I recently finished a book set in 1893, the latest year for one of my book in years. Yet, as I look at what led up to the events that took place in the Oklahoma land runs of 1889 through 1895, I see the issues have their roots in what took place decades earlier.
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Louisiana Purchase and controversies 1803-1819
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The story of the
Indian Removal Act begins with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, simply because, during the very early 1800s, there were those who wanted to remove the Native American tribes from the states in the East and South. The land purchased from France presented a possibility for where they could be relocated.
The Louisiana Purchase territory included the land which, since 1890, was known as Oklahoma. For
decades earlier, it was known as Indian Territory.
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Territories held by the five civilized tribes before removal
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Land-hungry Euro-Americans (whites) continued
to pour into the United States seeking land, much of which in the South was
held by native tribes. Add to that the discovery of gold in the North Carolina
region held by the Cherokees, a drive to do something to displace the Native
people so the land could be opened to white settlement intensified. However,
most of these tribes had adopted many aspects of white culture and became known
as the five civilized tribes.
In the early 1800s, American demand for Indian nations' land
increased, and momentum grew to force American Indians further west. The solution appeared to be
found in the land west of the Mississippi River purchased in 1803 from the
French. Not open to white settlement, it was decided to relocate the tribes in
what became known as Indian Territory.
The
first major step to relocate American Indians came when Congress passed, and
President Andrew Jackson signed, the Indian Removal Act of May 28, 1830. This
act authorized the president to grant lands
west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing state
borders,
primarily in the states of Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, North
Carolina, and others. This included the
original homelands of those tribes known as the five civilized tribes—Cherokee,
Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole. They were assigned to what became
Indian Territory before it was organized as part of the state of Oklahoma.
As
incentives, the law allowed the Indians financial and material assistance to
travel to their new locations and start new lives. The Act also guaranteed that
the Indians would live on their new property under the protection of the United
States Government forever. (The events leading up to and following the Oklahoma
land runs show how that assurance was rendered void.) With the Act in place,
Jackson and his followers were free to persuade, bribe, and threaten tribes
into signing removal treaties and leaving the Southeast.
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Andrew Jackson
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In
his message on December 6, 1830, President Jackson informed Congress on the
progress of the removal, stating, "It gives me pleasure to announce to
Congress that the benevolent policy of the Government, steadily pursued for
nearly thirty years, in relation to the removal of the Indians beyond the white
settlements is approaching to a happy consummation."
Jackson
declared that removal would "incalculably strengthen the southwestern
frontier." Clearing Alabama and Mississippi of their Indian populations,
he said, would "enable those states to advance rapidly in population,
wealth, and power."
Not
all members of Congress supported the Indian Removal Act. One example of those
who strongly opposed the Act was Tennessee Rep. Davey Crockett.
Native
Americans were also strongly opposed being removed from their ancestral
lands. They responded with several battles with local white settlers.
But
the forced relocation proved popular with voters. It freed more than 25 million
acres of fertile,
lucrative
farmland
to mostly white settlement in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee,
Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas.
At
the time, Indian Territory was defined as the region belonging to the United
States west of the Mississippi River but excluding the states of Missouri and
Iowa as well as the Territory of Arkansas. Other tribes than those mentioned
above were initially given lands in other territory west of the Mississippi
River before eventually being moved to reservations in Indian Territory within
today’s Oklahoma’s borders.
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Yellow-Cherokee, pink-Muscogee/Creek & Seminole, green-Chickasaw & Choctaw
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By
the end of Jackson’s Presidency in 1837, his administration had negotiated
almost 70 removal treaties. These led to the relocation of nearly 50,000
eastern Indians to the Indian Territory—what later became eastern Oklahoma. It
opened up 25 million acres of eastern land to white settlement. Since the bulk of
the land was in the American South, it allowed the expansion of slavery.
A few tribes went peacefully, but many
resisted the relocation policy.
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Creek Trail of Tears
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After
decades of war with the US and many broken treaties, the Creek War of 1836
ended. Over 14,000 Creek men, women, and children made the three month journey covering
over 1,200 miles over land and water to Oklahoma, taking only what they could
carry. Over 3,500 of them died along the way.
Perhaps
the most well-known treaty, the Treaty of New Echota, ratified in 1836, called
for the removal of the Cherokees living in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee,
and Alabama. The treaty was approved by a small faction of the tribe who
followed Major Ridge. They moved early to Indian Territory.
The treaty was
opposed by Principle Chief John Ross and the majority of the Cherokee Nation. When
they refused to leave, Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott was ordered to push them out.
He was given 3,000 troops and the authority to raise additional state militia
and volunteer troops to force removal.
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Trail of Tears memorial-Village Creek State Park, Wynne, AR
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Despite
Scott’s order calling for the removal of Indians in a humane fashion, this did
not happen. During the fall and winter of 1838-39, the Cherokees were forcibly
moved from their homes to the Indian Territory—some having to walk as many as
1,000 miles over a four-month period. Known as the "Trail of Tears,"
approximately 4,000 of 16,000 Cherokees died along the way.
By
the 1840s, nearly all Indian tribes had been driven west, which is exactly what
the Indian Removal Act intended to accomplish.
This Indian Removal
Act is but a prelude to the events that led up to the 1889 onward land distributions
to white settlers of what was, for decades, Indian Territory. The story of the
land runs between 1889 and 1895 are told in the Land Run Mail Order Brides
series.
My book, Joshua’s
Bride, is the first book in the series. It takes place during the 1893 land
run. To find the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE.
Sources:
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/indian-treaties
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=trail+of+tears&title=Special:MediaSearch&go=Go&type=image
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/indian-removal-act
https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/jacksons-message-to-congress-on-indian-removal
https://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2010/10/maps-and-history-of-oklahoma-county.html#boomers
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