Potawatomi Trail of Death - Background

Background

In 1830, the Federal Government passed the Indian Removal Act. It was the intent of the government to purchase lands and extinguish territorial claims of Indian nations, and remove them from the populated east to the remote and relatively unpopulated lands west of the Mississippi River (where other Indian tribes controlled large territories). The Act of 1830 specifically targeted the Five Civilized Tribes in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee, but also led to treaties being negotiated with the many other minor tribes east of the Mississippi, including several in the former Northwest Territory south of the Great Lakes.

The Potawatomi were the second major tribe to leave Indiana after white settlement began in the state. After the War of 1812, when the tribe had allied with the British against the Americans, the Potawatomi lived in relative peace with their white neighbors. But, the government of Indiana was eager to open up the northern parts of the state for settlers and development.

The Potawatomi of the Woods are those tribes living around the southern tip of Lake Michigan in Michigan and north central Indiana. In October 1832, numerous leaders signed treaties at Tippecanoe River north of Rochester, Indiana, which ceded most of their remaining lands in northwestern and north central Indiana. In exchange for their lands in the east, they were given lands in the west (Potawatomi County, Kansas) and annual annuities.

Over the next 4 years, additional treaties were completed with the other Potawatomi to completely eliminate their titles from lands in Indiana. Chief Menominee's signature was recorded with an "x" on the treaty of 1832, but he and his band at Twin Lakes, Indiana, were known for refusing to move.

In 1836 the Potawatomi signed nine treaties, including the Treaty of Yellow River in Marshall County, five treaties on the Tippecanoe River north of Rochester, two treaties in Logansport, and one treaty at Turkey Creek in Kosciusko County. These treaties were called the Whiskey Treaties because whiskey was given to get the Indians to sign. In exchange for their land, they were offered $0.50 per acre, and each member of the tribe was granted a 320-acre (1.3 km2) parcel of land in Kansas. In exchange, the tribe agreed to vacate their lands within two years.

The deadline for the tribe to leave was August 5, 1838. By then some Potawatomi bands had migrated peacefully to their new lands in Kansas. The Twin Lakes village of Chief Menominee was near the site of present-day Plymouth. After the deadline passed and the village refused to leave, Governor David Wallace ordered General John Tipton to mobilize the state militia in support of Colonel A. C. Pepper to remove the tribe forcibly.