Indiana Historical Society - Manuscripts & Archives
User Information
Historical Sketch
Scope and Content Note
Cataloguing Information
Processed by
Charles Latham
30 December 1994
VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 2 items
COLLECTION DATE: 1994
PROVENANCE: Indiana Awareness Center of Fulton County Historical Society, 37 East 375 North, Rochester, IN 46975, 5 August 1994
RESTRICTIONS: None
REPRODUCTION RIGHTS: Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained in writing from the Indiana Historical Society
ALTERNATE FORMATS: None
OTHER FINDING AIDS: None
RELATED HOLDINGS: None
ACCESSION NUMBER: 94.0895
When Indiana became a state in 1816, over half its territory was still in the hands of Indian tribes. As the state developed and white settlers moved in from the East, there was relentless pressure to remove the Indians farther west.
First to move were the Delawares, who went west of the Mississippi River in 1818. The presidency of Andrew Jackson brought further pressure. Congress passed an Indian Removal Act in 1830, and the Black Hawk War of 1832 heightened public awareness.
The Potawatomis were the next to move. To quote James H. Madison (The Indiana Way, Indianapolis, 1986, pp. 124-125): "Plans for removal were in place in 1838, but some Potawatomis resisted. Led by Menominee, they claimed that they had not agreed to removal. With Senator [John] Tipton and the aggressive Indian trader George Ewing as organizers, an armed militia company forcefully rounded up Menominee and his reluctant band. Under armed guard some eight hundred Potawatomis were soon on their way to Kansas. Carelessness in organizing the march brought sickness and hardship and contributed to the death of forty-two Indians, most of them children. This sad episode became known as the 'Trail of death.'"
In the 1840s, the remaining tribe, the Miamis, either managed to retain their lands near Fort Wayne or finally moved west.
This collection contains two items, a clipping from the Ossawatomie, Kansas, Graphic, and an Indiana Senate Concurrent Resolution of 28 January 1994. The resolution, part of a multi-state effort, designates the 1838 route of the Potawotamis, from northwestern Indiana to Ossawatomie, Kansas, as a Regional Historic Trail. It is signed by five state Senators and by the officers of the Indiana Senate.
MAIN ENTRY: Potawatomi Indians
SUBJECT ENTRIES: Potawatomi Indians--Relocation
Potawatomi Indians--Genealogy
Fulton County Historical Society (Ind.) Indiana Awareness Center
Trail of Death, 1838
Indians of North America--Removal
Osawatomie (Kan.)
ADDED ENTRIES: Indiana. General Assembly. Senate
END