Trail of Death (Potawatomi Removal)

 

“When we quitted this camp later, we left behind six graves in the shadow of the cross. We soon found ourselves on the grand prairies of Illinois, under a burning sun and without shade from one camp to another. They are as vast as the ocean, and the eye seeks in vain for a tree. Not a drop of water can be found there – it was a veritable torture for our poor sick, some of whom died each day from weakness and fatigue.”

-Father Benjamin Petit

 

In September of 1838, 859 Potawatomi Indians, forced from their homeland near Plymouth, Indiana, marched at gunpoint 660 miles to present-day Osawatomie, Kansas. During the arduous journey, their tribe lost 42 of its members, mostly children, of typhoid fever and the stress of the removal. Approximately the same amount escaped during the journey. When they arrived at their final destination, only 756 remained. The removal resulted from the Indian Removal Act passed by U.S. Congress and signed by Andrew Jackson in 1830. The Five Civilized Tribes, who resided in the Southeast part of the country, were the original targets for removal. Some of the Potawatomi tribes moved earlier without being forced. The Pokagon Potawatomi managed to stay at their homeland in southern Michigan due to the efforts of their leader Leopold Pokagon, and partially because of their participation in Catholicism. Menominee’s tribe did not want to leave their homeland. The Potawatomi had nine distinct groups, seven residing in the United States and two ended up residing in Mexico and Canada. Many tribal groups signed treaties which enforced their removal from their homelands. The Potawatomi bands signed more treaties than any other tribes, 40 in all, which added a lot of confusion to where they were supposed to live.

 

We are like birds in a windstorm. The tree boughs keep

moving, and we don’t know which one to land on.

-Quito, a Potawatomi Elder

 

            All tribal nations have their own creation story. Some stories portray how the Potawatomi have always been in existence. Other stories tell about a migration from the Eastern coast with the Ojibwe and Odawa nations. The three tribes formed the Three Fires Confederacy, with each nation having served a vital role. The Ojibwe were keepers of Tradition; the Odawa were keepers of the Trade; and the Potawatomi served as keepers of the Fire. Originally, the Potawatomi migrated to north of Lakes Huron and Superior, to Wisconsin, southern Michigan, northern Indiana, and northern Illinois (Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, ND).

            Potawatomi warriors fought in battles which were either lost or won such as the Battle of Fallen Timbers in Ohio in 1794. Tippecanoe (the Prophet and Tecumseh’s brother) was defeated by General William Henry Harrison in 1811. Potawatomi warriors participated in the siege of Fort Dearborn (Chicago) and Fort Wayne in 1812.  Over 20 years after the battles, they resided peacefully in northern Indiana and southern Michigan. They made an attempt to be farmers and live amongst white men. Many were baptized by the Catholic and Baptist missionaries. Some of the old warriors from the aforementioned battles were part of the removal in the 1830s (Willard, S. and Campbell, S., 2003).

The first Potawatomi band, who were removed from their homeland, lived near the Iroquois River by the Illinois-Indiana border. Thousands were removed from northeastern Illinois in 1835. Large and smaller groups traveled together. The 1833 Treaty of Chicago enforced the conditions for the removal of the Potawatomi from the Great Lakes Area when Michigan became a state in 1837. The journey involved approximately 500 Potawatomi and it was a hazardous trip in which one in every ten people died during the excursion. News traveled fast and small groups of families fled to northern Michigan and Canada to avoid removal to the western part of the country (Weiser, 2017).  

Leopold Pokagon’s village was at what is now Niles, Michigan. In 1838, Leopold and a small group of Potawatomi visited the Odawa at L’Arbre Croche (Petoskey, Michigan area) to find out if they could relocate to their area. The 1833 Treaty allowed them to remain in Michigan. Their future plan involved moving to reside with Odawa within five years. The 1836 Treaty of Washington signed between the Odawa, Ojibwe and the U.S. government ceded most of their land. There was no room for the Potawatomi to reside on the Odawa land. Leopold purchased land at Silver Creek Township by utilizing the tribe’s annuity monies accumulated from previous treaty negotiations. The Pokagon and other groups moved to the Silver Creek area which is now Dowagiac, Michigan. Brigadier General Hugh Brady made an attempt to force Pokagon’s Band out of Michigan. Pokagon, an elder man in bad health, traveled to Detroit to obtain a written judgment from Epaphroditus Ransom of the Michigan Supreme Court. He was granted the judgment and the Pokagon group could remain on their land. Other Potawatomi groups were not so lucky.

By August 1838 most of the Potawatomi bands migrated from their homelands in Indiana and Michigan to Kansas, which started in 1832. Menominee and his band refused to sign treaties and relocate to Kansas. Hundreds who did not want to move out west, joined Menominee’s band. The band grew from 4 wigwams in 1821 to 100 wigwams by 1838. Indiana Governor David Wallace was infuriated and ordered General John Tipton to remove the tribe.

On August 30^th, General Tipton, along with 100 troops, burned crops and the homes of the Potawatomi to discourage them returning to the area. They ordered at gunpoint 859 Indians to begin their march on September 4^th. Chief Menominee and two other chiefs, No-taw-kah and Pee-pin-oh-waw were transported in a horse-drawn jail wagon. The rest of the band traveled by foot or rode horseback behind the jail wagon. The group made the trek each day which started at 8:00a.m. each morning until 4:00p.m., when they received their first meal of the day.

Father Benjamin M. Petit accompanied the group of travelers and provided ministry to the tribe to aid them spiritually, emotionally, and physically. He took care of the sick. During that fall a drought occurred and there was little water available for the travelers, what they found was stagnant. Many became sick with probably thyroid disease. More and more died along the way and Father Petit became sick. While sick he conducted ministry to the sick. On November 13, 1838, he sent a letter to Bishop Simon Brute in Vincennes, Indiana, to describe the march (Wiemer, 2017).

“The order of march was as follows: the United States flag, carried by a dragoon; then one of the principal officers, next the staff baggage carts, then the carriage, which during the whole trip was kept for the use of the Indian chiefs, then one or two chiefs on horseback led a line of 250 to 300 horses ridden by men, women, children in single file, after the manner of savages.

On the flanks of the line at equal distance from each other were the dragoons and volunteers, hastening the stragglers, often with severe gestures and bitter words. After this cavalry came a file of forty baggage wagons filled with luggage and Indians. The sick were lying in them, rudely jolted, under a canvas which, far from protecting them from the dust and heat, only deprived them of air, for they were as if buried under this burning canopy – several died” (Wiemer, 2017, paras. 8 and 9).

They marched across the prairies of Illinois and crossed the Mississippi River at Quincy, Missouri and continued until they reached the Kansas territory and Osawatomie, Kansas, the final destination. The tired group reached their final destination on November 4, 1838. Winter was coming on and there were no houses for the Native Americans which the government promised. The Potawatomi and a very sick Father Petit stayed with them for a few weeks until Jesuit Father Christian Hoecken agreed to provide them with a place to stay at the St. Mary’s Sugar Creek Mission, 20 miles away from Osawatomie.

Father Petit traveled to Indiana accompanied by Nan-wesh-mah Burnett. He had to be held on the horse and had sores all over his body. He ended up traveling by wagon because he was so sick. He died at the seminary in St. Louis, Missouri on February 10, 1839 at the age of 27. The Potawatomi thought he was a saint.

Three years after their arrival, Mother Rose Phillippine Duchesne arrived at the mission in 1841. She taught school to the Potawatomi children and was known to have established the first Indian school for girls west of the Mississippi River. When she turned 72, her health was failing so she dedicated her life to prayer and prayed day and night. The Indians called her Quah-kah-ka-num-ad (woman who prays always).

The Potawatomi remained at the mission for ten years. In 1848 they moved further west to reside close to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Reservation at Mayetta, Kansas. While at the first mission, 600 of the Potawatomi died, many shortly after their arrival. Chief Menominee died on April 15, 1841 when he was 50. All of the dead Potawatomi were buried at the site (Weiser, 2017).

Today, seven distinct Potawatomi bands reside in the United States: Citizen Potawatomi, Forest County Potawatomi, Hannahville Indian Community, Match-e-he-nash-whi-wish Potawatomi, Nottawaseppi Huron Potawatomi, Pokagon Potawatomi and Prairie Band Potawatomi. The Coahuila Potawatomi reside in Mexico and the Walpole Island First Nation people live in Canada. The group that resides in Mexico, fled to Mexico to avoid the “white man’s war” (the Civil War) in December 1864 (Godfrey, 2015).

The Potawatomi have history of fighting in battles during the 1700 and 1800s. They decided to settle down to a life of farming and tried to live in harmony next to the white settlers. Leopold Pokagon managed to remain in Michigan because of the band’s willingness to embrace Catholicism and Pokagon’s ability to negotiate with a member of the supreme court. Many traveled west to settle in Kansas voluntarily. Michigan became a state in 1837 and the fertile land was needed for the onslaught of white settlers. Menominee’s band decided to hunker down in Indiana and refused to sign treaties. His band ended up being forced to march westward at gunpoint in what is known as the “Trail of Death.” Many died during the march and shortly after they arrived at their final destination. Various groups of Native Americans ended up leaving their homelands, but managed to continue their legacy.