Source: https://www.wyandotte-nation.org/culture/history/published/exploring-delegation/
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 14:24:45+00:00

Document:
EARLY in the autumn of 1831, James B. Gardiner, as special agent of the United States government, was endeavoring to persuade the Wyandot Indians to exchange the lands they then held in Ohio for lands in the country lying west of the state of Missouri. During the course of the negotiation, both parties agreed that a delegation should be sent to examine the Western lands that had been offered to the Wyandots. For that purpose six persons were appointed. The leader of this delegation was William Walker, a member of the Wyandot nation and a man of considerable education.
The news that Gardiner had received from Colonel Vanhorne turned out to be correct, for the report of the exploring delegation was emphatically unfavorable to the proposed exchange of lands. This report, presumably written by Walker, is reproduced below.
Gardiner was much disturbed at the turn affairs had taken. In a long letter to Lewis Cass, dated at Lebanon, Ohio, on January 28, 1832, he reviewed his negotiations with the Wyandots and complained bitterly of what he believed to be the duplicity of William Walker and of one of Walker’s companions named Silas Armstrong. Because of its important bearing upon the report of the delegation, this letter is also reproduced below.
cion as to the correctness of some of the statements in the report of the delegation. Furthermore, Gardiner submitted the answers of Silas Armstrong to questions that Gardiner had asked him as additional proof that the delegation had not adequately examined the tract of land offered to the Wyandots by the United States government.  Upon the testimony thus obtained Gardiner based several of the conclusions he set forth in his letter to Lewis Cass of January 28, 1832. From a careful reading of the above-mentioned documents one might conclude that the delegation had not fully complied with its instructions relative to the exploration it had been sent to make. One might conclude also that some of the statements in the report of the delegation were open to question.  And, finally, one might well believe that the members of the delegation at the last moment had changed their minds as to the recommendation they would make to the Wyandot chiefs.
But if all these points be granted, it does not follow necessarily that the report of the delegation was “made,” as Gardiner intimated it had been, in advance of the exploration, and that therefore the delegation had gone on a needless journey at the expense of the United States. The evidence that Gardiner offered in support of this charge was a deposition of George Williams, a member of the Wyandot nation.  Williams, who had been nominated by Gardiner to be one of the exploring party and who had not been accepted, affirmed that John Baptiste, a member of the delegation, had told him that all the members of the delegation had been chosen by the Wyandot chiefs because they were known to be opposed in principle to the removal of the Wyandots from Ohio, and that Williams had not been selected because he was known to favor such removal provided that the Western tract offered to the Wyandots proved to be an acceptable one. But the unsupported testimony of Williams, who doubtless was disgruntled, does not definitely prove anything. It raises a suspicion, but a suspicion only, that Gardiner as well as the Wyandot chiefs had attempted to “pack” the delegation.
As to Gardiner’s strictures on the conduct of Walker and of Armstrong, we can only say that they may or may not have been justified.
called upon Gen. William Clark, and in Clark’s house he saw three Indians who had come to St. Louis from the Far Northwest in quest, as Walker was led to believe, *of knowledge of the white men’s religion.  On January 19, 1833, Walker, in a letter to Gabriel P. Disosway, of New York, related the story of these Indians. Subsequently Disosway incorporated Walker’s letter in a communication of his own to the editor of the Christian Advocate and Journal and Zion’s Herald, a Methodist newspaper published in New York City. The Walker-Disosway letter  was published in the issue of that newspaper for March l, 1833, and it aroused so great an interest in the Protestant churches in the United States that the Methodist Missionary Society sent a mission to the Oregon Indians in 1834 and the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions sent another mission to those Indians in 1836.
Because of an ambiguous statement in Disosway’s communication (not in Walker’s), it was long assumed that Walker had made his exploring tour in the West in 1832 rather than in 1831. But the report of the exploring delegation, dated at St. Louis on December 15, 1831, together with the documents mentioned above, establishes beyond question the fact that the Wyandot delegation headed by Walker made its tour of exploration in 1831.
Your delegation appointed to examine the country west of the Mississippi river, proposed to be given to the Wyandotts of Ohio, beg leave to Report:-That they have, pursuant to instructions, made the examination as directed. After a long & tedious journey, we arrived at the last town near the western limits of the State of Missouri. Some of our company, viz Wm. Walker & C. B. Garrett, being sick, four of your delegates proceeded on, crossed the State line and commenced the examination of the country near the western line of the State & the River Platte.
Within two or three days the exploring party was rejoined by one of our sick men, viz, Wm. Walker; the other C. B. Garrett, continuing sick. The examination was made by five of your delegates.
We must be permitted here to say, that your delegates entered upon the examination with minds unbiased, unprejudiced, feeling the responsibility that rested upon them, and fully prepared to do ample justice to the reputation of the country.
The Country we examined, it is universally admitted by all who are acquainted with the whole tract of country purchased by the General Government for the purpose of settling the emigrating Indians of the United States, to be decidedly the best for the settlement of Indians from the Northern part of the United States.
such as Red Elm, Linwood Mulberry Hackberry Slippry Elm Cottonwood Honey Locust Buck Eye and a small growth of Pin Oak & White Hickory &c. While upon the subject of timber, we will add that the conclusion with your delegation is irresistible that there is not good timber sufficient for the purposes of a people that wish to pursue agriculture. With regard to the quality of the soil, no objection can be urged [against] it. It is generally a dark rich loam, varying in depth by being either hilly or bottom land, it is rich and productive, but the situation, or rather face of the country is certainly not friendly to its continuing so when cultivated. The reason we assign for its not continuing so when put under cultivation is, (and we think we will be sustained by all practical agriculturalists) that the lands are so steep, broken and uneven, with so many ravines and runs that the rich soil, when cultivated, must necessarily wash away and be carried down those steep & rapid ravines and runs and totally lost;-indeed we have seen enough in that country to satisfy us on this head. From all the information we could obtain with regard to the climate, we are satisfied that it is colder than it is in our part of the State of Ohio tho’ it is 39 f [sic] degrees of north latitude. The Corn crops throughout the State of Missouri have been the last season, with very few exceptions, frost bitten. It is said that seven eighths of the corn crops have been thus injured. We do doubt its being as good a corn country generally as the country we now occupy. For farming generally, we can with safety say that it will not suit the Wyandott Nation as well as the country they now hold.
It may be urged that a part of the Nation procure a subsistence by the chase, and as game has become scarce in this country, there is an absolute necessity for the Nation to seek a new home, in a country where game abounds to save them from want and indigence.
they now are upon our reservation. As for Deers, they cannot be said to be plenty in that country-the same may be said of Raccoon.
Go out of this tract, you will then come in contact with some other tribe that will view you as intruding and will certainly be driven off their hunting grounds if you do not receive rougher treatment.
Independently of these considerations, there are many other circumstances that weigh much in the minds of your delegation. The country proposed to be given to the Wyandotts is now occupied by the Sacks & Iowas; these tribes, it is true, have not the right of soil, or fee of the land, but they claim the right of occupation for the term of ten years from the ratification of their treaty with the Government, leaving yet nine years of occupation, one year only having expired. This they claim and will contend for. The consequences resulting from our settling there, while they make this claim to the land, can be more easily imagined than described.
Moreover, the leading politicians of the State of Missouri, are opposed to the settling of Indians upon her frontier-speak of Indians as “a nuisance” a “curse to the State” &c, in short, they evince an unfriendly and indeed a hostile disposition.
Great exertions have been made, and are now making to have the whole “Platte country” added to the State; strong memorials have been sent on to Congress, and the Representation from that State, are now actively engaged in endeavoring to carry the measure thro’ Congress.
The inhabitants generally upon the frontier of the State, (those who would be our neighbors,) are with a few honorable exceptions, the most abandoned, dissolute and wicked class of people we ever saw; fugitives from justices from the States of Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and other southern States, form a large portion of the population upon this frontier-with such neighbors on one side, not only unfriendly to us but to Indians generally, the Sacks & Iowas viewing us as intruders, we think the situation of the Wyandotts, settled there, would not be an enviable one.
and vagrant negros; for as soon as they cross the State line, they are without the limits of the United States, and we are sure we have enough of that class already amongst us.
It has been said repeatedly that by removing to this country we should be freed from the troubles and evils we experience by being surrounded by a white population, especially from the destructive influence of intemperance. We can assure you we shall never realize this in that country:-on the contrary, we shall have a more worthless and corrupt class of whites to deal and associate with than is to be found in this part of Ohio-so far from being removed from the temptations to intemperance, we shall, to say the least, be as much exposed to this curse to human society as we now are. Not even the strong arm of military power can prevent the introduction of ardent spirits among the troops at Cantonment Leavenworth, which is west of the tract of country we would occupy, should we remove, and the road, leading from the white settlement to the Garrison, passes thro’ nearly the center of this tract of country and crosses the Platte River at the falls. (See map) our nation would be constantly exposed to this evil and not only to this, but to all manner of impositions from the hordes and bands of rambling trappers and bee-hunters that infest the country west of the State of Missouri. If military force cannot suppress whiskey traders, we would ask how an Indian Agent is to succeed?
We cannot avoid putting but a small estimate upon the promised protection of the General Government after we shall have settled there. If we should be able to protect ourselves, well; if not, then the consequence must be, we must suffer much before the Government would afford any relief. Of all the countries for civilizing and improving the condition of Indians, this would be the last we should select for that purpose. If it be the object of the Government to promote the interests and happiness of our nation, by settling them in this country, we must say, we do not believe that by this measure, this desirable object will be attained.
The Indians that have settled on the south side of the Missouri and on the Kanzas River, we are confident, instead of improving in civilized habits, good morals, or their condition being in any degree improved, or ameliorated, have on the contrary retrograded-especially the Delawares from Indiana.
puted, and after completing their examination, weigh all the advantages and disadvantages with fairness & candor, then to report whether in their opinion, the interests of the Nation at large will be promoted by their removal to that country or not. They have at least governed themselves by this belief and acted accordingly in the difficult task assigned them.
In conclusion, your delegation must say, and that in all truth and sincerity, that they are decidedly of opinion that the interests of the nation will not be promoted, nor their condition ameliorated, by a removal from this to the country examined, and recommend to the Chiefs and nation at large to cease all contention, bickerings and party strifes; settle down & maintain their position in the State of Ohio.
I certify that the foregoing is a true copy from the original Report made by the Delegation of which I was conductor.
I have the honor to inform you that I returned to this place last evening, after an absence of three weeks among the Wyandotts. Having travelled one hundred and fifty miles within the last three days, in the coldest weather experienced this winter, and being much weakened by fatigue, I am unable at this time, to give more than a partial report of my late operations.
the “Indian Paradise” he had visited, abused the Government for its overtures, and insinuated that all the emigrating tribes had been “most shamefully imposed upon.” This, in addition to other intimations [ 7] I had received of his conduct and expressions since his return, prepared me for the reception which I anticipated at Upper Sandusky.
very similar to that of the Cherokees, as described in your late annual Report. There was also a positive agreement between Mr. Walker and myself, that he should preserve a total silence on the subject of his exploration until his return, and that I should be present at the time of presenting his Report to the Chiefs. Instead of adhering to this understanding, he wrote to others, besides Col. Doherty, before and after his return, and verbally proclaimed as he passed through Dayton, what the Report would be, and cast sundry unjust and ungrateful reflections upon the Government. He never communicated at all to me, as he had promised to do, from the time of leaving St. Louis, on his way to the Upper Missouri, until I saw him at Upper Sandusky, after his return. He was then distant and reserved in his manner, and made use of much prevarication, in en deavouring to apologize for his conduct. He well knew my place of residence, but had passed within twenty-five miles of it, without informing me of his arrival in the State. The Report was read to the Chiefs with many verbal amplifications, before it was possible for me to reach Upper Sandusky, after accidentally hearing of the return of the Delegation. The desired impression was made upon the whole nation before my arrival.
Having the best reasons to suspect the truth of the Report, and the motives from which it was compiled, I conceived it my duty to examine the different members of the Delegation, separately and apart from each other, and take down their several recollections in writing. I commenced with Silas Armstrong, whose answers to my questions are herewith transmitted. He is an intelligent quarter-blooded Wyandott, educated in English, and was, no doubt a party to the plot before mentioned. You will see that he contradicts the report, signed by himself, in several important particulars. After this I could go no further, as none of the others would submit to an examination. The Indians acknowledged that Walker had warned them not to answer me!
the Senecas to Missouri. These depositions are herewith transmitted, and will, I think, fully convince you of the gross misrepresentations and false reasonings which Mr. Walker has presented as the result of his labours.
Previously to the Delegation setting out from Upper Sandusky for Missouri, I discovered much discontent among some of the mixed-breed, relative to the incompetency of the persons chosen as Delegates. Silas Armstrong, who has many respectable and influential connexions, was particularly dissatisfied, and was likely to create some disturbances, because he and his relatives had been overlooked. To quiet all murmurings, and ensure as much harmony as possible, I took upon myself the responsibility of employing him as a Delegate, on the part of the United States, with instructions that he should report to you, through me, and not to the Chiefs, the result of his observations; and his expenses, only, should be paid out of my contingent fund. I now find that he leagued with Walker, in his scheme, joined in his Report to the Chiefs, and made no communication whatever to me. Proving thus faithless, I determined not to pay him, without your special orders.
Of the sum of one thousand dollars appropriated for the expedition, seven hundred were deemed by the Chiefs sufficient for expenses, and three hundred were given to Wm. Walker, as an extra compensation, as he refused to submit his proper allowance to the judgment of the Chiefs, inasmuch as he was required to act in the triple capacity of Conductor, Interpreter, and Delegate. At that time, I confess, I had full confidence in his integrity, and thought the allowance no more than reasonable. His Report and subsequent conduct prove how unworthy he was of this boon of the Government.
Ohio! After an interview with me, however, they thought it prudent to cease all opposition to the measure; and before I left Upper Sandusky they had acquiesced, and even appeared anxious the treaty should be ratified. This solely arose from prospective views of gain. Those Chiefs, with their white and yellow auxiliaries, are as avaricious and envious as they are subtle and insincere. It was intimated to me that they intend to compound with the Wyandotts of the Big Spring to remove to the “Grand Reservation” and give the Upper Sandusky people the whole or part of the avails of the Big Spring tract.
The Treaty, you will perceive, is not made on the basis of the other conveniences with the Ohio Indians. Those Wyandotts refused to accept of any lands west of the Mississippi, on any terms whatever. The price given is very high, but the sales, I feel convinced, will reimburse the Government in a year or two. It is not, indeed, such a treaty as I could have wished; but, under existing circumstances, it was the best I could get.- The Big Spring Reservation lies partly in the counties of Hancock, Seneca and Crawford, and the extinguishment of the Indian title is greatly desired by the citizens of those new counties. And it is believed that, notwithstanding the apparent determination of the Upper Sandusky Indians to maintain their present position, this treaty will be the means of producing a final cession of all the Wyandott lands in Ohio in a year or two more.- It remains for the President and Senate to decide upon the expediency of its ratification.
J. Orin Oliphant is professor of history at Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa.
2. Gardiner to Lewis Cass, January 4, 1832. Ibid.
3 Gardiner to Cass January 6, 1832. Ibid.
4. Deposition of Henry C. Brish on January 23, 1832, and depositions of William Brish and George W. Gist on January 16, 1832. Ibid.
5. Examination of silas Armstrong, undated [January, 1832]. Ibid.
6. Neither the statement in the report as to the condition of the corn crop in Missouri in 1531 nor the further statement in the report as to the unfriendly disposition of the inhabitants of Missouri to Indians was confirmed by the above-mentioned depositions.-Ibid.
7. Deposition of George Williams, January 25, 1832. Ibid.
8. Charles J. Kappler, ed., Indian Affairs; Laws and Treaties (Washington, 1904), v. 2, pp. 325-339.
10. Annie Heloise Abel, “The History of Events Resulting in Indian Consolidation West of the Mississippi River,” Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1906 (Washington, 1908), v. 1, p. 384.
12. Ibid., citing a letter from Cass to Gardiner, May 17, 1832.
13. Edward M. Douglas, “Boundaries, Areas, Geographic Centers and Altitudes of the United States and the Several States ,” U. S. Geological Survey, Bulletin 689 (Washington, 1923), pp. 177, 178.
14. James D. Richardson, comp., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1789-1902 (Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1905), v. 3, p. 321.
15. Kappler, op. cit., v. 2, pp. 534-537.
16. Bureau of American Ethnology, Eighteenth Annual Report, 1896-1897 (Washington, 1899), Pt. 2, pp. 776, 777; Kappler, op. cit., p. 587. The text of the agreement for the purchase by the Wyandots of lands from the Delawares may be conveniently found in William E. Connelley, The First Provisional Constitution of Kansas,” Kansas Historical Collections, v. 6, p. 98, Footnote 3.
17. Laws of the United States of a Local or Temporary Character . . (Washington, 1884), v. 2, p. 849.
18. Kappler, op. cit., v. 2, p. 587.
20. William E. Connelley, The Provisional Government of the Nebraska Territory and the Journals of William Walker, Provisional Governor of Nebraska Territory (Lincoln, Neb., 1899), p. 15.
21. Four Indians had made the journey to St. Louis from the Oregon country, but one of them had died a few days before Walker arrived in St. Louis.
22. This letter is reproduced in Hiram Martin Chittenden, The American Fur Trade of the Far WestThis letter is reproduced in Hiram Martin Chittenden, The American Fur Trade of the Far West (New York, 1935), vI (New York, 1935), v. 2, pp. 894-901.
24. Compare this description with the brief description given by walker in his letter to Disosway.–Chittenden, op. cit., v. 2, p. 897.
25. This letter is in the collection cited in Footnote 1, supra.
26. This river is in the northwestern part of the present state of Missouri. It must not be mistaken for the Platte river which flows eastward through the state of Nebraska.

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