Piankashaw Locations (ca. 1805-ca.1832)(Part 2, pp. 225-236)
/pg. 225/
brought down the Missouri River and had come to Kaskaskia had fought with the Kickapoos against the Americans in the fall of 1812 at the head of Lake Peoria and that "the rest were in the neighborhood at that time." (Edwards, Dft. Ex. A-24, p. 34)
At the close of the War of 1812, however, Edwards suggested to the Secretary of War that among other Indian annuities he ought to deliver at Kaskaskia were those due to the Piankashaws, since "they also reside within this [i.e., Illinois] Territory." (Ibid., Dft. Ex. A-24, p. 145) Whether they did so in fact, at least in large numbers, seems doubtful from the incidents recounted above.
The Commissioners appointed to arrange peace with the Indians along the Mississippi, reported, in July of 1815, that many of the Indians, especially the Sacs, Foxes, and Kickapoos, were reluctant to make peace, but
With the Poutawatomies of Illinois River & the small band of Piankishaws who are Prisoners of war, we shall probably conclude a Treaty in a day or two. (Clark, Edwards, and Chouteau, Dft, Ex. A-136)
If this "small band" was the group of Piankashaws captured by Dodge in 1814, the Pioneer's recollection of 300 would seem an exaggerated figure.
William Clark, in his recommendations to make the system of the Indian Agency in Missouri Territory, Illinois River, and the land between Lake Superior and Lake Michigan most effective, recommended that a sub agent be employed to take care of the Shawnees, Delawares, Piankashaws, and Peorias in the area.
/pg. 226/
(Clark, Dft. Ex. A-8, p. 77, See also Gibson, Dft. Ex. A-8, pp. 71-72, From the lumping of these four groups it seems possible that these were located fairly closely together, possibly in the general region of Cape Girardeau.
Though the Piankashews had received annuities in 1811 and 1812, they apparently had not during the War of 1812 (i.e., from 1813 through March of 1815). (Lear, Dft. Ex. A-8, p. 29)
In October of 1815 Clark, Edwards, and Chouteau reported their difficulties in arranging peace in the west, and raised several queries about further negotiations which they thought should be undertaken. One of the suggestions concerned the Piankashaws. These Indians were
extremely anxious to reside in this [Missouri] Territory, and wish to be permitted to sell the small tract of land which they own in the Illinois Territory near the Wabash for plows, horses, farming utensils &c, which are necessary to enable them to make a new establishment. (Clark, Edwards, and Chouteau, Dft. Ex. A-137)
This may have been the case with part of the Piankashaws, but not, apparently, with all of them. Benjamin Parke who was an Indian Agent in Indiana under Governor Thomas Posey, writing about the Piankashaws on November 1, 1815 remarked
In the Spring of 1812, a miserable remnant of the Pyankashaws resideing in the Neighbourhood of this place [Vincennes], were, for their Safety advised to remove back into the Indian Country. They settled in the Neighbourhood of the Kickapoos. Russels expedition drove them from thence. -- They then went to the Missouri, where they were taken prisoners by a detachment of Rangers, and Militia. They have since been under the protection of, and I believe subsisted by the U. States, in the Missouri Ty. they now earnestly solicit to return to their old hunting
/pg. 227/
grounds, on the Embarrass, & little Wabash, and have sent me talk to obtain permission for that purpose. They have I believe a considerable Tract, of Country between the lands they sold the United States, and the lands of the Kickapoos, but all in the Illinois Territary. I shall therefore not give the permission solicited, unless instructed so to do. Were they permitted to return, all public business might be easily dispatched with them as also the Prairie Kickapoos, at Ft. Harrison, as it now is with the Weas, and Vermilion Kickapoos -- (Parke, Dft. Ex. A-285)[see footnote 57]
The Indian "talk" mentioned by Parke has not been found, nor which Piankashaws actually sent it. The Little Wabash River and part of the Embarrass River are in Royce Area 63. The lands in Illinois Territory that they had not sold refer to lands above Royce Area 63 and include at least part of Royce Area 110. The upper part of the Embarrass River continues into Royce Area 110.
Governor Edwards of Illinois Territory wrote the Secretary of War in December of 1815 on the subject of annuities and which Indians he should take care of. Among the groups enumerated were the Piankashaws. According to Edward a the Piankashaws
?/span>also wish to receive their annuities here [Kaskaskia], and are desirous of exchanging the land they own near the Wabash (being 1280 acres) for a similar quantity near the reservation for the Kaskaskia Tribes. (Edwards, Dft. Ex. A-24, p. 253)
This agrees with the earlier statement that they wanted, in some way, to exchange their unlocated two mile square reservation, but again which Piankashaws were involved is not known; nor does Edwards apparently know of the "talk" sent to Parke at Vincennes. This statement also does not agree with the joint statement two months earlier of Clark,/pg. 228/ Edwards, and Chouteau that the Piankashaws wanted to relocate in Missouri Territory, though, of course, the Kaskaskias in Southwestern Illinois were not far from that Territory. In this same letter Edwards informed the Secretary of War that he had hired an interpreter, Peter Menard, to translate for the Kaskaskia and Piankashaw Indians, (Ibid., Dft. Ex. A-24, p. 254) a measure which seems to indicate that at least some Piankashaws were residing in Illinois Territory, probably in the southwestern part near the Kaskaskias.
On August 14, 1816, six "Miamis" visited the British post at Amherstburg. Who these were and the purpose of the visit is uncertain. They had "Just arrived from the Mississippi, St. Louis -- (Caldwell, Dft. Ex. A-79, p. 523) and hence may have been Piankashaws.
Piankashaws are next mentioned in an official report of William Clark on Indians in Missouri Territory, in November of 1816. He estimates that there were approximately 50 Piankashaw men, or 200 individuals, located "about 60 miles west of the mouth of Ohio near the Mississippi swamps," and that they received annually $800 in annuities and about $115 in addition in presents and provisions. (Clark, Dft. Ex. A-138)
In November of 1816, also, Governor Edwards wrote to the Secretary of War complaining about his lack of effective control or even knowledge of Indian affairs in Illinois Territory. He considered the Piankashaws to belong within his superintendency but did not know what to do about them since they had moved from their customary Wabash locations during the War of 1812, seemed to have been taken over administratively by Clark at St. Louis to whom their annuities were sent, and apparently were divided into several factions.(Edwards, Dft. Ex. A-24, pp. 432-433)
/pg. 229/
Edward's statement further seem to confirm the fact that some Piankashaws had joined with hostile Kickapoos during the War, were defeated in a battle near the head of Lake Peoria, moved to the Missouri River where they were again defeated, and then were moved to the Cape Girardeau area near St. Louis. They also seem to indicate that when peace was made after the War the Piankashaws wanted to exchange their lands near the Wabash River for lands in Missouri Territory, and later for lands in Southwestern Illinois near the Kaskaskias. At the time Edwards wrote this letter Piankashaws were living in both Territories. Edwards thought the larger group was living in Illinois Territory on Public lands. (Idem) Edwards also raised the question of whether
that part of the Tribe which chooses to retain their old ground, and legal settlement, ought to be regarded, as the legal representatives of the whole Tribe -- (Idem)
He did not ask that the annuities for the Piankashaws (or Kickapoos and Sacs) be sent to him
because they have not hitherto been committed to my charge; nor have I had, that control over them which ... I deem essential -- (Ibid., Dft. Ex. A-24, p. 436)
In December of 1816 Posey writing from Vincennes, informed the Secretary of War that since the Piankashaws had "removed beyond the Mississippi," he had forwarded their annuities to Kaskaskia to be delivered and did not include them in his estimate of future expenses. (Posey, Dft. Ex. A-299)
Apparently some Piankashaws attended a Council held by Posey at Fort Harrison in May of 1817, but how many is uncertain. (Ibid., Dft. Ex. A-300)
/pg. 230/
A few days later Posey reported that Chekamia or Big River, a Piankashaw chief, with about 25 other Piankashaws had come to Vincennes to sell the proceeds of a hunt and to arrange for the sale of the two mile square reserve provided for the Piankashaws in the Treaty of December 30, 1805. (Ibid., Dft. Ex. A-301) Posey asked Graham for instructions on this matter and suggested that a "generous price" ought to be paid them since there were many valuable locations where the Piankashaws could have located their reserve. (Idem)
The bringing of the proceeds of their hunt to Vincennes for sale and their attending at a council at Fort Harrison would seem to indicate that a few Piankashaws were still living or at least hunting in the southeastern part of Illinois in 1817; in addition, Posey specifically mentions them as one of the groups he was continually dealing with, (Idem., see also ibid., Dft. Ex. A-302) though he thought that only the Weas and Kickapoos actually were included in his agency. (Ibid., Dft. Ex. A-303)[see footnote 58]
In July of 1817 Posey reported that he had received Piankashaw annuities in addition to those for the Weas and Kickapoos and protested that they
should have been sent to Kaskaskia to Col. Menard the agent, as the Piankashaws make their residence there or near to that place. (Ibid., Dft. Ex. A-304)
He also mentioned that he would act on Graham's instructions to find out how much money the Piankashaws wanted for their lands (Graham, Dft. Ex. A-212) as soon as he could. (Pose', Dft. Ex. A-304)
/pg. 231/
Graham felt that if they would settle for not more than $2.00 an acre that the purchase would probably be approved by the Government. (Graham, Dft. Ex. A-212)
On July 29 Posey was able to report that he had had the interview with the Piankashaw chief, Chekamia, or Big River, and some of his band on the subject of the purchase of their two-mile square reserve, and that Chekamia had agreed to accept $1,000 in horses and goods when the contract was confirmed. Chekamia wanted to know how soon this would be and Posey told him he would inform him when he could, (Posey, Dft. Ex. A-305; see also ibid., Dft. Ex. A-306)
The extinguishment of the two-mile reserve of the Piankashaws for this amount was authorized at the end of October 1817, (Graham, Dft. Ex. A-214; see also Posey, Dft. Ex. A-307 and ibid., Dft. Ex. A-308) and on January 3, 1818 Posey drew up a contract with Chekamia "principal chief and head man of the Piankeshaw tribe," embodying these terms. (Indian Treaties, Dft. Ex. A-49, pp. 228-230)[see footnote 59] Although the contract was not ratified in the customary manner and does not appear in U. S. Statutes at Large, the United States did provide the $1,000 and apparently considered the contract as valid and binding. It seems probable, from later events, that Chekamia was not the only Piankashaw chief who should have been involved in this extinguishment, /pg. 232/ although one Wea Indian signed as a witness of the treaty, and the same Wea and a second one certified that Chekamia was in fact the head chief and had the authority to sign such an agreement. (Ibid., Dft. Ex. A-49, p. 230) In August of 1817, however, Clark transmitted to the Secretary of War a listing of "Indian Tribes in Missouri Territory" in the "Superintendence of the Governor of Missouri Territory" which included 200 Piankashaws situated, with about 60 Peorias, on the St. Francis and White rivers with Col. Peter Menard acting as their agent as well as the agent for the Peorias, and for 1,200 Shawnees and 600 Delawares located at Apple River and "near Mississippi Swamps," (Dft. Ex. A-22, pp. 304-305) and the sale was protested by some Piankashaw Indians, who requested that they be given "two other sections ... on Current River [Missouri Territory] where they reside at present" in place of the land "sold by one of their young men." (Indian Complaints, Dft. Ex. A-247) It seems probable from these facts that Chekamia was not the only Piankashaw chief who should have been consulted, and that he was head only of one band of Piankashaws.
Jedidiah Morse, a Congregational Minister who made a report to the Secretary of War on the general conditions and prospects of the Indians as a result of an official tour made in 1820, (See Calhoun, Dft. Ex. A-8, pp. 273-274) includes, in a chart purporting to include "all the Indian Tribes within the limits of the United States," (Morse, Dft. Ex. A-87, p. 361) a notice of 207 Piankashaws living on the St. Francis River in Missouri Territory, (Ibid., Dft. Ex. A-87, p. 366) but does not describe them. Morse's map does show the location of this group in Missouri Territory. (Ibid., Dft. Ex. A-87, location 19)
/pg. 233/
He also reported permanent annuities due them as $800 per annum and that the United States had purchased an estimated 3,997,440 acres of land from them. (Ibid., Dft. Ex. A-87, p. 384)[see footnote 60] He did not mention the two-mile reserve purchase in any way.
A report made to the U. S. Senate by its Committee on Indian Affairs in February 1820 included information collected by an officer in the area during the summer and fall of 1819 on Indian trade on the Missouri River from about 1807 through 1819 in which Piankashaws were mentioned as one of the groups traded with by the company consisting of "Messrs. Lisa, Pilcher, Wood, Carson, Williams, and Tenonee" and whose principal trading establishment is near this place [Camp Missouri on the Missouri River]." (Dft. Ex. A-8, p. 202) "Roberdeau and Pepin in partnership with Chouteau and Butholl, of St. Louis" and "Pratt and Vasquer" also traded with Piankashaws, among other Indian groups in the Missouri area (Idem)
$500 of annuity goods for Piankashaws were sent by McKenney to Richard Graham at Kaskaskia in May of 1820 for that year. (McKenney, Dft. Ex. A-254) Pierre Menard, their agent, wrote, in response to Graham's communication to him about the matter, that
the Peorias have been residing in the Missouri Territory these Forty years past, and the Piankeshaws ever since 1814. The annuities for this last tribe have latterly been paid to them at Ste. Genevieve, except last year, when by Special instructions from the Secretary of War I had them carried to the Towns of the Two Tribes about one Hundred and Fifty miles west of Ste. Genevieve. (Menard, Dft. Ex. A-263)
/pg. 234/
These statements agree in general with other information on Piankashaw movements and with a general location on the St. Francis River as noted previously. Menard signed a receipt Por $300 for Piankashaw annuities in July. (Ibid., Dft. Ex. A-269)
Anderson, a chief of the Delawares who removed west from Ohio in 1820, in a speech to the President in November of that year also confirms the location of Piankashaws to the west of the Mississippi River not far from the St. Genevieve area when he said
the Pieories and piankishaw Indians tell us that Menard will go to them and pay them their Annuety as Soon as he will receive it. (Anderson, Dft. Ex. A-121)
Graham, writing to Calhoun in November of 1820, concerning Indian annuities,
I am advised by the Indians the ottoways & al, Peorias & Kaskaskas & Piankishaws to say to you that they would prefer their annuities in money -- the delay & irregular manner in which they have received their annuities is not satisfactory to them -- (Graham, Dft. Ex. A-215)
In February of 1821 some Piankashaws were still protesting that they had not sold their two square miles of lands reserved in the Treaty of December 30, 1805. (Clark, Dft. Ex. A-139)
In a petition of March 1822 some Delawares located on the West Fork of Current River in Missouri petitioned the President to have Clark as the "Great Chief" for all the Indians on the west side of the Mississippi, including "the Kicapoos Piankishaws peories and the Miamies residing here" as well as some Shawnees. (Delaware Indians, Dft. Ex. A-193) A treaty of peace and friendship, made between these Indians and the Osages of White Hair's Town on September 21, 1822, was signed by one Piankashaw chief, Wapisontanga. (Treaty..., Dft. Ex. A-194; see also Clark, Dft. Ex. A-140)
/pg. 235/
In April of 1& 3 Piankashaws protested that
The Peankeshaws our nations have yet a Large tract of Land on the Vermillion Extending To the White Buffalow Perairi. Which if it has Been Sold it is not buy us. (Piankeshaws, Dft. Ex. A-295)
They now wanted to sell part of this land and exchange the rest. What these lands were i8 not certain, but it seems likely that they were referring to an area where they formerly lived and had not ceded on Vermilion River. They had left that area at least partly from fear of attacks by Whites and other Indians. Now the Piankashaws were in a distressed situation and in want of sufficient food and clothing, (Idem; see also Marshal and others, Dft. Ex. A-264) and may have seen in this unwillingly left land a possible source of funds. A letter of Graham's in November of 1823 makes it more certain that it was lands on the Vermilion River the Piankashaws wanted compensation for since he mentions among the reasons for his coming to Washington the necessity to discuss the "claims of the Piankashaws for lands sold by the Kickapoos "(Graham, Dft. Ex. A-216; see Royce plates 18 and 19)
Clark, in commenting on this Piankashaw claim, remarks
The Piankashaws, a Small tribe residing in this state, who were once noumerous and inhabited the Country about Vincennes on the Waubash, claims a large Tract of Country between that river and the Kaskaskia, which appears not to have been sold by them, and which claim has been Sold by the Kickapoos Tribe by their Treaty of Edwardsville. The Piankashaws also Claim a reservation of 1200 acres near the Waubash, and demand compensation for their claims; I think it probable that, $200
/pg. 236/
added to the Annuites of this Tribe which is now $800, with present of Merchendize in hand will quiet their claims. which I believe is better than the Kickapoos or any other Tribe. (Clark, Dft. Ex. A-142)
In the early 1820's also, Piankashaws, together with Shawnees, Delawares, Cherokees, Kickapoos, Weas, and Peorias, who lived west of the Mississippi were holding councils and exchanging messages with Shawnees, Hurons, Ottawas, Miamis, Senecas, and Tuscaroras, who lived east of the Mississippi to make peace between all of the Indians and to get the Indians east of the Mississippi and south of the Great Lakes to ask for lands from the United States and to remove to the west side of the Mississippi. (See, e.g., Clark, Dft. Ex. A-141; Graham, Dft. Ex. A-216)
In the fall of 1823 Piankashaws are referred to again as one of the small Indian groups living on White River in Missouri. The acting Governor of Arkansas Territory mentioned that "Ten Thousand" Piankashaws, Shawnees, Delawares, Potawatomis, Kickapoos, Senecas and other Indians were congregating on the White River, north of Arkansas Territory. He viewed this circumstance with alarm since he felt they were not sufficiently controlled by an Indian Agent. (Dft. Ex. A-25, p. 549) Graham, in an estimate made about this time, included Piankashaws, Weas, and Piorias in a total of 500 persons who lived, with 3000 Delawares, 2000 Kickapoos, and 2500 Shawnees, on White River. (Graham, Dft. Ex. A-25, p. 582)
Footnote 57: See also Parke, Dft. Ex. A-264, for another statement on the numerical smallness of the Piankashaw Indians, in the Vincennes area at least, in the post-1812 years.[return to text] Footnote 58: In August Graham informed Posey that he was correct in thinking that only the Weas and Kickapoos were within his agency (Graham, Dft. Ex. A-213)[return to text]
Footnote 59: Governor Posey referred to the wrong treaty in his contract, which may be one reason why it was never officially recognized. The two-mile reserve had been set up by the Treaty of December 30, 1805 in which the Piankashaws also ceded Royce Area 63 rather than the Treaty of August 27, 1804 in which they ceded Royce Area 49.[return to text] Footnote 60: 1,921,280 acres (Royce Area 49) of this was also ceded by the Delawares. (Morse, Dft. Ex. A-87, p. 384)[return to text]
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