Piankashaw Locations (ca. 1796 -ca. 1805)(Part 3, pp. 200-210)
/pg. 200/
There is no contemporary confirming evidence for the permanent residence of the Weas in the area just above Point Coupee immediately after the raids of Scott and Wilkinson in 1791, but it seems likely that Harrison would know Indian locations on the lower Wabash fairly accurately from about the middle of 1800 when he first became actively involved with the Indians of the Wabash. Though Harrison did not specify which side of the Wabash the Weas were located on, their general orientation had been to the east and south of the Ouiatenon location rather than to the west. It seems doubtful that they would move from the eastern side of the Wabash at this time.
That Harrison was correct in his denial, in the same letter, of an allegation made by Wells that
for upwards of 20 years which he [Wells] had Known the Indians in this quarter Nothing of importance had ever been transacted by the Piankeshaws and Kaskaskias without the consent of the Miamis (Idem)
is supported by evidence previously presented in this report. Harrison cites several instances in which Piankashaws and Kaskaskias acted independently of the Miamis, including their agreements made with George Rogers Clark and their treaty with Putnam. Harrison also denied Wells' statement that the Delaware and Piankashaw cession had been used as a hunting ground by the Miamis or Potawatomis since at least his arrival in that region (i.e., since 1800). Harrison ascribed the opposition of Little Turtle to the cession of Royce Area 49 to his ambition and the fact that he had not been consulted about it and had a chance to orate in council or received any satisfaction in goods. (Idem) Harrison stated his opinion that
/pg. 201/
Unless it is determined to admit the principle that the Delawares and Piankeshaws had no right to sell their land without the consent of the Miamis Putawatimies & etc., (Idem)
it would be improper to hold a public conference on the subject. Harrison felt that if the Miamis and Potawatomis were consulted about the Delaware and Piankashaw cession, the Weas, Eel Rivers, Kickapoos, and Shawnees would have to be consulted, too, and that this would be an expensive thing to do. On the other hand, the Miamis and Potawatomis had refused to come to Vincennes to discuss the matter, and Harrison asked for instructions to go to Fort Wayne to settle the matter.(Idem)
The Delawares protested to Wells about the cession of Royce Area 49 (Delaware Indians, Dft. Ex. A-192) that their understanding of the treaty agreement was different from the official wording of that document.
Friend and Brother! our Chiefs was told by the Governor that he wished them to become more civilized and that he would give them an addition to their annuity of Five hundred Dollars a year to enable them to procure the necessary articles for the purpose of enabling them to cultivate their Lands and that he was present when the Miamis gave all White River to the Delawares and that he would give them an instrument of writing that would show that the Country on White River belonged to the Delawares - he farther told our Chiefs that the Piankishaw did not acknowledge the right of the Delawares to the lands on White River, but he would satisfy them on this head and would give them money out of his own pocket in order to get them to acknowledge the right of the Delawares
/pg. 202/
to the Lands on White River, and that the road from Vincennes to the Falls should in future be the boundary line between the Lands of the Delawares and Piankishaws. (Patterson, Dft. Ex. A-292)
The Delaware "chiefs cheerfully signed" this document, but declared that
from the bottom of their hearts in the presence of God that they never sold Governor Harrison or the United States an land at Vincennes last summer to their knowledge, (Idem)
and that they were not willing to sell the lands that Harrison had treated for. (Idem) At least three of the five Delaware chiefs who had signed the treaty supported this protest. (Delaware Indians, Dft Ex. A-192)
Harrison reiterated his belief that Wells was to blame for this Delaware disavowal of the treaty and, on April 26, asked the Secretary of War to assign General Wilkinson to go with him to Fort Wayne to settle the matter because of Wilkinson's influence with the Miamis. (Harrison, Dft. Ex. A-230) A month later the Secretary of War transmitted to Harrison the President's opinion that Harrison
ought, with as little delay as possible, to cause a meeting of the Delaware Chiefs and some of the principal Chiefs of the Miamies and Puttawattamies, for the purpose of such an explanation of the doings, so much complained of, as will satisfy the Chiefs generally, that the transaction was not only open & fair, but such as they have no right to object to.- (Dearborn, Dft. Ex. A-185)
At this meeting the Delaware chiefs who had "made false or improper representations" of Harrison's conduct and the treaty were to acknowledge
/pg. 203/
but that he had business to attend to elsewhere. One other Miami chief, "Pucon" (Pacanne), said he would go to Vincennes any time that the Governor wanted him to. (Minutes of a Council..., Dft. Ex. A-272) In their report to Harrison of their mission they reported in more detail the varying receptions they had received, both during the trip and at Fort Wayne, and mentioned several Indian factions who agreed to come to Vincennes to discuss the matter. (Gibson and Vigo, Dft. Ex. A-209) Harrison's comment on this result was that if the Indians did come to Vincennes as they promised, the Secretary of War "need be under no apprehension" about the final settlement of the Delaware cession. (Harrison, Dft. Ex. A-232) Harrison stated that he intended to tell the Indians
that the United States are determined to keep possession of the land ceded by the Delaware and Piankashaw Treaty as they are fully satisfied as well of the fair- ness of the Transaction as of the Right of those Tribes to sell- (Idem)
He told the Secretary of War that he had heard that the other Indian tribes were annoyed with the Delawares for not including them in the cession and had been exerting pressure on them to make them deny the validity of the cession so that a new treaty would be made. Harrison had suspicions that Wells might be working against government interests, and recommended strongly that Wells be investigated and that the payment of annuities to the Indians of the Wabash, including those for the Kickapoos, be moved from Fort Wayne. Harrison already had taken over payment of the Wea and Piankashaw annuities. (Idem)
/pg. 205/
On August 10 Harrison wrote that the Delawares, Eel Rivers, Miamis, and some Potawatomis had arrived for the council, that the Delawares "explicitly acknowledged" the cession of the area now called Royce Area 49, and that Wells and Little Turtle were both present and he had "received from each a positive assurance of a friendly disposition." Harrison had had an "explanation" with Wells about his conduct and had "agreed to a general indemnity & act of oblivion for the past." He did not mention how this tractable condition was brought about, but concluded his letter by stating that he was
convinced that both him [Wells] & the Turtle will exert themselves to bring the present conference to a happy issue- (Ibid., Dft. Ex. A-234)
On the face of it there are several means of persuasion that Harrison could have used. One was the threat to Wells of losing his appointment as agent unless he did help Harrison. Another was, in effect, bribery. Harrison promised Little Turtle "fifty dollars, per annum, in addition to his pension," and he "directed Captain Wells to purchase a negro man for him, in Kentucky," and to draw on the Secretary of War for the amount. (Ibid., Dft. Ex. A-7, pp. 701-702)
No journal has been found of the proceedings of this council. To judge from Harrison's letters to the Secretary of War and to the President, however, several important issues were considered. (Idem; ibid., Dft. Ex. A-18, pp. 301-303) Harrison's first objective, he informs us, was "to satisfy the Indians of our rights to make the treaty with the Delawares." He reports that there was little trouble
/pg. 206/
in accomplishing this except for the guarantee in the treaty to the Delawares of the lands between White River and the Ohio River. The Delawares could not make the Miamis agree to this and were forced to give up their right as described and guaranteed to them in Harrison's treaty of August 18, 1804. The objection of the Miamis seems to have rested in the temporary annuity and other goods the Delawares received for their cession, since both the Miami and Potawatomi chiefs at the beginning of the meeting
had hinted at the necessity of increasing their annuities, so as to put them on a footing with the Delawares. (Ibid., Dft. Ex. A-7, p. 701)
Harrison told the Miamis and Potawatomis that they could get additional annuities only by ceding more land. This resulted in the negotiation of the treaty of August 21, 1805 in which the Miamis, Eel Rivers, and Weas ceded to the United States the area now known as Royce Area 56. In return the Miamis received $600, the Eel Rivers $250, and the Weas $250 in permanent annuities, and the Potawatomis received a ten-year annuity of $500. $4000 was also delivered to the Indians (7 Stat. 91). Harrison's rationale for giving the Potawatomis an annuity for the cession by the Miamis, Eel Rivers, and Weas, was, apparently, that
The admission of the Pattawatamies, as a party to the treaty, could not well be avoided, under the circumstances which gave rise to the conference, and I am confident that it will, eventually, be highly advantageous to us. They have given up all right to interfere in any future sales of lands by the Miamies, on the Wabash and its waters. (Idem)
/pg. 207/
It amounted to a bribe to the Potawatomis not to make any trouble.
One further item of business was concluded by this treaty.The United States bound themselves to consider the Miamis, Eel Rivers, and Weas as "joint owners of all the country on the Wabash and its waters, above the Vincennes tract" which had not been ceded already, and that they would not purchase any of this land without the consent of each of them. Their joint ownership was not to infringe on any right the Kickapoos might have to lands on the Vermillon River (7 Stat. 91-92). This "joint ownership" possibly was intended by the tribes as a safeguard against any of them being left out of any future annuity award. Concerning this guarantee, Harrison remarked that it could not be avoided "as they insisted upon it with the most persevering obstinacy." He felt, however, that in a few years they could be persuaded to "make a division of the land that they now by virtue of the treaty hold in common." Moreover,
The Miami chiefs were extremely desirous to have the Piankashaws included in the treaty, but this I would on no account suffer, reserving to the United States the right of purchasing the remaining Piankeshaws' lands, at any time they could agree for them with that tribe. (Idem)
Harrison felt that he could acquire the Piankashaw lands at any time they were wanted by the President. He thought perhaps that the purchase ought to wait until spring, but whenever it was wanted he could
venture to promise that all of the lands which lie between the Wabash and the lands ceded by the Kaskaskias treaty, and below a continuation of
/pg. 208/
the line running through Point Coupee, will be the property of the United States in ten days after he received instructions to acquire it. (Idem)
Harrison was sure he could accomplish the Piankashaw purchase at a low cost which would offset the relatively high amount paid for the lands ceded in the treaty of August 21, 1805. (Idem; ibid., Dft. Ex. A-18, pp. 301-303)
Throughout this fuss over the Delaware cession of the area contained in Royce Area 49 no objection was raised by any of the Indian groups to the Piankashaw cession of that area. This may be an indication that the other Miami-speaking groups and the Potawatomis felt that the Piankashaws did have a right to cede the lands that they did, and that their annoyance with the Delawares was due to the Delawares receiving annuities for ceding lands to which they were, relatively, newcomers, while they did not. The fact that the Piankashaws did not recognize the Delawares' right to cede the lands in question was not raised by the other tribes; nor were the Piankashaws invited to the meeting to help end the controversy.
The Secretary of War expressed himself as pleased with the results of the council, and passed on the President's instructions to Harrison
to close a bargain, as soon as it can be effected, with the Piankashaws, for their claim to the lands between the Wabash and the Eastern Boundary of the Kaskaskia cession
as Harrison had suggested. (Dearborn, Dft. Ex, A-186) Harrison wasted little time in sending for the Piankashaws "to negotiate for the tract of land between the Wabash and the Kaskaskias purchase." Although "two or three" Piankashaw chiefs were "near" him,
/pg. 209/
that is, near Vincennes, "one of them" who should be at such a council was "on the Mississippi," and had to be sent for. (Harrison, Dft. Ex, A-235)[see Footnote 53] During the expedition to the west in 1804-1806, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark noted a number of "Miamis" who may be the Piankashaws Harrison referred to, together with some "Dellaways" who "ramble" in the vicinity of "Dilliard & S. Louis," with about 25 warriors and a total population of about 80 persons. (Lewis and Clark, Dft. Ex. A-105, pp. 82 & 112) Little is known about the conduct of these negotiations. Harrison, however, informed Dearborn that he "had more difficulty in assembling the Piankashaw chiefs & bringing them to reasonable terms" than he had thought he would, (Harrison, Dft Ex. A-236) a statement which indicates that there may not have been a consensus of opinion among the Piankashaws. A treaty was signed on December 30, 1805 by three Piankashaws-- "Wabakinklelia, or Gros Bled," "Pauqula, or Montour," and "Macatiwealima, or Chien Noir," -- which ceded the area now known as Royce Area 63, described as
all that tract of country (with the exception of the reservation hereinafter made) which lies between the Wabash and the tract ceded by the Kaskaskia tribe, in the year one thousand eight hundred and three, and south of a line to be drawn from the north west corner of the Vincennes tract, north seventy eight degrees west' until it intersects the boundary line which has heretofore separated the lands of the Piankashaws from the said tract ceded by the Kaskaskia tribe (7 Stat. 100)
The Piankashaws were still to have the right to live and to hunt on
/pg. 210/
these lands "in the same manner that they have heretofore done," as long as the lands remained the property of the United States. A tract "two square miles, or twelve hundred and eighty acres" (7 Stat. 101) which was never located or surveyed was to be reserved to them permanently.
The Piankashaws also received an additional annuity of $300 and $1,000 in cash for this cession (7 Stat. 101), and, although Harrison "forgot to insert it in the treaty," the United States was to "bear the expense of repairing their guns" for five years. (Harrison, Dft. Ex. A-7, p. 705) The treaty provided that this annuity could be paid to individuals in the tribe.
The number of Piankashaws who took part in the treaty is not known, nor whether all of the chiefs who should have been present were. In terms of Harrison's pre-treaty statement there should have been three or four chiefs present. Only two of the five chiefs who had signed the Piankashaw treaty of 1804 signed this treaty.
This transaction which was to be effective when ratified (May 22, 1807) formally ended Piankashaw claims to extensive lands along the Wabash River, although some individuals continued to live and hunt there in accordance with treaty provisions.
Footnote 53: Typical examples of a number of non-specific indications of locations of Piankashaws at this time and can be seen in, Harrison, Dft. Ex. A-18, p, 294; Macouissa, Dft. Ex. A-20, p. 104; Harrison, Dft. Ex. A-232; Perrin, Dft. Ex. A-293.[return to text]
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