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Chapter VI. The Treaty of Grouseland of
August 21, 1805
The period of time under consideration in this report is very short, extending from 1800 (the date of the division of the Northwest Territory into two autonomous administratrative governments) to 1805 (the Treaty of Grouseland.) It is our purpose to examine various factors and events during this short span of time in order to see what influence they had on the policy of the federal government and its official representative, the Governor of Indiana Territory, William Henry Harrison.
From 1787 to 1800 most of the region we now call the Great Lakes-Ohio Valley region was included in the federal territory known as the Territory Northwest of the Ohio River. In 1800, this territory was divided; a large part of the present state of Ohio became Ohio Territory, and the remainder became Indiana Territory.1 William Henry Harrison was appointed the first Governor of Indiana Territory, in May, 1800.2 Prior to this appointment Harrison had served as the representative to Congress for the Northwest Territory and while serving in this capacity had been instrumental in the passage of legislation which provided for the sale of public lands in smaller quantities than had heretofore been possible.3
1. Carter, Territorial Papers, vol. 7, pp. 7-10;
Dft. Ex.
69.
2. Ibid., vol. 7, pp. 13-15; Dft. Ex. 69.
3. Harrison to his constituents, May 14, 1800; Dft. Ex. 149.
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One of the most pressing problems facing Harrison after taking office was that of Indian-White relations. The boundaries of the cessions made at the Treaty of Greenville had not yet been surveyed and there was constant friction between the Indians and Whites. The Indians complained of the
ill treatment on the part of our [United States] citizens. They say that their people have been killed- their lands settled on- their game wantonly destroyed- & their young men made drunk & cheated of the peltries which formerly procured them necessary articles of Clothing, arms and amunition to hunt with. Of the truth of all these charges I [Harrison] am well convinced.4
Similar complaints were made by Little Turtle, as speaker for a delegation of Miami, Wea and Potawatomi chiefs, at a conference held in Washington, D. C., on January 4-7, 1802.5 In his answer to Little Turtle's speech, Henry Dearborn, Secretary of War, promised that the federal government would attempt to alleviate their complaints.6 A month later, in February, 1802 a delegation of Delaware and Shawnee chiefs in Washington, made the same complaints, and also requested that the salt lick near the mouth of the Wabash, on Saline River in Gallatin County, Illinois, be leased to a White operator for their benefit.7 Two results of these conferences
4. Harrison to the Secretary of War, July 15,
1801; Dft. Ex. 150.
5. Records of the Office of the Secretary of War, Letters Sent, Indian Affairs, vol. A, pp. 138-142; Dft. Ex. 100.
6. Ibid., vol. A, pp. 135-137; Dft. Ex. 100.
7. Ibid., vol. A, pp. 149-157, 168; Dft. Ex. 100.
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were that Dearborn ordered Harrison to investigate the question of delimiting the boundaries of the Vincennes cession (Royce Area 26) and of the leasing of the Saline Springs.8 The limits and bounds of the Vincennes tract had not been set down in the Treaty of Greenville (7 Stat. 49:51).
Harrison demurred regarding Dearborn's orders as to the leasing of the Saline Springs. On March 25, 1802, he wrote
The leasing of this spring would probably produce a disagreement among the Indians themselves. Every tribe in the country would expect to partake in the benefits of the lease, and the proportion which would fall to the lot of each would be so small as to disgust those who really have a right to the land: the Delawares and Shawnese [Shawnee] have none.9
As an alternative to the unsatisfactory, in his estimation, plan for leasing the salt springs, Harrison suggested that the United States
extinguish the title altogether to the spring and a small tract around it: the United States could well afford to give each of the tribes a sum equal to one year's annuity for the spring and 10,000 acres around it. It might then be put under such a management as completely to indemnify the public for the expense of the purchase, and produce a sufficiency of salt at a moderate price for those present inhabitants and those who are to follow.10
8. Ibid., vol. A, pp. 146,
168-169;
Dft. Ex.
100.
9. Dawson, A Historical Narrative, p. 29; Dft. Ex. 125.
10. Idem.
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Dearborn approved of Harrison's suggestion re the Saline Springs and he was ordered to obtain a cession of the springs as well as four miles square (16 square miles) of the adjoining land.11
In February, 1802, Harrison reported to Dearborn his findings and conclusions re the boundaries of the Vincennes Tract (Royce Area 26) . According to Harrison the claim of the United States extended north 12 leagues (ca. 30 miles) up the Wabash from the mouth of the "White River" (Vincennes?), south 12 leagues down the Wabash from Vincennes, east of the Wabash 40 leagues (ca. 100 miles) and west of this river 30 leagues (ca. 75 miles). This region, according to Harrison, was reserved for the use of the French inhabitants of Vincennes in the deed of sale by the Piankashaw in 1775. (This sale had been repudiated by Henry Hamilton in 1778 and was never recognized by either the British or United States governments).12 However Harrison thought "it would be extremely impolitic to insist on taking the whole of it," since he was "not certain that the Indians would agree to it." He suggested instead that the east and west boundaries should be no more than 10 or 12 leagues ( 25 to 30 miles) from the Wabash. As will be seen even this small tract
11. Records of the Office of the Secretary of War, Letters Sent, Indian
Affairs, vol. A, p. 205;
Dft. Ex.
100.
12. Barnhart, Hamilton and Clark in the Revolution, pp. 125, 134, 152-153; Dft. Ex. 66. Johnson and Graham's Lessee v. William M'Intosh, U. S. Supreme Court Reports, 8 Wheaton 543.
206 |
encompassed more land than was delimited by the Indians and Harrison in the treaty of June 7, 1803 (7 Stat. 74:75).13
On June 17, 1802, Dearborn wrote to Harrison concerning the acquisition of land in the Indiana Territory. Harrison was to investigate the attitude of both the Piankashaws and Kickapoos as to their feelings about the validity of the sale of the two tracts of land "in 1795" to a private land company. Dearborn was misinformed about the details of that transaction; the Kickapoos took no part in the sale and it occurred in 1775, not 1795 as is stated in his letter. Harrison was to attempt to induce the Indians to "admit the United States in the place of the [Wabash and Illinois Land] Company." When we consider that the British government had repudiated this sale by a few Piankashaws to a private land company and that it had also been repudiated twice, by this time, by the American congress,14 we see in Dearborn's instructions to Harrison evidence of his desire to obtain as much land as possible from the Western Indians for the least amount of expenditure by the federal government.
If the Indians would not accede to the proposal as outlined by Dearborn, Harrison was to establish boundaries of the Vincennes Tract, preferably those set forth in the 1775 deed. However, Harrison was empowered to make such changes in the boundaries as he deemed necessary after
13. Dawson, A Historical Narrative, p. 16;
Dft. Ex.
125. American State Papers, Public Lands, vol. 2, pp.
119-120; Dft. Ex. 92.
14. American State Papers, Public Lands, vol. 1, pp. 27, 72, 74; Dft. Ex. 92.
207 |
consulting with the various Indian groups, but absolutely the limits of the smallest area to be considered were
to extend up and down the [Wabash] river from Point Coupe to the mouth of White-river and not less than 25 leagues [ca. 65-70 miles] Westward and as far eastward as White-river.15
Apparently on receiving two letters from Harrison written during the summer of
1802 which are not now available, Dearborn reconsidered his instructions to
Harrison of June 17, 1802 re the federal government's claim to the
entire Vincennes tract. On August 5, 1802 Dearborn wrote Harrison that
|
|
prudence forbids our
extending our claim to any such length as may You will therefore treat the subject of the
boundaries of the |
This August 5, 1802 letter of instructions to Harrison must have arrived at
Vincennes after the council with the Indians had opened on August 12, 1802. At
the council in August and September, 1802, the various Indian groups in
attendance- Potawatomis, Kickapoos, Eel Rivers, Weas, Piankashaws and
Kaskaskias- expressed opposition to the boundaries of the
15. Records of the Office of the Secretary of War, Letters Sent, Indian
Affairs, vol. A, pp.
235-238; Dft. Ex.
100.
16. Carter, Territorial Papers, vol. 7, p. 63; Dft. Ex. 69.
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Vincennes Tract as proposed by Harrison and Dearborn. The size of this tract immediately led to protests from the Indians. In his "investigations" Harrison found that: a) the French residents of Vincennes were the ones instrumental in setting down in the 1775 deed the metes and bounds of the area allegedly granted them by the Indians; b) the area given to the French consisted of only 7,000 or 8,000 acres in the immediate vicinity of Vincennes; and c) the land between Point Coupe and the mouth of the White River had only been lent to the French for commercial purposes and had not been sold or given to them.
By dint of much persuasion, Harrison was enabled to prevail upon the assembled chiefs to sign a preliminary agreement with the United States whereby the metes and bounds of the Vincennes Tract were established and preliminary arrangements made for a cession of the Saline Spring. Even though Harrison later claimed that he did not feel that he was empowered to consummate a formal treaty with the Indians for these two areas, he had received specific instructions to do so the previous spring and early summer. Dorothy Burne Goebel, in her biography of Harrison, puts forth the interesting hypothesis that Harrison's excuse was nothing but "an ingenious explanation to cover the Indians' unwillingness" to sign a formal treaty.
There were three main points covered in the final "unofficial" agreement signed by the Indians: 1)
That the United States shall relinquish all claim to lands in the neighborhood of Vincennes, excepting the following
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described tract. . . : beginning at Point Coupee on the Wabash river, thence running a westwardly line four leagues, thence southwardly by a line drawn parallel to the general course of the Wabash river until it will be intersected by a westwardly line drawn from the confluence of the White river and Wabash river, thence from the point of intersection aforesaid along the said line by the confluence of the White and Wabash rivers in an easterly direction twenty-four leagues, thence northeastwardly by a line drawn parallel to the general course of the said Wabash river until it will intersect an easterly line drawn from Point Coupee aforesaid, on the Wabash river, thence by the line last mentioned to Point Coupee, the place of beginning;
2) arrangements "to transfer and make over to the United States the privilege of making salt" at Saline Springs; the area which was to be "transfered and made over" was a four mile square which was to include the spring proper (it should be noted that no cession of land was promised, only the "privilege" of use of the area designated); and 3) that items 1 and 2 were to be consummated by a formal treaty to be held at a future date and that the tribes signatory to this agreement were to be represented by four Indian chiefs, two Potawatomis- Topineebe and Winemak- and two Miamis- Little Turtle and Richerville- none of whom had attended the Vincennes conference.17 It might be noted in passing that Dearborn sent Harrison 15 medals and $1500 in silver for use at this conference and that Harrison
17. Dawson, A Historical Narrative, pp. 22
- 28; Dft. Ex.
125. Indiana Historical Collections, vol. 14, pp.
101-102; Dft. Ex. 97.
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was "to apply" this sum "in such a manner as" he might "judge most usefull to the public in furnishing cloaths and other articles to the Indian Chiefs &c."18
Feeling against the articles relating to such a cession of the Vincennes Tract was promptly manifested. In January, 1803, Delaware and Miami delegations in Washington objected strongly to the proposed boundaries of the Tract. Both Jefferson and his Secretary of War, Dearborn, upheld the temporary agreement signed in September, 1802, and refused to invalidate it.19 We will see active opposition at the treaty council in Fort Wayne during the summer of 1803 to the clauses dealing both with the Vincennes Tract and the Saline Spring.
During 1800, negotiations were carried on between Spain and France concerning the retrocession of Louisiana territory to France. In 1801, this transfer was made. Most of the Ohio Valley Indians, like many other Indian groups, fondly remembered "the good old days" of French control. Goebel suggests that Dearborn's instructions to Harrison of June, 1802, whereby he was to obtain as much land as possible, were induced by fear of the Indians' attachment to the
18. Carter, Territorial Papers, vol. 7, p. 65;
Dft. Ex.
69.
19. Records of the Office of the Secretary of War, Letters Sent, Indian Affairs, vol. A, pp. 301-302; Dft. Ex. 100. Lipscomb and Bergh, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 16, pp. 396-400; Dft. Ex. 90.
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French and possible repercussions of this on the American frontier.20 Such fear of a possible Indian alliance with the French was expressed by Jefferson to Harrison in a private letter dated February 27, 1803. Due to the impending arrival of French officials in Louisiana, Jefferson empowered Harrison to obtain as much land as possible in the present states of Indiana and Illinois:
for thes purposes we have given you [Harrison] a general commission for treating [with the Indians]. the crisis is pressing. whatever can now be obtained, must be obtained quickly. the occupation of New Orleans, hourly expected, by the French, is already felt like a light breeze by the Indians. you know the sentiments they entertain of that nation. under the hope of their protection, they will immediately stiffen against cessions of lend to us. we had better therefore do at once what can now be done.
I must repeat that this letter is to be considered as private a [sic] friendly. it is not to contradict any particular instructions which you may receive through the official channel. you will also percieve how sacredly it must be kept within [your]21 own breast, and especially how improper to be understood by the Indians. [in]21 their interests & their tranquillity it is best they should see only the present [pag]e21 of their history.22
On February 21, 1803, a week before Jefferson wrote his letter, Dearborn sent a
letter of instructions to
20. Indiana Historical Collections, vol. 14, pp.
99-100; Dft. Ex. 97.
21. Brackets by Carter, editor.
22. Carter, Territorial Papers, vol. 7, pp. 88-92; Dft. Ex. 69.
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