As a result of the unlawful removal, the Ponca suffered severe economic losses, including the loss of their wooden homes, personal property, and agricultural implements. Due to the hasty nature of the unlawful removal perpetuated by Edward Cleveland Kemble and the Hayes administration, the Ponca were removed to a swampy marsh in the Indian Territory and forced to live outside exposed to the elements in a tropical climate. No preparations were made to accommodate the Ponca by the newly inaugurated Hayes administration or Carl Schurz, President Hayes' cabinet secretary responsible for overseeing the removal. Within six months, a further 141 deaths were reported as half of the Ponca population suffered from tropical diseases such as malaria and yellow fever. Among the victims were White Eagle's wife, four of his children, and his father Iron Whip, who preceded him as hereditary chief of the Ponca from 1846 until his abdication in 1870. Iron Whip signed the broken treaty with President Abraham Lincoln in 1865 shortly before Lincoln's assassination. The exact number of deaths is unknown; however, it is known that the death toll exceeded 200 of the 700 Poncas — 30% of the Ponca population — and included the outright extinction of 24 Ponca families.