V.____ _v_._____ ‘ __ _________ ,___,, _ V _ _ V I _. . 4., .mu- V . H-” ,, .‘._,..1‘ 177% F.“ JUSTICE DENIED: AN ANALYSIS or AMERICAN * INDIAN - WHITE RELATIONS IN MICHIGAN, 1355 - 1889 Dissertation for the Degree 0f Ph. D.. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY BRUCE ALAN RUBENSTEIN 1974 -_-_—_‘——-—‘ 'Es‘gfl ’ / ”f; M *4 fl”:— .flé 1'"? dug":— 3—};— fi Kb \,:) L/ KQ KC ‘1‘- ‘43 3 129310115 5749 _ ._ “w ;"ijAHLM3u: ‘ 9‘1" hummus" This is to certify that the thesis entitled JUSTICE DENIED: AN ANALYSIS OF AMERICAN INDIAN-WHITE RELATIONS IN MICHIGAN, 1855-1889 presented by Bruce Alan Rubenstein has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for BILL.— degree in Jifitgrl WW} [flak ’ Date Jan. 28, 1974 0-7 639 PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this checkout from your record. TO AVOID FINES return on or before date due. DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE "at o --" r! .LL‘Zs fi‘vr ABSTRACT JUSTICE DENIED--AN ANALYSIS OF AMERICAN INDIAN-WHITE RELATIONS IN MICHIGAN, l855-l889 By Bruce Alan Rubenstein During the first half of the nineteenth century Michigan's Indians ceded their land by treaties, accepted missionaries, and welcomed settlers; they dealt with whites in good faith and wanted to live harmoniously with them. By l870, however, Indians began to reassess their relationship with whites. Government officials refused to protect them from timber thieves and speculators, urge issuance of land patents, or restore coin annuity payments. Agents often used their position to defraud, rather than protect, Indians. Missionaries, who had promised to educate Indians and prepare them for life in white society, often proved to be false friends, involved in graft and land frauds. Settlers claimed that ”ignorant savages" were obstacles to civilization and progress. Bitter memories of white injustice and ingratitude made Indians resentful of all attempts to assimilate them into a society which they considered corrupt and treacherous; Indian hatred of whites grew in proportion to the increased numbers of fraud and swindles perpetrated upon them. Although they were too poor and ignorant of their rights to protest actively against white treachery, Indians were determined to do Bruce Alan Rubenstein more than suffer in stoic silence. Most resolved that they would never totally abandon their native heritage and become "red-white men"; white ways would be ad0pted only as they became essential for survival. Oblivious to rising Indian hatred, Indian Department officials noted only the superficial changes occurring in the Indians' way of life. They claimed that Indian willingness to accept private property, wear white-style dress, 90 to white churches, learn English and arith- metic, and work at “white man's labor” was proof that Indians were eager to abandon their heathen ways and become civilized. Michigan's Indians were touted by Department officials as contented, prosperous ”models of assimilation." Department officials were incorrect, however; Michigan's Indians were not "models of assimilation.” They attended white churches not because they believed that Christianity was a superior religion, but rather to placate their agents, receive food, shelter, and clothing, and partake in social gatherings and festivals. They went to "white schools" to learn basic skills in order to survive in communities filled with people eager to cheat them. White-style dress was accepted partly because it was received as gifts and partly because they did not consider it a threat to their culture. Some worked at ”white industries" because they needed money to feed and clothe their families, but most chose labor which involved their native skills of hunting, fishing, forestry, and manufacture of artifacts. What Washington officials thought was a willingness to assimilate was, in reality, an attempt to preserve Indian culture Bruce Alan Rubenstein while living in white society. Indians accepted elements of white culture to supplement, not supplant, their native beliefs. Indians desired only equality from their white neighbors. They wanted fair treatment under law, wages comparable to those paid whites, and, most of all, they wanted to share in the freedoms promised all Americans in the Bill of Rights. Indians neither possessed religious freedom nor received due process; despite theoretical ”full equality" granted by the state constitution, Michigan's Indians, by virtue of their race, religion, and economic condition, were "second-class citizens." Indians would have been satisfied with “separate but equal" status, as they believed that their lives would be improved isolated from the evils of liquor, moral debauchery, disease, and corruption associated with white society. Sincere friends of the Indians tried to assist them but were thwarted by state politicians and judges controlled by lumber and railroad interests. To most whites, Indians were not human beings, but rather obstacles to progress. Accordingly, avarice took prece- dence over humanitarianism, and Michigan's ten thousand Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomi were denied both moral and legal justice during the years l855-l889. JUSTICE DENIED: AN ANALYSIS OF AMERICAN INDIAN-WHITE RELATIONS IN MICHIGAN, l855-l889 By Bruce Alan Rubenstein A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History 1974 Copyright by BRUCE ALAN RUBENSTEIN I974 To my Mother “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my mother." --A. Lincoln 11 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank my guidance committee, Doctors Harry J. Brown, Madison Kuhn, Thomas L. Bushell, and Charles E. Cleland, for reading this thesis and making valuable criticisms. Special thanks are due Dr. Charles E. Cleland for offering information and insight concerning Indian religion, culture, and way of life. Dr. Harry J. Brown has been a constant source of wisdom and assistance during my years of study at Michigan State University. No amount of thanks could express sufficiently my gratitude for his efforts in my behalf. Michigan State University, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, University of Michigan-Flint, and State of Michigan library staffs were always helpful in directing me to resource material. My deepest appreciation goes to Dr. John Cummings, Director of the Clarke Historical Library of Central Michigan University, and his staff for extending every possible courtesy during my research. I am indebted to John Bailey for much of the information relating to the Mount Pleasant Industrial School, and for offering me his views concerning the effects of assimilation on Michigan's Indians. Lastly, I owe my wife Beverley special thanks for patiently listening to countless revisions and hours of typing. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v LIST OF FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi Chapter I. THE AGENTS AND THE AGENCY . . . . . . . . . . 1 II. TO DESTROY A CULTURE . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 III. ASSIMILATION THROUGH SALVATION . . . . . . . . . 79 IV. A PLACE TO MAKE SUGAR . . . . . . . . . . . . l02 V. SEPARATE AND UNEQUAL: SURVIVAL IN NHITE SOCIETY . . . l39 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 iv Table l. 2. 3. LIST OF TABLES Articles Received by the Chippewa of Saginaw--l858 . Supplies Furnished for Seven Schools--l878 Education Statistics, l862-l889 Page 33 62 63 LIST OF FIGURES Figure . Page I. Indian Population--l86O . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 2. Indian Population--l87O . . . . . . . . . . . . 2l 3. Indian Population—-l880 . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 4. Indian Population-—l890 . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 5. Location of Annuity Sites . . . . . . . . . . . 28 6. Location of Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 7. Land Cessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 vi CHAPTER I THE AGENTS AND THE AGENCY I On the waterfront in downtown Detroit stood a small, dingy, dilapidated single-story frame building with a sign ”Mackinac Indian Agency” hanging over the door. The interior of the agency, consist- ing of two rooms, was as unattractive as the exterior, having as one observer noted ”the dust of the ages hanging over it."1 The smaller of the rooms served as a reception area, containing for the comfort of visitors a badly worn settee and three soiled leather chairs. The carpeting was so thin from years of usage that the joints of the floor beneath were clearly visible.2 The other room was the agency office, in which were found two desks, one of which was of the old- fashioned style which forced the user to stand while writing, two chairs, an iron safe which could not be locked, a wash stand, and several record books and ledgers strewn about, as there were no shelves or storage closets in which to keep them.3 Indeed, both 1James N. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, July l, l869, National Archives Microc0py 234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs From the Mackinac Agency, Record Group 75, Roll 408. Clarke Historial Collections, Central Michigan University. (Hereafter referred to as N.A.) 2Ibid.; Andrew M. Fitch to James R. Denver, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, July 7, l857, N.A. Roll 405. 3Ibid.; George R. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October l9, l878, N.A. Roll 4T3. agents and visitors found it difficult to believe that such a structure housed the largest Indian agency in the country.4 The Mackinac Agency was an independent agency created in l853 to replace the Michigan Superintendency which had been discon- tinued by the Indian Department for economic reasons. It was one of the few such independent agencies, so named because, unlike typical agencies, they were not responsible to any superintendency for instruction, but rather were accountable only to the Indian Department in Washington. For the first three years of its existence the Mackinac Agency was in charge of over twelve thousand Indians residing in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.5 In l856 the terri— tory included in the agency was reduced, but it remained the largest agency in operation until its closing in l889. Under the new bounda— ries the agency watched over between seven thousand and ten thousand Indians who lived in Michigan and belonged to five tribes: Ottawa and Chippewa; Chippewa of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River; Chippewa of Lake Superior; Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomi; and Potawatomi of Huron.6 Because of the number of Indians to care 4The agency office was removed to Lansing, the residence of the agent, March 28, l873. From then until its closing in l889 the agency was located either in the agent's home or personal office; it remained in Lansing for three years, then was transferred to Ypsilanti for the following nine years, and finally was removed to Flint for the final four years of its existence. 5Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, l855 (Washington: Robert Armstrong, l855), p. 27. 6During the years l855-l889, approximately two-thirds of Michi- gan's Indians belonged to the Ottawa and Chippewa tribe. The Chippewa of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River and Chippewa of Lake Superior tribes numbered approximately 2,500 and l,000 respectively, while the Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomi and Potawatomi of Huron tribes never exceeded an annual combined population of four hundred. for, and the size of the territory under its control, the new agency was nearly identical to the superintendency it replaced, making it one of the most influential and powerful agencies in the nation.7 From its inception the Mackinac Agency was under the control, either officially or unofficially, of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of the eleven agents chosen for the agency during the years l855-l889, all were recommended for the posi- tion by the Missionary Society, and five were active preachers at the time of their appointment.8 Thus, the Mackinac Agency was run by representatives of a religious sect nearly two decades before Presi- dent Ulysses S. Grant instituted his celebrated “Quaker Policy.” Had Grant and his advisors on Indian affairs investigated the success of the Methodists in Michigan they would not have harbored such great expectations from the policy, as the Mackinac Agency was a study in neglect, incompetence, and corruption. Even the Missionary Society admitted that it encountered extreme difficulty in finding qualified members to recommend for appointment to the Secretary of the Interior; during one year it could recommend only one of 145 applicants as qualified to be an Indian agent--the others lacked 9 either honesty, intelligence, or both. Yet, the Methodist Board of 7Dewitt C. Leach to William P. Dole, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 23, l863, N.A. Roll 407. 8The five ministers were Andrew M. Fitch, William H. Brockway, George Bradley, George I. Betts, and George W. Lee. 9Loring Benson Priest, Uncle Sam's Stepchildren: The Reformation of Unjted States Indian Policy, l865-l887 (New York: Octagon Books, T969), p. 30. Missions was adamant in its insistence on retaining control over the Mackinac Agency. So strong was the Methodist position that Bishop William L. Harris of the Missionary Society wrote Commissioner of Indian Affairs Ely S. Parker that his church had agreed to support the administration's “Quaker Policy" only on the condition that it keep control over the Indians in Michigan--if the government refused to comply, Methodists would withdraw their backing.10 Leadership of the Methodist Church insisted on remaining in Michigan to serve the Indians primarily because they viewed the state as both a political and religious battleground; it was an area they had won with great difficulty and which they were going to defend with equal determination. As the foremost religious denomination in the crusade for the abolition of slavery the Metho- dist Church was instrumental in converting Michigan's Indians not only to its religious tenets, but also to its political positions. Itinerant missionaries preached Methodism to Indians in terms of freedom and abolition, even holding lectures on Africa and its cus- toms which were translated to their red-Skinned audiences.H Indians were told that Catholics supported the Democrats, and that Democrats would enslave Indians as well as Negroes if they remained in power.12 10William L. Harris to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 5, I870, N.A. Roll 409. HThe Papers of Reverend George Nelson Smith. Clarke His- torical Collections, Central Michigan University. Diary entry, February l4, I867. 12Andrew M. Fitch to Chief Pa-ma-quo-ung, March 26, l859, N.A. Roll 406. By such means many Indians were induced to switch not only from Catholicism, Lutheranism, or Presbyterianism to Methodism, but also from the Democratic to the Republican Party. So effective was this approach that in l860 two Catholic Democratic Indians reported to Secretary of State Lewis Cass that "there is not now to our knowledge a member of that church [Methodist] in Isabella County, either white or Indian, but who is also a Republican.”13 In return for its political activity the Methodist Board of Missions requested the victorious Republican Party to permit it to retain control of the Mackinac Agency, and in so doing to continue the struggle to undermine the remaining vestiges of Catholic and Democratic power among Indians. Methodists considered the granting of this request crucial not only for their own interests but also for those of the government and the Indians; a presiding elder of the Manistee District explained: The moral principles and character, as well as the conduct, of the agent has everything to do with the interests of the Indians in every respect. If a Democrat or Catholic is to be the agent the government may as well leave the Indians to their own destruction at once. And if such a man is to be the agent, the fihurch may as well abandon our Indian missions at once.1 With a Methodist preacher as agent--the symbol of authority and the dispenser of annuities—-Methodists were confident that even more converts would join their church, mostly from fear of agent reprisal against non—Methodist Indians. The Indians' fears proved true as 13Mark D. Bourassa and Joseph Marsac to Lewis Cass, March l6, l860, N.A. Roll 406. 14J. Boynton to William P. Dole, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, May 2, I865, N.A. Roll 407. Methodist agents sent reports to Washington stating that Catholic Indians were unanimously drunken, lazy heathens, whereas Methodist Indians were sober, industrious people trying diligently to learn the white man's mode of living.15 One agent even accused the Catholic Church of keeping its Indians in slavery, treating them "as the manor lords of Europe did their peons.“16 Catholic Indians could expect no favors from their agent; many considered themselves fortunate whenever they received the full amount of annuities due them by treaties.17 As early as l855 Indian agents in Michigan were openly and actively engaged in religious persecution of dissenters, and this course was pursued with the.knowledge and consent of the over- ]8 Establishment of the whelmingly Protestant Indian Department. Catholic Bureau of Indian Missions in l874 came too late to aid Catholic missionary activities in Michigan; by l872 the only remaining 15James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November l5, l869, N.A. Roll 408; George W. Lee to John O. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November l6, l876, N.A. Roll 4ll. 16George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, August l5, l879, N.A. Roll 4l4. 17Priest, Uncle Sam's Stepchildren, p. 24; James W. Long to Francis A. Walker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, May 6, l872, N.A. Roll 4l0; George W. Lee to Edwin J. Brooks, November 3, 1878, N.A. Roll 4l4. 18Wade Crawford Barclay, The Methodist Episcopal Church, vol. III, part 2 (New York: The Board of Missions of the Methodist Church, l957), p. 327; Robert M. Utley, "The Celebrated Peace Policy of General Grant," North Dakota History, XX (July, l953), pp. 12l— l42; Priest, Uncle Sam's Stepchildren, p. 24. During the latter half of the nineteenth century the Indian Department was always under Protestant control; in fact, when A. C. Barstow resigned from the Board of Indian Commissioners in l88l he called it "a Methodist kitchen cabinet." Ibig;, p. 52. strongly Catholic areas were at Baraga and L'Anse in the Upper Pen- 19 insula and Cross Village and Eagletown in the Lower Peninsula. Of the Indians living in Michigan following the Civil War the Catholic Church could claim only approximately one thousand.20 II The Methodist Church and the government both required agents to fulfill political obligations. The position was based upon patronage, and to remain in office each agent was called upon to demonstrate beyond all doubt his loyalty to the party. The importance of the agent's political function was best demonstrated in l860 when Reverend Andrew M. Fitch, Methodist Indian agent and ardent aboli- tionist, was censured in the State Democratic Convention by delegates from the Fourth Congressional District for a supposed lack of partisan effort. They charged that Fitch refused ”to get out the Indian vote" in the district and that this resulted in the election of Dewitt 21 Clinton Leach, an abolitionist Republican, to Congress. Agent Fitch, who changed his party allegiance to the Republicans during '9IbId., p. 35; George Pare, The Catholic Church in Detroit, lzgl-l888_(0etroit: The Gabriel Richard Press, l95l), p. 6l4. Chapter XXV concerns Indian missions and schools. 21M. D. Bourassa and Joseph Marsac to Lewis Cass, Secretary of State, March l6, l860, N.A. Roll 406; William Johnston to James W. Denver, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January l9, l859, N.A. Roll 406; State Representative George L. Wendell to Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior, February 10, I858, N.A. Roll 406; Andrew M. Fitch to Alfred B. Greenwood, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, March 20, l860, N.A. Roll 406. Fitch was a pioneer Methodist missionary in Michigan and had been working among Indians for nearly twenty years before becoming agent. the war, attempted to defend himself by producing copies of letters he had sent to all school teachers and interpreters in his employ in 1859: Make it your business to have the entire vote cast for the Democratic candidate for governor. There may be apathy among the Indians or many of them will be away. Make your arrangements to see that they are in and vote. Let no effort or expense be spared in this matter. Impress the Indians with the importance, and that it is my wish that they should commence their work as citizens in this particu- lar in earnestly voting for Governor Alpheus Felch, the best man I know. I have been blamed by some that at the last election but little was done by the government employees in influencing the Indians to the polls; let it not be said so this year. Don't show this letter to all.22 Since Felch was an abolitionist also this defense was not considered adequate by the convention. Despite his pleas that "I have no other feeling or purpose, but with the principles of the National Demo- cratic Party” Fitch was censured for being associated with men whose party loyalty was suspect—-his clerk, Richard M. Smith, was a zealous abolitionist and Republican, and his bondsman was reputed to be one of the leading Republicans in Detroit.23 As one of the instigators of the censure movement succinctly stated: ”It is an old measure to judge a man by the company he keeps, and if Fitch iS‘a Democrat, why 24 does he employ a Republican or abolitionist for a clerk?" Notwith- standing a creditable record of serving the Indians, Fitch would have 22Andrew M. Fitch to Thomas Daggs, et al., February l9, l859, N.A. Roll 406. Felch had been governor of Michigan in l846-l847 and United States senator from l847 to l853. 23Andrew M. Fitch to Alfred B. Greenwood, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, March 20, l860, N.A. Roll 406; George L. Wendell to Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior, February l0, 1858, N.A. Roll 406. 24 Ibid. been removed from office even had the Democratic Party triumphed in l860, for he had failed to meet partisan expectations. After the Republican victory in l860 most Democrats were purged from the Indian Service and were replaced by Republican loyalists. The Mackinac Agency was awarded to former Congressman Leach, one of the founders of the Republican Party.25 While Repub- licans ran the agency continuously during the period l86l-1885 emphasis on partisanship did not differ from that of the earlier Democratic era, with the exception that more stress was placed on the importance of Indian votes. Michigan's constitution of l850 granted the right to vote to adult male Indians who had severed all tribal relations. As the number of Indian voters increased their ballots became critical not only in deciding local and gubernatorial contests, but also in determining the makeup of the State Legislature, which chose United States senators. Consequently, agents did everything in their power to influence Indian voters. The most frequently used tactic was to withhold the annual annuity payment until within one month of the election. By so doing, agents believed that Indians would have fresh memories of the recent kindness shown by their Great Father in sending them their annuities, and that they could be readily induced 25Dewitt C. Leach (l822-l909) had been a state representa— tive, delegate to the 1850 constitutional convention, state librarian, and congressman before becoming agent. A newspaper editor by trade, he published papers in Lansing, Traverse City, and Springfield, Missouri; he was also interested in agronomy and published several papers on soil productivity in northern Lower Michigan. 10 to demonstrate their pleasure at the coming election.26 Delivery of land patents was also timed, as much as possible, to coincide with elections.27 Even the extremely important treaty councils with the Chippewa of Saginaw and Swan Creek in 1864 were deliberately postponed from early spring, as first scheduled, until mid-October in an effort to win more Indian votes. This was done even though the delay cost the government an additional one thousand dollars resulting from increased costs for the foodstuffs and presents to be distributed.28 In each election Republicans followed the practice of their Democratic predecessors of sending packets of pre-marked sample ballots to all 29 teachers and interpreters for distribution in Indian villages. In time, however, Indians realized their political influence and used 26John Smith to John O. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, September 26, 1876, N.A. Roll 411. This practice was utilized pri- marily in the Lower Peninsula where the vast majority of Indian voters resided. Chippewa of Lake Superior were scheduled to receive annuities in late September or early October, and because of the closing of lake navigation in mid-October later payments were impos- sible. In any case, agents were concerned for their safety in late season water travel and would have balked at risking their lives in. order to influence so few voters. 27George I. Betts to Francis A. Walker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, July 25, 1872, N.A. Roll 410; George W. Lee to Edwin J. Brooks, October 24, 1878, N.A. Roll 414; Congressman Thomas W. Ferry to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 25, 1870, N.A. Roll 409; Congressman Wilder 0. Foster to Francis A. Walker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, August 8, 1872, N.A. Roll 410. 28Dewitt C. Leach to William P. Dole, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 4, 1864, N.A. Roll 407. Leach cited inflated pork prices and the possibility of an abnormally large Indian delegation as reasons for the increased costs; he added, however, that the cost was worthwhile because he "wished to do anything fair and honorable" to put the Indians "in good humour and to favorably dispose them toward the government.” 29 Roll 406. Andrew M. Fitch to John Johnston, October 2, 1858, N.A. 11 this knowledge with a sophistication which amazed their white politi- cal mentors. In 1880, Elijah Pilcher, Chief of the Taymouth band of Chippewa of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River, wrote agent George Washington Lee that his people wanted one yoke of oxen and a plow; if they received these items they would vote Republican, if not, Democratic. The request was granted.30 Although political activities were an important aspect of the agent's duties, they were, like religion, generally taken for granted as being a prerequisite for appointment. No agent, either before or after taking office, reported a sense of undue responsi- bility resulting from his religious or political roles; however, all expressed.dismay at the remaining responsibilities of an Indian agent. III The duties of an agent were immense and would have taxed the abilities of even the most competent men. One agent described the qualifications needed for his office as being a combination of the wisdom of a judge, financial acumen of-a banker, bookkeeping ability 31 of an accountant, and common sense of a successful businessman. Unfortunately, few men who held the office during the final thirty-five 30E1ijah Pilcher to George R. Lee, August 19, 1880, N.A. Roll 415. George W. Lee (1812-1881) was a prosperous farmer and merchant ' in Livingston County. During the Civil War he was commissioned a colonel and was in charge of equipment and transportation for Michigan troops. He was a lay minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church and served as chairman of the Board of Control of the State Reform School from 1862 until his appointment as Indian agent in 1876. He served as agent until his death in 1881. 31George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, February 26, 1878, N.A. R011 413. 12 years of the Mackinac Agency's existence had even one of these quali— ties, as partisanship and religion, not ability, were the essential qualifications required for appointment. Once appointed to a one-year renewable term, sworn in, and bonded for ten thousand dollars the new agent settled into what inevitably proved to be a tedious, demanding, and disheartening position. The agent received general instructions from the Indian Department that it was his duty to care for the welfare of the Indians in his agency, distribute annuities, settle all land and timber dis- putes, encourage education, religion, and agriculture, and to do all in his power to civilize the Indians so as to facilitate their assimilation into white society.32 Agents, however, soon discovered that Department officials would furnish no specific instructions on how to accomplish these goals. Reverend William H. Brockway wrote in disgust after one month in office that he had not received one word of instruction or advice and was “in great doubt as to what to do."33 Another agent begged the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for direc- tions in the operation of an Indian agency, saying that he had never done anything similar to it in his life; he closed his request with a plaintive appeal, tinged with the slightest sarcasm and 32James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, July 1, 1869, N.A. R011 408. 33William H. Brockway to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, May 28, 1869, N.A. Roll 408. Brockway moved to Michigan from Vermont in 1830 at the age of seventeen. He was the first licensed Methodist missionary in Michigan and was in charge of the Indian Mission District during the years 1839-1847 and 1855-1862. He also served in both houses of the state legislature and headed the Methodist Wesleyan Seminary (Albion College). 13 doubt concerning the qualifications of the Commissioner to hold his position: "You will see and appreciate, I am sure, the difficulties of an inexperienced agent without papers or persons to guide him. I 34 presume you know this Indian business better than I do.” Despite all such appeals to the Department, instructions were rarely, if ever, forwarded.35 Lack of direction and instruction was extremely critical because until 1875 the government did not require agencies to retain 36 official copies of their records. Thus, each agent would supply his own account books, ledgers, and plat books, removing them as personal property when he left office.37 As a result, new agents were confronted with the disconcerting discovery that they must run the agency without benefit of having so much as a plat book or previ- ous year's payroll list. Whenever agents would request funds to 34George I. Betts to Francis A. Walker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, December 7, 1871, N.A. Roll 409. Walker did not know the ”Indian business" well; he was appointed Commissioner so that he could complete his work as Superintendent of the 1870 Census after Congress refused to apprOpriate funds to retain his services in that position. After the census was completed Walker resigned and became a professor of economics at Yale University. 3SIn many instances Indian Department officials refused even to acknowledge receipt of official correspondence from the Mackinac Agency. 36Statutes-at—Large, "Indian Appropriation Bill, 1875,” XVIII (December, l873-March, 1875), 43d Cong., Sess. l and 2 (Wash- ington: Government Printing Office, 1875), p. 451. (Hereafter referred to as G.P.O.) 37George I. Betts to Edward P. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, April 24, 1873, N.A. Roll 410; George I. Betts to Columbus Delano, Secretary of the Interior, November 27, 1871, N.A. Roll 409; James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, July l, 1869, N.A. Roll 408. 14 purchase permanent ledgers for agency records the Department would refuse, pleading insufficient finances.38 This policy resulted in complete confusion at all distributions of annuities and land patents, as claims for undelivered goods or incorrect deeds could not be immediately verified--and Indians grew increasingly suspicious of an agent who constantly promised them that he would write the Commissioner in Washington to settle the matter for them. A further consequence of the lack of official direction was the constant correspondence between agents and the Department con- cerning the correctness of vouchers and accounts. Every agent was reprimanded at least twice during his term for submitting incomplete or incorrect expense accounts; yet, Department officials never sent agents a circular explaining the proper form.39 Such Departmental indifference established in the minds of agents that Washington did not care what was happening to Indians in Michigan; they believed that as long as there was no threat of hostilities the Department had no concern.40 This belief led many agents to become equally indifferent and careless in their duties. They developed a cynical attitude that since the Department neither recognized nor rewarded dedication and honesty the position might be treated merely as a 381mg. 39For examples see Henry C. Gilbert to T. J. D. Fuller, Second Auditor General, August 30, 1858, N.A. Roll 406; James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 11, 1871, N.A. Roll 409; George I. Betts to John O. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, December 26, 1876, N.A. Roll 411. 40Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs," House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 1, 46th Cong., 2d Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1880), Serial 1910, p. 190. 15 sinecure. White speculators who tempted Indian agents in Michigan discovered that none was susceptible to offers of high profits at the Indians' expense until at least his second year in office-—after the realization of official neglect, with its accompanying frus- trations, had been well established.41 The office of Indian agent was not one that could be run casually; the amount of time expended to administer the agency suc- cessfully was great. Agent Henry C. Gilbert wrote after leaving office: The business of the Mackinac Indian Agency requires the constant labor of two persons at least twelve hours every day. The Lake Superior business is of itself enough to occupy the entire time of one agent, and the business of the Ottawas and Chippewas and the Chippewas of Saginaw is ample for another agent and a clerk. During the last year of my agency [1856-1857] I labored constantly at least sixteen hours every day. The clerical work alone would have overwhelmed even the most consci- entious person. Quarterly and annual reports were required, and beginning July 7, 1865, the Department further demanded "a full and explicit monthly report" describing the condition of the Indians under the agency's charge.43 All reports and correspondence were 41On1y two agents, Henry C. Gilbert and George I. Betts, were forced to resign. In each case the specific charge which resulted in their removal concerned corruption which occurred during their final year in office. All misconduct which took place during the first year in office tended to be unintentional and without malice, caused primarily by a lack of specific Departmental instruc- tions. 42Henry C. Gilbert to T. J. D. Fuller, Second Auditor General, April 30, 1858, N.A. Roll 406. 43Report of the Secretary_of the Interior, ”Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 2, 39th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1865), Serial 1248, p. 727. 16 required to be in triplicate, and the reports furnished in compliance 44 Annual census tabulations were to be with Department deadlines. forwarded, as were statistical tables reporting the agricultural progress of the Indians. If these were not received by the Department before October first, in time to be included in the annual report of the Secretary of the Interior, an official reprimand for "neglect of duty" was issued.45 In addition to being responsible for official reports, agents were confronted with vast amounts of correspondence needing immediate attention. Agent Leach, protesting the proposed elimination of the position of agency clerk, explained that he had to furnish the Depart- ment nearly two thousand pieces of mail annually.46 Leach's protest was in vain as in 1864 the agency was notified that as ”a war related economy measure" funds were no longer to be appropriated for an 47 Paperwork, however, continued to mount steadily; agency clerk. in 1879 Lee reported that he wrote two hundred letters annually con- cerning the Operation of schools in the agency.48 Overworked agents Ibid. 45H. J. Alvord to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, December 1, 1870, N.A. Roll 409. To comply with Depart— mental deadlines, agents generally hired trusted employees, such as teachers and interpreters, to compile agricultural and p0pu1ation statistics in their area and forward them to the office for tabu- lation. 46Dewitt C. Leach to William P. Dole, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 23, 1863, N.A. Roll 407. 47 Roll 407. 48George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 9, 1878, N.A. Roll 413. William P. Dole to Dewitt C. Leach, June 19, 1864, N.A. l7 continually requested clerical assistance. One agent asked permission from the Department to hire an aide at a cost of seventy-five dollars per month, another to hire the daughter of the previous agent as clerk, and yet another resorted to using his wife as an unpaid clerk and messenger to help keep the office Open and operating while he was away on agency business.49 Despite pleadings by the agents the Department did not apprOpriate funds to re-establish the position of clerk for the Mackinac Agency until 1880.50 The agent's pleasure with his new assistant was tempered, however, by the knowledge that his own meager annual salary of fifteen hundred dollars was to be cut to twelve hundred dollars to provide the clerk's salary.5] To discharge the duties of the office properly would have required a large staff of agents, clerks, messengers, and inter- preters, at a cost the Indian Service would not tolerate. The largest staff at the Mackinac Agency consisted of the agent, clerk, 52 messenger, and five interpreters. Thus, with respect to the size 49James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 11, 1869, N.A. Roll 408; George I. Betts to Francis A. Walker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, December 8, 1871, N.A. Roll 409; George W. Lee to E. M. Marble, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 11, 1880, N.A. Roll 415. 50Carl Schurz, Secretary of the Interior, to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 23, 1880, N.A. Roll 415. One year later these funds were not appropriated and the agency was again without a clerk until 1887. 51George W. Lee to Rowland E. Trowbridge, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, December 15, 1880, N.A. Roll 415. In 1884 the agent's salary was reduced to one thousand dollars. Trowbridge was a former Republican congressman from Michigan. 52Official Regjster of the United States--Indian Service, Vol. I (Washington: A. O. P. Nicholson, 1855), p. 322. 18 of the territory governed and the number of Indians included in it, the Mackinac Agency was always under-staffed. Indian Department officials viewed the agency as an ordinary one, treating a few hun- dred Indians within a boundary of less than one hundred miles, and no amount of protest by the agents could impress them with the unique aspects of Michigan's agency.53 Consequently, agents spend a dispro- portionate amount of their time writing and copying required correspondence for the Department. IV 0f the required duties of the agency the most arduous was distribution of annuities to the various Indian bands. The responsi- bility was great, as the value of the goods and money delivered amounted to sums from $120,976.69 in 1856 to four hundred dollars in 1887, the final year a cash payment was made.54 To an agent, however, the responsibility was of secondary importance; his primary concern was the hardship and danger involved in accomplishing the task. The distances involved were extensive, often necessitating journeys totaling over three thousand miles annually, as the Indians resided 55 in as many as thirty-one counties throughout the state. While 53Dewitt C. Leach to William P. Dole, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 23, 1863, N.A. Roll 407. 54Henry C. Gilbert to George W. Manypenny, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, September 2, 1856, N.A. Roll 405; Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1887 (Washington: G.P.O., 1887), p. 126. Yearly itemized accounts of Indian payment obligations may be found in the Indian appropriation bills. 55Dewitt C. Leach to William P. Dole, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 23, 1863, N.A. Roll 407; George W. Lee to Rowland E. Trowbridge, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, March 20, 1880, N.A. Roll 415. 19 distribution was relatively easy at the large settlements in Isabella and Oceana Counties, other settlements ranged from the twenty families of Potawatomi of Huron in Calhoun County in Southwestern Lower Michigan to equally small communities living on Garden and Hog Islands in Lake Michigan and in the copper country of the Keweenaw Peninsula in Upper Michigan. To reach these sites every available mode of transportation was utilized-~horse, stagecoach, railroad, and steam driven propeller ships. All were uncomfortable, inconvenient, and potentially danger- ous, especially the steamships. Water travel was limited to the April through October navigation season, with the safest months being May through August; however, funds to be distributed to the Chippewa of Lake Superior rarely reached the agent before early 56 As a result, September, despite urgent pleas for earlier delivery. the journey was undertaken each year in late September or early October when the lakes were wind-swept and perilous. In 1857 Fitch and his clerk, Richard M. Smith, were nearly shipwrecked in a late season storm while making annuity distributions, and on October 15, 1871 Smith, then agent, drowned when the steamShip Coburn exploded and sank in a storm on Saginaw Bay.57 Such events, with their high 56Andrew M. Fitch to Charles E. Mix, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 2, 1858, N.A. Roll 406; Richard M. Smith to Dennis N. Cooley, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, September 4, 1865, N.A. Roll 407; Richard M. Smith to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, June 16, 1871, N.A. Roll 409. 57Andrew M. Fitch to Charles E. Mix, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 29, 1858, N.A. Roll 406; Detroit Daily Post, October 17, 1871. Former agent Long, an enemy of Smith, notified Indian Department officials of the agent's death in a telegram to Acting Commissioner H. R. Clum, October 19, 1871, noting casually that Smith had drowned but "no funds were lost'I with him. N.A. Roll 409. 20 Figure 1 Indian Population--1860 oAnAIID 21 Figure 2 Indian Population--187O _ U m 1'49 5 :1 50-99 : 100+ L A..¢ E LADCIA oAxLAID 22 Figure 3 Indian Population--188O 'fi-NouY‘ALHm T I,” *\ ,. . ‘ LIITOU ,1 In“ wuss" 5 v I In C 'II Ioo- III. IO. III'IIII - oil In. an r: on o'.~ Inna one u :1 III a p. c t o o l OI-vlt 'Inl 'IIIII Il-l our:- 0 .0 ‘1 .4. run u-I I'»eulovonu Vr no.3”... uni-~40“; \- , 23 Figure 4 Indian Population--l890 III? 11%”, m I-.. 819999999. .. fl] 50-99 W - 100+ A 24 potential of recurrence, discouraged agents from making visits to remote bands of Indians under their care except when ordered to do so by the Department. Smith's successor, Reverend George I. Betts, wrote in 1872 only partly in jest: I am not anxious to leave this world at least until I am permitted to aid and rejoice in the triumphant re-election of U. S. Grant, so please furnish me with the goods and annuities due the Chippewas of Lake Superior, if possible, in August, so that I may pay them in pleasant weather ang not risk my life, as did Agent Smith, in a late payment. 8 Regardless of the inconvenience and possible harm to their "Father," the agent, delivery of annuities was considered by Indians the agent's most important duty; they awaited his arrival eagerly, refusing to accept any excuses for delay. Delay was intolerable as well to white traders and businessmen, who viewed payment day with as much expectation and enthusiasm as the Indians. The Oceana Times reported in 1861: The agent's appearance occasioned great activity in all quarters throughout the county. Six or seven wagons were loaded with merchandise and then the procession, headed by the pay—master, started for the reservation. It resembled a great caravan, or it might have been taken for a party of Pike's Peak gold hunters. There were tra— ders from Grand Rapids, Ionia, and about every businessman in Oceana County, as well as many others who went out of curiosity, or in the hope of a lucky opportunity present- ing itself to enable them to get some of the red man's money. Indian payment was a great event gor the Indians, and a greater one for the white settler.5 As might be expected, whites were extremely successful in creating such I'lucky" opportunities. Fitch reported sadly that within 58George I. Betts to Francis A. Walker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, June, 1872, N.A. Roll 410. 59Oceana Times, November 29, 1861. 25 one week after he had distributed annuities at Garden Island ”scarcely a vestige of the goods and money was left in possession of the Indians, but many of their goods were in the hands of traders on 60 Ever-present whiskey sellers Beaver Island, exposed to sale." assured that Indians would not retain their new treasures for even a day. Attempts were made by every agent to persuade the Department to forbid whiskey peddlers from attending payment gatherings and to refuse payment to half-bloods engaged in whiskey trafficking, but in each case the Indian Bureau refused to comply on the grounds that no existing statute authorized such actions.61 Liquor distribution to Indians was wideSpread not only at annu- ity payment sites but throughout the entire state. The problem was intensified in Michigan because every federal law regulating the salerf ardent spirits to Indians specifically applied only to "Indian country."6‘2 60Andrew M. Fitch to Alfred B. Greenwood, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, March 20, 1860, N.A. Roll 406. 61Henry C. Gilbert to George W. Manypenny, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, June 19, 1856, N.A. Roll 405; Annual Report of the Com- missioner of Indian Affairs, 1855 (Washington: Robert Armstrong, 1855), p. 351; Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Com- missioner of Indian Affairs," House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 2, 39th Cong., 2d Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1866), Serial 1284, p. 301; Andrew M. Fitch to Alfred B. GreenwOOd, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, March 20, 1860, N.A. Roll 406; George W. Lee to John O. Smith, Com- missioner of Indian Affairs, January 18, 1877, N.A. Roll 412. 62Henry C. Gilbert to George W. Manypenny, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 9, 1857, N.A. Roll 405; George W. Lee to John O. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, February 15, 1877, N.A. Roll 412: Report of the Secretary of the Interior, “Report of the Commis- sioner of Indian Affairs," House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 2, 49th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1885), Serial 2379, p. 340; Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 2, 48th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G P.O., 1883), Serial 2191, p. 153. 26 Michigan's Supreme Court decided in 1856 that Michigan was not part of any "Indian country" because the state constitution allowed Indians the right to become state citizens and voters.63 When agents attempted to prosecute liquor cases in federal court to circumvent the state court ruling they found that nearly every case was dismissed 4 . 6 On those rare occaSTons when a for lack of prosecution witnesses. whiskey seller was convicted in federal court, the maximum sentence of thirty days in jail and a $150 fine allowed under an 1862 Act of Congress was suspended upon payment of a five dollar court cost.65 Not until the Michigan Legislature passed Public Act 313, effective September 28, 1887, was the "sale of any form of liquor, beer, or wine to any Indian, or any person of Indian descent" forbidden.66 By that time, however, Indians already had been swindled out of nearly all their valuable land, goods, and money, and the liquor trade had markedly declined. Liquor was not the sole problem encountered by agents at annuity payments, however, as Indians were extremely demanding and critical of every aspect of the procedure.‘ The mere process of 63The Compiled Laws of the State of Michigan, I, p. 352; Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1886 (Washing- ton: G.P.O., 1886), p. 165. 64Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs," House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 1, 43d Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1874), Serial 1601, p. 153. 65Dewitt C. Leach to William P. Dole, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, February 26, 1863, N.A. Roll 407; Detroit Daily Post, March 7, 1872. 66 The Compiled Laws of the State of Michigan, p. 1689. 27 delivery was a source of confusion to Indians. The agent would notify the various bands, through agency teachers and interpreters, when and where distributions would occur. There were neither set schedules nor locations; each year's agenda varied from that of the previous year. Generally sixteen to twenty locations were utilized, most often at Ontonagon, L'Anse, Iroquois Point, Sault Ste. Marie, Mackinac, Garden Island, Beaver Island, Little Traverse, Bay City, Grand Traverse, Northport, Athens, Midland, Paw Paw, Saginaw, Pere Marquette, Dowagiac, Washington Harbor, and the reservations in Isabella and Oceana Counties.67 Indians were advised to arrive at least one week in advance of the scheduled payment and to remain until the agent arrived. The agent would come, as near to the sched- uled time as available transportation and weather would allow, and begin the distribution. He would assemble the chiefs and headmen to report all births, deaths, marriages, and departures so that the annuity roll would be correct and up-to-date, following which the names of the recipients would be read and the amount due distributed 68 per capita. The method of disbursement was described by one agent as being adopted to insure the Indians of honest and fair dealing: 67Andrew M. Fitch to Alfred B. Greenwood, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, [n.d.], N.A. Roll 406; Richard M. Smith to William P. Dole, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, June 22, 1865, N.A. Roll 407. 68George I. Betts to John O. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, July 10, 1877, N.A. Roll 412. The amount, while great in total, was small once divided per capita; the largest amount ever received by any Potawatomi of Huron was $8.88 (1864), Ottawa and Chippewa, $13.50, and Chippewa of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River, $8.75 (1868). Each chief and headman received one extra share. l. L'Anse 2. Iroquois Point 3. Sault Ste. Marie 4. Mackinac 5. Garden Is. 6. Beaver Is. 7. Bay City 8. Little Traverse 9. Grand Traverse 10. Northport 11. Midland 12. Saginaw 13. Athens 14. Paw Paw 15. Dowagiac 16. Pere Marquette 17. Washington Harbor 28 Figure 5 Location of Annuity Sites 0 1‘ u 3 W I ( .1 2 T TMVCAII \UCI g, II 00'” Oil Dim! ISL! ‘ | OYIIOO A£.INA m 2 lAtIA‘l1 (tuna-o O’CODA ALCONA} IIVII minunl I 'Il'VIU I“ “IRAN IOSCO NAION LAKI A c LA I I oauou 01.“)va OCIANA 6 t *t I! VAYGO n. (ong ISAIISKA Ila HONYCALH GIAYIOY TTAWA ltu' .g..Afl.lNT°l BA MI9LAID Willi" ( RINAC uunon Y 7. 72 “91w ruseou “an“: “I ,P LADKII J, luuu 'r ( 1 I 9 i NICO". in I. I. l caulaannv lIA‘IONJINGHAH no uvmsuo- ° " “ V N IUII N 74/. “sun-"W v A ,fl‘ JACKION CAL-ac um . I3 nl III‘ 0/5' (A58 37 J OIIPN LINAI'IC HONIOI NE ‘Itl “ 29 Where it is practicable payment is made to the head, or a responsible member, of each family, but it sometimes hap— pens that they do not present themselves at the payment, in which case the chief of the band to which the absentee belongs is permitted and sometimes called upon to direct who shall receipt for, and take it, and when so paid a note is made upon the roll so that the party can be called to account for the manner in which he has discharged the trust; no white man being alggwed to receive annuities made under any circumstance. Delivery procedure required three to six days at each site.70 Despite all attempts by the agent to please his wards, dis- content was common. The island bands felt that it was too dangerous for them to travel thirty miles or more by small boat to reach the distribution point on the mainland; they thought that it would be more convenient for them if the agent delivered the goods to their 71 islands. Others objected to the agent's inability to arrive on the exact day promised; often they had to be absent from their families for two or three weeks waiting for the annuities to arrive.72 Still others complained about the timing of the payments, preferring them in early Spring before planting time.73 No amount of explanation 69Richard M. Smith to Dennis N. Cooley, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, May 31, 1866, N.A. Roll 407. 70Andrew M. Fitch to Alfred B. Greenwood, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, June 18, 1859, N.A. Roll 406; Dewitt C. Leach to William P. Dole, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 23, 1863, N.A. Roll 407; Richard M. Smith to William P. Dole, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, June 22, 1865, N.A. Roll 407. 71Fourteen Garden Island Indians to Andrew M. Fitch, January 30, 1860, N.A. Roll 406. 72Ibid.; George L. Wendell to Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior, February 10, 1858, N.A. Roll 406. 73Petition from twenty chiefs and headmen at the Isabella Reservation to Alfred B. Greenwood, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, May 10, 1860, N.A. Roll 406. 30 by the agent of how he must wait for the Great Father to send him their goods would convince them of the propriety of the system. To Indians the agent and President were rich and could furnish their red children anything they wished at any time. One agent, in exas- peration, described the Indian position on money matters as being very simple: Their idea, as conveyed by their speeches, is that the President has a strong-box by him and has only to put his hand in and give them money, and that when he does not do it, it is because he wants it for himself. Delay in payment did not denote to Indians a debate over the Indian Appropriation Bill in Congress, but graft by the agent and President. Indians further complained of the quality of goods furnished, but such charges were, for the most part, without basis in fact. The Mackinac Agency took great pains to obtain only the best quality merchandise and supplies for its wards. Agent Gilbert insisted on personally inspecting samples of goods to be furnished before accept- ing them, as he wanted to be sure that all clothing was of the style acceptable to the "extremely sensitive” tastes of the Ottawa and Chippewa, and that all axes and hatchets were of the specified quality 75 and style demanded by the Indians. During each year of his 74James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, March 21, 1871, N.A. Roll 409.' Indians viewed money as an easily obtainable commodity; Chief Ash-ton-a-quot of the Chippewa of Saginaw wrote Acting Commissioner C. E. Mix, May 11, 1858: "I am much in need of some money. Please advance me $55 for paying bills and buying cloth.” N.A. Roll 406. 75Henry C. Gilbert to Charles E. Mix, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, June 19, 1856, N.A. Roll 405; Henry C. Gilbert to George W. Manypenny, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 6, 1857, N.A. Roll 405. Michigan's Indians received no foodstuffs as annuities, which eliminated a major source of fraud found in other agencies. 31 incumbency Fitch was distressed by the extremely fine quality of clothing sent, saying that it ”was of too good a quality and cost too much for the Indian Service” and that he hoped "a cheaper and 76 more substantial, durable item” might be purchased. In 1872, the final year for distribution of goods under treaty obligation, the 77 merchandise was reported by the agent as "superior." Even after 1872 agents were watchful that all gifts furnished were of good quality; if they were not, an agent was quick to take the Department to task: The dry goods sent me have been delivered and were all good and satisfactory excepting the prints which were not very good in quality and every piece of the very lightest color and wholly unadapted to the Indians at any time, especially in fall and winter use. I had especially requested that the prints should be of dank colors, and the Indians were much displeased with them./5TT' With respect to goods and services Michigan's Indians received everything to which they were entitled by treaty. All farmers, carpenters, teachers, and blacksmiths were supplied, and all goods were ordered with "only the best quality” stipulated in adver- tisements for bids. Agents were empowered to, and often did, . . . . . 7 remove Incompetent employees and reject 1nfer10r merchandee. 9 76Andrew M. Fitch to Charles E. Mix, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, March 22, 1858, N.A. Roll 406; Andrew M. Fitch to Charles E. Mix, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, April 12, 1859, N.A. Roll 406. 77George I. Betts to Francis A. Walker, Commissioner of Iridian Affairs, September 27, 1872, N.A. Roll 410. 78George I. Betts to Edward P. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Af‘fairs, November 2, 1874, N.A. Roll 411. 79Detroit Daily Post, May 5, 1862. 32 Any agency fraud concerning annuity goods came in the letting of shipping contracts at inflated rates by agents to their friends; in these instances, however, the government, not the Indians, was the victim of an agent's abuse of authority.80 The issue which most troubled Indians concerning their annuities arose during the Civil War. Beginning in 1863 the various tribes entitled by treaty to cash annuities in coin were paid in greenbacks, with a promise from Agent Leach that following the war the difference in value between paper money and gold would be made 8‘ Chiefs good in coin and that gold payments would be restored. and headmen agreed, stating their willingness "as loyal Indians" to assist their Great Father in his time of crisis.82 When the war ended, however, they demanded immediate fulfillment of Leach's 83 The promise, saying that paper money was "strange” to them. Indian Department, without citing its reasons, refused to resume coin payments in Michigan, even though in 1865 coin payments were 80Henry C. Gilbert signed a shipping contract with Colonel S. M. McKnight of Detroit by which the government would pay from twenty—five cents to two dollars per barrel higher than the published rates. Richard M. Smith, who was associated with the Mackinac Agency continuously from 1853 until his death in 1871 either as clerk or agent, owned a dry goods store in New Jersey and under his direction two-thirds of all annuity goods to be distributed in Michigan were purchased from his store and shipped, at government expense, to Detroit. 81 R011 407. 82Eight chiefs at Sault Ste. Marie to Richard M. Smith, June 27, 1866, N.A. Roll 407. 83Nineteen chiefs and headmen of the Grand River Ottawa and Chippewa to Dennis N. Cooley, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 30, 1865, N.A. Roll 407. Dewitt C. Leach to Richard M. Smith, July 3, 1865, N.A. 2" 2.31: 311 33 TABLE 1 Articles Received by the Chippewa of Saginaw--1858 m Item Amount Dry Goods 163 pair 3 point white Mackinac blankets $961.70 100 " 2 1/2 point white Mackinac blankets 460.00 80 yards fancy list black cloth 127.60 927 1/4 ” satinets 509.99 2,142 1/2 ” plaid linsey 364.22 1,612 " domestic sheeting 112.82 1,247 " brown drill 118.46 3,569 " calico 321.21 12 dozen 8/4 wool shawls 180.00 Hardware 10 cook stoves $100.00 1 large box stove 17.50 10 boxes 8 x 10 window glass 22.50 468 light window sashes 36.56 17 kegs of nails 85.41 100 pounds of putty 5.00 15 pounds of rope 2.40 6 boxes of axes 69.00 2 fanning mills 51.00 6 dozen six quart pans 13.50 6 " two quart pans 9.00 10 " tin dippers 15.00 1 “ iron butts 1.44 2 “ screws .68 l " door handles 1.31 1/2 " door locks 2.50 38 iron wedges 19.00 Agricultural Supplies 9 pair of work cattle $945.00 5 new iron sleds 120.00 2 dozen broad axes 23.00 5 " steel hoes 13.75 4 ” hay rakes 6.00 1 1/2 " scythes 25.25 1 1/2 ” hay forks 8.00 356 pounds of heavy chain 28.48 166 pounds of light chain 20.90 219 drag teeth 56.94 19 1/2 foot cross-cut saw 9.75 3 grain cradles 7.50 7 grind stones 19.60 34 begun again to Wisconsin bands of Chippewa of Lake Superior who were 84 In lieu of coin included in the same treaty as Michigan's bands. Department officials suggested paying the forty per cent premium on gold to Indians in more currency, which was totally unacceptable to the tribes involved.85 Each year Indians complained to the agent, who earnestly requested immediate Departmental action, noting that the Indians had been very patient and that the amount due them for the years 1863-1864 alone was considerable-—$68,792.l3; additionally, Indians claimed the gold premium for every succeeding year currency was issued, making the potential final settlement enormous.86 Finally, on June 30, 1870, Congress agreed to pay, in currency, the Indians of Michigan $36,753.47, which it claimed was "the aggregate difference between the coin value and payments made in currency during the years 1863-1864" at five per cent annual interest from the date of 87 Republican Congressman Thomas W. Ferry, whose district issuance. encompassed the majority of Indians receiving this money, was jubilant at the settlement even though it was only slightly more than half the 84Richard M. Smith to Dennis N. Cooley, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, August 20, 1866, N.A. Roll 407; George B. Corkhill, Special Agent, to Dennis N. Cooley, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, September 9, 1865, N.A. Roll 407. 85Richard M. Smith to Charles E. Mix, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, June 3, 1868, N.A. Roll 408; John Tamshy to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 8, 1870, N.A. Roll 409; Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs," House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 2, 39th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G.P.O. 1865), Serial 1248, p. 637. 86James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, July 21, 1869, N.A. Roll 408. 87Statutes-at-Large, XVI, pp. 337-338. 35 amount due the tribes and ignored both the question of the premium for the years 1865—1869 and the Indians' reluctance to accept cur- rency. Ferry promised his Indian constituency that more money was forthcoming and that if re-elected he would help them to obtain a further settlement. Indian leaders trusted him and signed a paper agreeing to the settlement, and payment was made accordingly.88 Later, Indians learned that the paper their chiefs had signed was an 89 This settlement agreement to a final, not partial, settlement. officially ended the government's interest in the issue, although Indian claims lingered, unsettled, into the twentieth century. Annuity payments decreased as treaty obligations expired. The Chippewa of Lake Superior ceased receiving goods and money in 1872, although an additional settlement of twenty thousand dollars, plus five per cent interest, was awarded them in 1881; this amount- was due them by an Act of Congress passed June 22, 1874, with the stipulation that it be invested for the tribe in government bonds.90 The Ottawa and Chippewa tribe officially ceased receiving annuities in 1872 also, but it continued to receive $230 annual interest on government stocks and bonds held for it in trust by the Secretary of the Interior; in 1885 Congress voted to discontinue such cash payments and to invest the amount for the tribe in additional 88Congressman Thomas W. Ferry to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, July 15, 1870, N.A. Roll 409; James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, February 13, 1871, N.A. Roll 409. Ibid. 90Statutes-at-Large, XXI, p. 133. 36 government securities.91 Payments ended for both the Chippewa of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River and the Ottawa, Chippewa, and 92 Potawatomi 0f Huron received their Potawatomi tribes in 1868. four hundred dollar "perpetual annuity” until 1887 when a final settlement of $9,400, plus five per cent interest on the same retro- active to January 28, 1869, was made between the tribe and the government; in 1903 the United States Court of Claims adjusted the terms of the final settlement, granting the tribe an additional $78,329.25.93 As long, however, as any annuity, no matter how small, was to be delivered, agents were subjected to never—ending complaints and problems. V Although arduous and time—consuming, clerical work, liquor regulation, and annuity distribution were, from the government's point of view, only a minor part of an agent's reSponsibilities. According to the Indian Department, the prime concerns of an agent were settling land and timber disputes, promoting education and 9'Ibid., XVI, p. 557; Ibid., XXIII, p. 383. In 1864 the Ottawa and Chippewa trust fund amounted to $22,300.00 in stock, drawing an annual interest of $1,328; the fund consisted of: $10,000 -- State of Missouri bonds 0 6% annual interest $ 1,000 —- State of Tennessee bonds 0 5% annual interest $ 3,000 —- State of Virginia bonds @ 6% annual interest $ 8,300 -- U.S. loan of 1862 D 6% annual interest The interest accrued on these bonds during the war was never paid. By 1877 the fund had dwindled to $4,000 drawing $230 interest: $ 3,000 -- State of Virginia bonds @ 6% annual interest $ 1,000 -- State of Tennessee bonds 0 5% annual interest. 921bid., xv, p. 200. 931g1g;, XXIV, p. 457; Ibid., XXXIII, pp. 210-211; Ibid., xxv, p. 988. 37 agricultural instruction, and civilizing the Indians under his charge. Yet, at the same time the Department was increasing its demands upon an agent, it was reducing his staff. The Civil War, reconstruction, and the depression of the 1870s resulted in smaller Indian appropriations by Congress; economy became the watchword of the Department, and each agent endeavored to prove his frugality.94 Increased economy brought corresponding increases of problems for the agent; however, his meager staff was reduced regularly until by 1884 only the agent and one interpreter remained to operate the 95 Furthermore, the agent's powers were entire Mackinac Agency. diminishing as rapidly as his assistants. Each year brought a decline in the agent's capacity to act independently in even the most minor local matters. By 1885, when the agent needed increased authority to prosecute the growing number of court cases brought against white land and timber speculators, his position was so weak that he could not even offer advice to Indians without first receiving permission from Department officials. No funds were allowed to be retained by the agency to meet emergencies, buy presents for Indians visiting the agency office, or care for indigent Indians; by 1880 the agent was so financially dependent on the Department that permission had to be granted before he could purchase two dollars worth of pens and paper for needy school 94Richard M. Smith to William P. Dole, Comissioner of Indian Affairs, June 12, 1865, N.A. Roll 407; George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 8, 1880, N.A. Roll 415. 95Statutes-at-Large, XXIII, p. 77. 38 children.96 Even postage stamps were distributed upon request, so that the agent would not have to be entrusted with their cash value.97 The Mackinac Agency fell victim to sweeping changes in the Indian Department. As fraud and corruption were discovered in western agencies, new regulations were passed, affecting every agency, in an attempt to diminish the opportunities for corruption. But in Michigan the Indians, not the agents, suffered most under the new rules. Agents felt a growing frustration and hopelessness, but Indians felt betrayed by the government; they could not understand why each new "father" could do less for them than the preceding one.98 Consequently, Indians steadily altered their perception of the agent. As early as 1871 the agent was no longer the personification of the government-~the man they came to for advice and honest, fair treat- ment; instead he became increasingly a symbol of the government's refusal to assist them--a man whose usefulness would end when the 99 treaties expired and annuities ceased. Petitions were regularly sent by various bands requesting abolishment of the agency so that 96George W. Lee to Rowland E. Trowbridge, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, April 12, 1880, N.A. Roll 415. 97George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, March 16, 1878, N.A. Roll 413. 98George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, February 3, 1880, N.A. Roll 415. 99Seven chiefs and eighteen headmen of the Chippewa of Saginaw at Isabella to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, May, 1871, N.A. Roll 409. 39 100 When problems Indians could bargain directly with the Department. arose, Indians began ignoring the agent and writing directly to their congressmen, United States senators, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the Secretary of the Interior, and even the President for assistance.]01 More and more, agents received instructions based on grievances filed directly with Washington rather than with the agency office. Under such circumstances agents were impotent; George W. Lee reported: My inability to supply their wants begets a feeling towards me which is not desirable, or lending towards their heeding my advice in such matters of general interest as I feel it is my duty to offer them pertaining to their welfare. 2 Poor working conditions, inadequate salary, insufficient clerical assistance, lack of instruction from the Department, dwind- ling funds, and decreased authority made the agent's position increasingly unattractive to qualified men. Those who accepted the position did so either from missionary zeal or hope for political advancement. But no matter what the reason may have been for taking the office, every agent rapidly wearied and grew disheartened both with the duties and the Indians' slow progress toward civilization. Leach wrote his friend and former clerk Richard M. Smith, who suc- ceeded him as agent in 1865, expressing condolences on Smith's 100Ibid.; Chiefs Moses Shaw—be-quo—ung and Joseph Midawis of the Oceana Reservation to Francis A. Walker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, December 21, 1871, N.A. Roll 409. 101The only time Indians turned to agents for assistance by 1880 was to ask for more agricultural implements or school books; no important matters were brought to their attention by their wards. 102George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, February 3, 1880, N.A. Roll 415. 4O appointment, warning that “you will have a very unpleasant time of it, and I feel more thankful than ever that I am out of the business."103 Betts claimed that the agent's task was "tedious and thankless,” and James W. Long labeled his work "demanding."104 AS disenchantment with their positions grew, agents began to be more critical of the Indians. They stereotyped Indians as lazy, disrespectful ingrates who would never work for anything until the government ceased giving them everything; according to one agent Indians were "entitled to no sympathy or consideration" and it was his opinion that the agency should be closed, thereby forcing Indians either to work or starve to death.105 Agents began taking a firm stance with Indians in an attempt to regain a degree of their lost authority. Agent Long reported boastfully that at councils he had ”found it necessary to order some of their chiefs to sit down and stop talking" because he "considered their language impertinent" 103 R011 407. 104George I. Betts to John O. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, August 2, 1875, N.A. Roll 411; James W. Long to John O. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, July 15, 1875, N.A. Roll 411. James Webb Long served in the Union Army with a rank of brevet major. In 1869, at the age of twenty-nine, he was appointed Indian agent and he served in that position for two years. After resigning his army commission in 1871 he became a newspaper editor and druggist in Mount Pleasant. A talented writer, Long worked for Frank Leslie and com- posed thirty-six musical scores. 105James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, March 21, 1871, N.A. Roll 409; Report of the Secretary of the Interior, “Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,“ House Exec. Doc. 1, part 4, vol. 1, 4lst Cong., 3d Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1871), Serial 1449, p. 780. Dewitt C. Leach to Richard M. Smith, July 3, 1865, N.A. 41 and “would not suffer them to talk in that manner.”106 Long spoke the sentiments of many agents when he offered his explanation of why Indians were impoverished: A little work from the Indians, a little of the exertion that white men have to Show, and they would not need to cry poverty. The only thing, however, seems to be that they do not intend to work, and they want another treaty or something of the sort, by which they can obtain a few more millions from the government. The ultimate expression of agent hostility toward his charges came from Betts who emphatically stated that he wanted the agency office to be as far away from Indians as possible so that he would not be “annoyed by their needless visits, wasting both their time and my own."108 Not only were agents antagonistic toward Indians under their care, but also they despaired of any future improvement among them. In 1885 Edward P. Allen noted with discouragement that "it is too late to remedy the evil, and as a result the race will disappear in H109 Michigan within fifty years. While Allen's prophecy proved 106James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 15, 1869, N.A. Roll 408. 107James W. Long to John O. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, July 15, 1875, N.A. Roll 411. 108George I. Betts to H. R. Clum, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, February 10, 1873, N.A. Roll 410. 109Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1885 (Washington: G.P.O., 1885), p. 339. Edward Paysen Allen (1839-1909) was a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School. Before becoming Indian agent in 1882 he served as prosecuting attorney of Washtenaw County, mayor of Ypsilanti, and state representative. After leaving office as agent in December;l885, he served two terms in Congress, six years on the State Board of Agriculture, and two years as mayor of Ypsilanti. 42 incorrect, his sentiment that he was merely a doctor waiting for his fatally ill patient to die is highly representative of official attitudes. With this fatalistic approach it is little wonder that agents became careless, and on occasion corrupt, in the handling of their responsibilities. Increasingly agents merely pretended to be faithfully doing their duties, so that casual observers would not suspect the true condition of agency affairs. Doctor H. J. Alvord, a special agent sent by the Department to inspect the management of the agency, described its condition accurately: While the employees gppegp attentive to their duties, the affairs of the Mackinac Agency generally appear to be in a thriftless and unprosperous condition, indicating a sadly deficient executive ability in its management.11 110H. J. Alvord to Lewis V. Bogys Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 16, 1866, N.A. Roll 407. CHAPTER II TO DESTROY A CULTURE I American education in the nineteenth century was, to a great extent, an extension of principles set forth by clergymen in their sermons. Development of character through moral training was con- sidered the primary object of teachers; academic and practical skills were deemed less important in a society in which vocational training was acquired by serving an apprenticeship.1 Since denomi- national groups were active in the Operation of school systems throughout the country and himissionary work among "red savages" Interior Department officials thought it a logical extension of church activities to entrust them with the educational, as well as religious, training of the Indians.2 The goal of the government was to assimilate Indians into white society, but to accomplish this the "heathens" had to be painstakingly tutored in the values of a culture based on a belief in one God, civil obedience, the inherent 1Robert F. Berkhofer, Jr., Salvation and the Savage (New York: Atheneum, 1972), p. 16. Berkhofer's chapter "Nurseries of Morality” is a detailed analysis of the role of missionaries in Indian education. 2Manasseh Hickey, "A Missionary Among the Indians: Remin- iscences of Reverend Manasseh Hickey," part 2, Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, IV (Lansing: Michigan Historical Com- mission, 1906): p. 546. Hickey was the foremost Methodist missionary in Michigan. 43 44 good of manual labor, and personal accumulation of material wealth, all of which were alien to the Indians' way of life. The task was formidable, but missionary societies accepted it with zeal. In all missionary activities insistence upon superficial conformity to white standards was demanded. All children upon enrollment were given Christian names, almost always biblical; this enabled the teacher to eliminate the necessity of struggling with difficult Indian names, as well as to undermine parental control at 3 Children the most elementary level, e.g., naming their offspring. were bathed and given clothing furnished by missionary societies in a further effort to give them at least the appearance of being civilized.4 This visible transformation was essential as mission teachers considered training impossibile until the children had ceased to be "savage"; one missionary related that "our first work is to unlearn, and of all lessons that of unlearning is the hard- est."5 The first members of an Indian band urged to attend the new schools were the mixed-bloods who had previous contact with white society and were less hostile toward it.6 They were requested to impress upon the leaders of their bands the benefits afforded by accepting the white man's education; if persuasion failed, missionaries urged them to overthrow recalcitrant chiefs and 3M. Finity, "Our Indian Schools," Christian Advocate, LX (September 3, 1885), p. 574. 4 5 Ibid. Ibid. 6Berkhofer, Salvation and the Savage, p. 113. 45 headmen.7 Leaflets were distributed for publication, purportedly expressing the sentiments of entire bands, explaining how Indians wished to "become men of knowledge and education."8 Typical of such appeals was that made by forty-two half-blood Ottawa and Chippewa in 1855: We must educate! We must educate! or will sink into the vortex of desolation! In order to reap the greatest advan- tage in connection with the propagation of the true religion and true enlightenment, we must educate and become acquainted with the arts and sciences, language, manners, and customs of the white man. We hope there is a day coming when we shall be trugy enlightened and truly educated like the white people. Such propagandizing proved successful and great numbers of mission schools were established; few children were not within five miles of a mission teacher.1O Missionary societies furnished their governmental patron glowing reports of their abilities to convert heathens toward acceptance of white culture. Peter Dougherty, a Presbyterian minister who labored thirty-three years among the Ottawa and Chippewa of the Grand Traverse region, reported that his boarding school at Grove Hill taught Indian boys and girls reading, writing, arithmetic, 7Hickey,"A Missionary Among the Indians,” part 1, pp. 29-30. 8"An Appeal to the Citizens of the United States by the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan,” November 22, 1855, N.A. Roll 405. 9Ibid. 10Often private homes would serve as schoolhouses, with an itinerant preacher visiting at regular intervals to instruct chil- dren in educational and religious studies. During his absence women who could read and write ran the schools, usually teaching only prayers and hymns to the Indian students. 46 geography, and grammar, and that the students were capable of drawing accurate maps and doing mathematical problems in fractions.11 Frederic Baraga, Bishop of Upper Michigan and superintendent of the Catholic Indian schools at Sault Ste. Marie, stated in 1855 that the Catholic Church operated two schools at the Sault and one each at Mackinac, St. Ignace, Cross Village, Little Traverse, Cheboygan, and Eagletown, with a total enrollment of 419 children.12 Subjects taught included spelling, reading, English composition, sewing, knitting, and trimming clothes with porcupine quills.13 The Baptist missionary at the Sault, Abel Bingham, who had been in charge of the mission since its Opening in 1828, maintained a boarding school 14 housing but seven students in 1855. Bingham, aided by his wife, taught arithmetic, geography, English grammar, history, composition, and ”sacred" vocal and instrumental music.15 Despite its receiving optimistic reports of increased enroll- ment and steady progress, by mid-century the Indian Department was becoming dissatisfied with the Operation of the Indian education system. Since mission schools were funded by the government, the money for maintenance and supplies being given directly to missionary boards for distribution, the Indian Department considered that it alone had the prerogative to dictate the manner in which funds were HReport of the Secretary of the Interior, “Report of the Com- missioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 1, 34th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: Cornelius Wendell, 1856), Serial 840. pp. 354-356. 12 Ibid., pp. 356-357. 13 '4Ioid., pp. 358-359. ‘5 Ibid. Ibid. 47 utilized; missionary societies, however, disagreed. To the government education was a tool of assimilation, whose main function was to undermine the beliefs of Indian children in their native culture.16 This, it was thought, could best be achieved in stages, beginning with abolition of the Indian language.17 Mission teachers viewed the role of education more in the spiritual sense of spreading the Word of God. Reverend Mr. Dougherty described his view of the requirements of a mission teacher thus: While we aim, by means of study and labor, to develop and strengthen the Indians' intellectual and physical powers, we feel the right improvement of the moral powers is all important to their becoming good members of society and useful citizens of the State. We, therefore, carefully teach them the truths of the benign religion of the Saviour, and it is to be hoped the youth who go forth from the institution will be qualified to advance in the path of civilization and improvement. To accomplish their goals missionaries were willing to use in their teaching Indian language texts and bibles translated into native dialect by Bishop Baraga. Governmental protests could not deter mission teachers from spreading the gospel in all possible fashions. Moreover, missionaries could not understand the govern- ment's insistence on eliminating Indian language in the schools 16Finity, ”Our Indian Schools," p. 574. 17Ibid. Agent Fitch, in a letter to Commissioner Denver, January 28, 1859, explained that "it has always been the policy of this office to discourage the teaching of the Indian language in the schools under its charge and to have taught in them the English language altogether." N.A. Roll 406. 18Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs," House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 1, 34th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: Cornelius Wendell, 1856), Serial 840, Pp. 355-356. 48 since Article Four, Section Two of the Treaty of Washington (1836) promised the Ottawa and Chippewa tribe in Michigan five thousand dollars annually for twenty years "for the purposes of education, ~“‘”" teachers, school houses, and books in their own language."19 Section Three of the same article provided for an additional three 20 thousand dollars to pay missionaries to operate the schools. Indian Department officials, however, ignored all protests based on these treaty provisions and, in l853, informed the churches that at the expiration of the treaty their control over Indian education would cease . 2] The Indian Department was further strengthened in its deter- mination to remove education from the direct control of missionary boards by reports received from agents and Indians who attended mission schools. Agent Henry Gilbert, in his annual report of 1855, expressed his reasons for requesting that education monies be distributed through his office rather than by the churches: None of these funds have ever been disbursed through the medium of the agency and the agents, and consequently the government has never taken much interest in, or bestowed much attention on, educational matters. The Indians are never informed how their money is expended, and they will now be very slow to believe that all the money due them from the United States under this head has ever been appro- priated. I have myself but very recently been informed as to the disposition of this fund, and regret to say that, in my judgment, much of it has been very injudiciously expended. One school has received, for twenty years, from 19Statutes-at-Large: Indian Treaties, VII, p. 492. ZOIbid. 21Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1853 (Washington: Robert Armstrong, 1853), p. 4. 49 $1,600.00 to $1,800.00 per annum, at a point and under circum- stances where $600 would have been a liberal allowance. Another school has been sustained by an appropriation of $1,200.00 per annum when $400.00, judiciously expended, would have secured more beneficial results. The Indians have now been so far civilized that they will no longer acquiesce in any such policy, and I earnestly recommend that it may not be continued. If there is one fund more sacred than another, it is that provided for the education of the children, and good faith towards the Indians requires that the government should know, from the personal examination and official transactions of its agents, th22 every dollar is legitimately and judi- ciously expended. Indians echoed Gilbert's sentiment, complaining that their educational fund had been "carried on under blind—dealing already too long," and that no one cared enough about their welfare to tell them, as the treaty of 1836 stipulated, how the funds were to be expended.23 Their primary complaint, however, was that educational funds given bishops and clergy in the Roman Catholic Church were used to educate 24 white, not Indian, children. Spokesmen for the Ottawa and Chippewa tribe claimed that "not one Indian youth had been educated as it had 25 It was been reported" in the missionaries' annual statements. impossible, they said, for Indians to be instructed in English, mathematics, grammar, and Spelling at mission schools because teachers were either European born Catholic priests who spoke only broken English, or Indians, catechised in their native tongue, who 22Report of the Secretary_of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 1, 34th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: Cornelius Wendell, 1856), Serial 840, p. 353. 23Andrew J. Blackbird, et al. to George W. Manypenny, Com- missioner of Indian Affairs, November 22, 1855, N.A. Roll 405. 24Ipid. 25Ihid. 50 26 could ”neither read nor speak a word of English." For the Catholic Church to claim that it taught porcupine quill decoration, they asserted,was "perfectly absurd and ridiculous, as Indians had been 27 doing such trimming for centuries. Only the few Indians who were allowed to attend white schools received an adequate education.28 The Ottawa and Chippewa were so incensed that they invited the Com- missioner of Indian Affairs to visit Michigan to see if he could discOver any truth in the school reports; in fact, they challenged him to find a single Indian who attended a mission school who could 29 To remedy this situation they requested the even spell "baker." government to cease direct payments to churches and to permit either the Indians or the agent to hire teachers and administer the schools.30 Armed with this evidence, the Indian Department, in negoti- ating the Treaty of Detroit (1855) with the Ottawa and Chippewa tribe, removed educational training from the auspices of mission societies and transferred it to the agent, who was free to recommend rehiring of missionaries as teachers provided that they agreed to abide by governmental requirements.3] Article Two, Section One of 26Ibid. Catholic priests in Michigan during the nineteenth century were almost entirely foreign born; in 1870 seventy-four of the state's seventy—eight priests were European. Everett Claspy, The Potawatomi Indians of Southwestern Michigan (Dowagiac: n.p., 1966), p. 20. 27Andrew J. Blackbird, et‘al. to George W. Manypenny, Com- missioner of Indian Affairs, November 22, 1855, N.A. Roll 405. 281mg. 291mg. Statutes-at-Large, XI, p. 623. 51 this treaty stated that the United States would provide eighty thousand dollars in ten equal annual installments for the employment of teachers and management of schools; it further promised that Indians would be "consulted" in educational matters and that "their views and wishes" would be adopted "so far as they might be just and reasonable."32 Missionaries were outraged, citing possible "injury to Indian youth," but government officials and Indians were Open in expressing their mutual satisfaction with the new arrangements.33 II Upon receiving direct control of Indian education in 1857, the Mackinac Agency closed all church—operated boarding schools in Michigan. In their place were established day schools, which were to be open weekdays from 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. with instruction in reading, 34 Until 1885, with the reopening writing, spelling, and arithmetic. of the privately funded Catholic Otchippewa Boarding School in Schoolcraft County in the Upper Peninsula, all Indian schools were day schools, financed entirely by the federal government, with teachers appointed by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs upon recom- 35 mendation of the agent. Since the Mackinac agents were always 32Ibid. 33George Bradley, "A Brief History of the Isabella Mission of the Methodist Episc0pal Church,” Michigan HiStorial Collections of the University of Michigan. 34John Heaphy to Dewitt C. Leach, January 8, 1862, John Heaphy Papers, Michigan Historical Collections of the University of Michigan. 35Alice E. Fletcher, Indian Education and Civilization (Wash- ington: G.P.O., 1888), p. 182; Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1885 (Washington: G.P.O., 1885), p. cix. 52 Methodist during these years Catholic control over the education of Indian youth, which previously had been extensive, was reduced to near extinction. Seven years after the implementation of this new system only four schools, with 187 pupils, remained under the influence of Catholic teachers.36 Indian day schools generally were stark, cheerless buildings. Standard dimensions of the single story frame schoolhouses were 30' x 20' with a 30' x 24' lean—to adjoining to serve as the teacher's residence.37 Some, such as those at Little Traverse and Saganing, were constructed well ”from hewed and squared logs, clapboarded over on the outside, and lathed and painted inside," but most were 38 As many of the schools shoddily built at the lowest possible cost. were located on the shores of Lakes Michigan and Superior, strong winds, mixed with rain and snow, caused the buildings to deteriorate quickly. Constant repair of shingles, window glass, and plaster 36Annual Report of the Spperintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Michigan, 1862 (Lansing: John Kerr & Co., 1862), pp. 191-192. 37Henry C. Gilbert to George W. Manypenny, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, July 14, 1856, N.A. Roll 405; James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 3, 1871, N.A. Roll 409; George W. Lee to Rowland E. Trowbridge, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, September 1, 1880, N.A. Roll 415. 38Henry C. Gilbert to George W. Manypenny, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, July 14, 1856, N.A. Roll 405; Mary A. Sagatoo, Wah Sash Kah Moqua; or, Thirty-three Years Among the Indians (BOston: Charles White Co., 1897), p. 67. 53 was required to afford teachers and pupils even the most rudimentary comforts.39 Inside the one-room school house were rows of wooden tables 40 Walls were 41 and benches to accommodate as many as fifty students. bare except for a flag and possibly one or two patriotic pictures. Despite agents' pleas for maps, alphabet and spelling charts, and similar visual learning aids, the Indian Bureau, citing "fiscal 42 distress, steadfastly refused to furnish them. Not until 1879 did the Department provide seventy-two dollars for the purchase of 43 globes for each of the eight remaining schools in Michigan. A stove provided heat for the building, but nothing was furnished to augment natural light on gloomy overcast days.44 39George W. Lee to Rowland E. Trowbridge, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, July 26, 1880, N.A. Roll 415; George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 4, 1878, N.A. Roll 413; George W. Lee to Rowland E. Trowbridge, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, September 17, 1880, N.A. Roll 414. Lee described the Middle Village school to Commissioner Hayt in a letter dated December 15, 1877: ”The plaster was almost entirely off, the chimney was in a dangerous condition, the foundation, which was wooden blocks, twenty years old, was rotted away, making it altogether unsuitable for school purposes in this rigorous climate" (N A. Roll 412). 40James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 3, 1871, N.A. Roll 409. “Ibid. 42George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 4, 1878, N.A. Roll 413. 43Carl Schurz, Secretary of the Interior, to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, March 11, 1879, N.A. Roll 414. 44A. Bill, Acting Secretary of the Interior, to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, September 6, 1879, N.A. Roll 414. 54 Because Michigan's Indians were peaceful, semi-civilized, and apparently desirous of obtaining an education to prepare them- selves for self-sufficiency in the white man's world, Indian Department officials chose the Mackinac Agency as a testing ground for the day school program. Accordingly, Michigan received a dispro- portionate share of school facilities; in 1863, of the forty-eight day schools supported by the federal government thoughout the country thirty were in the Mackinac Agency.45 Schools were Situated as near as possible to each Indian 46 village and reservation. The Chippewa of Lake Superior had access to two schools at L'Anse, one Methodist and the other Catholic, located on the east and west shores respectively of L'Anse Bay.47 In 1863 the Ottawa and Chippewa tribe received the services of twenty schools situated in Onawmeceeneville, Eagletown, Grove Hill, Pine River, Bear River, Little Traverse, Middle Village, Cross Village, Cheboygan, Iroquois Point, Sugar Island, Garden Island, and Isabella, Mason, and Oceana Counties. With the expiration of treaty financial support and the increased availability of public education many of these Indian schools closed; by 1889 only those at Middle Village and Iroquois Point remained open, but their attendance was 45Report of the Secretary of the Interior, ”Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs," House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 3, 38th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G P.O., 1864), Serial 1182, pp. 618-619. 46Many former mission schools were converted into day schools, often serving as few as five Indian children. 47The Methodist school closed after the 1894 academic year; the Catholic school ceased Operation in 1895. Onawmeceeneville Eagletown Grove Hill Bear River Little Traverse Middle Village Cross Village . Iroquois Point . Cheboygan Garden Island . Sugar Island Pine River o 13. Saganing 14. Nepissing 15. Longwood l6. Naubetung Bradley Station Mason County Oceana County L'Anse 55 Figure 6 Location of Schools 2 f V ~“3 CRAID uni Tlenu Irlnn O'OIOO Inna-n 15L 1‘ AL’INA c ruuuu Canto-D 09: on 1, ALCONA U 1‘ u 3 ID'II mlIAu-I I wllrvuu no: MIMAw 10860 “ADO" L A! I. OICI 8 LA I I on Ottom- LAKE OCIANA 79 6 a *t TYAVA IIUAVGO HICOI'A .17 76 HON 50! I' C A L H GDAYIOY I‘M? ,0. . A nmrou III. I]: a "‘"“" manna “I 9? Afillflfc I3 uu-ou AV "Ail ruscoth sAuILAc LADNIA 3, annual r ( warns“ 1’ ; anon. 9 ‘ 'A I. I. l BAHlaAnRV |IA1°N lmcuun AND uvmuou ° ‘ ‘1 LAK ‘1' CW‘ V I IUIIN *7 JACKION CALHOUN e 0‘1 8"“ «I & magnum“! y .I‘ l v... ,. (Ass Jone» -- ‘ ‘ an“. LINAWII u! ml HONIOE “a ““ 56 48 only half that of 1863. Six schools, built at Saganing, Naubetung, Nepissing, Longwood, Bradley Station, and the Isabella Reservation, were Open for the Chippewa of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River.49 Neither the small Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomi tribe nor the equally tiny tribe of Potawatomi of Huron ever received federal education facilities as they were not provided for in any treaty. Teacher quality in the day schools was surprisingly high. In an effort to afford the new system every possible advantage, the government, in uncharacteristic fashion, opened its purse-strings and authorized payment of lucrative salaries to instructors. In Michigan the annual salary for all teachers, male and female, in the Indian Service during the period 1860-1889 was four hundred 50 dollars. Teachers working for the public schools, in the same vicinity as Indian schools, received much lower stipends; in 1878 average yearly income for male teachers was $254, while females 51 received only $164. During the early 1880s in the city of Saginaw, a wealthy lumbering community, male instructors were paid 48Enrollment at Iroquois Point fell from forty to twenty—one; at Middle Village the decrease was from forty—two to eighteen. 49Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 3, 38th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1864), Serial 1182, p. 619. 50See ”Education Statistics” in Annual Report of the Commis- sioner of Indian Affairs for the years 1860-1889. In 1890 annual salaries rose to six hundred dollars, possibly as an attempt to maintain qualified teachers after the agency closed. 51J. H. Rockwell, “Our Public Schools Yesterday and Today," Michigan History Mpgazine, XIV (October, 1930), p. 659. 57 52 seven dollars per week and females four dollars. Consequently, many teachers, especially women, chose to leave public schools and work for the government, even though it meant personal hardship; often the teacher was the sole white in an Indian village fifteen or 53 twenty miles from the nearest settlement. Job competition was fierce. Applicants would request appointments a year or more in advance, accompanying their letters with recommendations solicited 54 from congressmen and senators. Thus, Indian agents in Michigan had the pleasant task of selecting from a long list of prospects, nearly all of whom had experience, were highly qualified, and were certified by the State Board of Public Instruction.55 An agent boasted in his quarterly report that one of his teachers had taught in Grand Rapids, another in the best schools in populous Lenawee County, and another had had "years of experience in teaching and the best of testimoni- n56 als. Following the Civil War the Mackinac Agency operated the finest Indian education system in the country; quality of instruction 52M. A. Leeson, History of Saginaw County, Michigan (Chicago: Charles C. Chapman and Co., 1881), p. 866. 53George W. Lee to John O. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, September 10, 1877, N.A. Roll 412. Sixty-three per cent of Mackinac Agency teachers were women. 54George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, September 16, 1878, N.A. Roll 413; Thomas W. Ferry to Grace E. Bradley, March 14, 1878, Grace E. Bradley Papers, Historical Collections of Michigan State University. 55George W. Lee to Rowland E. Trowbridge, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 1, 1880, N.A. Roll 415. 56 Ibid. 58 was often so superior to that of the public schools that many white parents chose to send their children to Indian schools.57 The Indian Department was willing to expend large sums for. teachers because it believed, as did the agents, that money spent for educational instruction was of more benefit in attaining the ultimate goal of assimilation than that spent for any other purpose.58 As one agent explained, "early education of the Indian is the great- est factor in his ultimate and complete civilization and usefulness."59 Indian Department officials believed that day schools were the initial step in indoctrinating Indian children to accept civilization. Ideally the system would work in simple stages: first, children would return home from school and report their newly acquired knowledge to interested parents who would grow increasingly enthusiastic in their support of white education; next, enlightened parents would urge their children to attend boarding schools to obtain more sophisticated skills; and finally, parents, to keep pace with their offspring, would attend night schools taught either 57Sagatoo, Thirty—three Years Among the Indians, p. 67; Charles F. Luckhard, Faith in the Forest (Sebewaing: C. F. Luckhard, 1952), p. 23; Floy Irene Graham, Petoskey_and Bay View in Ye Olden Days (Petoskey: C. E. Garvin Co., 1938), p. 8; L. M. Hartwick and W. H. Tuller, Oceana County Pioneers and Businessmen of Today (Pent- water: Pentwater News Steam Print, 1890), p. 276; George W. Lee to John O. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 5, 1876, N.A. Roll 411; A. J. Southard to Zachariah Chandler, April 9. 1879, N.A. Roll 414. 58George W. Lee to Rowland E. Trowbridge, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 1, 1880, N.A. Roll 415. 59Dewitt C. Leach to John M. Gregory, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, November, 1862, N.A. Roll 407. 59 60 Thus, successful assimilation by whites or educated Indians. depended upon successful day schools. Since the Mackinac Agency was the field laboratory for the day schOol system its Indians received unique benefits from costly experimental programs. In the Grand Traverse region a federally financed lunch program was instituted in the early 1870s, a local Methodist mission being contracted to provide Indian students "a generous lunch every day at noon."5' This proved to be a notable success as it eliminated absenteeism previously caused by the failure of pupils to return for afternoon classes following the lunch hour; it also provided an incentive for attendance, especially during the winter when Indians were in a constant state of near-starvation.62 Another innovation designed to increase attendance was the promise of Christmas trees for each school, with presents of "books and other ' suitable toys" for the pupils.63 One agent reported that the “hope of participating" in school Christmas parties always yielded "large 6OJohn Heaphy to Richard M. Smith, September 1, 1865, John Heaphy Papers, Michigan Historical Collections of the University of Michigan; Report of the Secretany of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 2, 49th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1885), Serial 2379, p. 340; Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1886, "Report of the Superintendent of Indian Schools" (Washington: G.P.O., 1886), p. lxi. 61Morgan L. Leach, ”History of the Grand Traverse Region," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, XXXII (Lansing: Robert Smith, 1903), p. 96. 62George W. Lee to John O. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 27, 1877, N.A. Roll 412. 63George W. Lee to Rowland E. Trowbridge, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 4, 1880, N.A. Roll 415. 60 returns" as it created increased ”interest and attendance" among the 64 children. An early experiment was the provision of free pens, paper, and texts to all Indian school children.65 In the opinion of Indian Department officials this program was not a complete success for Indians later demanded, and received, the continuance of free supplies, in addition to tuition, as a condition of their children attending public schools.66 As Chief James Nauk-che-ke-mu wrote Agent Lee: "There is school money for children we know. We want you to get money from the President to give our children. Whenever we ask you "67 A final trial this way, we want you do just as we say to you. program was free transportation for children living too far away to walk to school. This was discontinued after one year for day schools, but remained available to students wishing to attend any of the three federally supported boarding schools in Michigan.68 64Ipid. 65Many of the supplies furnished were religious, as evidenced by the order request submitted by George S. Wilcox to Agent Smith, September 8, 1871 for the Shaw-shaw-na-beece day school: "I would respectfully ask that you send us books as follows: 12 New Testaments, 12 Sunday School Singing Books, a quantity of cards, each one having a passage of scripture printed thereon, such as are used in all our Sabbath schools" (N.A. Roll 410). 66Indians had precedent for demanding tuition payments for attending white schools since local Indian officials from the time of Lewis Cass had paid for the education of qualified Indians, usually the eldest son of a chief. 67James Nauk-che-ke-mu to George W. Lee, March 12, 1879, N.A. Roll 414. . 68Leach, "History of the Grand Traverse Region," p. 121; Statutes—at—Large, XXX, p. 945. 61 The number of pupils varied, enrollment ranging from 1,068 69 students in 1863 to 149 when the agency closed in 1889. Approxi- mately forty-five per cent of Indian students attending school did so regularly, which compares favorably with the forty-four per cent regular attendance reported for white children in public schools.70 Agents, however, complained that attendance was "too irregular."71 Children came and went as they pleased, and parents withdrew them from school during planting, trapping, harvesting, and berry~picking 72 . seasons. To the success oriented agent such occurrences were 69Report of the Secretarypof the Interior, ”Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 3, 38th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1864), Serial 1182, p. 619; Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1889 (Washington: G.P.O., 1889), p. 385. When the agency closed, 1,280 children, or eighty-five per cent of all school-age Indians, were not enrolled in any government sponsored school. Ibid., p. 393. 70See "Education Statistics” in Annual Report of the Com- missioner of Indian Affairs for the years 1855-1889; Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1876 (Lansing: W. S. George and Co., 1876), p. ix. 71Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 2, 39th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1865), Serial 1248, p. 635; Report of the Secretary of the Interior, I'Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 2, 40th Cong., 3d Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1869), Serial 1366, p. 759; Report of the Secretary of the Interior, ”Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs," House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 1, 43d Cong., 2d Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1875), Serial 1639, p. 492; Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1887 (Washington: G.P.O., 1887), p. 125. 72George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, August 28, 1877, N.A. Roll 412; Leach, "History of the Grand Traverse Region,” pp. 96-97; Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 5, 38th Cong., 2d Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1865), Serial 1220, p. 590. 62 TABLE 2 Supplies Furnished for Seven Schools-~1878 Item Price 12 dozen COpy books $1.20 per dozen 3 " lst readers 2.40 " " 4 " 2nd readers 4.32 " " 3 " 3rd readers 6.48 " ” l " 4th readers 10.20 " " 4 " spellers 2.16 " " 2 " primary arithmetics 1.80 " " 2 " intellectual arithmetics 3.00 " " l ” practical arithmetics 7.20 " " 2 " primary geographies 3.00 " " 1 " intermediate geographies 4.80 " ” 12 " bottles of school ink .375 " " 3 " slates 1.20 " " 6 sets object lessons 3.00 per set 7 quart bottles of black ink .60 per bottle 2 boxes of pen holders (lOO/box) .30 per box 4 boxes of chalk .25 per box 300 slate pencils .25 per hundred 7 gross of steel pens .50 per gross 63 TABLE 3 Education Statistics, 1862-1889 Year Number of Number of Number of Schools Pupils School-Age Children 1862 27 825 4,100 1863 30 1,068 4,000 1864 25 322 2,000 1865 30 592 1,985 1866 24 934 2,100 1868 15 587 -- 1869 12 -- -- 1871 9 379 -- 1872 8 323 1,600 1874 38 858 ~- 1875 7 380 1,900 1876 5 172 -- 1879 8 483 2,075 1880 9 372 1,569 1881 9 405 2,211 1882 9 323 2,211 1883 8 223 1,500 1884 11 324 ' 1,019 1885 11 461 1,014 1886 10 380 1,000 1887 8 221 1,100 1888 7 193 -- 1889 5 149 1,485 Missing tabulations represent data which were not submitted by the agent. The tabulation is based on monthly teacher reports and is not absolutely accurate as to precise numbers of children attending school; it does, however, indicate trends in Indian education. The drastic reduction of schools in 1868 resulted from expiration of the 1855 treaty provisions for education. Data for 1874 represent the number of Indian school buildings, but only eight were open. The increase in 1884 indicates an attempt to establish night schools for adults; the failure of this plan is reflected by the lower number of schools reported in 1887. This tabulation shows that approxi- mately twenty per cent of school-age children attended day schools; this does not reflect the literacy rate of the Indian population, however, as children often taught their parents and other relatives how to read and write. 64 obstacles to progress but, as one put it, they seemed "to a great extent irremediable."73 Indian behavior patterns led most observers to conclude that they were apathetic or hostile to educational benefits. Even Richard M. Smith, a zealous believer in the Indians' potential to become civilized, sensed a lack of enthusiasm among them: From my own observations I have reason to believe that some progress is still being made in the education of their chil- dren, but it is slow, and by no means what it ought to be, the principal difficulty being with the Indians tgemselves in not sending more of their children to school. A school inspector viewed Michigan's Indian schools as "almost an entire failure” because of absenteeism, and considered their continu- ation "a most absurd and profligate waste of their [Indians'] 75 He believed that day schools would always fail because money." children returned each evening to their savage environment; to remedy this he proposed suspending all day schools and placing the students in boarding schools throughout the country.76 One citizen of Sault Ste. Marie used a comparative approach to condemn Indians by stating 73Report of the Secretary of the Interior, “Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 2, 39th Cong., 2d Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1865), Serial 1248, p. 636. 74Report of the Secretary of the Interior, ”Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 2, 40th Cong., 3d Sess. (Washington: G P.O., 1869), Serial 1366, p. 759. 75H. J. Alvord to Lewis V. Bogy. Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 16, 1866, N.A. Roll 407. 76Ibid. 65 his belief that Indians were inferior to Negroes in their desire to become educated and Civilized.77 Indians, however, did not consider themselves apathetic or hostile. They desired to become educated, especially in the skills of reading and arithmetic, and expressed gratitude to the government for furnishing schools.78 They attempted to explain how Indian parents doted upon their children and indulged their wants; thus, if a child wished to stay home from school, it would be unthinkable to refuse the request.79 Conversely, if the child wanted to attend, no obstacle was too great for the parents to overcome. One woman carried on her shoulders her ten-year-old son, who had broken both legs in an acci- dent during summer vacation, to the school at Bear River, nearly three-quarters of a mile from their home, because he expressed a desire not to miss classes.8O Indian children were often conscientious students who appeared voluntarily to receive instruction. Former agent Long, never a sympathetic friend of the Indians, noted after visiting an Indian school on the Isabella Reservation: 77A. H. P. to Editor, Detroit Daily Post, February 3, 1872. 78James Nauk—che-ke—mu to George W. Lee, December 31, 1878, N.A. Roll 414. 79Robert E. Ritzenthaler and Pat Ritzenthaler, The Woodland Indians of the Western Great Lakes (Garden City: The Natural History Press, 1970), p. 33; W. Vernon Kinietz, The Indians of the Western Great Lakes, 1615—1760 (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1940), p. 278. 80 Leach, "History of the Grand Traverse Region," p. 96. c 66 I was really surprised at their advancement; their writing, I can truthfully say, cannot be excelled by any little boys of their age in the village [Mount Pleasant] school. Not that I wish to say that the scholars in our school here have not had the proper training, but I think those little fellows take hold of this branch of study with more zeal and interest.81 Absences were great in Indian schools during agricultural seasons because the children helped the family plant and harvest crops, just as white children did. Public school records do not show high absenteeism during these seasons only because the schools 82 The 'did not open until mid-October and closed in early March. five or six month school year in the public system was in sharp con- trast to the early September through June calendar of Indian schools.83 To the Indians of Michigan education was a tool of survival. They had to be able to read and understand deeds, abstracts, and newspaper advertisements to avoid having their land stolen; under- standing and speaking English was essential to obtain employment in the white world; and knowing arithmetic was necessary to prevent being defrauded in everyday business transactions. Seldom, if ever, did a day school in Michigan close without vigorous protests from 8‘IsabeIIa County Enterprise, April 28, 1875. 82Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1859 (Lansing: Hosmer and Kerr, 1860), pp. 347-363. Article XIII, Section 5 of the 1850 constitution required public schools to be Open only three months per year. Michigan Statutes Annotated, p. 225. 83See "Education Statistics” in Annual Report of the Commis- sioner of Indian Affairs for the years 1855-1889. 67 84 the band it had served. Often schools were reopened or new ones, 85 Unfortunately, to a government built by Indians, were instituted. which neither attempted, nor wanted, to understand Indian culture such protests reflected an increased Indian desire to become assimi- lated; Indians had seen the error of their ways and were begging for another opportunity to learn white culture.86 In reality, Indians only wished to learn enough to survive in the culture, not to become part of it. For example, by 1880 nearly all adults and children were bilingual, yet in their homes only the Indian tongue was spoken.87 More than once dishonest merchants discovered too late that the Indian who entered their stores and pointed to the merchandise he wanted was capable of reading, speaking English, and doing simple 84George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, June 11, 1877, N.A. Roll 412; George W. Lee to Rowland E. Trowbridge, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, December 21, 1880, N.A. Roll 415; James Nauk—che-ke-mu to George W. Lee, March 12, 1879, N.A. Roll 414; Helen F. Snider to George W. Lee, October 3, 1879, N.A. Roll 414. 85George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 11, 1879, N.A. Roll 414; George W. Lee to Rowland E. Trowbridge, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, September 1, 1880, N.A. Roll 415. 86Report of the Secretary of the Interior, ”Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs," House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 2, 47th Cong., 2d Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1883), Serial 2100, p. 156. 87George W. Lee to John O. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, June 30, 1876, N.A. Roll 411. In 1885, it was reported that 5,035 Michigan Indians were capable of speaking and using English regularly. Rpport of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 2, 49th cong., 1st Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1885), Serial 2379, pp. 344-345; Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs," House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 1, 44th Cong., 2d Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1877), Serial 1749, p. 482. 68 arithmetic; feigned ignorance was the best way for Indians to discover who their friends were.88 After nearly three decades of costly experimentation Indian Department officials concluded that day schools were a failure because Indians were still only semi-civilized; Indians thought them a perfect success, however, and were much distressed when the govern- ment closed many day schools and urged Indian youth to attend public schools.89 Government officials hoped that forced "mingling of the children would facilitate their education” and instill in the minds of the Indians the absolute necessity for becoming assimilated into 90 white society. But Indian children were timid in the presence of so many white children who ridiculed their appearance and taunted 91 them with the epithets ”savage” and ”Injun Joe.” Indian parents resented the ridicule and soon discovered that the only thing their 881bid. 89In his 1881 report, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Hiram Price suggested that Michigan follow New York's plan of giving Indians a pro rata share of state school taxes as an incentive to lure them into public schools; he said that "it is cheaper for a state to educate her lower classes than to allow them to grow up in ignorance and superstition." Michigan, however, refused to accept his suggestion. Report of the Secretapy of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,‘I House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 2, 47th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1882), Serial 2018, p. 26. 90George W. Lee to John O. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 5, 1876, N.A. Roll 411. 91George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, December 11, 1877, N.A. Roll 412; Sagatoo, Thirty—three Years Among the Indians, p. 99. Special Agent Edwin J. Brooks wrote Hayt, January 12, 1878, that while Indian children ”have access to the public schools, the feeling is such as not to lead them to patronize the same” and that often public school teachers "repelled" Indian children from their schools. N.A. Roll 413. 69 children learned at school was profanity, taught them by white chiIdren.92 Consequently, many parents withdrew their children in hopes of forcing a reOpening of the day schools. Some Indians even established private schools for their children; as one woman explained, "white man have school, so can Indian.”93 Alarmed by a possible reversion ”to a condition as bad, if not worse, than the Indians' primitive barbarism," the Indian Depart- ment determined to establish new schools for the Indians in Michigan.94 No longer would they be day schools, however; manual labor boarding schools, long considered by educators as the best means for training Indians, were to be instituted in the Mackinac Agency. III Manual labor schools were recommended for Michigan as early as 1822 by Lewis Cass, but it was not until 1887 that agent Mark W. Stevens, a Flint Democrat, could persuade the Indian Department to 95 establish them within his agency. Following his appointment in 1885 Stevens began an immediate flow of correspondence to officials 92Andrew J. Blackbird, Histopy of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan (Ypsilanti: Ypsilanti Job Printing House, 1887), p. 25. 93Graham, Petoskey and Bay View in Ye Olden Days, pp. 17-18. 94Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,“ House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 2, 48th Cong., 2d Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1884), Serial 2287, p. 147. 95Daniel Dorchester, "What Has Been Done Morally for the Indians?" Christian Advocate, LXIX (November 1, 1894), p. 708. Mark Wellington Stevens became Indian Agent in September, 1885 at the age of thirty-six. An attorney by trade, Stevens was active in 70 in Washington expressing concern over the number of Indian children "growing up in ignorance" because they were either unable or unwilling to attend public schools.96 More day schools were not feasible as a solution since the children were sparsely scattered throughout the state. Boarding schools seemed the only answer. In his annual reports for 1887 and 1888 Stevens claimed that he had "conferred with many of l the Indians with reference to an industrial and training school, and with one accord, they all think favorably of it"; he concluded, "I have no doubt [that such a school] would be cheerfuly attended by 97 Commissioner of Indian Affairs two or three hundred children.“ John H. Oberly, a former Superintendent of Government Indian Schools, concurred with Stevens and authorized federal sponsorship, by con- tract, of boarding schools in Michigan in his annual report for 1887.98 Three boarding schools were ultimately established. The Catholic Otchippewa Boarding School was made a government contract school in 1888 to serve primarily the L'Anse and Vieux Desert bands of Chippewa of Lake Superior. Under this contract the government state Democratic politics. After leaving office in 1889 he devoted most of his time to his law practice, refusing offers to run for political office. He was Secretary of the Board of World's Fair Commissioners from 1891 to 1894 and a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1900. 96Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1887 (Washington: G.P.O., 1887), p. 125. 97Ibid.; Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1888 (Washington: G.P.O., 1888), p. 145. 98Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1887 (Washington: G P 0., 1887), p. 4. 71 agreed to pay tuition and all other expenses incurred by Indian children attending the private boarding school.99 The Otchippewa school was open the entire year, and in 1888 had a capacity of sixty students, but an enrollment of only twenty-four; it employed two white persons as teachers, and received $1,232.47, or nine dollars 100 per Indian child per month, from the government. By 1891 the capacity had risen to one hundred, enrollment to forty-eight, twenty whites were employed as staff personnel, and the government paid $4,536.00, or $8.40 per capita; the Catholic Church contributed more than the government, however, paying $5,164.00, or $9.56 per child.101 In 1889 a contract was signed with a private school in Harbor Springs to train as many as 125 Ottawa and Chippewa children. This school received a flat rate of $8,100.00 until 1891 when a renegotiated 102 agreement established per capita financing. Enrollment was 103 exceptionally good, reaching 122 in 1891. A staff of ten persons, 99Annual Repprt of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1896 (Washinton: G.P.O., 1897), p. 14. In 1896 the government contracted with public schools in Isabella and Lapeer Counties to educate "no more than fifty" Indian children in those school systems. By 1900 eighteen per cent (forty-five of two hundred forty-six) of all Indian childreniricontract public schools throughout the country were in Michigan. Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1900 (Washington: G.P.O., 1900), p. 21. 100Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1888 (Washington: G.P.O., 1888), pp. 376-377. 101Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1891 (Washington: G.P.O., 1891), pp. 4-5. 102Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1888 (Washington: G.P.O., 1888), p. 377; Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1891 (Washington: G.P.O., 1891), pp. 4-5. 103 Ibid. 72 all white, ran the institution.104 The most impressive school was located at Mount Pleasant in Isabella County. It was owned and Operated by the federal government and was the only non-contract boarding school in Michigan. Opening in 1893 with a capacity of one hundred and an enrollment of fifty-nine, the school expanded rapidly, tripling its capacity and boosting attendance to 230 at the turn of 105 the century. The Mount Pleasant school was nearly a self-contained modern city, having its own laundry, shops, hospital, power plants, and farms; by 1900 every building was fully electrified and nearly all buildings had indoor plumbing.106 The purpose of manual labor, or industrial, boarding schools was to teach Indian youths "how to read and write, how to think, 107 how to live, and how to work." Andrew Spencer, a superintendent of the Mount Pleasant school, when asked to justify the need for his institution when public education was available to Indian children replied: In most cases the poverty of the parent prevents the child from having suitable or sufficient clothing for attending school. A large majority of them would have to be shut out on account of want of cleanliness if they should apply for admission to the public schools. 104Ihid. 105Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1893 (Washington: G.P.O., 1893), pp. 614-615; Annual Report of the Com- missioner of Indian Affairs, 1900 (Washington: G.P.O., 1900), pp. 624-625. 106Statutes-at-Large, XXX, p. 589; H. A. Miller and Charles J. Seeley, Faces and Places Familiar (Mount Pleasant: Courier Press, 1906). 107Finity, l'Our Indian Schools," p. 574. 73 Even if it were possible to secure their attendance at the public schools, the literary training which they would receive there is not the education that they most need. It is more important that we develop cleanly habits, a desire for neat appearance in person and in home, a taste for better and more wholesome food, than that we give them literary training, even in so important branches as the three R's. The boys need to learn better methods of agriculture, how to care for stock, how to handle the now indispensable farm machinery, and the care and use of the more common tools. The girls must learn better methods of cooking, how to make and repair their clothing, neatness in their housework, and simple means of making their homes attractive. The young need to be brought to a true appre- ciation of the universally accepted principles of morality, to be made more trustworthy and reliable, more faithful to promises, more obedient to law. These are things that can be inculcated only by constant oversight and restraint. They cannot be learned with constant influences of Indian life about them. They need a restraining hand and a higher example. Too much of the anarchy and license of the camp yet clings to the life of their isolated huts. They must be kept, as far as possible, from acquiring those traits of Indian character which have given these people their unenviable reputation among their neighbors. The work of educating them, then, must be left to the boarding schools.108 Nbst Indian parents disagreed with the need for suchschools,realizing that they were more interested in cultural destruction than education. Yet, faced with no alternative means of learning basic academic skills needed for self-preservation, they grudgingly sent their children to the new schools. Upon arrival children were bathed and the boys given short haircuts; the latter was a source of humiliation to proud youths who had been told by their parents that long hair was a mark of mascu- 109 linity. Boys were given blue denim trousers, one flannel shirt, 108Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1894 (Washington: G.P.O., 1895): p. 384. 109 Ibid., p. 385; Ritzenthaler, The Woodland Indians, pp. 58-60. 74 shoes and socks for daily wear, and a tan "Buster Brown” suit and 110 cap for dress occasions. Girls received one good maroon dress and one cotton work dress, similar to a prison uniform, shoes, and black 111 If stockings; such garb made identification of escapees easy. the children appeared sloppy and disheveled severe discipline was used; one teacher explained that "the rod is not spared and the child'ksnot spoiled; the plan is to reward the good Indians and thrash the bad ones until they can see the beauty of goodness."n2 Strict discipline was foreign to Indian Children whose home training had been based upon respect and example rather than parental authority or physical force; thus, to find themselves in a situation where matrons slapped and choked them merely for peeling potatoes 113 improperly was terrifying. The daily regimen of rising at five in the morning, eating at six, working for five hours, eating lunch, and going to classes for three hours quickly discouraged the carefree 114 children, and many tried to run away. Soon homesickness became a common ailment; many lonely children cried themselves to sleep, only to be warned by matrons that they must forget about their homes.“5 110Interview with Louella King Bailey, March 7, 1973. Mrs. Bailey, an Ottawa, attended the Mount Pleasant school, as did her no sisters and a brother. (Hereafter referred to as ”Interview.") mIbid.; Miller and Seeley, Faces and Places Familiar. 112Finity , "Our Indian Schools," p. 574- H3"Interview." 114 Ibid.; Miller and Seeley, Faces and Places Familiar. 115”Interview." 75 Indian children could not comprehend the need for marching everywhere they went in formations of twos and threes. They felt totally confined in buildings with heavy screens sealing the windows and boundary lines marking restricted areas even on the playground.“6 Few Indians who attended Michigan's manual labor schools would have disagreed with Commissioner of Indian Affairs Thomas Jefferson Morgan, who described the work and Operation of these schools as similar to that of the State Reform School in Lansing, the New York Juvenile Asylum, the Gatesburg, Texas, House of Correction, and the Jamesburg, New Jersey, Reform School for Juvenile Delinquents.H7 Possibly the major fault of these schools was that they were based on a faulty premise. Manual labor was undesirable and unattrac— tive to Indian children who had seen their parents fish, hunt, and plant small gardens only for subsistence. Physical labor, in the white man's sense of the term, was considered by most Indians as something to be avoided unless necessitated by dire economic straits.H8 Aversion to labor resulted partly from apathy and partly from past experiences in which Indian laborers were cheated by white employers. For example, Indian stevedores unloaded tons of 116Ibid. Superintendent Robert A. Cochran attempted to explain forced marching as ”interesting, yet useful, teaching of fire drills." Miller and Seeley, Faces and places Familiar. H7Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1891 (Washington: G.P.O., 1891), pp. 62-63. 118John H. Holst, A Survey of Indian Groups in the State of Michigan (Washington: G.P.O., 1940), p. 7; Sagatoo, Thirty-three Years Among the Indians, p. 81. For a detailed analysis of Indian life see W. Vernon Kinietz, Chippewa Village: The Story of Katikitegon (Bloomfield Hills: Cranbrook Institute of Science, 1947). 76 raw ore from barges for the Leland Iron Company in 1870 at a wage of twenty-five cents per day, and Indian lumberjacks received only half the pay of their white counterparts.”9 Knowing this, Indian boys saw little use in learning engineering, carpentry, forging, or metal work, as they believed the training would not help them finan- cially in white society; selling berries, moccasins, and bows seemed 120 a much more lucrative prospect. Girls, likewise, felt a sense of uselessness in learning sewing, laundrying, clay modelling, and 12] In short, industrial schools offered little which paper folding. Indians considered important. Children attended, not to learn a vocational skill but rather to acquire, from the only source available to them, basic academic training. IV Both agents and Indians considered education important and both felt that the governmental system had failed to provide adequate instruction, but they interpreted the failure differently. The 119Edmund M. Littell, One Hundred Years in Leelanau: A History of Leelanau County, Michigan (Leland: The Print Shop, 1965), p. 38; George B. Engberg, ”Who Were the Lumberjacks?” Michigan History, XXXII (September, 1948), p. 245. 120Since the} 18405 Indians had been employed as commercial fishermen and harvesters by white merchants who paid good wages for their skills; e.g., one pint of raspberries was purchased in 1894 for twenty-four cents. Selling blankets, moccasins, and trinkets to white tourists became a substantial revenue source by 1900. Thus, Indians believed that they possessed skills with which they would be able to retain their culture while living in white society. 12“Interview." Girls loved and respected their mothers and resented white teachers calling them slovenly, dirty, and irresponsi- ble. One teacher ruefully reported that "the Indian's love of home and mother is probably as strong as that of the civilized child." Finity, "Our Indian Schools," p. 574. 77 government wished to remake Indians into "red-white men" through education. It cajoled, threatened, and even begged Indians to become disciplined in the ways of white society, yet Indian chil- dren attending the schools never seemed to progress beyond a level of semi-civilization. Consequently, agents concluded that their wards were untrainable and lazy, and that "nothing with work con- nected to it would be countenanced or supported" by them.]22 Indians, on the other hand, viewed the system as a failure because it considered neither their desires in education nor goals for life in white society. They sought education to supplement, not supplant, their culture. Unlike their white educators, Indians did not believe that health, appearance, religion, and culture were essential aspects of academic training. Even day schools, which were consistently supported by Indians because the curriculum stressed fundamental academic skills, fell into disfavor whenever they attempted to advance into moral or cul- tural areas. The Indians of Michigan did not wish to be remodeled in the image of the white man; they wanted merely to broaden their opportunities for success, as Indians, in a white culture. All attempts, therefore, to destroy Indian language and social cus- toms met with firm resistance. Indians were willing to alter 123 their material, not social, culture. Since neither the 122James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 3, 1871, N.A. Roll 409. 123George I. Quimby, Indian Life in the Upper Great Lakes (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960), p. 151. 78 government nor the Indians would submit to, or compromise with, the other's position, Indian education in Michigan was stalemated into a cultural struggle in which there could be no victor. CHAPTER III ASSIMILATION THROUGH SALVATION I The religion of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan was extremely sophisticated. Because Indians had always lived in nature, they thought of themselves as merely one of many elements constituting the environment; the white concept of man being a special creation apart from nature was foreign to every Indian belief of man's role in the universe. They believed that a Great Spirit, Kitchi Manito, created the heavens and earth, and then empowered lesser spirits to control the winds and waters. The sun was the father of mankind, the earth its mother. Thunder, lightning, the four winds, and certain wildlife were endowed with godlike powers. In the Indians' animistic belief structure any object, especially crooked trees and odd-shaped rocks, could possess religious sig- nificance.1 To Indians religion was primarily an individual matter. At puberty each child journeyed to an isolated sacred place where a vision was sought through fasting. In most instances, a spirit would appear and grant the supplicant a personal spirit-song and 1Gertrude Prokosch Kurath, Michigan Indian Festivals (Ann Arbor: Ann Arbor Publishers, 1966), p. 7; Ritzenthaler, Woodland Indians, p. 87; Kinietz, The Indians of the Western Great Lakes, pp. 284-297. 79 80 instructions for assembling a strong protective medicine bag. This spirit became the Indian's life-long guardian, and it was a source of great comfort for an individual to know that a spirit was taking personal interest in his life.2 Not all spirits were beneficial to Indians. Mischievous spirits, or "tricksters,' were ever-present. These demi-gods were believed responsible for the annoyances of daily life; all frightening sounds and accidents were caused by these playful, yet malevolent, sprites. Snakes and owls were thought to be earthly forms assumed by evil gods. Man—eating monsters were believed to dwell in certain sectors of the Great Lakes, and no journey was ever begun without first making offerings to appease them.3 The most common offering was tobacco. Manitos, or gods, were said to be fond of this dried leaf and it became the link between mortals and spiritual powers. Before each harvest it was placed on the ground as a gesture of thanks, accompanied with a request for Mother Earth to "have a smoke." Similarly, tobacco was put on streams to assure plentiful harvests of wild rice and bounti- ful catches of fish, on graves to placate the dead, and at all holy sites. Indians of the Great Lakes considered tobacco so sacred that they insisted on smoking it with whites at treaty councils to signify that the accord was sanctioned ”in the eyes of the 2Ibid., pp. 284, 326-327; Kurath, Michigan Indian Festivals, p. 12; Ritzenthaler, Woodland Indians, p. 88. 31bid.; Kinietz, The Indians of the Western Great Lakes, pp. 297-303; Kurath, Michigan Indian Festivals, p. 8. 81 4 Most missionaries, however, refused to honor these Great Spirit.“ "savage superstitions" and collected the tobacco offerings for dis- tribution among their half-blood interpreters.5 Indian religion was a refined system of cultural beliefs, based more on feelings than a formalized creed, which was perpetu- ated by oral tradition and adapted to fulfill the spiritual needs of its followers. It was no more primitive than the ancient Greek and Roman religion which also used polytheism, legendary cultural heroes, and symbolic rituals to explain the "inexplainable." Indians personified the elements because they were in awe of them and wished to demonstrate to the gods their desire to live in har- mony, not competition, with nature. Only the early Jesuits, however, made any attempt to understand the Indians' relationship with their environment. 11 Earliest missionary activity in the Great Lakes region was carried on by French Catholics. From 1641 until the mid-eighteenth century Jesuit "Blackrobes" held undisputed political and religious influence over the Indians. Following the French defeat in the Seven Years' War the Church's political power was destroyed, but its religious influence remained unchallenged for another sixty years.6 4Ibid., p. 9; Ritzenthaler, Woodland Indians, p. 98. 5William Gustave Polack, Bringing Christ to the Ojibways in Michigan (New York: Ernst Kaufmann, 1927), p. 14. 6Leach, ”History of the Grand Traverse Region," pp. 26, 34. 82 Most Indians remained loyal to the Church primarily because no other denominations offered them more than the Catholics were promising.7 As late as 1830 Indian bands were reaffirming their Catholicism by refusing to accept "American ministers" sent to fulfill treaty obligations, requesting instead a "Blackgown" to save them from 8 "wicked manitos." One chief was so adamant in his refusal that he wrote the Secretary of War asking if it was possible to exchange the Protestant preacher for another blacksmith.9 Indian loyalty to the Catholic Church resulted also from Jesuit sensitivity to the Indian belief structure. Early Catholic missionaries sought to blend Christianity into the native religion rather than to destroy it. Catholic concepts were substituted for native "superstitions"; Jesus was depicted as a Christian "sun," and the Virgin Mary as "earth.”10 The symbolism of the cross was explained in terms which complemented Indian belief in the sacred- ness of fourfold patterns; accordingly, a wooden cross was deemed by Indians a suitable replacement in their cemeteries for the tra- ditional inverted totem grave-marker.11 7Protestant missionaries entered the Michigan region in 1822 but did not seriously compete with Catholics until white settlement increased during the 18305. 83inch Pokagon to Gabriel Richard, July 1, 1830 in John Gilmary Shea, Catholic Missions Among the Indian Tribes of the United States (New York: Edward Dunigan and Bro., 1855), p. 394. 9Truman B. Fox, History of Saginaw County From the Year 1819 Down to the Present Time—(East Saginaw: Enterprise Print, 1858), p. 6. 1OKurath, Michigan Indian Festivals, pp. 4, 39. HIbid. 83 Jesuits sought to transform existing ceremonies into Chris- tian ones by emphasizing similarities between Indian and Catholic rituals. The annual Indian "feast of the dead" began November first, All Saints' Day, and continued for six days. Graves were decorated with paper-maché or cloth wreaths for ghosts to wear, and all grave- markers were repainted white.12 Each July a "huckleberry feast" was held during which all cemeteries were mowed and weeded; later, families would come to sit by the graves of their kin, eat berries, and, upon 13 In each departing, leave a portion of the fruit for the spirits. of these festivals respect for ghosts or spirits was incorporated by priests into their explanation of the concept of the Holy Trinity. The most colorful pagent was Corpus Christi, which coincided with the Indians painted pole feast." Tall poles, connected by ropes decorated with bright calico, plaid, and scarlet cloths, were erected along the main street of an Indian village. During the festival parishioners, wearing their finest clothes, would leave their church, parade along the street greeting everyone, and then 14 In all ceremonies Jesuits return for more prayers and hymns. never ridiculed Indian rituals; in return, Indians refrained from expressing their doubts concerning Catholic belief in immaculate conception and transubstantiation. 12Ibid., p. 43; Mary Belle Shurtleff, Old Arbre Croche: A Factual and Comprehensive History of Cross Village, Michigan (n.p., 1963), p. 25. 13 Kurath, Michigan Indian Festivals, p. 43. 14Ibid., pp. 42-43; P. Chrysostomus Verwyst, Life and Labors of Right Reverend Frederic Baraga (Milwaukee: M. H. Wiltzius & Co., 1900). pp. 8-9. 84 In the early years of their missionary work Jesuits lived among Indians to acquire an understanding of their culture and language. This knowledge was used as a basis for writing hymnals and bibles in Indian dialects. Bishop Baraga's classic translation of the Bible included religious stories written in terms meaningful to Indians; for example, Baraga's translation of the Christmas story began: ”When Jesus was born to come and heal us, there came into sight a very lovely star; three great kings saw it then; they were far away where the sun rises."15 Catholic Indian missions began as crude structures, but by 1840 nearly every log mission had been replaced by spacious frame buildings, complete with steeples and bells. These impressive white churches were in striking contrast to the stark cabins used by Protestant missionaries, and were intended to demonstrate to Indians the wealth of the Blackrobes' God. Reverend Seraphim Zorn's church at Middle Village was typical of these "cathedrals in the wilder- ness.” Inside the church were an altar, two candelabra, a large brass cross, and several bouquets of paper flowers. Behind the altar were portraits depicting a beardless Christ in full face; these demonstrated Jesuit sensitivity to Indian beliefs, as Indians disliked beards and thought a profile represented only half a man. On the walls were two series of pictures, one of angels rescuing repentant sinners from purgatory, the other of sinners either being 15Kurath, Michigan Indian Festivals, p. 45. 85 '6 Hell devoured by serpents or pitch-forked by "grinning devils.“ was never portrayed as an inferno, only as an abode of serpents and devils, because Indians would not accept the existence of eternal fire as being possible since they knew that there were not enough forests to fuel it.17 At Cross Village Reverend John B. Weikamp presided over the state's largest Catholic Indian mission, consisting of a church, convent, school, dormitory, and spacious courtyards. In the court was an area reserved for Weikamp's burial tomb. Surrounding it were four poles, each capped with a human skull; in the center was a trapdoor leading to a crypt containing the priest's sarcophagus.18 Weikamp found the crypt restful and often slept in his coffin; in , the morning his students and parishioners were terrified by his 19 Whether re-enactment of Christ's resurrection from the dead. frightening or amusing, all acts of symbolism or spitualism made a deep impact upon Indians. Catholic attempts to expand missionary activities in the mid-nineteenth century failed. Anti-Catholic sentiment was strong among white settlers who feared that the spread of ”popism" might incite an Indian uprising against "good Protestant Christians."20 16U. P. Hedrick, Land of the Crooked Tree (New York: Oxford University Press, 1948), p. 302. 17 Totem Pole, XXIX (September, 1952), p. 5. ‘ 18w. P. Strickland, Old Mackinaw (Philadelphia: James Challen and Son, 1860), p. 142. 19 Shurtleff, Old Arbre Croche, p. 17. 20Shea, Catholic Missions, p. 389. 86 Often priests' lives were threatened and many, including Bishop Baraga, were forced to abandon new missions and withdraw to the safety of established Catholic communities.21 By 1853 Catholic missionaries were stationed only at Cross Village, Middle Village, L'Anse, Sault Ste. Marie, Pokagon, and Cheboygan.22 A second factor in limiting Indian work was the drastic reduction in European financing of missions. Baraga's death in 1868 marked the end of assistance from the Vienna Leopoldine Society, which had been the major contributor to the support of Indian missions, and domestic groups generally were too impoverished to replace this 1055.23 Reduction of funds caused a shortage of missionaries, and without instruction from a priest Indians began to "back-slide” to their "heathen habits.“24 Another obstacle to Catholics was the rapid growth of Methodism. This sect won many Indian converts through the use of native preachers, a practice Baraga objected to because 21Ibid. 22The Metropolitan Catholic Almanac and Laity's Directory, 1853 (n.p., 1853), p. 384. 23On July 26, 1867 Baraga, suffering the effects of a para- lyzing stroke, wrote the Leopoldine Society that ”I have as yet received nothing from Vienna. I beg of you once more very urgently not to abandon me this year." Verwyst, Life and Labors of the Right Reverend Frederic Baraga, p. 363. 24Charles Lanman, The Red Book of Michigan (Detroit: E. B. Smith and Co., 1871), p. 130. Lanman reported that Catholic Indians "glided into their former habits” as soon as the priest left their village. 87 Indians, although ever so pious and well-meaning, are naturally too fickle~minded, too destitute of spiritu- ality, and too much attached to their kindred to be ever fit for so sublime a calling as the sacerdotal or reli- gious state.25 The Bishop warned that "one should never try to form a priest of an "26 The final blow‘ Indian man, or a Sister from an Indian woman. to Catholic expansion came in 1869 when the government granted con- trol of the Mackinac Agency to the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Following this, many Indians became Methodist merely to be in favor with their Indian agents. Despite these setbacks the Catholic Church retained a loyal following of approximately one thousand Indians throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century. Sincere Catholic converts seldom rejected Church theology, but many did object to Catholic attempts to assimilate them into white society. Michigan's Indians wished to retain the Option of selecting what they liked in Catholicism and of disregarding the remainder. Jesuits failed to impress their con- verts only when they became immersed in reform movements to assimilate the Indians; by joining these groups priests indicated their rejection of the main tenet of earlier Catholic Indian policy-- a respect for Indian culture. 25Verwyst, Life and Labors of the Right Reverend Frederic Baraga, p. 308. 26Ibid. 88 III Protestant mission work among Michigan's Indians did not begin until the early nineteenth century.27 Itinerant preachers sent to serve new frontier settlements soon became interested in the possibility of "reaping the harvest" of "several million” Indians, whom they believed wished to receive the "Word of Peace."28 Protes- tants,nmreover,were concerned that their inaCtivity might force even more heathens toward Catholicism and warned that Christians should not sit still and be unconcerned about the poor Indians while the Catholics are doing so much; dear heathen souls should be led to the Lamb as well as the Hindus and others.29 Intrigued by the opportunity for mass conversions, and confident that the Lord's will was being served by offering the "true faith" to people living "without God or h0pe," Protestant mission boards authorized appropriations for Indian work.30 By 1845 Lutheran, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist preachers were vying with Catholics to "save as many Indians as pos- 3] Competition was made sible from the pains of the Second Death." more intense by each denomination's conviction that it alone was doing God's work. Lutherans reported that Catholic priests were 27Baptists began Indian work ih 1822, Methodists in 1833, Presbyterians in 1834, and Lutherans in 1845. 28Friedrich Schmid to the Elders of the Basel (Switzerland) Lutheran Seminary, November 25, 1833 in Emerson E. Hutzel (ed.), The Schmid Letters (private printing, 1953), p. 19. 29Ibid. 30Ipid. 31E1ijah H. Pilcher, Protestantism in Michigan: Being A Special History of the Methodist Episcopal Church (Detroit: R. D. S. Tyler and Co., 1878)i p. 179. 89 giving Indians "human concoctions" and "earthly things," not the Word of God, and that Methodists, with their "noisy and excited method of conversion," were a "dangerous sect.”32 Methodists claimed that Catholics were enslaving Indians, and that Lutherans were "snake-worshippers" because their crucifix had a "writhed serpent" 33 at its base. Catholics countered by spreading rumors that Lutherans would sell Indian children as slaves to Europeans and that Methodist 34 camp-meetings were more heathen than any Indian ceremony. Baptists told Indians that they alone possessed the ”religion of the Savior" and that He had instructed them to ”convert the world."35 Quarreling among the sects over which truly represented the "white god" confused Indians and many determined not to accept any form of Protestantism. Lutherans failed to convert more than one 36 They blamed hundred Indians and abandoned their work in 1868. their failure on Indian indifference, whiskey, rumors spread by other denominations, and Indian refusal to abandon belief in "native 32Friedrich Schmid to Basel Lutheran Seminary, June 27, 1834 in Hutzel, The Schmid Letters, p. 28; Homer Reginald Greenholt, "A Study of Wilhelm Loehe, His Colonies, and the Lutheran Indian Missions in the Saginaw Valley of Michigan” (unpublished PH.D. dissertation, University of Chicago, 1937), p. 207. 33Ibid., pp. 176-177. Lutherans claimed that the crucifix symbolized ”the triumph of Christ over Satan and sin." 34 Ibid., pp. 206-207. 35William Gammell, A History of American Baptist Missions in Asia, Africa, and North America Under the Care of the American Baptist Missionary Union (Boston: Gould, Kendall, and Lincoln, 1850), p. 348. 36The Frankenmut mission closed in 1858, Bethany in 1860, and Mount Pleasant in 1868. 90 ”37 cultural superiority. Indians agreed with these explanations for the Lutherans' lack of success, and added two more. First was Lutheran insistence on teaching them the German language. Few Indians shared the enthusiasm of Reverend Wilhelm Craemer who reported: whoever saw them hasten with their reading and slate tablets to our German school and heard how they, with clear throats, co-operated in singing the German morning songs; how they learned to spell, write, and count in German; . . . whoever Spent a Sunday and saw how the majority voluntarily attended our German divine services and prayed "Our Father" and the Creed with us; whoever viewed all these with sympathy would have to rejoice and thank God that He made us worthy to be agents of His mercy to these poor children.38 Second, Indians objected to Lutheran derision of their native culture. They remembered Reverend Edward R. Baierlain chiding: "Your gods are only creatures of your imagination. They do not really exist and therefore are unable to help you, nor do they provide you with the 39 things which you need for your life." Similarly, they were angered by Baierlain's threats when chiefs refused to convert to Lutheranism: Be not deceived, God is not mocked! You will die, as your fathers did before you, and I also as mine did. And then we shall both appear before the judgment seat of God; and then I shall declare that I brought you the Word of God and proclaimed the way of salvation to you, and that you rejected it! 37Greenholt, "A Study of Wilhelm Loehe," p. 204. 38Wilhelm Craemer to Lutheraner, 1848 in Ibid., p. 174. Craemer believed that Indians would be receptive to German because of their hatred toward everything associated with Englishmen and Americans, including their language. 39 Polack, Bringing Christ to the Ojibways in Michigan, p. 11. 40Ibid., p. 41. 91 Indians likewise rejected Baptism and Presbyterianism as strict, humorless, and foreign to their native beliefs, and by 1872 both these denominations had ended Indian mission work in Michigan.41 Often Indians responded to missionary appeals in terms of their own religious integrity. They explained their belief that the Great Spirit had established separate cultures for the races, and that had He wished Indians to share in the teachings of the Bible He would have given it to them in their native language.42 Many expressed a fear that conversion might deprive them of an after- life; they feared that the "white Heaven" would exclude them because they were Indians, and that the "Happy Hunting Ground" would be closed because they were Christian "praying Indians."43 An Ottawa chief explained to visiting missionaries that his band's refusal to convert to Christianity was based on intellectual honesty: I do not believe you at all. I have no faith in you; I do not believe the Great Good Spirit sent you, for if He wanted us Indians to take your white religion, why did He not send your fathers before you to persuade us, when we were a strong and great people filling all this land with our villages . . .? The smoke from our wigwams is almost gone out and we are now weak, and you want us to change our religion. No; we shall live and die as our fathers did. We have no ill-feelings toward you, but we do not believe you, and shall not take your religion. 41Baptists operated only three missions in Michigan; the last, at Sault Ste. Marie, closed in 1859. The closing of the Bear River (Petoskey) mission in 1871 ended Presbyterian Indian work. 42Hickey, "A Missionary Among the Indians,“ part 2, p. 547; Berkhofer, Salvation and the Savage, p. 108. 43Luckhard, Faith in the Forest, pp. 68-69. 44Hickey,"A Missionary Among the Indians," part 2, pp. 546—547. 92 Among Protestant missionaries only Methodists avoided numerous rebukes and succeeded in nominally converting sizable numbers of Indians to Christianity. IV Methodists began Indian work in Michigan in 1833 and within twenty-five years became the most powerful and influential denomina- tion in the state. Like all missionaries, Methodists professed to "convert and educate, not destroy" Indians.45 While they did not intend to annihilate them physically, Methodist missionaries did seek to obliterate Indian culture to facilitate assimilation into white society. John H. Pitezel, a pioneer Methodist missionary, explained that it was the church's duty to provide both spiritual and temporal instruction: "In the school and in the field, as well as in the kitchen, our aim was to teach the Indians to live like white people."46 Reverend John M. Buckley, editor of the Christian (Advocate, echoed this sentiment in 1885: "We shall never be able to have a good conscience in this matter until we educate the Indians 47 Methodists were to taking care of themselves like white men do." confident that they could succeed where others had failed because "the Methodist faith agreed with the Indian mind."48 Missionaries 45Christian Advocate, LXIII (April 26, 1888), p. 280. 46John H. Pitezel, Lights and Shades of Missionary Life (Cincinnati: Western Book Co., 1857), p. 10. 47 Christian Advocate, LX (January 22, 1885), p. 54. 48Christian Advocate, LX (April 2, 1885), p. 231. 93 believed that the Indians' concept of community ownership made them "readily receptive to the story of free grace.”49 Success depended upon Indian acceptance of the gospel, which Methodists thought would "subdue savage instincts, overcome vices, stimulate industry, awaken thought, implant virtuous principles, t."50 and reform society by renewing the bear Before Indians could understand the gospel's message, however, they had to be taught the meaning of sin. An early missionary related: Our plan of preaching to them was to convince them of their guilt, misery, and helplessness by reason and experience; not appealing to the scriptures as the law by which they were condemned, but to their own knowledge of right and wrong, and the misery felt from the consciousness that they have done wrong. The gospel proffering them an immediate change of heart, was seized by them as Heaven's best bless- ing of ruined man. In an effort to gain Indian trust, Methodists trained Indians to serve as preachers and exhorters. These men were instructed to visit Indian villages and tell non—Christians what it was like to "walk in the path of God."52 Peter Jones, a half-blood Chippewa who had been educated in England and claimed to have received Jesus in a vision, spoke for many of his fellow preachers when he extolled the virtues of Methodism: There was a time when I thought that the white man's God was never intended to be our God; that the Great Spirit gave us our way of worship. . . . But I and my people have now found 49Ibid. 50Christian Advocate, LXIV (April 18, 1889), p. 242. 5'Christian Advocate, III (March 13, 1829), p. 110. 52 Kurath, Michigan Indian Festivals, p. 48. 94 that there is but one true religion. . . . Christianity has found us, has lifted us out of a horrible pit, and out of a miry clay; it has placed our feet upon a rock; it has estab- lished our goings, and has gut a new song into our mouths, even praise, unto our God.5 Methodists believed that native missionaries were living proof that Indians were capable not only of becoming earnest Christians, but also of influencing others to follow their example.54 For their efforts Indian preachers received twenty to forty cents per sermon, but as one explained, "Pretty poor pay; pretty poor preach."55 Methodists followed the Catholic practice of translating hymns and bible stores into the Indian language. The doxology was simplified to: Give Him the high honor, To Him who blesses, The Father, the Son, And the Pure Spirit.55 Hymns, such as "Owa Pegish" with its refrain "O, for a hundred of my Indians so they could sing of my manito, replaced native religious 53Ibid., p. 47. 54The best known Indian preachers in Michigan were Peter Jones, Peter Marksman, John Sunday, John Irons, Daniel Wheaton, Isaac Greensky, and John Kabeghe. Mary Sagatoo characterized most Indian preachers as "smart, intelligent men who seem very earnest in their work.” Sagatoo, Thirty-three Years Among the Indians, p. 116. 55Julia T. Dickinson, The Story of Leelanau (Omena: Solle, 1951). p. 11. 56 Kurath, Michigan Indian Festivals, p. 52. 95 music.57 Sermons were translated and missionaries reported that "Indians were always very attentive."58 To Indians, camp-meetings were the most attractive aspect of Methodism. These "love feasts," held in mid-August, brought together hundreds of Indians for a week of prayers, songs, speeches, . and feasts; among Methodist Indians a camp-meeting was the most important social event of the year.59 The format for the bilingual services was similar to that of white meetings, with daily prayer sessions held in the morning, afternoon, and evening.60 The most stirring moments came during evening sessions when persons were ."spontaneously converted"; excited Indians would crowd around a writhing convert and shout "Merciful Jesus," ”Save this poor sinner," 61 and ”Mercy" in both English and Indian. Sermons served both religious and practical functions: 57Ibid., p. 50. 58Pitezel, Lights and Shades of Missionary Life, p. 287. A typical Methodist sermon to Indians included remarks on man's original purity; how sin brought the fall from grace; how God loved man in his fallen state and sent Christ to die for man's salvation; and how embracing Christ would assure happiness on earth and in heaven, while rejection might bring eternal death. 59Holst, A Survey of Indian Groups in Michigan, p. 5; Isabella County Enterprise, August 8, 15, 29, 1877; Christian Advo- cate, XL (June 29, 1865), p. 205; Kurath, Michigan Indian Festivals, p. 48. 60Ibid. No work has been done on Indian camp-meetings, but their structure is discussed briefly in Charles A. Johnson, ihg Frontier Camp—Meetigg_(Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, 1955). 61Kurath, Michigan Indian Festivals, p. 49. 96 You've got to love your brother, that's the main thing. Why don't you cast that mountain down, that mountain that you have made between your brothers and sisters. When sin is taken out, the light of God is in a person and we're in ' God's temple. . . . Now this food costs a lot of money. One bag of potatoes for a meal. Next meal another bag. That costs a lot of money. You know that every dollar you make, God owns ten cents out of that. We'rg going to take an offering. Ready with your money? Amen. 2 During the morning session of the final day of the meeting participants stood in two concentric circles and marched in opposite directions, enabling them to bid each other farewell in an orderly manner.63 Afterward, all joined hands and sang "The Old Hundred" as a parting hymn.64 Camp-meetings were readily accepted by Indians because they were considered similar to native religious ceremonies which also emphasized ritual, spiritualism, and fellowship. Attendance was large because non—Methodist Indians came to partake in the festivi- ties and to please their Methodist Indian agent. By 1878 camp-meetings were becoming commercialized, with merchants from nearby towns open- 65 ing ”tent-shops for extensive sale of everything." Indians were unhappy with this invasion of their social festivals and forced missionaries to ban merchants from further meetings.66 Although they made "considerable moral and religious progress" with some Indians in Michigan, many Methodists regarded their effort 62Ibid., p. 50. 63Sagatoo, Thirty-three Years Among the Indians, pp. 118-119. 64Ibid.; Kurath, Michigan Indian Festivals, p. 49. .—_—-.—— 65Isaoe11a County Enterprise, August 21, 1878. 66Ibid. 97 as a failure because ”the mass of Indians" had not been "elevated or 67 civilized." After the Civil War a sense of "pervasive despondency" over the prospects of civilizing Indians arose among church members.68 The Missionary Society, which by 1865 had expended over seventy—five thousand dollars for Indian work in Michigan, began to question whether it was receiving returns commensurate with its capital 69 outlay. Interest turned toward new, more exciting areas. Former slaves and heathens in Africa and Asia needed religious instruction; eager missionaries reported that even Alaskan eskimos were “clamoring 7O . . . . . Many m1$s1onar1es were withdrawn from Indian work 71 for the gospel." and reassigned to these "more important” fields. When they were not replaced, many Indians reverted to their native religion.72 67Pilcher, Protestantism in Michigan, p. 179. 68Barclay, The Methodist Episcopal Church, p. 364. 69George Bradley to Ulysses S. Grant, October 31, 1870, N.A. Roll 409. Following the Civil War, Indian work was allotted only one-half of one per cent of total Methodist mission appropri- ations. 7OPriest, Uncle Sam's Stepchildren, p. 162; Margaret Burnham Macmillan, The Methodist Church in Michigan: The Nineteenth Century (Grand Rapids: The Michigan Area Methodist Historical Society, 1967), pp. 280-282; Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Board of Indian Commissioners," House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 2, 50th Cong., 2d Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1888), Serial 2637, p. 846. 7'Barciay, The Methodist Episc0pal Church, pp. 363-364. The Detroit Conference claimed that it enjoyed working among southern Negroes because they "wanted more than teachers and preachers; they wanted a recognition of their manhood." Macmillan, The Methodist Chruch in Michigan, pp. 393—394. Indians wished their manhood to be recognized as well, but Methodists insisted on treating them as ignorant children. 72 Pilcher, Protestantism in Michigan, p. 179. 98 Supporters of Indian work tried in vain to reverse the Society's decision. The chairman Of the Woman's Home Missionary Society wrote that Indian women in the United States needed spiritual 73 care as much ”as do those in far Cathay." Mrs. Charles C. McCabe, wife of the Secretary of the Mission Society, asked: Why is it that among the multitudes of men and women who are consecrating themselves to missionary work . there is not a man to inquire concerning the heathen hiour own land-~not a man to say, 'Here I am, send me.’ Reverend Buckley informed the Society in 1885 that he “considered the course of the Methodist Church with regard to the Indians during the 75 last fifteen years to be a disgrace." The Christian Advocate editorialized: We pray for our missionaries in India, China, and Japan; why not also more frequently embrace the missionaries on the frontier among the native races? We have lost a golden Opportunity and have neglected a field already ripe for harvest. . . . We have won not a few trophies for Christ among them. But our record in this part of 9gr work is not a proud one, nor is the outlook encouraging. One Indian missionary begged the Society to I'remember this is a mis- 77 By 1882 sion as much as though it were in the heart of Africa." Indian missionaries were in such low repute that a group Of Michigan Methodists requested the Society to send them "a real missionary 73Christian Advocate, LX (January 15, 1885), p. 50. 74Christian Advocate, LX (April 2, 1885), p. 231. 75Christian Advocate, LX (November 19, 1885), p. 754. 76Christian Advocate, L (February 11, 1875), p. 41; Christian Advocate, XLIX (November 26, 1874), p. 380. 77 Christian Advocate, LV (April 1, 1880), p. 220. 99 from Japan" to speak on the rigors Of bringing Christ to heathens.78 Even appeals that Indians "have no attention except from the Roman Catholics" did not sway the Mission Society, and by 1898 only one Ind1an mTSSTOn 1n Micthan remaTned Open. 9 V Missionary work among the Indians of Michigan was doomed to failure because it demanded that Indians undergo a total social and cultural revolution. Missionaries did not separate the concepts of Christianity and civilization, and thereby committed themselves to destroying the heathens' culture in order to save their souls and 80 prepare them for life in white society. When the mass of Indians refused to comply with the wishes Of the preachers, churchmen angrily said that their task was hopeless because "when a tribe or nation has reached a certain point in degradation, it is impossible to restore 81 it.” Indians, they claimed, could rise only to a level of ”semi- civilization.”82 78Christian Advocate, LVII (August 3, 1882), p. 489. 79Christian Advocate, LXXII (October 21, 1897), p. 694. In 1900 the number rose to seven, but only three were supplied with preachers; some Indians went to neighboring white churches after their missions closed, but most simply reverted to their native religion. Christian Advocate, LXXIV (October 5, 1899), p. 1603. 80Berkhofer, Salvation and the Savage, pp. 106—107. 81Pilcher, Protestantism in Michigan, p. 179. 82 Ibid.; Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report Of the Commissioner Of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 1, 42d Cong., 3d Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1873), Serial 1560, p. 587. 100 The actual number of Indians converted to Christianity is impossible to ascertain, but during the period 1850-1900 missionary societies never reported more than three thousand Indians "attending church" in Michigan.83 This figure is deceptive, however, as it is an approximation reflecting the missionaries' desire to impress their superiors. Most sincere converts to Christianity were either materialistic young men, usually half-bloods, who were disenchanted with the cultural values of their elders, or women who considered the 84 Adult males new religion a means of achieving higher social status. were more loyal to the native religion, claiming that Christianity Offered them only new work patterns, new styles of dress, and short hair.85 Many Indians were nominal converts who measured the gains of becoming Christian in superficial, materialistic terms. Converted Indians immediately sought to wear white—style dress, live in log houses having stoves, and use silverware and china; they would faithfully attend church, sit attentively "as stiff and sober as deacons," and sing loudly--but few ever abandoned their ancient 83Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1885 (Washington: G.P.O., 1885), pp. 362-363. 84Quimby, Indian Life in the Upper Great Lakes, p. 154; Shea, Catholic Missions, p. 390; Berkhofer, Salvation and the Savage, pp. 114-115. 85 Ibid. 101 beliefs entirely.86 Indians who attended white churches usually did so for three reasons: first, to receive food, clothing, and shelter in the winter; second, to join in social festivities; and third, in the case Of Methodists, to win the favor of Indian agents. During the latter half of the nineteenth century sincere converts to Chris- tianity represented no more than twenty-five per cent of the total attending church, or approximately seven per cent of Michigan's Indian population.87 Among all aspects of Indian culture, religion best withstood the onslaught of assimilation. 86Pitezel, Lights and Shades of Missionary Life, pp. 242-246; Leach, "History of the Grand Traverse Region," p. 72; Annual Report Of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1875 (Washington: G.P.O., 1875), p. 295; Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs," House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 2, 47th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1882), Serial 2018, p. 168. 87This is based on three thousand Indians, in a total popu- 1ation Of ten thousand, attending church. The percentage may be even lower, however, if Holst's claim that the state's Indians were Catholic in a two to one ratio is accurate; as there were only one thousand Catholic Indians, the number of Protestants would decrease to five hundred, making the total number of Christian Indians approximately three per cent of the population. All available data indicates that few Indians in Michigan abandoned their native beliefs and embraced Christianity as the "true religion." CHAPTER IV A PLACE TO MAKE SUGAR I Indians surrendered land title to Michigan in five treaties with the United States. By the Treaty Of Detroit (1807) the Ottawa, Chippewa, Potawatomi, and Wyandot tribes ceded all land east of a line from the mouth of the AuGlaize River in Ohio to a point west of the outlet of Lake Huron and then north to White Rock. In 1819 the Chippewa of Saginaw sold their land between the 1807 boundary and a line extending from Thunder Bay to a point near Kalamazoo. Two years later the Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomi tribes ceded the southwest corner Of Michigan as far north as the Grand River. The remainder of the Lower Peninsula and all territory in the Upper Peninsula east of the Chocolate and Escanaba Rivers was obtained by the United States from the Ottawa and Chippewa tribe in the Treaty of Washington (1836). Six years later the Chippewa of Lake Superior ceded all remaining land in the Upper Peninsula.1 In return for their title Indians received tracts of land reserved ”exclusively" for their use; soon, however, these lands were also sought by the government. According to the 1807 agree- ment, the Potawatomi received ten sections, four on the Rouge River 1Statutes-at-Large: Indian Treaties, VII, pp. 105, 247, 325, 491, 503. 102 M Treaty Of 1807 [::::]' Treaty Of 1819 []:1:] Treaty Of 1821 1:] Treaty Of 1836 EEEEEfi Treaty Of 1842 103 Figure 7 Land Cessions 104 and six scattered throughout southwest Lower Michigan; ninety-nine additional sections in Kalamazoo and Saint Joseph Counties were granted in the 1821 treaty.2 In 1833 the government forced the Potawatomi to cede their reservations and relocate in Kansas; lamentation among Indians was great, and one witness recalled that their "moaning" was "heart—rending," as they were leaving their corn fields where they had worked so hard, their burial grounds, their hunting and camping grounds, and their homes; they were going to a strange land where they had been told corn would ogly grow knee- h1gh and pumkans no larger than potatoes. Over one hundred thousand acres of choice timber and farm land were granted the Chippewa of Saginaw in the 1819 treaty, but these were ceded to the government in 1837 in return for 142,000 acres of less valuable land which was to be shared "in common" with the Ottawa.4 Indians hOped that American negotiators would deal with them in good faith since they were ignorant of white law and unable to read, write, or speak English. To their dismay they discovered that their trust had been misplaced and that land given them as permanent homes could be taken away either by new treaties or legal technicali- ties in existing agreements; one agent claimed that it was inevitable that Indians would misinterpret treaty provisions, as the phraseology 21bid., pp. 106, 326. 3Edward A. Foote, "Historical Sketch of the Early Days of Eaton County," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, III (Lansing: W. S. George and Co., 1881), pp. 381-382. 4 Statutes—at-Large: Indian Treaties, VII, p. 548. 105 in them ”would puzzle even the famed Philadelphia lawyer."5 Realizing that they might lose their remaining land and be forced from the state, Indians sought to establish their land claims by law, rather than relying solely on governmental promises; in 1853 they appealed to Commissioner of Indian Affairs George W. Manypenny to negotiate new treaties which would allow them to receive patents for their property. II Michigan's Indians received the right to own private property in fee simple, with eventual power of alienation, beginning with the Treaty of LaPOinte (1854). This agreement set aside "all unsold lands," amounting to 58,249 acres, in four Upper Peninsula townships, for entry as eighty acre selections by I'each head of a family or single person over twenty-one years Of age" belonging to the L'Anse and Vieux Desert bands of Chippewa of Lake Superior.6 Treaties were negotiated the following year at Detroit with the Ottawa and Chippewa and Chippewa Of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River tribes by which the Indians ceded their reservations in return for the right to select free land in areas designated by the government. The Ottawa and Chippewa tribe received 776,320 acres near their existing homes along Lakes Michigan and Superior. Heads of families and families with two or more orphan children were entitled to eighty acres; single persons over, and single orphans 5George W. Lee to John O. Smith, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, May 8, 1877, N.A. Roll 412. 6Statutes—at—Large, XI, p. 220. 106 under, twenty-one years of age could select forty acres. A list of eligible recipients was to be compiled by the Indian agent and sub- mitted to the Department no later than July l, 1856; after the deadline "no applications for benefits” would be accepted. Selec- tions were to be completed within five years, after which time all unallotted land would be restored to market. Indians making selections were promised "certificates and patents for the same in the usual form as in ordinary cases," with power of alienation granted after ten years.7 Six townships in Isabella County, totaling 138,240 acres, chosen by the Indians, were set aside for "exclusive" entry by the Chippewa of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River; terms for selection and sale were identical to those granted the Ottawa and Chippewa.8 In early 1864 sixteen chiefs and headmen of the Chippewa of Saginaw petitioned President Abraham Lincoln for a new treaty, saying that we made a mistake or overlooked one thing in our previous treaty and did not make any provision for our young men and women to have any land when they should be of age. Now we are so situated here on our reservation in Isabella County that if the land is brought into market and white men come and settle among us, we fear it will disturb us very much and break up our settlement. Now we desire to take our last payment of $18,800.00 in land now in the reservation, and so guardgourselves and our children from being scat- tered again. Agent Leach supported their request, and on October 18, 1864 negoti- ations for a new treaty were concluded. Under this agreement landless 7 8 Ibid., pp. 621-623. Ibid., pp. 633-634. 9Petition of the Chippewas Of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River to Abraham Lincoln, February 15, 1864, N.A. Roll 407. 107 married women were permitted to enter forty acre selections, and a revised list of eligible recipients, including Indians who had come of age since 1855, was compiled. Persons receiving land were classi- fied by the agent as either "competent” or "not so competent"; the former designated educated Indians who were deemed capable of managing their business affairs, while the latter included orphans and Indians retaining "idle, wandering, and dissolute habits.” Both classes received patents in fee simple but "competents" obtained immediate power of alienation, whereas all others were prohibited from selling land without prior approval of the Secretary of the Interior.10 Acceptance of these treaties was viewed by government Officials as a sign that Indians were ready to replace communal ownership with private prOperty. Exuberant members Of the Indian Bureau predicted that pride of ownership would inspire Indians to work their land, and that a spirit of agricultural competition between red-skinned farmers would result in steady advancement in "the arts Of agricul- ture and civilization”; one Official noted that "it is doubtless important for an Indian, as well as a white man, to have a permanent 1] Commissioner of Indian Affairs home, and to feel it is his own." Dennis N. Cooley expressed his conviction that “good effects" would result from concentrating Indians on large reservations and giving 10Statutes-at-Large, XIV, pp. 3-4. HReport of the Secretary of the Interior, I'Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 2, 39th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1865), Serial 1248, p. 637; Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner Of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 2, 39th Cong., 2d Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1866), Serial 1284, p. 60. 108 them land in severalty; he favored copying Michigan's system throughout the country to protect Indians from the “annoyances" of white settlers.12 Because they wanted to protect their land Michigan's Indians were touted as "models Of assimilation." Had Indians been given time to adjust to white expectations, protection from interlopers, and proper supervision and guidance by sensitive agents, the allotment system might have succeeded. Indians, however, received no help from the government and the experiment in individual ownership proved to be a cruel hoax, with Indian land rapidly seized by ruthless settlers, lumbermen, and land—sharks. None of Michigan's Indians were qualified to protect their new hold- ings, but the "march of civilization" forced them to compete with "13 In 1885 former Commissioner whites as "equals under the law. Manypenny stated that "had Iknown then, as I know now, what would result from these treaties, I would be compelled to admit that I "14 Thirty years earlier, however. had committed a high crime. Manypenny urged immediate institution of his assimilation program based on severalty. Before allotments could be issued Indians had to move to the reservations. These migrations were not easily accomplished as there were at least sixty non-permanent Indian settlements throughout the state; notification Of all bands to move was not completed until Ibid. 13Edwin J. Brooks to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 12, 1878, N.A. Roll 413. 14Council Fire, VIII, p. 156. 109 mid-1856.15 Additional problems arose when two bands refused to go to the assigned lands. Fourteen Garden Island Indians wrote the Secretary of the Interior that they owned land on the island and saw no benefit in selecting more on the mainland; they suggested that they be permitted to make their selections near their homes, but this request was denied.16 The Grand River band Of Ottawa and Chippewa would not move to the Oceana Reservation because it was "covered with pine and poor sandy soil”; they requested permission to live with their "cousins" the Chippewa of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River near Isabella, but were refused and finally forced to settle at 17 Oceana. On the other hand, the Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomi and Potawatomi of Huron tribes were not included in the treaties but desired to live on the reservations; they began to enter illegally 18 and were forcibly removed. In the fall of 1857 removals finally began with eight hundred Ottawa and Chippewa taken by steamer from 15Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1853 (Washington: Robert Armstrong, 1853), pp. 38—39; Henry C. Gilbert to George W. Manypenny, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, October 12, 1856, N.A. Roll 405. 16Fourteen Garden Island Indians to Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior, January 30, 1860, N.A. Roll 406. 17Henry C. Gilbert to George W. Manypenny, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 12, 1856, N.A. Roll 405; Andrew M. Fitch to James W. Denver, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, August 14, 1857, N.A. Roll 406. 18Andrew M. Fitch to Charles E. Mix, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, April 8, 1858, N.A. Roll 406; Andrew M. Fitch to Alfred B. Greenwood, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 30, 1859, N.A. Roll 406. 110 Grand Haven to Pentwater; removals were not completed until June, 1860, nearly five years after the treaties were negotiated.19 Issuance of patents was an extremely slow procedure. Each agent was instructed by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to revise his predecessor's land list and submit a new one; one agent informed Department Officials that Indians dreaded a change of agents because 20 it represented another delay in receiving their deeds. Indians became impatient and their anxiety was heightened by ”evil disposed whites" intimating that their patents would never be delivered.21 In 1863 Agent Leach reported that: some Indians who have made considerable improvements have abandoned their selections and gone to other parts of the county, avowing their intentions to purchase lands gather than rely longer on the promises of the government. George Bradley, a Methodist missionary at Isabella, predicted that Michigan's Indians might follow the example of their "Minnesota cousins" and start warfare unless patents were distributed immedi- 23 ately. A Chippewa headman pleaded with Commissioner Lewis V. Bogy to help his tribe and "prove that there is one man honest in the l9Hartwick and Tuller, Oceana County Pioneers and Businessmen of Today, p. 59; Andrew M. Fitch to Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior, July 3, 1860, N.A. Roll 406. 20James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, July 5, 1871, N.A. Roll 409. 21Dewitt C. Leach to William P. Dole, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, June 26, 1861, N.A. Roll 406. 22Dewitt C. Leach to William P. Dole, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, July 24, 1863, N.A. Roll 407. 23George Bradley to H. J. Alvord, Special Agent, December 13, 1864, N.A. Roll 407. 111 great city of Washington."24 Despite such appeals orders for issuing patents "according to the 1855 treaties” did not come until March, 1870. Delivery was postponed again because Traverse City Land Office Officials refused to allow Agent Long access to their plat books; nearly six months passed before orders arrived from the General Land Office freeing the books and allowing distribution of 399 patents to the Grand River Ottawa and Chippewa.25 Other tribes began receiving patents within five years. The Chippewa of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River obtained 678 deeds, of which all but fifteen were assigned to "competent" Indians, in September, 1872.26 During July, 1875 the Chippewa of Lake Superior received their initial certificates of ownership.27 Periodic deliveries continued for twenty—five years; the final 176 deeds due the Chippewa of Lake Superior were not delivered until 1895, forty- One years after the treaty was negotiated.28 24Mark D. Bourassa to Lewis V. Bogy, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 2, 1867, N.A. Roll 408. 25James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, March 24, 1870, N.A. Roll 409; James S. Wilson, Commissioner of the General Land Office, to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 22, 1870, N.A. Roll 409. 26Willis Drummond, Commissioner of the General Land Office, to Francis A. Walker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, August 27, 1872, N.A. Roll 410; George I. Betts to Francis A. Walker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, September 14, 1872, N.A. Roll 410. 27George I. Betts to H. R. Clum, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, August 17, 1875, N.A. Roll 411. 28Annual Report Of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1895 (Washington: G.P.O., 1896), p. 19. 112 Token deliveries appeased neither Indians nor whites. Indians were hostile over long issuance delays and unexplained General Land Office cancellations of selections made with the approval of the agent.29 White settlers and speculators angrily claimed that according to treaty provisions Indian reservations should have been Opened for public entry in 1861, and they demanded immediate restora- 30 tion Of unallotted land to market. By 1871 congressmen, senators, and Indian Bureau officials were beset with complaints. III In an attempt to placate both whites and Indians, Senator Thomas W. Ferry introduced a bill ”for the restoration of certain lands in Michigan to market.“31 This bill, enacted June 10, 1872, 32 For six months follow- was "remedial in character and intention." ing enactment of the bill all undisposed reservation land set aside by the treaty of July 31, 1855 would be Opened exclusively for homestead selections by Ottawa and Chippewa who were either entitled 29Congressman Wilder 0. Foster reported that over one thousand legitimate Indian selections were refused patents by the General Land Office. Commissioner Drummond claimed that all those rejected were fraudulent, but declined to furnish specific examples to support his contention. N.A. Roll 410. 30William Martin to John P. Usher, Secretary of the Interior, April 9, 1864, N.A. Roll 407; Petition of forty-eight citizens of Ionia County to Congressman Thomas W. Ferry, December 16, 1865, N.A. Roll 407; Thomas W. Ferry, Zachariah Chandler, Jacob Howard, John Driggs, et al. to Orville H. Browning, Secretary of the Interior, June 5, 1868, N.A. Roll 408; Jacob M. Howard to Orville H. Browning, Secretary Of the Interior, June 15, 1868, N.A. Roll 408. 31 p. 2798. 32Edwin J. Brooks to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 4, 1878, N.A. Roll 413. Congressional Globe, 42d Cong., 2d Sess., April 26, 1872, 113 to make entry under the treaty but had not done so, or who had come of 33 age since 1855. Selections were for either one hundred sixty acres valued at $1.25 per acre or eighty acres valued at $2.50 per acre, and would be subject to all provisions of the 1862 Homestead Act.34 After six months undisposed land would be restored to market.35 Most Indians were displeased with this act. Agent Betts reported that he was unable to convince many Indians that homesteads would be "an advantage to them" since they were "not as eager for the larger number of acres so much as to have the ggggg for their earlier ' "36 ,Betts noted that no provisions were made in the act selections. for women, especially widows, to make entries and he feared that "they would be utterly deprived of their homes and land unless their government pledges“ were redeemed and ''the stipulations Of the treaty fulfilled."37 He warned that Indians would not be "put Off" by this act and expressed his belief that Indians were correct in contending that homesteading was not "an equivalent" to the treaty promise of land patents "with no strings attached."38 33"An Act of Congress to Restore Certain Lands in Michigan to Market,” N.A. Roll 411. 34 35 Ibid. Ibid. 36George I. Betts to Francis A. Walker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, August 1, 1872, N.A. Roll 410. 37Ibid. 38Ibid. Under homestead law, settlers had to live on, and 'hnprove, their lands for five years before patents would be issued; if these terms were not met, all lands were reclaimed by the General Land Office and Opened for re-entry. 114 Edwin J. Brooks, a clerk in the General Land Office and special agent in charge of investigating land frauds in Michigan, echoed Betts' sentiments, adding that if Indians were held to ”strict compliance" with the terms of the Homestead Act they would n39 be "subjected to a great injustice. He explained that Indians had no conception of the word "homestead" and that the act's require- ments were "directly antagonistic to every habit of their lives."40 Brooks warned that "to require them to conform in the same degree with the whites would be to require practically an impossibility" since "they do not live like whites or cultivate or improve as whites do"; he reminded government Officials that Indian habits and customs "have not, like their political status, been changed by the mere wording of a treaty."41 All protests were ignored, however, as ”civilization and progress" demanded restoration of unallotted land to market; as the Board of Indian Commissioners stated: We may moralize over the natural rights of the Indian as much as we please, but after all they have their limits. . . It is evident that . . . the public domain . . . cannot be kept simply as a park. This Anglo-Saxon race will not allow the car Of civilization to stop long at any line. If the Indian plants himself on the track, he must inevitably be crushed by it. 39Edwin J. Brooks to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 4, 1878, N.A. Roll 413. 41 40Ibid. Ibid. 42Annual Report of the Board of Indian Commissioners, 1879 (Washington: G.P.O., 1880)} p. 12. 115 Within five years of the bill's enactment the dire predictions of Betts and Brooks came true; in 1876 Agent Lee informed Washington officials that every man of the Chippewas of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River and the Ottawas and Chippewas in the vicinity of Traverse Bay have been, and are being, swindled by white men who have got their land. 3 Daily complaints Of fraud reached the agent; so extensive was this "villainy,' as Lee referred tO it, that during February, 1877, sixty-four cases of land theft were investigated by the agency.44 Speculators and land-sharks who stole Indian land were, for the most part, unscrupulous persons willing to use every available means to achieve their goal. Cheap sewing machines and parlor organs, which missionaries and teachers had taught Indians to accept as symbols of civilization, were sold with land mortgages taken as collateral; when Indians failed to meet payment deadlines the goods were repossessed and the land seized as payment.45 Some speculators would induce Indians to borrow fifty or one hundred dollars to improve their property; a prosperous white neighbor would be cited as an example Of what Indians could achieve by agreeing to the loan. Mortgages served as collateral and repayment dates were set for winter months when Indians were least likely to be able to meet payment; if payment was made, Indians still lost their land, as 43George w. Lee to John 0. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 16, 1876, N.A. Roll 412. 44George W. Lee to John O. Smith, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, February, 1877, N.A. Roll 412. 45Edwin J. Brooks to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 12, 1878, N.A. Roll 413. 116 whites showed them a clause in the contract stating that they were obligated to pay a large attorney's fee for handling the arrange- 46 ments. Another method for acquiring land was to loan drunken Indians money and demand repayment, with interest, the following day. Creditors threatened imprisonment for Indians refusing to sell their property to cover the debt; Lee stated that "Often an eighty acre lot worth five hundred dollars was Obtained by these fraudulent n47 acts for fifty dollars. In 1878 the prosecuting attorney of Mason County reported that local loan-sharks were "merciless with Indians who fell into their power"; one man acquired nearly an entire town- ship in Mason County through foreclosure of twenty dollar loans to 48 Indians. Land dealers made transactions with orphans' guardians to obtain the children's land for "trifling considerations,I usually a small sum of money and some flour and sugar.49 Widows with dependent children were special targets for swindlers; a favorite ploy was to purchase timber from widows and have them sign what was 50 In claimed to be a receipt, but was actually a warranty deed. winter, whites claiming to be agents of charitable institutions went among starving Indians giving them five dollars "to buy food"; upon 46Ibid. 47George W. Lee to John 0. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 16, 1876, N.A. Roll 412. 48 Roll 413. 49George W. Lee to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, March 16, 1880, N.A. Roll 415. 50Edwin J. Brooks to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, January 12, 1878, N.A. Roll 413. R. P. Bishop to George W. Lee, December 18, 1878, N.A. 117 receiving the gift Indians were asked to Sign ”receipts" which were, in fact, deeds to their property.51 Many Indians were "taxed” off their land. In the Little Traverse region in 1877 Indians paid $32.85 in taxes on each unimproved eighty acres; this was twice the amount levied on whites, and local Officials promised that it would keep increasing until the community had ”relieved itself Of the 52 Occasionally physical violence was used presence of the Indians." to force recalcitrant Indians to sell their land; men were hired to burn Indian houses and Indians were bludgeoned with clubs and iron rods.53 If unable to acquire desired land through private dealings, Speculators Often bribed land Officers to assist them. L. H. Jennings, son of the receiver at the Ionia Land Office, required a sixty dollar fee before forwarding entry applications to his father or the register; Jennings was actively involved in defrauding Indians, generally with tactics similar to those utilized against Isaac Bennett.54 In 1872 Bennett, who was described by Lee as a “remarkably intelligent, peaceable, and quiet timid man,’ made homestead applica- tion for an eighty acre tract he had been living on and working for 51Edwin J. Brooks to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, May 7, 1878, N.A. Roll 413. 52Edwin J. Brooks to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 12, 1878, N.A. Roll 413. 53C. K. Williams to George W. Lee, December 6, 1879, N.A. Roll 414; Margaret Boyer to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, June, 1877, N.A. Roll 412. 54George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, September 20, 1877, N.A. Roll 412. 118 two years. Jennings refused entry claiming that the land belonged to a liveryman residing in Ludington, fourteen miles from the property in question. When Bennett protested Jennings warned him that he was a United States marshal and would jail him unless he left. Lee wrote the Commissioner of Indian Affairs explaining Bennett's position, but his letter was not forwarded to the General Land Office and the Indian lost his farm.55 The most flagrant fraud involving Land Office Officials was against Lucy Penaseway, an Ottawa widow with four dependent children. She had filed her homestead entry at the Traverse City Land Office September 9, 1872; in accordance with requirements she resided upon, and improved, the property, building a house and outhouses, clearing a field, and planting fruit trees, strawberry plants, and a vegetable garden. During the summer of 1876 she and her children left to visit Traverse City and pick berries. While they were gone William Thompson bribed the land Office clerk to advertise her property as abandoned; when she did not contest Thompson made homestead entry. Upon return- ing the Indian family found their furniture broken and strewn outside, the garden and strawberries ploughed, and every fruit tree uprooted; all proof Of improvement and residence was destroyed. Lee protested this case for more than three years, claiming that Mrs. Penaseway had been "treated as bad as the most heartless treatment 55Ibid. Five years later Jennings, his father, and the register were removed; Commissioner of the General Land Office J. A. Williamson wrote the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, May 18, 1877 that his Office "would not, however, act on charges of fraud and return land to the Indians until the fraud was legally proven.” N.A. Roll 412. 119 of the ex—slaves of the South" through ”scheming and rascality done at the Land Office."56 All appeals failed and Thompson remained in possession of the property. Ironically, after five years Thompson forfeited the land for lack of improvement, but by then all the valuable pine timber had been stripped and sold, leaving a barren waste where a home and garden once stood. Another common land office maneuver was to ask semi-literate Indians questions phrased so that negative responses would mean an affirmation of the statement. One Indian lost eighty acres of "the most desirable and best" land in Charlevoix County as a result of an incorrectly answered question.57 Even when land officers were honest, General Land Office requirements for contesting abandonment claims were prohibitive for most Indians. Indians were obligated to reply to printed newspaper advertisements of abandonment; since claims usually were filed while they were absent, most Indians were unaware of them and did not contest, which resulted in a loss Of their land through ex parte hearings. This procedure was illegal under both Michigan law, which strictly prohibited ex parte hearings unless a defendant "had 56George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, May 23, 1879, N.A. Roll 414; Andrew J. Blackbird to George W. Lee, April 23, 1879, N.A. Roll 414; George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, May 14, 1879, N.A. Roll 414; George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, December 12, 1879, N.A. Roll 415. 57George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, February,1877, N.A. Roll 412; Andrew J. Blackbird to George W. Lee, December 6, 1878, N.A. Roll 413; George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, December 13, 1879, N.A. Roll 414. 120 absconded or was about to abscond from the State," and a General Land Office regulation that notices must be "personally served in ”58 Speculators bribed every case where such service is practicable. land officials to ignore the laws so they could continue to rob victims who were usually ignorant Of their rights and too poor to contest. Hardship was great for those Indians who did contest. Most Indians lived more than seventy-five miles from a land office, yet they were required by law to provide transportation to, and housing at, the land Office site for themselves and their three witnesses.59 Minimum cost was fifty dollars plus expenses for an interpreter and attorney--too great a financial burden for most Indians to bear.60 Special Agent Brooks believed that "the knowledge of this fact has induced a contest against an Indian claimant in several cases where the contestant would not have thought of contesting a white."61 Land Office hearings in Indian contests were Often a farce. Speculators bribed witnesses to refute Indian testimony. The arbiter was the land Office register who had been bribed to file the original 62 abandonment claim. Few Indian contestants saved their homesteads; 58The Compiled Laws of the State of Michigan, II, p. 1269; Edwin J. Brooks to J. A. Williamson, Commissioner of the General Land Office, December 27, 1877, N.A. Roll 413. 59Ibid.; George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, December 13, 1879, N.A. Roll 414. 60Andrew J. Blackbird to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, March 28, 1877, N.A. Roll 412; Edwin J. Brooks to J. A. Williamson, Commissioner Of the General Land Office, December 27, 1877, N.A. Roll 413. 6'Ibid. 62Ibid. 121 only when an Indian agent personally presented an Indian's case did 63 registers decide against white claimants. Even in victory Indians lost, however, as they were compelled by General Land Office regula- tions to bear the cost of the hearing which they had requested.64 One agent described land-sharks as "pursuing an Indian's land and its owner with the fierceness and persistence of their marine namesakes, giving no rest until they were in possession Of his coveted acres.”65 If defeated, they recontested each time an Indian left his property. Jeremiah Blackbird successfully defended his homestead against three contests, selling his only yoke of oxen to raise enough money to pay expenses for the last hearing. Realizing that Blackbird was impoverished, speculators contested a fourth time and seized his farm.66 Agent Lee begged in vain for authority to prosecute land thieves, explaining to Department Officials that Michigan's Indians were "like the hunted deer of their forests, never at peace until in their graves."67 Indians, knowing that their agent could not help them and learning that Michigan's auditor general and commissioner of lands 63Ibid. 64J. M. Armstrong, Acting Commissioner of the General Land Office, to the Register at the Marquette Land Office, March 5, 1880, N.A. Roll 415. 65George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, January 15, 1878, N.A. Roll 413. 66George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, December 13, 1879, N.A. Roll 414. 67George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, February 11, 1878, N.A. Roll 413. 122 were involved in land swindles, felt hopelessly lost as whites drove them from their homes. The feelings of all Indians were expressed in one woman's appeal to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs: 0! Dear Sir! You cannot imagine how troubled we are. Although we are ignorant, we Often say that we think the Great Spirit created the world for us, as well as the whites, and therefore we do not think it right for us to be driven away from our homes, as these whites tell us all the time is the wish Of the Great Father.68 Such appeals did little and by 1880 white speculators possessed more than ninety per cent of all Indian homestead entries.69 Thwarted by Indian Department and General Land Office indif- ference toward stopping "mean and despicable methods" used to defraud Indians, Lee disgustedly wrote his superiors that the loss of an Indian homestead may seem to you an unimpor- tant matter, yet when the most humble individual loses his or her gii, the loss is as severe as if the same calamity befell an Astor or Vanderbilt.7O He reported that ”bribery, illegal certification, and total disregard Of Indian testimony” was common at “every land Office"; he added that he had "many cases of complaint" but that ”officers at the land offices 68Margaret Boyer to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, June, 1877, N.A. Roll 412. Lee, in a letter to Hayt, January 21, 1878, and Brooks, in a report to Williamson dated December 27, 1877, both cite evidence implicating Auditor General Ralph Ely and State Commissioner Of Lands B. F. Patridge in exten- sive Indian land frauds. 69Report of the Secretary Of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner Of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 1, 46th Cong., 3d Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1881), Serial 1959, p. 224. 70George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, December 11, 1878, N.A. Roll 413; George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, April 26, 1879, N.A. Roll 414. 123 declare there is no truth in them; they declare themselves powerless to stop the steady stream of unfairness and fraud so apparent to "7] others. Lee pleaded with the Department to put an end to "this wholesale robbery" and to treat Indians as "human beings, worthy Of "72 He contended that the at least honorable and fair dealing. government must accept the proposition that "might is ggt_right" and that those "vested with discretionary power should use it to the fullest extent" in behalf of Indians who grew "disheartened and dis- couraged" having to "abandon their fields and homes after years of toil.”73 Unfortunately, this sincere friend Of Michigan's Indians labored alone, his task made more difficult because his predecessor, George I. Betts, had made the title "Indian agent” synonymous with "thief."74 IV Betts, a Presiding Elder of the Methodist Episcopal Church and superintendent of Methodist Indian missions in Michigan, became agent through unusual circumstances. After Agent Smith drowned, the Methodist Missionary Society nominated as agent sixty-one year Old Reverend George Bradley. The new agent immediately went to 71George W. Lee to the Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, February, 1877, N.A. Roll 412. 72George W. Lee to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, February 13, 1880, N.A. Roll 415; George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, September 8, 1879, N.A. Roll 414. 73George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, February 11, 1878, N.A. Roll 413. 74George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 9, 1878, N.A. Roll 413. 124 New York to attend a Methodist convention on Indian affairs; he arrived late at night, hailed a cab, became ill during the ride, and fell dead outside his hote1.75 Needing another nominee, the Society choSe Betts. During his nearly five years as agent Betts was involved in several cases of graft and land fraud. Indian funds were embezzled by retaining names of deceased Indians on payroll lists, marking them paid, and keeping the money.76 In collusion with Reverend Peter Marksman, Betts purchased at a small cost "extensive and valuable mines and quarries of excellent slate" in the Upper Penin- 77 sula. At property auctions Betts discouraged competitive bidding so that his friend Peter C. Andre, a Saginaw merchant and real estate dealer, could Obtain choice Indian land at less than market price.78 The agent also worked with George F. Williams, Timothy Jerome, Ezra Rust, and other Saginaw lumbermen to acquire heavily timbered Indian land.79 Petty graft and small timber contracts did not satisfy Betts' avarice and in 1872 he entered into partnership with real estate dealers Alexander and Peter C. Andre of Saginaw, Irving E. Arnold of Mount Pleasant, and Walter 0. Arnold and Hampton Rich 75Leeson, History of Saginaw County, Michigan, p. 652. 76George W. Lee to John O. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, December 15, 1876, N.A. Roll 411. 77Edwin J. Brooks to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, August 22, 1878, N.A. Roll 413. 78George I. Betts to Francis A. Walker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, March 26, 1872, N.A. Roll 410. 79Bryan, Johnson, and CO. of Sandusky, Ohio to Columbus Delano, Secretary Of the Interior, April 27, 1872, N.A. Roll 410. 125 Of Ionia; this partnership resulted in the greatest land fraud in Michigan's history. In the spring of 1872 Betts held a council with the Chippewa of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River to inform them that they could make selections of land according to provisions in the treaties of August 2, 1855 and October 18, 1864. All applications were to be filed with his "deputies" Alexander and Peter Andre and Irving Arnold. Indians thought Betts' word was final and made no complaint. When they tried to make entries, however, they were told that no selections would be recorded unless they agreed to permit Andre and Arnold to choose the land and purchase all "pine trees and timber standing, growing, lying, and being on the land“; these terms would 80 apply also to future Indian acquisitions of land. Subsequent investigation found that of those complying "not one in twenty had the remotest idea of the site of the land selected."8] Since many Indians refused to make selections under such conditions Betts was forced to utilize other schemes to seize their land. He informed John Collins, a half-blood government interpreter, that five dollars, plus costs, would be paid for every Indian deed he could obtain; Collins earned several hundred dollars by furnishing the agent titles purchased for twenty-five dollars from aged, 80Edwin J. Brooks to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 25, 1879, N.A. Roll 414; Peter C. Andre Papers, Michigan Historical Collections of the University of Michigan. 81George W. Lee to John O. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, March 28, 1877, N.A. Roll 412. 126 82 illiterate, impoverished widows. Other land was acquired by forging applications in the names of minors or deceased persons and hiring Indians, for five dollars, to impersonate ineligible appli- cants, sign the deeds, and transfer them to Andre and Arnold.83 Several chiefs protested these irregular procedures to Secretary of the Interior Columbus Delano who ordered an investi- 84 gation. Upon receiving a summary Of Indian allegations against him, Betts wrote the Commissioner of Indian Affairs that as far as I am concerned there is not one word of truth in them; the only solution that I can give of this is that some unprincipled scoundrel, assuming to be Indian Agent, has been engaged in this method of defrauding the Indians-—and this would not surprise me one bit as it would be in keeping with much that has already been done of a fraudulent nature to deprive the poor red-man of his rights. Infuriated that complaints had been sent to Washington, Betts convened another council and threatened chiefs with physical harm unless a new petition, stating that the original charges were false, 86 was issued. When this was refused, Betts, using his Official discretionary power, removed all obstinate chiefs and replaced them 82Edwin J. Brooks to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 25, 1879, N.A. Roll 414. 83George W. Lee to John 0. Smith, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, February 28, 1877, N.A. Roll 412. 84Petition Of the Chippewa of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River to the Secretary of the Interior, 1872, N.A. Roll 411. 85George I. Betts to Francis A. Walker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, September 16, 1872, N.A. Roll 410. 86Petition of the Chippewa of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River, August 27, 1875, N.A. Roll 411. 127 with men who would do his bidding.87 Soon Washington Officials received a letter praising Betts as "the very best agent" that Indians had ever been sent and declaring that all accusations against him were false; this letter is highly suspect, however, as it was translated by John Collins, transcribed by Peter Andre, and witnessed by Alexander Andre.88 On April 29, 1875 Betts met with several chiefs in Irving Arnold's Office in Mount Pleasant to announce his official allotment list. Shortly after reading of the list began one chief protested that it was inaccurate and that his people were being "robbed of 89 their lands." Betts ignored the protest and threatened to remove all Indians from the Office if there were further interruptions.90 This selection list was submitted for Department approval November 27, 1875 accompanied by a letter from the agent recommending that patents be issued "at the earliest possible time" as he had “exercised unusual care in investigating the correctness of the list" and was "well satisfied” that each party was "justly entitled 91 to the land assigned." Approval was given by Secretary of the 87Ibid. 88Petition Of twelve chiefs Of the Chippewa Of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River to the Secretary Of the Interior [n.d.], N.A. Roll 410. 89Edwin J. Brooks to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 25, 1879, N.A. Roll 414. 90Ibid. 91George I. Betts to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 27, 1875, N.A. Roll 411. 128 Interior Zachariah Chandler, December 16, 1875.92 On February 25, 1876, Chandler, having been furnished proof of irregularities in Betts' administration, suspended the agent; the following August thirtieth Betts' land list was cancelled as fraudulent.93 After the cancellation Indians were granted permission to reselect land, but former choice property was unavailable. In early 1876 Michigan's Supreme Court ruled that Indian deeds were valid upon approval Of the Secretary of the Interior; accordingly, it declared legal all transactions which were recorded at land Offices after December 16, 1875 and before August 30, 1876 between 94 Indians and Andre, Arnold, and Betts. AS so Often happened, Indians were victimized both by land-sharks and "white justice." V Land selected by Indians under treaty provisions and the homestead act of June 10, 1872 generally was heavily timbered with pine, oak, ash, and maple. Indians considered their selections primarily as sites for sugar-making, and very few cleared more than twenty per cent Of their land for agricultural use; they refused to expand what whites disparagingly called "Indian clearings, saying that they preferred to "save the timber" so that their children 92Edwin J. Brooks to J. A. Williamson, Commissioner of the General Land Office, December 27, 1877, N.A. Roll 413. 93Zachariah Chandler, Secretary Of the Interior, to the Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, February 25, 1876, N.A. Roll 411; Edwin J. Brooks to J. A. Williamson, Commissioner Of the General Land Office, December 27, 1877, N.A. Roll 413. 94Edwin J. Brooks to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, May 7, 1878, N.A. Roll 413. 129 would have "a plaCe to make sugar."95 Speculators seeking quick profits in Michigan's booming postwar lumber industry, however, neither attempted, nor wanted, tO understand the Indian view of land; they saw this unused acreage only as a vast source of potential wealth which was wasted in the possession of "ignorant savages.96 According to treaty stipulations Indians were unable to sell timber without Indian Department approval; this restriction was intended to force Indians to become farmers by eliminating their only other source of possible income.97 Lumbermen, knowing that all contracts would be nullified by the government, surreptitiously entered unallotted reservation land, cut timber, and hauled it to their mi11s.98 During the years 1860-1880 over one billion feet Of timber was stolen from Indian property; market value of scaled timber, per thousand board feet, during these years ranged from four dollars for average quality to fifteen dollars for choice, making the Indians' 99 Indian monetary loss between four and fifteen million dollars. agents admonished lumbermen to stOp their depredations, but without support from Michigan's lumber-controlled congressional delegation 95Edwin J. Brooks to J. A. Williamson, Commissioner Of the General Land Office, December 27, 1877, N.A. Roll 413. 96Ibid. 97Richard M. Smith to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, June 27, 1871, N.A. Roll 409. 98Andrew M. Fitch to Alfred B. Greenwood, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 19, 1860, N.A. Roll 406; Richard M. Smith to Lewis V. Bogy, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, December 24, 1866, N.A. Roll 408; W. G. Thomson to James W. Long, November 15, 1869, N.A. Roll 408. 99Leeson, History of Saginaw County, Michigan, pp. 403-404. 130 and state legislature all protests were in vain. Emboldened by their success, lumbermen continued to loot Indian land. Finally, in 1870, Agent Long convinced Indian Department Officials that restriction of timber sales was not having its desired effect and that the ban should be 1ifted.100 Indians always believed that as owners of land they should have the right to sell timber growing on it. In 1869 this position was upheld by United States District Judge S. S. Whitney, who ruled that Indian timber sales were legal because the United States had given Indians possession of land to I'clear, cultivate, and enjoy"; he claimed that persons have a right to employ others to do anything on their property that they could legally do themselves, and since Indians could clear fields they could also hire others to cut and remove timber from their prOperty.]0] Long, Whitney, and others advocating Indian timber sales realized that it would do little to preserve already timber-depleted, unallotted reservation land, but they hoped such action wOuld benefit individual Indian landholders. Most Indian families, especially after annuity payments ended, were in constant poverty; selling a portion of their timber represented both a means Of acquiring funds to feed and clothe themselves during the winter and an Opportunity to earn even more by working as "jobbers" for white lumbermen.102 100James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Apri1 14, 1870, N.A. Roll 409. 1013. S. Whitney to James W. Long, August 13, 1869, N~A- R011 409. 102 Roll 413. John R. Robinson to George W. Lee, October 8, 1878, N.A. 131 Even though timber sales brought them money, Indians were still preyed upon by avaricious whites. Lumbermen and their agents were as ruthless as the land-sharks in dealing with Indians; any devious tactic was acceptable to achieve success. Families were physically forced from their land and not permitted to return until 103 all timber was removed. Pack, Woods, and Company of Oscoda annually flooded the flats Of Van Ettan Lake, driving out Indian 104 Lumbermen Obtained residents, to float logs to the Pine River. thousands of acres of timber by wagering two dollars that Indians could not affix their signatures to blank sheets Of paper; by winning the wager Indians lost their land as warranty deeds were 105 Peter C. Andre vaUlred nearly printed over their signatures. half the timber on the Isabella Reservation by giving Indians credit at his dry goods store, calling in the promissory notes, and threatening to jail debtors unwilling to sell their property as a settlement.106 The most flagrant case Of timber fraud involved the "Rust Purchase," in which fifteen thousand acres of choice Isabella County pine land was purchased illegally by two half-bloods, Andrew Campau and Charles H. Rodd, the sheriff Of Isabella County, and transferred 103George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 18, 1877, N.A. Roll 412. 104Edna M. Otis, Their Yesterdays: INISable and Oscoda (n.p., 1948), p. 1. 105Samuel Holstead to Willis Drummond, Commissioner Of the General Land Office, February, 1871, N.A. Roll 409. 106Peter C. Andre Papers, Michigan Historical Collections of the University of Michigan. 132 to Ezra Rust, a prominent Saginaw lumberman. The Chippewa Of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River protested the sale, claiming that it encompassed all unallotted land they had set aside for their children, but no action was taken either by the Indian Department or General Land Office.107 In 1870, six years after the sale, two Saginaw lumbermen, George F. Williams and Timothy Jerome, whose brother David was a state senator and later became a member of the Board of Indian Commissioners and governor of Michigan, joined Reverend George Bradley in a scheme to further defraud these Indians. Jerome met with Secretary of the Interior Delano and was informed that the United States District Attorney at Detroit was about to receive orders to prosecute Rust and restore stolen Indian 108 land. The lumberman requested that public notice of the impending suit be delayed for several weeks and that Agent Long not be noti- fied.109 Delano agreed and Jerome returned to Michigan; he ordered Bradley to meet with the Indians and announce that Jerome would prosecute Rust and restore Indian property, free of cost, if they would sign a contract authorizing the action. The chiefs asked Bradley to read the contract to them but he refused; they were eager, however, to have their land returned, and knowing that Bradley "was a minister of God" they "did not think he would do anything wrong" and signed the agreement.110 Subsequently they discovered that they 107George Bradley to Ulysses S. Grant, October 31, 1870, N.A. Roll 409. 108 James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, February 4, 1870, N.A. Roll 409. 109Ibid. 110Ibid. 133 had agreed to allow Jerome and Williams to choose land for them on the restored property, to prohibit all Indian improvements on these selections for ten years, and to retain exclusive timber privileges during this ten year period; Jerome and Williams would pay one dollar to one dollar and fifty cents, per thousand board feet, for timber selected, with Bradley "the arbiter Of quality standards.”]]] Proud of his transaction, Jerome went to Detroit and told Long. The agent was furious, and having verified that Rust was going to be prosecuted by the government, wrote Commissioner of Indian Affairs Parker requesting that he annul the contract to "save the Indians from the claws of their Old friends."n2 Fearful of losing their ill-gotten spoils the conspirators began a campaign to dissuade Long from continuing his efforts to thwart them. Jerome visited Long and warned him that his family "controlled Michigan" and that his brother "would fix him up"; he further informed Long that Agent Smith had been removed from Office in 1867 because he prosecuted lumber cases against the Jeromes, and that a similar fate awaited him if he persisted.H3 Long again wrote Commissioner Parker informing him of these threats and asking him not to sanction the contract. Parker, however, did nothing.114 H1Contract between the Chippewa of Saginaw and Timothy P. Jerome and George F. Williams, N.A. Roll 409. 112James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, February 4, 1870, N.A. Roll 409. ”3819... 114 James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, August 11, 1870, N.A. Roll 409. 134 Chauncey H. Gage, an attorney in East Saginaw, wrote Parker's successor, Francis A. Walker, that Jerome's contract had to be voided to protect Indians and their property. He argued that within the stipulated ten years Jerome and Williams could ”cut what they please and report what they please," while the "poor devil Of an Indian" could only I'sit in his wigwam and patiently wait for ten years to elapse." This matter, he said, was considered a "swindle" throughout Michigan and that "good men" were petitioning for an Official inves- tigation.“5 After nearly four years of litigation the contract was nullified, but, as in so many cases, most of the valuable timber was removed before a court decision was reached. Justice moved too slowly to protect ”savage” Indians from exploitation by "civilized" white men. VI Blame for Indians losing much Of their land and timber ulti- mately must be laid on the federal government's insistence that Indians receive land in severalty with power Of alienation. Most of Michigan's Indians were not competent at any time during the nine- teenth century to manage their business affairs and thus fell victim to unscrupulous whites. Lumbermen and homesteaders favored Indian severalty because it represented an opportunity to acquire choice land at a low cost. Conniving agents and missionaries, such as Betts, Bradley, and 115Chauncey H. Gage to Francis A. Walker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, May 11, 1872, N.A. Roll 410. 135 Marksman, supported alienable property because it enabled their 1‘5 A. J. Southard of Little partners to "fearlessly rob" Indians. Traverse spoke for many white settlers when he complained that government investigators and Indian agents gave Indians Special treatment. He claimed that whites desired "complete equality under the law” for Indians and whites, and that disputes between the races be settled in court rather than by “bigots, like Lee and Brooks, who n117 treat settlers as thieves and land-sharks unworthy of a hearing. Southard concluded that Michigan citizens fail to see why the government should pay an agent to work to the interests of a class of middle age to young American citizens having all the rights of any other citizen and having lived all their lives among American citizens, with- out having the other citizens with whom they live, mingle, and do bgsiness also represented by a paid government agent.H Avaricious whites desired Indian citizenship for practical, not sympathetic, reasons; equal rights and responsibilities, they thought, would result in elimination of Indians from the state. Friends of the Indians bemoaned their fate. Agent Allen blamed the government, saying that if ”patents had not been issued in fee, thousands of Indians would have good homes who now have none, having many years since parted with their land, in many cases for a 116George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, November 21, 1877, N.A. Roll 412. 117 R011 414. 118 A. J. Southard to Zachariah Chandler, April 9, 1879, N.A. Ibid. 136 mere pittance."Hg Lee noted sadly that Michigan's Indians were I'literally turned out to grass by the mistaken recommendations" of pre- vious agents and "the action Of Congress in allowing them to take free and deeded of their lands and then Opening the balance Of the lands for sale."120 He observed that l'the poor improvident creatures Often sold the land for a mere bagatelle without even seeing it” and that by allowing such acts to occur "our civilization may be sinking, if possible, in the scale of moral degradation."12] Special Agent Brooks, who worked with Michigan's Indians for more than thirty-five years, believed that they could be saved from poverty and ultimate extinction only by living on reservations closed to white settlement. On these reservations he proposed allotting Indians tax-free land in severalty, without power of alienation, and teaching them ”by degrees, a full understanding of their rights and responsibilities" under American laws. As there was not enough available land in Michigan to establish such a reservation, he suggested removing the state's Indians to the 122 Commissioner of Chippewa settlement at White Earth, Minnesota. Indian Affairs John D. C. Atkins concurred with Brooks' idea, adding that HgReport of the Secretary of the Interior, “Report Of the Com- missioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 2, 48th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1883), Serial 2191, p. 152. 120George W. Lee to John O. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, February 1, 1877, N.A. Roll 412. 121 Ibid. _ ———-a——— 122Edwin J. Brooks to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 12, 1878, N.A. Roll 413. 137 the money received from the sale of the lands thrown Open to settlement under this policy would make the Indians thus consolidated wealthy, and if properly invested the income therefrom would be ample to start them in agricultural and pastoral pursuits, leaving a fund sufficient Sgr educational purposes and the care of the Old and infirm.1 This plan, while well-intended, was unworkable, as only twelve sec- tions at White Earth were surveyed and ready for allotment; the cost of surveying thousands of acres and relocating ten thousand Indians would have been prohibitive.124 A turning point for Michigan's Indians seemed to occur in 1885 when Grover Cleveland became President. Mark Stevens was appointed agent and within two years he began lawsuits against land- sharks and lumbermen who had stolen Indian property; for the first time a Mackinac Indian agent was supported by Washington officials in his efforts to rectify frauds recognized, if not sanctioned, by the Interior Department during the preceding twenty-five years. In 1888 Stevens reported that six suits were commenced in the United States Court, for the recovery of the timber, against prominent lumbermen in Saginaw and Mount Pleasant, in four Of which judgments were Obtained in favor of the United States. Four criminal suits were commenced, in three of which convictions were obtained. Although but a small amount has been recovered, the result25 has been to practically put an end to willful trespasses. He expressed hope that even more prosecutions would be made the fol- lowing year.126 123Annual Report Of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1885 (Washington: G P.O., 1885), p. xii. Ibid., p. xxviii. 125Annual Report of the Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, 1888 (Washington: G.P.O., 1888), p. 144. 126Ibid. 138 Stevens' hope was never fulfilled as the Mackinac Agency closed June 30, 1889; the Indian Appropriation Bill, written in committees including several prominent lumber senators and congress- ]27 Commissioner men, failed to allocate funds to Operate the agency. of Indian Affairs Thomas J. Morgan expressed his disappointment at this action in his annual report: The abolishing of this agency was not recommended by the Department nor was this Office consulted in the matter. The wisdom of such summary action may be questionable, but it is not probable that any serious embarrassment to the service will result, or that the Indians paw left to their own resources will suffer materially. 8 Having felt the pressure and humiliation of legal action against them, Michigan's lumbermen and land speculators were once again free to deal with their unfortunate red victims. In the mid-18805 Indians were more interested than ever before in obtaining, and protecting, homesteads, but the best lands were gone and "OPPIOQ could restore them.129 The government could soothe its conscience by prosecuting men for their past crimes and offering Indians cash settlements or alternate selections, but these things could not give Indian children the inheritance which their parents intended--"a place to make sugar.” 127Apppgi_Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1889 (Washington: G.P.O., 1889), p. 48. 128 Ibid., p. 49. 129Report of the Secretary_of the Interior, ”Report of the Commissioner Of Indian Affairs," House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 2, 49th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1885), Serial 2379, p. 340. CHAPTER V SEPARATE AND UNEQUAL: SURVIVAL IN WHITE SOCIETY I Michigan's white citizenry had conflicting attitudes toward their Indian neighbors. Pioneers, who had arrived before 1850, valued Indian friendship and asserted that survival in the wilderness would have been extremely difficult without Indian assistance. Their copper-skinned friends brought gifts of berries, fish, game, and maple sugar, helped build log cabins, traded at settlement stores, and taught whites how to strip birchbark for canoes; one settler recalled that "all a man had to do was ask for help and the Indians 1 Indians were considered "kind always gave it to him faithfully." and useful neighbors” who paid their debts promptly and were com- pletely honest; after the Potawatomi removals Of 1840 Eaton County residents stated that the Indians “had not been gone six months before we wished them all back, as the woods seemed lonely without 2 them." Most newer settlers, however, had little sympathy either 1E. Lakin Brown, "Autobiographical Notes," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, XXX (Lansing: Wynkoop, Hallenbeck, Crawford, 1906), pp. 459-460; Mary M. L. Hoyt, "Early Recollections of Pioneer Life in Michigan," Ibid., p. 298; A. D. P. Van Buren, "'Raisings" and ’Bees' Among the Early Settlers," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, V (Lansing: W. S. George, 1905), p. 297. 2Isabella Couniy_Enterprise, March 29, 1876; Foote, “A Historical Sketch Of the Early Days Of Eaton County," p. 383. 139 140 for Indians or their "antiquated white friends."3 These people lived near settled regions and had no need for Indian aid; they viewed Indians as "a miserably depraved race—~lazy, cruel, false, and treacherous to the last degree" and advocated total removal so that Indian land could be Opened for "honest white settlement."4 Indians possessed similar contrasting sentiments toward their "white brothers.“ In the first half of the nineteenth century they ceded their land by treaties, accepted missionaries, and welcomed settlers; they dealt with whites in good faith and wanted to live harmoniously with them. During the Civil War more than two hundred Indians, including two chiefs, enlisted in the Union army to "protect the old banner which is the pride of all loyal American people"; an Indian company was formed in the lst Michigan Sharpshooters and it compiled an admirable battle record, earning commendations for valor at Spotsylvania.5 Their agent boasted that "the Officers under whom they served unanimously bore testimony to their endurance, fidelity, and courage, and to their faithful and cheerful performance 3Petition of one hundred twenty—two citizens Of Emmet County to the Secretary of the Interior, June 30, 1877, N.A. Roll 412. 4A. J. Southard to Senator Zachariah Chandler, April 9, 1879, N.A. Roll 414; Christian Advocate, XLV (June 2, 1870), p. 170. ' 5Thirteen Ottawa and Chippewa chiefs and headmen to the Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, January 10, 1867, N.A. Roll 408; Charles Moore, ”Days Of Fife and Drum," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, XXVIII (Lansing: Robert Smith, 1900), p. 448n; George N. Fuller (ed.), Michigan: A Centennial History of the State and Its People, I (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1939): p. 371; Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report Of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 5, 38th Cong., 2d Sess. (Washington: G P.O., 1865), Serial 1220, p. 591. 141 of all duties of the soldier."6 By 1870, however, Indians began to reassess their relationship with whites. They had fought to perpetuate a government which refused to protect them from timber thieves and speculators, issue land patents, and restore coin annuity payments. Missionaries, who had promised to educate Indians and prepare them for life in white society, Often proved to be false friends, involved in graft and land frauds. Settlers, who had cheered Indians departing for combat, now said that "ignorant savages“ were Obstacles to progress. Indians remembered these acts, which they considered betrayals, and became embittered; their anger was intensified by memories of government agents, such as Henry C. Gilbert, who used their position to defraud, rather than protect, Indians. Gilbert, a wealthy Coldwater merchant and lumberman, was appointed Indian agent in 1853. During his four years in office Michigan's Indians were subjected to "gross injustices" and "numerous acts of fraud." William Johnston, a half—blood Democratic Office- holder at Mackinac, reported to Secretary of the Interior Robert McClelland that under Gilbert the Indian Department in Michigan was "thoroughly rotten and corrupt."7 Upon receipt of similar complaints from loyal Michigan Demo- crats McClelland's successor, Jacob Thompson, ordered an investigation 6Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Com- missioner Of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 2, 39th Cong., 1st Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1865), Serial 1248, p. 636. 7William Johnston to Robert McClelland, Secretary of the Interior, September 17, 1856, N.A. Roll 405. McClelland was a former congressman and governor of Michigan. 142 Of Gilbert's administration; examination of evidence proved that all charges made against the agent were true. Gilbert forged Indians' marks on annuity payroll lists to indicate payment and receipt of funds which had never been delivered; a Treasury Depart- ment audit Showed that he had embezzled $22,920.74 from Indian annuity monies.8 He ordered the Grand Portage band of Chippewa of Lake Superior to hire a carpenter, chosen by him, to construct a "payment house" at an inflated cost of four hundred dollars so that he would have a "comfortable place" to distribute annuities; if they refused he threatened to withhold future payments.9 He made an arrangement with Judge Gardner 0. Williams, a Saginaw lumberman and government "Indian farmer," to defraud half-bloods of twenty-five per cent Of funds due them accOrding to the Treaty of Washington; a victim of their scheme described the method used by the conspirators: The money goes to Mr. Gilbert and he notifies only Gardner D. Williams. He goes to Mr. Gilbert and gets the money and then comes to persons holding claims and says, 'There I have your money but you must pay me twenty-five per cent on the whole amount for collecting it or you cannot have one cent Of it.’ Those who comply and pay him what he asks are paid the balgnces and those who refuse him are kept out of their money. 0 8E. B. French, Second United States Auditor, to John 0. Smith, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, June 24, 1876, N.A. Roll 411. 9Henry C. Gilbert to George W. Manypenny, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, February 25, 1856, N.A. Roll 405; Jacob Thompson, Secretary Of the Interior, to James W. Denver, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, May 14, 1857, N.A. Roll 405. 10Levi Trombley to George W. Manypenny, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, July 7, 1856, N.A. Roll 405. The amount collected by Williams was usually twenty-five dollars, but occasionally it went as high as one hundred dollars. 143 Gilbert admitted that the charge was accurate, but added that he had had "no idea" there ”would be any trouble about the matter" since he assumed that Williams received the bonus "not for coming to Detroit to pick the money up for delivery, but in pursuance of an understanding '1 He claimed that with the Indians" made at the 1836 treaty council. "after receiving complaints" he had written Williams instructing him to return all money, but that he could not prove his innocence because he had "kept no copy Of this letter."12 Missionaries charged Gilbert with neglect of duty and sanc- tioning moral turpitude. Gilbert Often designated his interpreter, John Godfroy, to distribute annuity goods and money while the agent attended dances and other social events. While discharging his duty Godfroy gave Special favors to his friends and offered larger amounts of goods to Indian women who accepted his invitation to "come to my house for I have a good bed, and good looking women can have plenty of things.”13 Gilbert was guilty of land fraud as well. According to pro- visions in the 1855 treaties, Indians were allowed to make land selections and receive patents. Before selections were made, the agent informed Indians that no patents would be issued until he received from each selector twenty-five dollars "to cover expenses HHenry C. Gilbert to George W. Manypenny, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, December 24, 1856, N.A. Roll 405. 12Ibid. 13D. Thomas to George W. Manypenny, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, December 11, 1856, N.A. Roll 405. 144 14 attached to their delivery and issuance." He explained that it would "cost a good deal to get arrangements made at the Department" and that he had l'to have his money back."15 Indians who protested advance payment were told that they would never receive deeds. Neither those who accepted nor refused received patents from Gilbert, however, as selections did not begin until 1860 and delivery until 1870. On May 14, 1857 Secretary Thompson sent Commissioner Of Indian Affairs James W. Denver a fourteen page list Of charges against Gilbert's conduct in Office and ordered his removal.16 Gilbert retired June 30, 1857, a much more prosperous man than he was upon entry into the Indian Service. Bitter memories of white injustice and ingratitude made Indians resentful Of all attempts to assimilate them into a society which they considered corrupt and treacherous. Indian hatred of whites grew in proportion to the increased numbers of fraud and swindles perpetrated upon them; Mary Sagatoo, a white missionary married to a Chippewa chief, explained Indian hostility thus: To secure Indians' timber lands, which had been granted to them by the United States government, has been the aim of numerous white men. Thousands Of acres of pine land, rich in timber of the choicest quality, has been wrested from them in the most unscrupulous manner by these merciless 14Affidavit of Joseph Chase, September 28, 1878, N.A. Roll 414. 15Affidavit of David Pennock, August 19, 1878, N.A. Roll 414. 16Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior, to James W. Denver, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, May 14, 1857, N.A. Roll 405. 145 schemers. Is it suprising then, that they looked upon all white persons who came among them with distrust and as their bitterest enemies; that the visits of a few missionaries, who sought to lift them out of their degradation by the civilizing influences Of the gospel, were considered of a mercenary' nature; ‘that they opposed Christianity and civi- lization as the advent of a destroyer which would eventually sweep them from the face Of the earth? Considering their experience with the white man, it is not strange that these prejudices should have taken deep root in their untutored minds and that to remove them was almost an impossibility.17 Although they were too poor and ignorant of their rights to protest actively against white treachery, Indians were determined to do more than suffer in stoic silence. Participation in the Civil War re-established a measure of cultural pride, as returning veterans could, for the first time in over fifty years, relate tales of Indian heroism and bravery in battle. Consequently, most Indians resolved that they would never totally abandon their native heritage and become "red-white men"; white ways would be adopted only as they became essential for survival. II Initial demands made upon Indians by whites were for super- ficial cultural changes. Advocates Of assimilation believed that Indians had to give up their "revolting" native apparel and adOpt “citizen dress" as a prerequisite for acculturation. Indian agents and missionaries distributed flannel shirts and denim trousers to males, and calico dresses and woolen shawls to females. By 1880 Indian men wore swallow-tail coats, white shirts, and stovepipe hats, which had been discarded by whites; they always refused to 17Sagatoo, Thirty-three Years Among the Indians, pp. 70-7l. 146 wear shoes, however, and whites repeatedly laughed at "well-dressed 18 Indians” whose moccasins showed under their pantlegs. Fashion conscious young men were very particular about the color of their 19 neckties and extremely proud of their watch fobs. Women learned to cut dress patterns and sew their own clothes so that they would be in "proper style."20 Entrepreneurs were especially delighted that Indians seemed eager to possess "the accouterments of the superior race." In addi- tion to clothing, Indians purchased mirrors, parlor organs, sewing machines, costume jewelry, and similar expensive accessories; by the turn of the twentieth century all Indians dressed like whites and nearly every family owned a timepiece and sewing machine.21 Indians accepted "citizen dress" not only because they admired trinkets and bright cloth, but also because they realized that whites construed this change as an indication Of slow, but steady,acculturation. They were willing to placate whites with minor adaptations in an effort to forestall massive cultural indoc- trination. Toia large degree, Indians were role-playing; they gradually fulfilled white expectations, but never evinced signs of aptitude toward more rapid assimilation into white society.22 IBigigi, p. 70; Graham, Petoskey and Bay View in Ye Olden Days, p. 7. - 19Sagatoo, Thirty-three Years Among the Indians, p. 62. 20Ibid. lebid. 22 Role-playing as a means Of survival was utilized also by Southern slaves. See Kenneth M. Stampp, The Peculiar Institution (New York: Vintage, 1956) and Stanley Elkins, Slavery: A Problem in American Institutional and Intellectual Life (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1959). 147 Another demand by whites was that Indians abandon their "rude, filthy wigwams" and construct log or frame dwellings.23 Agents reported that progress was slow because Indians were lazy, careless, and indifferent toward "making the wilderness bloom like a rose"; a disheartened agent explained the Indians' lack of per- sistence thus: They erect the body Of a house one year; the second year they put on the roof; and the third or fourth they manage to so far complete it as to make it the abode of their family. There are many little log houses . . . that have thus been two or three years in course Of construction; an energetic white mgn would deem it easy to build one in three or four weeks. 4 Construction was not rapid, but indifference was not the sole reason. Indians were reluctant to erect homes on property for which patents had not been issued; too many Indians had built houses on undeeded land only tO have white speculators seize both their property and improvements. By 1879, however, over twelve hundred houses had been built; some were frame, others were constructed from ”neatly hewn and plastered logs, and still others were made from unhewn logs and bark.25 Agent Lee proudly stated that, regardless of construction, all Indian homes were "comfortable" and that "the historical wigwam" 26 was "seldom, if ever, seen as a permanent dwelling.” Despite Lee's enthusiasm, Indians were unhappy in their new homes. 23Sagatoo, Thirty-three Years Among the Indians, p. 70. 24Report Of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs," House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 5, 38th Cong., 2d Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1865), Serial 1220, p. 589; Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs," House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 1, 46th Cong., 2d Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1880), Serial 1910, p. 191. 251bid., p. 190. 26Ibid., p. 191. 148 III Indians harbored suspicions that their new houses were part of a governmental plot to annihilate them through creation Of condi- tions favorable for disease. Consumption, known as the "Indians' disease" because of its prevalence among them, caused many fatalities; Indians related that while they had resided in wigwams consumption was unknown to them, but after they were forced to move into poorly ventilated one-room cabins the disease spread through entire ‘families.27 Doctors scoffed at this analysis and said that Indians were consumptive because they "totally disregarded the laws of health" by walking in wet snow and cold water wearing only moccasins on their feet; constant wet feet in winter and early Spring, doctors said, ”no doubt laid for many the seeds of future consumption."28 Despite denials by public health Officials, Indians believed that contact with whites weakened their race and that mixed-bloods 29 were more susceptible than full-bloods to diseases. After whites arrived epidemics of smallpox, scarlet fever, influenza, measles, 27William K. Moorehead, The American Indian in the United States, 1850-1914 (Andover: The Andover Press, 1914), pp. 54, 274. Moorehead based his conclusions on reports from missionaries in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan. Agent Allen concurred, saying that "owing to poor houses and our rigorous climate many children die.” Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner Of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 2, 48th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1883), Serial 2191, p. 152. 28Jonathan Kneeland, "On Some Causes Tending to Promote the Extinction of the Aborigines Of America,” The Transactions Of the American Medical Association, XV (Philadelphia: Collins Printing, 1865), pp.255-256, 260. 29Ibid.; Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1887 (Washington: G.P.O., 1887), p. 126. 149 and typhoid killed thousands of Indians. During the period 1835- 1838 more than fifteen hundred Indians died from smallpox; in late 1869 smallpox and influenza took so many lives that large dry goods boxes had to be used as coffins because wooden ones could not be made fast enough; an 1877 epidemic was so severe that a native preacher proposed a day of fasting and prayer in hope that "God would stay the hand of death"; and in 1882 smallpox and measles killed ten per 30 Indians cent of the residents of the Hannahville Indian community. were helpless against these contagious diseases and looked to their agent for assistance. Government Officials were indifferent to the Indians' plight, giving credence to Indian fears Of planned annihilation. The sole government doctor was stationed at L'Anse in the Upper Peninsula and could serve only the L'Anse and Vieux Desert bands of Chippewa Of Lake Superior; these bands, however, represented less than ten per cent Of Michigan's Indians.3] Indians residing in the Lower Peninsula could not afford to visit private physicians and had to rely on missionaries, teachers, and philanthropic individuals 30Mid1and Daily News, June 8, 1850; Fox, History Of Saginaw County, p. 10; Sagatoo, Thirty-three Years Among the Indians, p. 98; Hedrick, Land of the Crooked Tree, p. 303; Report of the Secretary Of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs," House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 2, 47th Cong., 2d Sess. (Washington: G P 0., 1883), Serial 2100, p. 156. 31Michigan's Indians were entitled to medical care by the Treaty of Washington (1836) for twenty years. Between the years 1856-1872 a doctor was maintained at L'Anse; for the next seven years there was no regular doctor appointed. In 1879 James G. Turner was appointed agency physician, at an annual salary of seven hundred dollars, and was stationed at L'Anse. Turner served for the follow- ing twenty years. 150 for aid.32 Agents knew that their wards needed improved medical treatment but refused to act in their behalf. One agent remarked that native medicine men were capable of caring for them; another considered employing additional doctors "impractical" even though he admitted that it would save many lives; another refused to attempt vaccination against smallpox because he had been told by settlers that Indians were "prejudiced against innoculations" and that "it would be of no use to try"; and still another claimed that vaccina- tions were needless because Indians rarely contracted smallpox.33 Washington officials were equally unsympathetic; they explained that funds for medical supplies and doctors' salaries came from annuity monies, and since Michigan's Indians ceased receiving annuities in 1872 they were not entitled by Department regulations even to retain their present physician, let alone request another.34 Not until public health Officials convinced Michigan legis- 1ators in 1879 that Indian innoculation would reduce the chance of diseases spreading to white communities was action taken to provide 32George I. Betts to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, March 26, 1875, N.A. Roll 411. 33Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report Of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 2, 47th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1882), Serial 2018, p. 168; Report Of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner Of Indian Affairs," House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 2, 49th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1885), Serial 2379, p. 340. George I. Betts to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 7, 1876, N.A. Roll 411; Richard M. Smith to Nathaniel G. Taylor, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, March 10, 1868, N.A. Roll 408. 34Edward P. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, to George I. Betts, April 9, 1875, N.A. Roll 411. 151 state financed mass immunization of Indians.35 Considering Indian anxieties over removal, assimilation, and possible annihilation, it is little wonder that "nervous disorders" were among their most common non-fatal ailments.36 IV A major goal of nineteenth century Indian Department officials was the transformation of Indians from roving hunters into settled agriculturalists; they were convinced that farming was the best way to inculcate Indians with the concepts of private property, manual labor, and self-reliance. Michigan's Indians were willing to farm a portion Of their land, but discovered that despite governmental promises of assistance, little was Offered; in fact, many Departmental actions hindered success. Indians were unskilled in agricultural techniques and required white instructors. Unfortunately, most men chosen by agents tO serve as "Indian farmers" were incompetent and corrupt; salaries were only sixty-five dollars per year, but Opportunities for graft made the position desirable.‘ One "Indian farmer" amassed enough money selling seed and agricultural implements intended for distribution among Indians that upon leaving Office he was able to purchase a farm and construct a barn, silo, and nine room house.37 35Pub1ic Acts of the Legislature of the State of Michigan, I, p. 153. 36 Among non-fatal ailments only bronchitis occurred more frequently. See "Medical Reports" in Annual Report Of the Commis- sioner of Indian Affairs for the years 1855-1889. 37 Graham, Petoskey and Bay View in Ye Olden Days, p. 6. 152 Instructors generally neglected their duties; a Chippewa chief complained that for the first year or two our farmer would sometimes come out to the field where we were plowing, take hold of the plow handles and go half across the field, and then would say, 'I am hungry,‘ and return to the village and remain there tag rest Of the day; but now he never comes near us at all. ‘ Since all "Indian farmers" were friends of the agent, few were removed. Not until 1887 did the Department require that all agricul- tural employees "be practically engaged in the occupation of farming for at least five years immediately previous" to government employ- ment.39 Indian Department inefficiency was detrimental to successful farming. Appropriations Often were authorized tOO late for agents to purchase seed for spring planting, and as a result winter food 40 shortages were common. These delays angered Indians; one chief wrote his agent that "our ground has been plowed ready to sow for months and we are still waiting for you to come, while another grew tired of waiting, purchased seed at local stores, and billed 38Leach, "History of the Grand Traverse Region,” p. 97. 39Statutes-at-Large, XXVII, p. 632. 40Andrew M. Fitch to James W. Denver, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, February 12, 1859, N.A. Roll 406; Louis Campau to Andrew M. Fitch, February 24, 1859, N.A. Roll 406; Richard M. Smith to Nathaniel G. Taylor, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, May 31, 1867, N.A. Roll 408; John Pope to Adjutant General E. D. Townsend, March 22, 1870, N.A. Roll 409; John R. Robinson to George W. Lee, January 25, 1877, N.A. Roll 412. 153 it to the government.41 Lee expressed frustrations felt by all Indian agents when he told Department Officials that you can hardly estimate the injury the delay of funds to furnish promised help for spring planting caused. It seriously impaired the Indians' confidence in me as they deem it the agent's fault if they do not get what they have been promised. Indians, like children, expect all promises fulfilled, which are made them. Is not such neglect a cause of many of the troubles in all the Indian Service? 2 Even if seed arrived on time, planting was difficult; in most commu- nities fifty or more families had to Share one yoke of oxen and a wagon because the Department, citing "excessive expenses," steadfastly refused to allocate funds to purchase adequate numbers Of implements and teams.43 One agent became so disheartened with his wards' pros- pects for successful farming that he proposed constructingasix thousand dollar "hot-house" in which Indians could raise garden vegetables without benefit of tools or animals.44 Despite pleas by agents and Indians, planting was needlessly hindered by actions of officials who claimed to support agriculture as an essential element of assimilation. Indian attempts at agriculture were further hampered by poor quality soil on their two major reservations. At Oceana the land 41Elijah Pilcher to George W. Lee, September 11, 1876, N.A. Roll 411; Edward Assinins to George W. Lee, May 20, 1876, N.A. Roll 411. 42George W. Lee to Rowland E. Trowbridge, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, May 26, 1880, N.A. Roll 415. 43George W. Lee to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 4, 1879, N.A. Roll 414. 44James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, May 7, 1870, N.A. Roll 409. 154 was sand-based with little value for general farming; only potatoes, 45 On the twelve thousand which thrive in sand, grew in abundance. acre Isabella Reservation only five thousand acres were tillable, the remainder consisted Of thirty-two feet of "very hard clay" over 46 When Indians chose homesteads twenty-eight feet of sand and stone. they sought heavily timbered areas suitable for sugar-making, not agriculture; after the timber was removed their land was worth little. Indian Department officials seemed oblivious to these facts and claimed that Indians were "too lazy" to manage their own farms.47 Notwithstanding the lack of instruction, materiel, and fer- tile soil, Michigan's Indians strove to become successful subsistence farmers. According to agency records, during the period 1863-1885 Indians produced 179,625 bushels Of wheat, 549,568 bushels of corn, 251,361 bushels of oats and barley, and 1,081,963 bushels of potatoes; in addition, they made over 100,000 pounds of butter and harvested 48 28,464 tons of hay. These items had a market value of nearly two 45d. O. Veatch, Agricultural Land Classification and Land Types of Michigan, Special Bulletin 231, Agricultural Experiment Station (East Lansing: Michigan State College, 1941); John W. Jochim (ed.), Michigan and Its Resources (Lansing: Robert Smith, 1893), pp. 25-26; Edmund Littell, One Hundred Years in Leelanau: A History of Leelanau County, Michigan (Leland: The Print Shop, 1965), p. 8. 46George W. Lee to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, June 19, 1879, N.A. Roll 414; Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1875 (Washington: G.P.O., 1875), pp. 126-127. 47 Holst, A Survey of Indian Groups in the State Of Michigan, 48Other crops were harvested in lesser amounts: 2,835 bushels of beans, 70,508 bushels of turnips, and 4,131 bushels of rice. See "Agricultural Statistics" in Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for the years 1863-1889. 155 and one-half million dollars, but Indians sold less than fifteen per cent of their harvests.49 Indians were willing to farm as a livelihood, but unfulfilled government promises of assistance forced them to seek other forms of employment. V Indians often supplemented their income working in the lumber business. Many found steady employment as lumberjacks; one mill owner reported that he hired only Indians because "they were dexterous with the axe, did their work according to agreement, and had workmanlike manners.“50 Even more important to mill owners was that Indians worked for half the wages paid whites. Lumbermen employed Indians as "timber scouts" to lead them into forests to select prime trees; they stated that Indians were “experts in this line of work."51 Occasionally Indians established their own mills. Between the years 1873-1889 they cut over 254,000 cords of wood and sawed more than twenty-five million board feet Of lumber; in 1883 Michigan's Indians produced 5,900,000 board feet, which represented seventy-five per cent of Indian lumber production in the United 49Ibid. 50Isabella County Enterprise, March 29, 1876; John R. Robinson to George W. Lee, January 25, 1877, N.A. Roll 412; George W. Lee to the Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, August, 1880, N.A. Roll 415. 51William F. Smith, "Historical Notes," Michigan History Magazine, XVI (October, 1932), p. 509. 156 States.52 They earned nearly four hundred thousand dollars selling railroad ties and telegraph poles to construction companies.53 Saletyfmaple sugar was another major source of income. In March and April Indians gathered sap and produced what whites considered "the finest kind of sugar"; purchasers claimed that it tasted unlike any other, which possibly was because Indians filtered 54 the concentrated syrup through their blankets. Sugar was a valu- able trade commodity, and whites and Indians agreed that one pound of sugar was worth one and one-half pounds Of flour.55 During the period 1863-1889, Indians manufactured more than five million pounds of maple sugar, Of which they sold approximately half and earned slightly more than four hundred thousand dollars.56 Several hundred Indians became commercial hunters and fisher- men, sometimes forming independent companies. Indian agents feared Departmental reprisals for allowing their charges to revert to ”native traits" and did not emphasize this aspect Of Indian life; one agent reported that "little, if any, of their subsistence" was 52See "Agency Statistics" in Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for the years l873-1889. Generally three and one- half logs produced one thousand board feet. 53George W. Lee to Rowland E. Trowbridge, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, August, 1880, N.A. Roll 415. 54Fox, History of Saginaw County, p. 16; Frank S. Kedzie, "Sugar Production in Michigan," Michigan History Magazine, XVI (October, 1932), p. 296; Anna Brockway Gray, ”Letters From the Long Ago," Michigan History Magazine, XX (Spring—Summer, 1936), p. 185. 55 Ibid. 56See "Agricultural Statistics" in Annual Report Of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for the years 1863—1889. 157 "Obtained by hunting and fishing," which was "more a pastime and 57 recreation for them." This "pastime" resulted in sales of more than one hundred thousand barrels of fish, valued at approximately eight hundred thousand dollars, and furs worth $351,287.58 Fur trading declined markedly by 1880, but Indians remained in the fishing industry and were praised by whites as ”superior in their trade.“59 Women, children, and the aged earned money picking raspberries, huckleberries, whortleberries, blackberries, and cherries. Petoskey residents recalled that during berry season boatloads of Indian men and women arrived from Cross Village; women went from door to door selling berries for five or six cents per quart, while the men remained with the boats and smoked pipes. After all the fruit was sold they returned home; seldom did they make more than two visits in a season.60 In the 18805 Van Buren County settlers said that 57Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1886 (Washington: G.P.O., 1886), p. 167. 58See ”Agency Statistics” in Apnual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for the years 1863-1889. Each barrel Of fish con- tained two hundred forty pounds. In 1864 Agent Leach reported that Indians received "fabulous prices for furs.” 59Graham, Petoskey and Bay View in Ye Olden Days, p. 11. Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report Of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs," House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 2, 48th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1883), Serial 2191, p. 152; Eugene Brady, "A Few Reminiscences of My Life," Michigan History Magazine, XXI (Spring, 1937), p. 165. 60Edith Judkins Knaul, "Petoskey at the Turn of the Century," Michigan History, XXXVI (September, 1952), p. 236. 158 Indians c1aimed an "inalienable right" to monopolize berry picking.6] Generally whites were pleased to cede Indians this "right," as they considered picking fruit tedious, difficult labor; as a result, Indian families derived considerable revenue from this industry.62 The sale of bows, arrows, baskets, moccasins, and other native artifacts became a major Indian business enterprise by 1890. White settlers, and later tourists, delighted in purchasing beauti— fully decorated clothing trimmed with colored porcupine quills and beads. Baskets made of tightly woven sweetgrass were unmatched in quality and avidly sought by white women. A hickory bow and two arrows sold for twenty-five cents, and white children claimed that they were their most valued possessions.63 Indians also worked as miners, sailors, stevedores, and liverymen for white businessmen, but often received less than half 64 Few Indians remained the wages paid whites doing identical labor. in these jobs after they discovered that ”white man's labor" was not essential for survival in white society. Michigan's Indians possessed 6IGeorge W. Lawton, ”Historical Sketch of Van Buren County," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, III (Lansing: W. S. George and Co., 1881), p. 633. 62George W. Lee to the Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, August, 1880, N.A. Roll 415. Indian families were capable of picking as many as fifty bushels of huckleberries daily. Harry L. Spooner, "Indians Of Oceana,” Michigan History Magazine, XV (October, 1931), p. 660. 63Adele Ball, Early History of Owosso (Owosso: n.p., 1969), p. 54. 64Report of the Secretary Of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 2, 47th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G P.O., 1882), Serial 2018, p. 168. 159 skills which enabled them to live with whites and still do work based upon native abilities. VI In 1850 Michigan revised its constitution; the new document stipulated that every "male inhabitant of Indian descent, a native of the United States and not a member of any tribe" was an elector and entitled to vote.65 Few Indians met this requirement at the time, but the treaties made at Detroit five years later dissolved all tribal organizations in the state and thereby enabled them to practice their constitutional rights at the polls. Indians were enthusiastic voters because elective franchise was not conditioned upon assimilation; they considered votingeasymbolcfiitheir acceptance, as Indians, into white society. One agent noted that "the more intelligentIndianspnjzed the privilege and took no little interest 66 Settlers recalled that usually "many more 67 in election matters." whites than Indians stayed away from the polls." In regions sparsely populated by whites, Indians Often were elected to public Office; Isabella County had Indian Sheriffs and coroners, while Emmet and Oceana Counties regularly elected Indian township 65Michigan Statutes Annotated, I, p. 220. Other voting requirements were the same as for whites: twenty-one years Of age, six nknnfli residency in the state, and twenty day residency in the township or ward. 66Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 2, 39th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1865), Serial 1248, p. 636. 67A. J. Southard to Senator Zachariah Chandler, April 9, 1879, N.A. Roll 414. 160 68 Increased supervisors and town treasurers until the mid-18805. white settlement reduced the number of Indian officeholders, but in many districts Indian votes still represented the margin of victory in closely contested elections. Indians were partial to the party Of their agent, but occa- sionally they demonstrated independence and voted for an opposition candidate; when this occurred chagrined agents explained to irate Department officials that the Indians were duped and misled by designing men, as voters Of limited intelligence are ever liable to be, yet they evidently still desire to do right and to sustain their Father, the agent, and their Great Father, the President.69 After annuity payments ceased and agents became weak and ineffective, Indians began to vote more Often for the Opposition party. In 1876 Democrats made significant inroads among previously loyal Republican Indians; they reminded Indians that under "Democratic Fathers" all annuities had been paid in gold, goods had been delivered promptly, and they had lived in peace, isolated from whites, but that under Republicans they received greenbacks, their land and timber was stolen, treaties were broken, agents were corrupt, and whites sought 68George W. Lee to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, March 30, 1878, N.A. Roll 413; Portrait and Biographical Album of Isabella County (Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1884), p. 539; Hartwick and Tuller, Oceana County Pioneers and Businessmen of Today, p. 133. 69Report of the Secretary Of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,“ House Exec. Doc. 1, part 1, vol. 2, 39th Cong., lst Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1865), Serial 1248, p. 636. 161 to remove them from their homeland.70 A Republican Indian begged Commissioner of Indian Affairs John 0. Smith to visit the state's Indians and explain "the differences between the two political parties" and prove that "white Democrats were deceiving Indians by making great and fair promises just merely to gain their votes."71 Smith refused, and for the first time since 1858 Michigan's Indians, smarting over Betts' activities, cast a majority of their ballots for Democratic candidates. As citizens, Indians were required to serve on juries, allowed to give evidence at trials, and entitled to sue and be sued in any of Michigan's courts.72 In practice, however, Indians did not fully enjoy these privileges; Andrew Blackbird, an Ottawa interpreter and former postmaster at Little Traverse, stated in 1887 that: The Indians' oath and evidence are not regarded in this country and they stand a very poor chance before the law. Although they are citizens Of Michigan, they are continu- ally being taken advantage Of by the attorneys of the land; they are continually being robbed and cheated out of their property73and they can obtain no protection or redress whatever. Despite being "equal under law" Indians were discriminated against because they lacked financial means to acquire legal counsel. An attorney in Little Traverse explained his dilemma as a struggle between sentiment and practicality: 70John Smith to John 0. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, September 26, 1876, N.A. Roll 411. 7'1bid. 72Compiled Laws of the State of Michigan, 111, p. 3040. 73‘ Blackbird, History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan, p. 44. 162 I am troubled very much every day with Indians making com- plaints against whites, but dare not undertake any cases on account of the Indians having no money to retain me or any security for my services. I am really sorry for the poor creatures and would willingly help them if I had the means to take chances, but unfortunately I have not, and it is impossible for me 30 work for nothing, live on the wind, and board myself.7 Some lawyers feared that defending Indians might be construed by hostile judges as a violation Of Section 348 of the state's penal code, which stated that any person who shall incite, or attempt to incite any Indian . . . to disturb the peace and tranquility existing between himself and thg people of this state . . . shall be guilty of a felony. 5 Even when Indians retained attorneys their chances for legal victory were slim because Michigan's judges were, for the most part, active politicians who owed their position on the bench to wealthy lumbermen, land dealers, and railroad executives; cases which impaired their benefactors' success usually were either dismissed or decided against Indian plaintiffs. An excellent example of judicial chicanery occurred in 1879 when William L. Webber, Secretary of the Saginaw and Mount Pleasant Railroad and Land Commissioner for the Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad, requested Commissioner of Indian Affairs Ezra A. Hayt and General Land Office Commissioner J. M. Armstrong to allow his companies "six rods right of way across the 74 R011 411. 75 J. S. Andrews to George W. Lee, December 13, 1876, N.A. Public Acts of the State Of Michigan, I, p. 693. 163 Isabella Reservation."76 Armstrong refused, claiming that the congressional act of March 3, 1875 which granted right Of way across public lands excluded "any lands within the limits Of an Indian reservation."77 Undaunted, Webber took his case to Michigan's Supreme Court which ruled in his favor; Webber boasted to Hayt that the court made a decision construing Section 2477 of the Revised Statutes of the United States which grants a right of way through Indian reservations to highways, and it held that the term 'highway' as used in that statute embraces rail- roads. State and local courts continually denied justice to Indians; only federal courts Offered Michigan's red citizens at least a semblance of a fair hearing. Indian families also were subjected to probate laws which did not meet their needs. Since most Indians died intestate their estates, which consisted mostly of land, were divided equally among heirs; Indians claimed that this was inequitable because landless minors received the same amount of land as Older kin who previously had made forty or eighty acre selections. In 1869 Agent Long recom- mended establishment Of a three-man commission, consisting of two federal judges and the Mackinac agent, to administer Indian estates. 76William L. Webber to J. M. Armstrong, Commissioner of the General Land Office, August 19, 1879, N.A. Roll 414; William L. Webber to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, October 2, 1879, N.A. Roll 411. 77J. M. Armstrong, Commissioner of the General Land Office, to William L. Webber, August 27, 1879, N.A. Roll 414. 78William L. Webber to Ezra A. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 4, 1879, N.A. Roll 414. 164 This body,1uasaid, could compile lists Of eligible heirs, assure minors Of receiving acreage equivalent to that of their elder rela- tives before dividing the balance Of the estate equally among all heirs, and save families "immense amounts of trouble and money" by 79 eliminating appearances in probate court. Commissioner Parker rejected the proposal because “no existing law" permitted appointment of "a commission with probate power."80 Thus, strict adherence to common law principles by Indian Department Officials caused unneces- sary suffering among the people they were supposed to aid. The only "privilege" Of citizenship granted fully to Indians was tax-paying. Michigan Public Act 206 levied taxes on real and personal property belonging to "all inhabitants Of this state"; land held by the gOvernment for future Indian selection was tax-exempt, however, and whites who lived in counties with sizable amounts of this unallotted territory claimed that they bore an unfair tax 8] Settlers demanded that Indians make selections and that burden. all unchosen land be Opened for white entry. Isabella County's treasurer explained that this action would make Indians "full tax- paying citizens" and that sharing in community financial affairs 79James W. Long to Ely S. Parker, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, August 11, 1869, N.A. Roll 408. 80Ely S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, to James W. Long, May 14, 1870, N.A. Roll 409. 81Public Acts of the State of Michiggn, I, p. 358; Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 4, vol. 1, 4lst Cong., 3d Sess. (Washington: G.P.O., 1871), Serial 1449, p. 781. 165 would make them "feel proud and manly."82 Indians paid their taxes promptly, more from fear Of imprisonment than pride, but they dis- liked giving money to build schools and roads beneficial only to whites.83 Indian tax-paying was a clear demonstration of the tragic irony of their position in white society; before whites arrived Indians owned all the land and could roam at will, but in "civiliza- tion" they were limited to eighty acres and had to pay for the privilege of living on it. VII Throughout the years 1855-1889 Indian Department Officials proclaimed that Michigan's Indians were America's "models of assimilation." As early as 1871 reports were issued which stated that Indians were "capable of taking care of themselves" and that "the civilization of the Indians of Michigan" was "an accomplished 84 reality." In his annual report for 1875 Commissioner of Indian Affairs Edward P. Smith said: In the Indians of Michigan may be unquestionably seen the triumphs of our Christian civilization over paganism. They stand out in the strong light of a striking contrast with the aborigines. They almost universally wear the dress Of citizens. Many speak and more understand the English 82M. Mosher to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1869, N.A. Roll 408. 83Sagatoo, Thirty-three Years Among the Indians, p. 50; Joseph Dain to George W. Manypenny, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, January 29, 1856, N.A. Roll 405. 84John J. Knox to Francis A. Walker, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, December 8, 1871, N.A. Roll 409; Report of the Secretary of the Interior, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” House Exec. Doc. 1, part 5, vol. 1, 42d Cong., 2d Sess. (Washington: G.P 0., 1871), Serial 1505, p. 925. 166 language. Large numbers have adopted our industries; camp and tent are superseded by shanty and house; domestic instead of nomadic life is their rule. The mummeries of idolatry and conjuring of Paganism have given place to the prayers and praises addressed to the true and living God. Polygamy is practically abandoned, monogamy accepted, and the rites and rights of marriage and home regarded and respected.85 Government claims were so convincing that neither the Indian Rights Association nor the Lake Mohonk Friends of the Indian had Michigan chapters; in fact, neither organization ever mentioned the state's ten thousand Indians in their reports.86 A study Of American Indian life during the late nineteenth century stated that Michigan's population was "for the most part, quite self-supporting and may be 87 Government Officials, reformers, and dismissed from our pages." scholars assumed that the state's Indians were contented, prosperous, and eager to live like white men; however, they were wrong. Michigan's Indians were not "models of assimilation." They attended white churches not because they believed that Christianity was a superior religion, but rather to placate their agents, receive food, shelter, and clothing, and partake in social gatherings and festivals. They went to white schools to learn basic skills in order to survive in communities filled with people eager to cheat them. White-style dress was accepted partly because it was Often 85Annual Rpport of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1875 (Washington: G.P.O., 1875), pp. 51-52. 86Annual Report Of the Executive Committee of the Indian Rights Association for the years 1883-1900 (Philadelphia: Office of the Indian Rights Association); Lake Mohonk Conferences of the Friends of the Indian for the years 1883-1900 (New York: The Lake Mohonk Conference). 87Moorehead, The American Indian in the Uniteg_States, 1859.19.14, p. 43. ““ 167 received as gifts and partly because they did not consider it a threat to their culture. Some worked at "white industries" because they needed money to feed and clothe their families, but most chose labor which involved their native skills of hunting, fishing, forestry, and manufacture Of artifacts. What Washington Officials thought was a 1~illingness to assimilate was, in reality, an attempt to preserve Indian culture while living in white society. Indians desired only equality from their white neighbors. They wanted fair treatment under law, wages comparable to those paid whites, and most of all they wished to share in the freedoms promised all Americans in the Bill of Rights. Indians neither possessed religious freedom nor received due process; despite theoretical “full equality" Michigan's Indians, by virtue of their race, religion, and economic condition, were "second-class citizens." Indians would have been satisfied with "separate but equal” status; they believed that their lives would be improved isolated from the evils Of liquor, moral debauchery, disease, and corruption associated with white society. Sincere friends of the Indians tried to assist them but were thwarted by politicians and judges controlled by business interests; to most whites Indians were not human beings, but obstacles tO civilization and progress. Agent Lee, who spent six years battling for Indian rights, explained to his superiors that governmental Indian policy conflicted with American democratic ideals, and that he believed that: 168 In proportion as any party is weak and powerless, or is in the power of another stronger, or to whom the stronger is under Obligations, the stronger party must be always exactly just and right; we made treaties with the Indians as men, we stipulated to do certain things, but too Often in perform- ance we assumed to treat them as if they were children; I fear too often the difficulties met in the general Indian policy arise from this cause. Unfortunately, avarice took precedence over humanitarianism, and Michigan's Indians still suffer the effects of being denied moral and legal justice during the nineteenth century. 88George W. Lee to John O. Smith, Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, July 31, 1876, N.A. Roll 411. In 1927 the United States and Michigan reached an agreement on Indian policy; Michigan promised to treat Indians as bona fide residents of the state, and in return for this "concession" the federal government gave the state the Mount Pleasant Industrial School, which was subsequently' converted into an institute for the feeble-minded. B IBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY 169 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY Documents The most important source material for persons interested in Indian-white relations in Michigan during the last half of the nine- teenth century is the agency correspondence, available from National Archives as Microc0py 234, Record Group75, "Letters Received by the Office Of Indian Affairs from the Mackinac Agency." Agents' annual reports, as well as statistical information concerning agriculture, health, missions, and education, are included in the Annual Report of the Commissioner Of Indian Affairs for the years 1853-1889. Agency personnel is listed in the Official Register Of the United States. Specific examples Of progress toward assimilation Of Indians into white society are recorded in the Annual Report of the Board of Indian Commissioners for the years 1869-1889. Indian appropriation bills and treaties are published in Statutes-at-Large, volumes VII-XXXIX, and congressional debates over Indian matters are reported in the Congressional Globe and Congressional Record. Indian popula- tion by county is given in the census reports for the years 1860-1900. Information concerning education is available in the Annual Report of the Superintendent Of Public Instruction for the State of Michigpn for the years 1859—1890 and the Report of the United States Commis- sioner of Education. Land frauds are cited in Report of Committees of the House of Representatives, "Investigation of Indian Frauds," House Report 98, vol. 3, 42d Cong., 3d Sess., 1873. Indian attempts 170 171 at legal redress are reviewed in United States Court of Claims Reports and Michigan Reports for the years 1880-1903. State laws concerning Indians are found in Michigan Statutes Annotated, Public Acts of the Legislature of the State of Michigan, and Compiled Laws of the State Of Michigan. Newspapers The only newspaper which regularly carried information con- cerning Indian affairs was the Detroit Daily Post and Tribune. This newspaper, while staunchly Republican, printed letters which were highly critical of Republican agents; agent replies to criticism and court cases involving Indians were also published. Outstate news- papers, such as the Oceana Times, Midland Daily News, Isabella County Enterprise, Saginaw Daily Courier, and Traverse City Weekly Herald, rarely mentioned Indian—white relations even though they were pub- lished in areas having large Indian populations; lumbermen and land dealers in these regions influenced editors so that frauds and corruption affecting Indians were not reported. An Observer relying solely on newspaper accounts would have concluded that Michigan had very few Indians living within its borders. Indian Histories The best books describing Indian customs, religion, and way of life are Wilbert B. Hinsdale, The First People of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1930); W. Vernon Kinietz, The Indians of the Western Great Lakes, 1615-1760 (Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1940) and Chippewa Village: The Story Of Katikitegon (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, 1947); George I. Quimby, Indian Life in the Upper Great Lakes 172 (Chicago, 1960); and Robert E. and Pat Ritzenthaler, The Woodland Indians of the Western Great Lakes (Garden City, New York, 1970). Other useful studies include The Indian Tribes Of the Upper Mississippi Valley and Region of the Great Lakes, edited by Emma Helen Blair, 2 vol. (Cleveland, 1911-1912); Everett Claspy, Ipe_ Potawatomi Indians of Southwestern Michigan (Dowagiac, Michigan, 1966); Frances Densmore, Chippewa Customs (Washington, 1929); Emerson F. Greenman, The Indians of Michigan (Lansing, Michigan, 1961); Richard M. Morse, "The Chippewas Of Lake Superior," Wisconsin Historical Collections, III (1904), pp. 338-369; and Harlan 1. Smith, "Certain Shamanistic Ceremonies Among the Ojibwas," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, XXXII (1903), pp. 461-462. Education. No work deals exclusively with the education Of Michigan's Indians, but Evelyn C. Adams, American Indian Education: Government Schools and Economic Progress (New York, 1946) and Alice C. Fletcher, Indian Education and Civilization (Washington, 1888) give brief histories and abundant statistical information on Indian schools throughout the United States. Teacher responsibilities in Indian schools are described in the autobiography of Elizabeth W. Williams, A Child of the Sea, and Life Among the Mormons (Harbor Springs, Michigan, 1906) and the correspondence of John Heaphy in the Michigan Historical Collections Of the University of Michigan; Mrs. Williams taught three years at Garden Island and Heaphy taught four years at. Cheboygan. Political pressure for teacher appointment is illustrated by the correspondence of Grace E. Bradley in the Historical Collections 173 of Michigan State University. Two interesting studies relating to the Mount Pleasant Industrial School are H. A. Miller and Charles J. Seeley, Faces and Places Familiar (Mount Pleasant, Michigan, 1906) and Claude S. Larzelere, "The Central Michigan Normal School at Mount Pleasant," Michigan History Magazine, 111 (1919), pp. 235-246. Reports from the Mount Pleasant school's superintendent are included in the annual reports submitted by the commissioners Of Indian Affairs. J. H. Rockwell, "Our Public Schools Yesterday and TOday," Michigan History Magazine, XIV (1930), pp. 655-664 relates the duties and problems of public school teachers in Saginaw during the late nineteenth century. Religion Robert F. Berkhofer, Jr., Salvation and the Savage: An Analysis of Protestant Missions and American Indian Response, 1787-1862 (New York, 1972) is indispensable for understanding missionary motivations. The trend away from Indian work is discussed in Bernard Lambert, "Mission Priorities: Indians or Miners?” Michigan History, LI (1967), pp. 323-334. Indian reaction to missionaries in Michigan is evaluated in Gertrude P. Kurath, Michigan Indian Festivals (Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1966). Charles F. Luckhard, Faith in the Forest (Sebewaing, Michigan, 1952) and William Gustave Polack, Bringing Christ to the Ojibways in Michigan (New York, 1927) are the only books detailing Lutheran Indian work in Michigan. Lutheran motivations for entering Indian mission activities are discussed in Homer Reginald Greenholt, "A Study of Wilhelm Loehe, His Colonies, and the Lutheran Indian Missions in the 174 Saginaw Valley of Michigan" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Chicago, 1937) and The Schmid Papers, edited by Emerson E. Hutzel (private printing, 1953). Schmid was the pioneer German Lutheran missionary in Michigan and his letters indicate the denomi- nation's severe internal struggles concerning the need to become involved in Indian work. Catholic missionary activity is recorded primarily in the writings Of priests sympathetic to the Catholic cause. Of such works the best are George Pare, The Catholic Church in Detroit, 1701-1888 (Detroit, 1951); Antoine I. Rezek, History of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie, 2 vol. (Chicago, 1907); and John Gilmary Shea, Catholic Missions Among the Indian Tribes of the United States (New York, 1855). Bishop Baraga's efforts are described favorably in P. Chrysostomus Verwyst, Life and Labors of Right Reverend Frederic Baraga (Milwaukee, 1900). Verwyst includes entries from Baraga's diaries and copies Of correspondence sent to the Vienna Leopoldine Society. James K. Jamison, By Cross and Anchor: The Story of Frederic Baraga on Lake Superior (Patterson, New Jersey, 1946) is a favorable account of Baraga's work, but it is not as valuable as Verwyst because it contains no correspondence, diary entries, or interviews with persons who knew the Bishop. Other interesting and useful studies involving Catholic mission work are U. D. Hedrick, Land Of the Crooked Tree (New York, 1948); Mary Belle Shurtleff, gig Arbre Croche: A Factual and Comprehensive History Of Cross Village, Michigan (private printing, 1963); John E. Day, "The Jesuits in Michigan," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, XXXII (1903), 175 pp.405-409;IngridEL Hall, ”Exploring Cross Village," Totem Pole, XXIX (1952), pp. 1-3; Francis Jacker, "Assinins and Zeba: The Two Oldest Permanent Settlements on Keweenaw Bay," Michigan History Magazine, VI (1922), pp. 315-327; H. Bedford Jones, "The Story of a Famous Mission," Michigan History Magazine, IV (1920), pp. 596-607; Thomas Linehan, "Early Catholic Missions in Emmet County," Michigan History Magazine, II (1918), pp. 324-329; and F. A. O'Brien, "Two Early Missionaries to the Indians," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, XXXIX (1915), pp. 221-232. Baptist Indian work in Michigan ended in 1859 and little has been written concerning Baptist missionaries after 1840. The most valuable sources for general information are William Gammell, A History of American Baptist Missions in Asia, Africa, and North America Under the Care of the American Baptist Missionary Union (Boston, 1850); Isaac McCoy, History of Baptist Indian Missions, Embracing Remarks on the Former and Present Condition Of the Aboriginal Tribes (Washington, 1840); and Carl C. Rister, Baptist Missions Among the American Indians (Atlanta, 1944). Abel Bingham, "The Early Mission at Sault Ste. Marie," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, XXVIII (1900), pp. 520-524 is the best source dealing exclusively with Indian work in Michigan. Bingham was one Of only three Baptist ministers who served Michigan's Indians during the years 1828-1859. I Presbyterian and Congregationalist missionary work was done primarily by two men--Peter Dougherty and George Nelson Smith. Insights into these men's thoughts are gained through their writings; 176 Dougherty’s diaries were published in the Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society, XXX (1952), pp. 95-114, 175-192, 236-252, and COpies Of Smith's papers and diaries are in the Clarke Historical Collections of Central Michigan University. Virgil J. Vogel, ”The Missionary as Acculturation Agent: Peter Dougherty and the Indians of Grand Traverse," Michigan History, L1 (1967), pp. 185-201 discusses non-religious aspects Of missionary work. J. Fraser Cocks, III, "George N. Smith: Reformer on the Frontier,” Michigan History, LII (1968), pp. 37-49 is a balanced account of Smith's labor. A less even, but more interesting and personal, treatment is given by Smith's daugher, Etta Smith Wilson, "Life and Work of the Late Reverend George N. Smith, A Pioneer Missionary,“ Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, XXX (1906), pp. 198-211. The papers Of Reverend J. Irwin Smith in the Historical Collections of Michigan State University contain information about Lake Superior missions. Other useful studies are Augustus Field Beard, A Crusade Of Brotherhood: A History of the American Missionary Association (Boston, 1909); John Comin and Harold Fredsell, History of the Presbyterian Church in Michigan (Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1950); Ruth Craker, First Protestant Mission in the Grand Traverse Region (East Jordan, Michigan, 1932); and C. J. Ryder, "The Indian Fields and Work of the American Missionary Association," Lake Mohonk Conferences of the Friends of the Indian, XV (1897), pp. 64-73. The standard work concerning Methodist missionary activity is Wade Crawford Barclay, The Methodist Church: History of Indian Missions, 2 parts, 6 vol. (New York, 1950-1951). A more recent work 177 by Margaret Burnham Macmillan, The Methodist Church in Michigan: The Nineteenth Century (Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1967) does not mention the existence of Indian missions after 1860, even though the Methodist Church controlled the Mackinac Agency and operated as many as eleven missions. Autobiographies by missionaries must be used with caution, but are invaluable sources of information. Of such works the best are Elijah H. Pilcher, Protestantism in Michigan: Being A Special History of the Methodist Episcopal Church (Detroit, 1878); John H. Pitezel, Lights and Shades of Missionary Life; Containing Travels, Sketches, Incidents, and Missionary Efforts During Nine Years Spent in the Region Of Lake Superior (Cincinnati, 1857) and Historical Recollec- tions (Cincinnati, 1873); Manasseh Hickey, "Reminiscences of Reverend Manasseh Hickey, A Missionary Among the Indians," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections IV (1906), pp. 23-33, 544-556; and George and Joseph Bradley, "A Brief History Of the Isabella Mission of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church" in the Michigan Historical Collections of the University Of Michigan. Reverend Mr. Pitezel's papers, located in the Clarke Historical Collections of Central Michigan University, detail the hardships and frustrations of missionary life. Certain letters Of Reverend William Hadley Brockway, missionary, state legislator, and Indian agent, are recorded in an article by his daughter, Mary Brockway Dickie, “Reminiscences of William Hadley Brockway," Michigan History Magazine, I (1917), pp. 44-54. Several native preachers wrote dramatic accounts of their conversions; of these the most informative are George Copway, The Life, History and Travels of Kah-ge—ga-gah-bowh (George Copway), A Young Indian Chief 178 of the Ojebwa Nation, A Convert to the Christian Faith, and A Missionaryito His People for Twelve Years (Albany, New York, 1847) and Peter Jones, History of the Ojebwanyndians, With Especial Refer- ence to Their Conversion to Christianity(London, 1861). General studies of limited value are Ralph E. Diffendorfer, The World Service of the Methodist Episcopal Church (Chicago, 1923) and Charles A. Johnson, The Frontier Camp-Meeting (Dallas, 1955). Church Opinions, discussions, and missionary apprOpriations are recorded in the Christian Advocate (New York, 1860-1900). Reports Of the Woman's Home Missionary Society Of the Methodist Episcopal Church: Michigan and Detroit Conferences give information on philanthropic activities. Local Histories While they must be used carefully, local histories offer a wide range of information unavailable from any other source. Among the most valuable for persons interested in Indian-white relations are Adele Ball, Early History of Owosso (Owosso, Michigan, 1969); Julia T. Dickinson, The Story Of Leelanau (Omena, Michigan, 1951); Truman B. Fox, History of Saginaw County From the Year 1819 Down to the Present Time (East Saginaw, Michigan, 1858); Floy Irene Graham, Petoskey and Bay View in Ye Olden Days (Petoskey, Michigan, 1938); L. M. Hartwick and W. H. Tuller, Oceana County Pioneers and Businessmen of Today (Pentwater, Michigan, 1890); M. A. Leeson, History Of Saginaw County, Michigan (Chicago, 1881); Edmund Littell, One Hundred Years in Leelanau: A History of Leelanau County, Michigan (Leland, Michigan, 1965); Rolland H. Maybee, Mount Pleasant Area and Chippewa Indian Centennial (n.p., 1964); Edna M. Otis, Their Yesterdays: AuSable and 179 Oscoda, 1848-1948 (Oscoda, Michigan, 1948); W. P. Strickland, Qig_ Mackinaw (Philadelphia, 1860); Charles C. Chapman, Portrait and Biographical Album Of Isabella County(ChicagO, 1884) and Portrait and Biographical Album of Lenawee County (Chicago, 1888); Edward A. Foote, "Historical Sketch of the Early Days of Eaton County," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, III (1881), pp. 379-386; Dwight Goss, "The Indians of the Grand River Valley," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, XXX (1906), pp. 172-190; Mary M. L. Hoyt, "Early Recollections of Pioneer Life in Michigan," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, XXX (1906), pp. 289-302; Edith Judkins Knaul, "Petoskey at the Turn of the Century," Michigan History, XXXVI (1952), pp. 225-240; George W. Lawton, "Historical Sketch Of Van Buren County," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, 111 (1881), pp. 625-637; Morgan L. Leach, “History of the Grand Traverse Region," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, XXXII (1903), pp. 14-175; and Harry L. Spooner, "Indians of Oceana," Michigan History Magazine, XV (1931), pp. 654-665. Excellent anonymous works are "Eaton County," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, III (1881), pp. 379-383 and "Calhoun County Indians,” Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collec- tions, III (1881), pp. 367-368. Local histories with a more limited treatment of Indian-white relations are A1 Barnes, Vinegar Pie and Other Tales of the Grand Traverse Region (Detroit, 1959); William Boulton, Complete History of Alpena County, Michigan (Alpena, Michigan, 1876); Alvah Brainerd, A Pioneer History Of the Township of Grand Blanc (Flint, Michigan, 1878); Charles C. Chapman, Portrait and Biographical Record of Genesee, 180 Lapeer, and Tuscola Counties (Chicago, 1882); Willis Dunbar, How It Was In Hartford (Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1968); Ray J. Kuhn, Pincon- ning: Place Where the Wild Potatoes Grow (Pinconning, Michigan, 1972); James Cook Mills, History of Saginaw County, Michigan, 2 vol. (Saginaw, Michigan, 1918); William W. Potter, History of Barry County (Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1912); Edward W. Barber, "The Vermontville Colony: Its Genesis and History," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, XXVIII (1900), pp. 197-265; W. A. Childs, "Reminiscences of Old Keweenaw," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, XXX (1906), pp. 150-155; Lucius E. Gould, "The Passing of the Old Town," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, XXX (1906), pp. 352-396; Donald C. Henderson, "Allegan County—-Its Rise, Progress, and Growth in Population," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, III (1881), pp. 270-310; James W. Humphrey, ”The Selkirk Reservation," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, XXXII (1903), pp. 381-383; and Henry McConnell, “Early Days in Petoskey,“ Michigan History Magazine, V (1921), pp. 211-216. Land Paul W. Gates, "Indian Allotments Preceding the Dawes Act," in The Frontier Challenge: Responses to the Trans-Mississippi West, edited by John G. Clark (Lawrence, Kansas, 1971), pp. 141-170 and Wilcomb E. Washburn, Red Man's Land--White Man's Law (New York, 1971) are the best general studies concerning Indian land problems. Indian land cessions in Michigan are discussed in detail in Alpheus Felch, ”The Indians Of Michigan and the Cession of Their Lands to the United States by Treaties," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, 181 XXVI (1896), pp. 274-298. Methods used by land sharks may be found by investigating deeds and contracts in the Peter C. Andre Papers in the Michigan Historical Collections of the University of Michigan. Legal efforts to restore stolen Indian property are recorded in the John C. Blanchard Papers in the Michigan Historical Collections of the University of Michigan. Lumber and Fishing Michigan's lumber and fishing industries are treated very thoroughly in F. Clever Bald, Michigan in Four Centuries (New York, 1961); George N. Fuller, Michigan: A Centennial History of the State and Its People (Chicago, 1939); and Rolland H. Maybee, Michigan's White Pine Era (Lansing, Michigan, 1961). Statistical information may be found in Michigan and Its Resources, edited by John W. Jochim (Lansing, Michigan, 1893); Charles Lanman, The Red Book Of Michigan (Detroit, 1871); and Stephen B. McCracken, Michigan and the Centennial (Detroit, 1876). Among the most valuable accounts by lumbermen Of their relations with Indians are Eugene Brady, “A Few Reminiscences of My Life,” Michigan History Magazine, XXI (1937), pp. 163-177; E. Lakin Brown, ”Autobiographical Notes,” Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, XXX (1906), pp. 424-494; Archibald Buttars, ”Memories of Northern Michigan,“ Michigan History Magazine, 11 (1918), pp. 387-395; and William F. Smith, "Historical Notes," Michigan History Magazine, XVI (1932), pp. 504-511. Other interesting, but less useful, sources are George B. Engberg, "Who Were the Lumberjacks?" Michigan History, XXXII (1948), pp. 225-246; A. W. Miles, "The End of the Drive," Michigan History Magazine, XX (1936), pp. 221-229; and 182 John Van Oosten, "Michigan's Commercial Fisheries of the Great Lakes," Michigan History Magazine, XXII (1938), pp. 107-143. Agriculture NO work has been compiled concerning Indian agricultural endeavors in Michigan. J. O. Veatch, Agricultural Land Classifica- tion and Land Types of Michigan (East Lansing, Michigan, 1941), is a monumental study comparing soil quality within counties and is invaluable to persons interested in determining agricultural problems faced by Indians. Readings in the Geography of Michigan, edited by Charles M. Davis (Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1964) is useful but lacks the depth of Veatch. Frank S. Kedzie, "Sugar Production in Michigan," Michigan History Magazine, XVI (1932), pp. 296-303 discusses contrasts between production and quality of sugar made by Indians and whites. Duties Of an "Indian farmer" are mentioned in the O. G. Dunkel Papers in the Historical Collections of Michigan State University. Indian agricultural capabilities are reported in A. D. P. Van Buren, "'Raisings' and 'Bees' Among the Early Settlers," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, V (1905), pp. 296-300. Assimilation and Acculturation The best books, written from the Indians' point of view, concerning Indian-white relations in Michigan are Andrew J. Blackbird, History Of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan (Ypsilanti, Michigan, 1887); John H. Holst, A Survey of Indian Groups in the State of Michigan (Washington, 1940); Francis Paul Prucha, Lewis Cass and American Indian Policy (Detroit, 1967); Mary Sagatoo, 183 Wah Sash Kah Moqua; or, Thirty-three Years Among the Indians (Boston, 1897); and Kenneth E. Tiedke, A Study of the Hannahville Indian Community (East Lansing, Michigan, 1951). Excellent general studies which do not deal exclusively with Michigan are William Barrows, The Indians' Side of the Indian Question (Boston, 1887); G. E. E. Lindquist, The Red Man in the United States (New York, 1923); George W. Manypenny, Our Indian Wards (Cincinnati, 1879); William K. Moorehead, The American Indian in the United States, 1850-1914 (Andover, Massachusetts, 1914); and Francis A. Walker, The Indian Question (New York, 1878). Loring Benson Priest, Uncle Sam's Stepchildren: The Reforma- tion Of United States Indian Policy, 1865-1887 (New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1942) is still the standard work on Indian assimilation. Among the more recent works dealing with assimilation and acculturation are Henry E. Fritz, The Movement for Indian Assimilation, 1860-1890 (Philadelphia, 1963); Robert W. Mardock, The Reformers and the American Indian (Columbia, Missouri, 1971); and Francis Paul Prucha, Americanizing_the American Indians (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1973). Robert M. Utley, "The Celebrated Peace Policy of General Grant,” North Dakota History, xx (1953), pp. 121-142 remains the most thoughtful and concise treatment Of this topic. Other sources dealing with removal, alcohol, justice, and Indian civilization in Michigan include Bela Hubbard, Memoirs of A. Half-Century in Michigan and the Lake Region (New York, 1888); Robert F. Bauman, "Kansas, Canada, or Starvation," Michigan History, XXXVI (1952), pp. 287-299; Newell E. Collins, "The Sad Story of the Burt 184 Lake Band," Totem Pole, XXXVII (1956), pp. 1-6; John Fitzgibbon, "King Alcohol: His Rise, Reign, and Fall in Michigan," Michigan History Magazine, II (1918), pp. 737-780; ”Letters from the Long Ago," edited by Anna Gray Brockway, Michigan History Magazine, XX (1936), pp. 185-212; Gurdon S. Hubbard, ”Incidents in the Administration of Indian Justice,” Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, III (1881), pp. 127-129; Jonathan Kneeland, "On Some Causes Tending to Promote the Extinction of the Aborigines of America," The Transactions of the American Medical Association, XV (1865), pp. 253-260; Charles Moore, "The Days of Fife and Drum," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, XXVIII (1900), pp. 437-453; Ivan Swift, ”The Good Indian," Michigan HistoryiMagazine, XXII (1938), pp. 409-414; Calvin Thorpe, "Pioneer and Aborigine," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, XXVIII (1900), pp. 467-478; and A. D. P. Van Buren, "The Fever and Ague--'Michigan Rash'--Mosquitoes--The Old Pioneers' Foes," Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, V (1884), pp. 300-304. Bulb'- - r "11111111111111.1111111111