Nodaway County, Missouri - Chapter 2: Platte Purchase, 1882

Chapter 2: Platte Purchase

THE PLATTE COUNTRY - CORRESPONDENCE IN REFERENCE THERETO - MEETING AT LIBERTY, MISSOURI - ITS OBJECT- MEMORIAI - EFFOR IS OF BENTON AND LINNTREATY WI I H THE IOWAYS, SACS AND FOX INDIANS.

Nodaway County being a portion of the territory originally included in the Platte Purchase, a short history, detailing how, when, and through whom, the purchase of this territory was accomplished, will doubtless be of interest to the citizens of the county.

For several years, prior to the acquisition of the Platte Purchase by the United States Government, the people of Missouri desired its annexation. By moving the Indians, and possessing this territory now constituting the counties of Platte, Buchanan, Andrew, Holt, Nodaway and Atchison, some of the richest, best timbered, and best watered lands in the state, would be opened for settlement. The state would then have a natural boundary line, (the Missouri River) between the whites and the Indians, and the people having already located in the counties contiguous to this territory on the east, could avail themselves of the transportation facilities afforded by the Missouri River, without being eompelled to cross Indian territory. In pursuance of these objects, the Hon. L. F. Linn, then a United States Senator, from Missouri, in January, 1835, addressed H. Ellsworth, Esq., the following communication :

SIR : It has long been desired by the people of Missouri to have annexed to the state that portion of territory lying between her western boundary and the great river, Missouri, for the purpose of preventing the location of an annoying Indian population, and for the purpose of having points on the river to receive their supplies and ship their productions, within a moderate distance from the homes of those inhabitants residing along that line of the frontier.

The location of the Pottawatomies, by the treaty of Chicago, on this territory, interposes a barrier to the attainment of these objects, so important to the weliare and tranquility of the inhabitants of the northern and western counties. Will you be so good as to furnish me your opinion as to the propriety of ratifying that treaty, and the danger of collision between the two races, from placing the Indians between the white population and the river Missouri.

Sir : Yours of the 23d instant, requesting my opinion as to the propriety of ratifying the Chicago treaty, and the danger of collision that will probably arise from placing the Indians between the white population and the river Missouri, at the northwest section of the state, was received this morning. In reply, I hasten to observe that the small strip of land lying between the Missouri River and the State of Missouri, is, compared with the country lying north of the state line, an unfavorable location for the Indian tribes.

In the fall of 1833 I held a council with the Ioways and the little band of Sacs and Foxes living on this strip, who complained of the great difficulty attending their present situation, on account of the contiguity and encroachments of white men in the state, and all the chiefs desired me to make a treaty for their removal to land lying north of the state line. Not being authorized to make this treaty, I did not attempt it, but have recommended the subject to the favorable consideration of the government.

I have understood that the Pottawatomies are willing to receive other land, in equal amount, for that lying south of the north line of Missouri extended. If this can be done I have no doubt it would be advantageous to all the parties concerned. The government would realize the value of land, but more especially the Pottawatomies would have an excellent location, one far less likely to be interrupted by the encroachment of white neighbors. The State of Missouri might hereafter be accommodated with a good natural boundary, several excellent water privileges, and additional landings on the navigable waters of Missouri for one hundred and forty miles. The ratification of the Chicago treaty will prevent the future disposal of this narrow strip to Missouri. Hence I conceive it highly important that the Pottawatomies should make an exchange of part of the lands embraced within the original treaty. It may be proper to state that, from the concurrent testimony of all persons residing on the Missouri, as well as from a personal view from the opposite side of the river, the location of the Pottawatomies north of the land in question, will give them a rich and fertile tract, equal to that of any tribe already migrated.

It ought to be noticed that the general expectation that the Chicago treaty would be modified, has emboldened many squatters to enter upon the lands in question, in hopes of fixing their future residence. I have, therefore, no hesitation in giving an opinion as to the expediency of altering the Chicago treaty, so as to confine the Pottawatomies north of the little strip now wanted by the State of Missouri.

Having given this opinion, permit me to say that I believe it practicable, with little expense or delay, to remove the Indians now on this strip of land, and to extinguish any remaining right in the red men for hunting or other privileges, and this removal and extinguishment I would respectfully recommend before the state jurisdiction is extended to the waters of the Missouri.

Henry Ellsworth

At the same time the Hon. L. F. Linn wrote to Maj. John Dougherty, Indian Agent, for information concerning the geography and topography of the country embraced in the " Platte Purchase," and in three days thereafter received the following answer :

SIR : Your communication of the 23d instant, containing certain queries touching the slip of land lying between the western boundary line of the State of Missouri and the Missouri River has been received.

1st. The length of the strip of land referred to is, on its east line, one hundred miles long ; the west line, following the meanders of the Missouri River, is about one hundred and fifty miles in length, to a point on said river due west from the northwest corner of the state, the average breadth being about fifteen miles.

2d. I feel no hesitation in stating (and this without the fear of contradiction) that the location of Indians upon this territory would be attended with the most ruinous effects ; it would alike be injurious to the Indians and whites ; take, for example, the Ioways, who now reside upon the upper end of this strip - they are a poor, drunken, miserable set of beings, dwindling away to nothing, quarreling among themselves, killing each other, and in constant broils with their white neighbors. Those evils would be greatly increased were the Indians located all the way down this strip of land, between the white settlements and the Missouri River to the mouth of the Kansas River, where it becomes narrow and the white population more dense.

3d. The inconvenience to our citizens would be incalculable, if those along the western line of the state were compelled to transport their productions to the mouth of the Kansas River for shipment ; some of them residing within eight or ten miles of steamboats passing every day, would be obliged to haul everything for market over a new country one hundred miles.

4th. There is a great deficiency of water power and springs in the northern counties of the State of Missouri, whilst the strip of land you have reference to abounds with numerous flush running springs and creeks, with great falls, well calculated for mills or other water works.

5th. The country north of the State of Missouri, reaching from the Mississippi to the Missouri River, and extending north between four and five hundred miles, is well timbered, interspersed with fine rich prairies, and abounds with numerous large, bold running streams, coming in from the high lands between these two great rivers ; in short, the whole country is well adapted to agricultural purposes, with a fine climate, and exceedingly healthy.

In reply to your 6th question, I deem it sufficient to refer to the answer under the second query. The peace and tranquility of both whites and Indians require that this long strip of land should be attached to the State of Missouri ; and I cannot suppose that any gentlemen as

Jno. Dougherty

As early as 1834-5, two years before the removal of the Indians, the narrow strip of land between the western boundary of the state and the Missouri River began to be settled by white men. So numerous were these settlers that the United States Government sent a military force from Fort Leavenworth to remove them. What proportion of these daring frontiersmen had located in this territory we cannot determine, but the number must have been considerable, as will be seen from the following letter from Hon. L. F. Linn to Hon. John Forsyth, Secretary of State :

SlR: I take the liberty of enclosing you a copy (perhaps imperfect, from having mislaid the original), of a letter dated May 14, to the Secretary of War, on a subject of much interest to the people of this state. To this communication no answer has been received. May I tax your kindness by asking that you will read the letter, and give the subject your friendly attention in any way you may deem advisable. I feel that there is a propriety in endeavoring to obtain your assistance, knowing the state you so long represented in Congress, with such distinguished credit, has been greatly annoyed by an Indian population. I hear an order has come from the War Department to remove the families who have settled on the Indian lands lying between our western boundary and the Missouri River, by military force.

You know the independent and daring character of our frontier population, and knowing, you will easily believe that this step is not to be accomplished without violence and much distress, as the families are two or three hundred in number. The accompanying diagram will at a glance show you what we want, and at the same time the utter uselessness of this portion of country for Indian purposes.

The long absence of Governor Cass, and multiplicity of business since his return, may have caused him to lose sight of my letter. His order has caused much sensation in the northern part of the state, and for the present ought to be suspended. Yours truly,

In the summer of 1835, there was held a regimental militia muster at Dale's farm, three miles from the town of Liberty, in Clay County. After the morning parade, and during the recess for dinner, a mass meeting of the citizens present was addressed, among others, by General Andrew S. Hughes, who came to Clay from Montgomery County, Kentucky, in 1828, and who soon afterward was appointed Indian agent by

President John Ouincy Adams. At this meeting he proposed the acquisition of the Platte Country, and the measure met with such hearty approval that a committee was at once appointed to make an effort to accomplish it. The committee was composed of William T.Wood, now judge of the Lexington Circuit; David R. Atchison, ex-United States Senator; A. W. Doniphan, a distinguished lawyer and hero of the Mexican War ; Peter H. Burnett, afterward one of the supreme judges of California, and Edward M. Samuel, afterward president of the Commercial Bank in St. Loius - all of them at that time residents of Clay County. Subsequently an able memorial to Congress was drafted by Judge Wood, embracing the facts and considerations in behalf of the measure, which, after being signed by the committee, was forwarded to the senators and representatives at Washington from Missouri.

Following the prayer of this memorial, in 1836, a bill was introduced in Congress by Thomas H. Benton, and zealously supported by his colleague, Senator Linn, which provided for the extension of the then existing boundary of the state, so as to include the triangle between the existing line and the Missouri River, then a part of the Indian Territory, now comprising the counties of Atchison, Andrew, Buchanan, Holt, Nodaway and Platte. The difficulties encountered were three fold : 1. To make still larger a state which was already one of the largest in the Union. 2. To remove Indians from a possession which had just been assigned to them in perpetuity. 3. To alter the Missouri Compromise line in relation to slave territory, and thereby convert free soil into slave soil. Notwithstanding these difficulties, the two first mentioned serious and the last formidable, the act was passed and the treaties negotiated, and in 1837, the Indians removed west of the Missouri River, thus adding to the state a large body of the richest land in the world.

During the fall of 1835, after the meeting held at the regimental muster above referred to, General Andrew S. Hughes wrote to Hon. L. F. Linn in reference to a treaty with the Ioways and Sacs of his agency. His letter is as lollows :

SlR : I have written a hasty scrawl to you. It might be well to publish your letter to show to the people what you are doing. I send this to St. Genevieve, not exactly knowing where to find you. I give you liberty to do just as you may think proper with my letter.

All letters addressed to me, I wish directed to the "Elm Grove Post Office, Clay County, Missouri." This is most convenient to me. When I hear from you I will write again. I desire to see you before you go east.

A treaty can be made with the Ioways of my agency and Sacs, without expense to the government, or any other unnecessary pomp and parade, as has heretofore been the case. Colonel Dodge could make treaty with the Indians as a part of his official duty. They are near his post, and I should have no objections to render any assistance that might be asked of me. Believe me, your sincere friend, made and concluded at Fort Leavenworth, on the Missouri River, between William Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, on the part of the United States, of the one part, and the undersigned chiefs, warriors and counsellors of the Ioway tribe, and the band of Sacs and Foxes of the Missouri (residing west of the State of Missouri) in behalf of their respective tribes, of the other part.

Article i. By the first article of the treaty af Prairie du Chien, held the 15th of July, 1830, with the confederate tribes of the Sacs and Foxes, Ioways, Omahaws, Missourias, Ottoes and Sioux, the country ceded to the United States by that treaty is to be " assigned and allotted, under the President of the United States, to the tribes living thereon, or to such other tribes as the President may locate thereon for hunting and other purposes." And whereas, it is further represented to us, the chiefs, warriors and counsellors of the Ioways and Sacs and Fox band aforesaid, to be desirable that the lands lying between the State of Missouri and the Missouri River should be attached to and become a part of the said state, and the Indian title thereto should be extinguished; but that, notwithstanding, as these lands compose apart of the country embraced by the provision of said first article of the treaty aforesaid, the stipulations thereof will be strictly observed, until the assent of the Indians interested is given to the proposed measure.

Now we, the chiefs, warriors and counsellors of the Ioways and Missouri bands of Sacs and Foxes, fully understanding the subject, and well satisfied from the local position of the lands in question, that they can never be made available for Indian purposes, and that an attempt to place an Indian population on them must inevitably lead to collision with the citizens of the United States; and further, believing that the extension of the state line in the direction indicated, would have a happy effect, by presenting a natural boundary between the whites and the Indians; and willing, moreover, to give the United States a renewed evidence of our attachment and friendship, do hereby, for ourselves and on behalf of our respective tribes (having full power and authority to this effect) forever cede, relinquish and quit-claim to the United States, all our right, title and interest, of whatever nature, in and to the land lying between the State of Missouri and the Missouri River, and do freely and fully exonerate the United States from any guarantee, condition or limitation, expressed or implied, under the treaty of Prairie du Chien, aforesaid or otherwise, as to the entire and absolute disposition of the said lands ; fully authorizing the United States to do with the same whatever shall seem expedient or necessary.

As a proof of the continued friendship and liberality of the United States towards the Ioways and band of Sacs and Foxes of the Missourias, and as an evidence of the same entertained for the good will manifested by said tribes to the citizens and Government of the United States, as evinced in the preceding cession or relinquishment, the undersigned, William Clark, agrees, on behalf of the United States, to pay as a present to the said Ioways and band of Sacs and Foxes $7,500 in money, the receipt of which they hereby acknowledge.

Article 2. As the said tribes of Ioways and Sacs and Foxes have applied for a small piece of land south of the Missouri for a permanent home, on which they can settle, and request the assistance of the Government of the United States to place them on the land, in a situation at least equal to that they now enjoy on the lands ceded by them. Therefore, I, William Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, do further agree on behalf of the United States, to assign to the Ioway tribes and Missouri band of Sacs and Foxes, the small strip of land on the south side of the Missouri River, lying between the Kickapoo northern boundary line and the Grand Nemaha River, and extending from the Missouri back and westwardly with the said Kickapoo line and the Grand Nemaha, making four hundred sections,, to be divided between the said Ioways and the Missouri band of Sacs and Foxes, the lower half to the Sacs and Foxes, the upper half to the Ioways.

ARTICLE 3. The Ioways and Missouri band of Sacs and Foxes, further agree that they will move and settle on the lands assigned them in the above article as soon as arrangements can be made, and the undersigned, William Clark, in behalf of the United States, agrees that, as soon as the above tribes have selected a site for their villages, and places for their fields, and moved to them, to erect for the Ioways five comfortable houses ; to enclose and break up for them two hundred acres of ground ; to furnish them with a farmer, blacksmith, schoolmaster and interpreter, as long as the President of the United States deems proper; to furnish them with such agricultural implements as may be necessary, for five years ; to furnish them with rations for one year, commencing at the time of their arrival at their new home ; to furnish them with one ferryboat; to furnish them with one hundred cows and calves, and five bulls, and one hundred stock hogs, when they require them ; to furnish them with a mill, and assist in removing them, to the extent of five hundred dollars.

And to erect for the Sacs and Foxes, three comfortable houses ; to enclose and break up for them two hundred acres of land ; to furnish them with a farmer, blacksmith, schoolmaster and interpreter, as long as the President of the United States shall deem proper ; to furnish them with such agricultural implements as may be necessary, for five years ; to furnish them with rations for one year, commencing at the time of their arrival at their new home ; to furnish them with one ferryboat ; to furnish them with one hundred cows and calves, and five bulls ; one hundred stock hogs, when they require them; to furnish them with a mill, and to assist in removing them to the extent of four hundred dollars.

Article 4. This treaty shall be obligatory on the tribes, parties hereto, from and after the date hereof, and on the United States, from and after its ratification by the Government thereof.

Done, and signed and sealed at Fort Leavenworth, on the Missouri, this seventeenth day of September, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, and of the independence of the United States the sixty-first.

William Clark

Mo-HOS-CA (or White Cloud), Nau-che-ning (or No Heart), Wa-che-mo-ne (or the Orator), Man-O-MONE (or Pumpkin), Ne-O-mo-ne (or Raining Cloud),