the sum of $23,860 to cover
the debts of the Wyandots.35
Congress then appropriated $55,660 for
carrying the treaty into
effect, conditional upon the acceptance
by the Wyandots of the
senate amendments.36 Johnston
met the chiefs in council on Sep-
tember 16 and obtained their consent in
writing to the amend-
ments.37 This completed his
assignment to negotiate a treaty with
33 Johnston to Crawford, March 18, 1842.
34 Ibid.; Johnston to Crawford,
April 15, 1842; Johnston to Crawford, May 11, 1842.
35 Crawford to Secretary of War
John C. Spencer, May 19, 1842; Richardson,
Papers and Messages of the
Presidents, IV, 157. For the senate
amendments, see the
enclosure in Johnston to Crawford,
September 18, 1842.
36 U. S. Stat. at Large, V, 576.
37 Johnston to Crawford, September 18,
1842.
THE REMOVAL OF THE WYANDOTS 131
the Wyandots. Their actual removal from
Ohio remained to be
accomplished.
The first step in the preparations of
the Wyandots for removal
was the appraisal of the value of their
improvements. On November
4, 1842, Crawford appointed Moses H.
Kirby and John Walker to
make this evaluation.38 These
men duly submitted an appraisal of
$125,937.24 to the war department.
Since there was only $20,000
available for the improvement payments,
Crawford advised Purdy
McElvain, the Wyandot sub-agent, it
would be impossible to meet
the amount submitted by the appraisers.
Until congress made an
additional appropriation for their
payment in full, these claims
would have to be met on a rated basis.
He urged McElvain to allay
any disappointment or dissatisfaction
among the Wyandots on this
point.39
Meanwhile, the Wyandots were busily
engaged in making prepar-
ations for removal. By March 1843 many
of the Huron River band
had moved to Upper Sandusky. To
expedite the outfitting of the
tribe for emigration, the chiefs had
enlarged the blacksmith shop
and hired another blacksmith at their
own expense. The Indians had
by this time exhausted their year's
supply of iron, steel, coal, and
other items furnished by the government
in meeting the demands
made in readying for removal. McElvain
requested $400 for the
purchase of additional materials for
the blacksmith shop.40 Crawford
refused to remit this amount, as the
maximum allowed was $220.41
On June 1 McElvain reported to the
commissioner of Indian
affairs that the Indians were busy
collecting their livestock.42 They
were disposing of most of their cattle,
hogs, household furniture,
farming implements, and other goods
they could not conveniently
take with them. McElvain indicated they
would be ready for de-
parture probably by June 20. Concerning
the precise destination of
the emigrants, the sub-agent stated
that the Wyandots intended to
proceed to the Shawnee lands in the
West. The principal chief had
38 Crawford
to Kirby and Walker, November 4, 1842.
39 Crawford to McElvain, April 1, 1843.
40 McElvain to Crawford, March 3, 1843.
41 Crawford
to McElvain, March 31, 1843.
42 McElvain to Crawford, June 1, 1843.
132
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
noted that the tribe would remain there
until it reached a decision
whether to accept a proposition from
the Shawnees to settle there
or to take lands to be assigned to them
by the United States. An
advance party had already departed to
examine the country south of
the Shawnee lands.
Largely due to delays involved in the
sale of loose property con-
sidered too valuable to leave without
compensation, the Wyandots
did not begin their trek until July. The
last days and scenes at Upper
Sandusky were filled with other
activities. They held frequent con-
sultations in the council house and
religious services in the mission
church for days before their departure.
The remains of the beloved
chief, Summedewat, whom two white men
had murdered in Wood
County in 1841, and of John Stewart,
the Negro missionary and
founder of the Methodist mission among
the Wyandots, were
brought and solemnly reinterred in the
cemetery attached to the
church. The Indians carefully marked
the graves of other loved
ones with marble and stone tablets.43
By a trust deed the Wyandots
committed the care and preservation of
their burial grounds to the
Methodist Episcopal Church.44
Prior to the departure of the
emigrants, the Rev. James Wheeler,
the resident missionary, preached a
farewell sermon to the as-
sembled Christians of the tribe. Chief
Squire John Grey Eyes, long
a vigorous opponent of removal, then
delivered a pathetic yet
fervent discourse to his people in
their native tongue. He closed this
valedictory by alluding to the church
in which the Indians had
worshipped under the ministrations of
James B. Finley and his
co-laborers.45
Purdy McElvain described the leave
taking in the following words:
Their final departure was a scene of
intense interest to all who witnessed
it and called forth many expressions of
deep feelings, on the part of the
Indians who are leaving the land which
has been to them a home for years,
and altho many of them have left their
nearest friends and relatives
43 The History of Wyandot County,
Ohio (Chicago, 1884), 296-299.
44 Abraham J. Baughman, ed., Past and
Present of Wyandot County, Ohio (Chicago,
1913), I, 272.
45 William Rusler, ed., A Standard
History of Allen County, Ohio (Chicago, 1921),
I, 159.
THE REMOVAL OF THE WYANDOTS 133
slumbering with the silent dead, with no
expectation of ever again beholding
their resting places, yet I believe
there was not a single instance of obstinate
and determined disposition to combat the
wishes of the United States in
regard to their removal. On the
contrary, the most perfect resignation to,
and acquiescence in, all that has been
required of them . . . has been
manifested from the commencement of their preparations
for leaving.46
The local wagon teams employed to
convey them to Cincinnati
began to gather the effects of the
Wyandots on July 9. The prepara-
tions completed and the farewells said,
the cavalcade--chiefs on
horseback, men and women on foot, and
wagons carrying belongings
and the infirm--left Upper Sandusky on
July 12. Passing through
Bellefontaine, Urbana, Springfield,
Xenia, and Lebanon, the emi-
grants reached Cincinnati on July 19.47
Several of the local newspapers
commented upon the departure,
appearance, and conduct of the Wyandots
as they passed through
their communities. The Logan Gazette
of Bellefontaine thought that
"although most of them appear
contented and happy, and seemed to
bear the labor and exposure to the heat
and dust with stout heart;
yet it was a melancholy
spectacle." The writer went on to praise
the Wyandots in these words: "The
tribe move themselves, and de-
serve credit for the order and decorum
they observe. During the
greater part of two days they were passing
our village, we noticed
but one drunken man. They were sober in
conduct, as well as
countenance."48 The Xenia
Torchlight49 and the Lebanon Western
Star50 also made
favorable observations upon the spirit, condition,
and appearance of the emigrants. These
editors estimated the number
of Indians in the caravan at 625 to
800. A Cincinnati editor,
observing the Indians as they moved
through the city to the wharf,
wrote: "Perhaps they are
indifferent and we hope they are. . . . Just
civilized enough to have lost their
savage courage they go forth on
the broad prairies of the west, like
sheep among wolfs."51
46 McElvain to Crawford, July 12, 1843.
47 Ibid.; History of Wyandot
County, 299; Rusler, History of Allen County, I,
159-160; Xenia Torchlight, July
13, 1843.
48 Quoted in Ohio State Journal (Columbus),
July 18, 1843.
49 July 20, 1843.
50 July 21, 1843.
51 Daily Cincinnati Chronicle, July 19, 1843.
134
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The chiefs left the tribe at Urbana and
proceeded to Columbus
to take their final leave of the
citizens of Ohio through the governor
and other state officials. Henry
Jacquis, the principal chief, delivered
a speech in which he expressed the kind
feelings of his people
towards the people of Ohio and stressed
the long period of peace
and friendship which had endured
between them. Governor Wilson
Shannon replied in kind.52
On their arrival in Cincinnati the Wyandots
remained one night
on the steamboat landing. Some of them
proceeded to get intox-
icated. One, John Hicks, became so
drunk that while boarding the
steamer in the morning he fell through
a guard rail and was drowned.
His death was one of four occurring
prior to the final exodus from
Ohio. The others were the venerable
chief Warpole, aged 113,
a woman, and a child.53
The Indians embarked on two river
steamers, the Nodaway and
the Republic, and began the trip
to St. Louis on July 21. In de-
scending the Ohio River they passed the
tomb of the late President
William Henry Harrison, overlooking the
river at North Bend, Ohio.
Since a number of the Wyandots had
fought under Harrison in the
War of 1812 and entertained the highest
veneration for him and
his memory, Jacquis requested Captain
Cleghorn of the Nodaway
to have the "big gun" fire a
salute. As the vessel neared the
hallowed spot, the chiefs and braves
gathered on the hurricane roof,
formed a line, and faced the grave.
When the ship, with its engines
stopped, drifted past the tomb, the
Indians uncovered and waved
their hats in silence. The head chief
then stepped forward and ex-
claimed impressively, "Farewell
Ohio and her brave."54
At St. Louis the emigrants boarded two
Missouri River steamers,
which landed them at the mouth of the
Kansas River at the end of
July. William Walker, writing to a
friend in Columbus, gave a
graphic description of their arrival
and settlement:
We have landed near to our future home.
. . . I have been employed
52 Western Star, August 4, 1843; Xenia
Torchlight, August 10, 1843; History of
Wyandot County, 299-300.
53 Xenia Torchlight, July 27, 1843; Cincinnati
Gazette, July 22, 1843.
54 St. Louis Republican quoted in Western Star, August 4, 1843.
THE REMOVAL OF THE WYANDOTS 135
busily since we landed in collecting and
getting under shelter my household
goods and in getting a house to live in
temporarily. . . .
My company are all about two miles above
this place, some in tents,
some in houses, and some under the
expanded branches of the tall cotton
wood trees. You cannot imagine my
feelings on landing . . . and hunting
a shelter for the family--faces all strange--we feel
truly like "strangers in
a strange land."55
Since the government had not yet
designated their new lands in
the West and they had not yet reached
any agreement either with
the Delawares or the Shawnees for lands
on which to settle, the
Wyandots first encamped on the military
reservation on the east
bank of the Kansas River at its mouth.
The Delawares, owners of
the land on the west bank of the river,
urged the Wyandots to cross
the Kansas and occupy these lands,
pending an agreement between
the tribes for their purchase by the
Wyandots. Failing to find any
more suitable location, the Wyandots
moved on the Delaware lands
in the fall of 1843.56
On December 14, 1843, the Delawares and
Wyandots reached
an agreement with respect to these
lands. By its terms the Delawares
surrendered to the Wyandots thirty-nine
sections on the eastern end
of their reservation, beginning at the
junction of the Kansas and
Missouri rivers and running westward
between them sufficiently
far to include the thirty-nine
sections. For this strategic tract the
Wyandots were to pay the Delawares
$46,080--$6,080 in cash and
$4,000 annually for ten years. The
transaction was not to be binding
until approved by the president of the
United States.57
President Tyler, in doubt concerning
his power to act on this
matter, submitted the articles of
agreement to the senate in February
1844 for its consideration. No further
action was forthcoming for
over four years. Athough the delay kept
the Indians in a state of
suspense and uncertainty, the Wyandots
proceeded to make im-
provements upon these lands and to pay
the Delawares for them.
55 Western Star, August 25, 1843.
56 Jonathan Phillips to Thomas H. Harvey, September 16, 1844. William Clark
Papers, Kansas State Historical Society.
57 Kappler, Indian Affairs, II,
1048.
136
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The reports of Jonathan Phillips and
Richard Hewitt,58 the first
of their sub-agents in the West, reveal
that the Wyandots ad-
justed quickly to their new environment
despite some initial diffi-
culties. The hardships of the removal,
the change of climate, the
unhealthful location on low ground, and
the intemperance of the
Indians resulted in some one hundred
deaths among them in the
first year. The sub-agents deplored the
intemperance caused by the
sale of whiskey to the Indians by
whites. Hewitt, however, noted that
the Rev. James Wheeler, who had
accompanied the tribe west, was
rendering effective service in the
cause of temperance and in the
amelioration of the condition and
morals of the Indians.
The Wyandots made substantial physical
and agricultural im-
provements in the years immediately
following removal. During the
winter of 1943-44 they built cabins and
erected a blacksmith shop,
a school, a dwelling for the
missionary, and a hewn-log meeting
house. By 1845 they had cleared a
sufficient quantity of heavily
timbered land to raise an abundant
supply of corn, potatoes, and
other vegetables. They also had enough
beef and pork to lessen
their dependence on others for these
provisions. The Wyandots
seemingly were well on their way to a
new life. Their future did,
however, hinge upon the decision of the
government relative to
the agreement of 1843 with the
Delawares. Congress by joint resolu-
tion clarified this by endorsing the
Delaware-Wyandot agreement in
July 1848.59
Two years later, Ardavan S. Loughery,
commissioner for the
United States, and four Wyandot chiefs
concluded a treaty in Wash-
ington by which the Wyandots
relinquished all claims to land under
the Johnston treaty of 1842.60 In lieu
of land the United States was
to give the Wyandots $185,000--$85,000
directly and $100,000 to
be invested in government stock at five
percent per annum. This
treaty brought to a close the removal
of the Wyandots from Ohio.
58 Phillips to Harvey, September 16,
1844; Hewitt to Crawford, September 18, 1845.
Clark Papers.
59 U. S. Stat. at Large, IX, 337.
60 Kappler, Indian Affairs, II, 587-588.