1830s Indian Removal Act in Cincinnati

A lot happened on the site of Cincinnati’s riverside parks.  The riverfront was once busy with traffic.  Among the departures were three groups of native people boarding steamboats going west, leaving their homes and lands forever.  Each tribe was to be given land in what is now Kansas and Oklahoma.  This was part of a nearly complete exit of all native peoples from Ohio that the Federal government called Indian Removal.  

The leaders of the Seneca in Ohio had already been trying to arrange a move west, so they went first, and their trip was bungled the worst.  In 1831 they finally left their lands along the Sandusky River, and started the journey that was arranged for them.  On November 5, 1831, 231 Seneca people boarded the steamboat Benjamin Franklin at the Cincinnati riverfront.  The steamer was bound for Saint Louis, where the families would join another group of 110 Seneca and 58 Delaware going by land.  From Saint Louis, the reunited group journeyed overland to what is now northeastern Oklahoma.  There, they hoped to make a new homeland where they would no longer be surrounded and overrun by American settlers.  Their trip lasted eight months.  The migration was poorly planned and under-supplied.  At least thirty people died.  When the Seneca people arrived, they found that their promised new lands had already been assigned to the Cherokee.  Their Ohio land with all its farms, homes, horses, livestock, and hunting lands was immediately sold to settlers.

On August 4, 1839, the steamboat Bedford reached Cincinnati from Portsmouth, carrying its usual load of mail, plus 108 people of the Ottawa tribe from the Maumee valley in northwest Ohio.  These families were the second group of Maumee Ottawa to be taken west under the Indian Removal Act.  While the Federal Indian agent searched for a steamboat to take the group to Saint Louis, the Ottawas explored the city.  Museum owners admitted them for free… and charged all the curious people who followed them in.  Crowds followed the Ottawas back to the riverfront so that their steamboat had to pull away from shore to keep onlookers from climbing aboard.  The Ottawas were taken to Kansas, and when this land was also taken from them, they were “given” a small area in what is now Oklahoma.  Some Ottawa stayed hidden in their beloved Maumee valley, and were seen wandering there for the next forty years. 

On July 20, 1843, the last native tribe in Ohio boarded two steamboats on the Cincinnati riverfront, bound for Saint Louis.  Before leaving, they spent two days in the city.  After much persuading and harassment from the Federal government, the Wyandot tribe had finally voted to leave after their chief was murdered.  They left their farms along the upper Sandusky River and were joined by relatives from Michigan and Canada, to make a new life in Kansas.  People were surprised to see their fine horses, buggies, and good clothes.  Most Ohioans were surprised to learn that the native peoples had been forced to become farmers in order to survive on less land.  They were also surprised that the Wyandots were devout Methodists and prosperous patriots who had fought for the United States in the War of 1812.  Unlike the other Ohio tribes, the Wyandots planned and directed every part of their journey without government assistance.  The land they had been promised was already owned by the Delaware, so they had to buy it.  But just like all the other Ohio tribes who moved to Kansas, their new western lands were eventually taken from them.

All these people had lands in Ohio.  All had become settled farmers to survive on smaller and smaller pieces of property.  They had been surrounded by settlers who often tried to exploit them.  Whiskey peddlers were like the drug dealers of the era, finding ways to get around tribal measures to keep them out.  There were murders, and white criminals almost never faced justice if the victim was an Indigenous person.  Meanwhile, settlers campaigned for the government to push out the Native Americans so they could get their land.  So, in 1830 the Federal government passed the Indian Removal Act.  One by one, the government persuaded or forced the tribes to go west.  Some native people were willing and thought it was best, some were opposed.  In each group, leaving was a difficult and momentous decision.  Most groups were transported by the Federal government.  It was done as cheaply as possible, and despite occasional good intentions, it was done badly.  

Many people in Cincinnati and elsewhere were very surprised by the native people.  These weren't the wild fighting men from old pioneer stories—these were real families dealing with the same modern world.  They are still real people today.  Hopefully we're better nowadays at hearing other people's story.  Hopefully we'll never again say of anyone, "They were just in the way."

THE SENECA, OTTAWA, AND WYANDOT TODAY

The Seneca, Ottawa, and Wyandot that were removed from Ohio are mainly located in northeast Oklahoma in Ottawa County.  Their reserved lands have been divided into private properties.

SENECA

The group of Seneca, Delaware and others from Ohio is now one of three Federally recognized Seneca tribes.  They were joined in Oklahoma by a group of Cayuga people.  They are called “Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma.”  

There are two more Federally recognized tribes in New York State, plus several other unrecognized Seneca governments.

In Ontario, Canada, many Seneca are part of the “Six Nations” (Haudenosaunee, sometimes called Iroquois).  

Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma website: sctribe.com

History of the Seneca group removed from Ohio: sctribe.com/history/05-03-2016/guide-indian-tribes-ok-seneca

OTTAWA (ODOA)

The bands of Ottawa from Ohio are now one of 4 Federally recognized Ottawa tribes.  They are called “Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma.”

The other Federally recognized tribes are in Michigan, plus several unrecognized Ottawa governments and groups.

There are several recognized and unrecognized Ottawa tribes, groups, and governments in Ontario, Canada.

Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma website: ottawatribe.org

History of the Ottawa group removed from Ohio: ottawatribe.org/page3.html

WYANDOT (WYANDOTTE, WENDAT) 

The Wyandot from Ohio are the only Federally recognized Wyandot tribe.  They are called “Wyandotte Nation.”  Their headquarters is in Wyandotte, Oklahoma, in Ottawa County.

There are also unrecognized bands of Wyandot in Kansas (where they first relocated from Ohio) and in Michigan.  There is another Wyandot nation in Canada: The Huron-Wendat Nation.  

The money owed to the Ohio Wyandots by the Federal government for undervaluing their land was not paid until 1985.

Wyandot Nation website: wyandotte-nation.org

History of the Wyandot group removed from Ohio: wyandotte-nation.org/culture/our-history

The second Wyandot group from those who left Ohio is the Wyandot Nation of Kansas: wyandot.org/wyandotKS/

History of the Wyandot Nation of Kansas: wyandot.org/wyandotKS/history/

Written by Naturalist Jonathan Duerbeck

Sources
Stockwell, Mary. The Other Trail of Tears: The Removal of the Ohio Indians.   Yardley, PA. Westholme Publishing, LLC.

Photos sources
Letterpress with wood engraving by Louisville Courier Steam Job Press, circa 1854 - 1858.

Hard Hickory, An Amiable Man, 1831, oil on canvas, painting by George Caitlin, Smithsonian American Art Museum. 

Good Hunter, A Warrior, 1831, oil on canvas, painting by George Catlin, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons