ONCE more we found ourselves living in the midst of an Indian community. It will be in place, at this point, to pause before entering upon the scenes among the white settlers, and lay before the reader some account of the character and condition of the Northern Indians, among whom our lot was now cast; the remarks in the former part of this volume being mainly confined to the Southern tribes.

     Commencing with Southern Kansas, the first tribe of any note are the Osages, an indigenous people, whose character and habits have been treated somewhat at large in the previous part. Passing up the military road north, we enter the lands of the Weas, Miamis, Peorias, Pyankeshaws, and Kaskaskias, small, fragmentary tribes that have been removed West by the Government, and settled upon tracts of limited extent.

     Next, on the north, we reach the Shawnees, numbering about one thousand, considerably advanced in improvements, inhabiting a fertile section of country, having Kaw River on the north, and a rich and highly-improved portion of Missouri on the east. The Shawnees are an old and brave Nation, and have acted their part in Indian history. They had still among them some men of wealth and influence. A CAPTAIN PARKS, a half-breed, since, I think, deceased, was long prominent, owned slaves, had a well-improved farm, and in the treaty was well provided for by lands immediately upon the State line. On moving West, I bore to him a letter of introduction from Hon. J. H. B., a well-known public man in Indiana, who claimed Parks as a relative, and appealed to the common Quaker blood

coursing through their veins, and endeavored to arouse in him a spirit of opposition to slavery. But Parks was too deeply indoctrinated to listen to "Northern fanatics." He had taken his lessons in civilization in another school. It fell to the ground.

     Among the prominent men of the tribe were PASCAL FISH, a local preacher of our Church, and his brother CHARLES, who acted as our interpreter. These were good men, and remained firm in their adherence through all the persecutions.

     The influence of the large mission establishment at the Manual-Labor School already described was strong. There were few to counteract or explain; and at the separation, the main body of our Shawnee membership was carried, nolens volens, into the Church South. They have a large meeting-house and camp-ground, and exert a powerful influence over the tribe. Our membership is reduced to about twenty--a faithful band. The Baptists, under Dr. Barker, had a flourishing Church. I know not their present condition.

     Crossing the Kaw River we enter the lands of the Delawares, another distinguished and well-known tribe, not differing greatly in numbers from the Shawnees. The traces of their footsteps are scarcely yet effaced in Central Indiana, and the echo of their war-whoop has but just died away. Many places bear their names, and many reminiscences of them are yet related by the early settlers. Incidentally I have already referred to their character, and to the great veneration in which they are held by the other indian tribes.

     The lands assigned them by the Government, and of which they have been in possession for a number of years, are regarded as the most valuable of all the territory ceded by the late treaties, and have attracted the greatest attention. They have a good front of some thirty miles upon Missouri River, extending back up the Kaw River, with a large strip known as the Delaware Outlet, reaching far in [t]o

the interior. The tribe is considerably advanced in agriculture, though with little literary culture. The Baptists have here a flourishing mission school, under the care of Elder Pratt, which, from some cause, fared rather better in treaty arrangements than its neighbor among the Shawnees. Possibly a key may be found in the sliding-scale of Government favors referred to in a previous chapter.

     Our Church had a strong hold among them, but they, like the Shawnees, were mainly carried South at the separation, taking, in this case also, the Church property. Still, they hold not to my knowledge, a single slave in the tribe, and it was understood that great offense was given, some years since, by the return of one of their old missionaries, formerly a pastor greatly beloved, but who, at his second removal into the Nation, from a more southern position, brought with him a lot of slaves.

     Honorable mention should be made of CHARLES KETCHAM, among the leading men of the Nation, and of the whole Indian country. He has long been a preacher among us. Ketcham is a large, portly Indian, of manly appearance and address; illiterate, but of good intellect and fluent in speech, possessing a fine voice, and able to make the vigorous intonations of the Delaware language ring with effect upon an audience, even when not understood. Ketcham stood firm in the division, though threatened with the loss of his head built a church himself, and kept the little remnant of our flock together. He is an Indian in thought and feeling, and may be characterized by some Indian instability, but upon the whole he deserves the respect of his tribe and of the Church. He is settled on a good farm, maintains a place in the Conference, and labors with his people.*

      JOHNNY-CAKE, whom I have previously mentioned as a preacher, is a quiet and apparently pious Baptist man, in good worldly circumstances, and exerting a good influence.

     The Wyandotts, though a small remnant, not numbering

over five hundred souls, have gained great prominence in our Church history, from being the first Northern tribe among whom our missionaries labored with success. These missionary labors among them are recorded in several books by the late Rev. J. B. Finley, and in one by Dr. Elliott. Well do I remember the visits paid by the energetic Finley, then in his early manhood, to my paternal home with his missionary assistants, on their way to and from Sandusky, then a remote frontier. And well, too, do I remember, on learning that I, in early boyhood, had endeavored to give my heart to God, the kind, warm, fatherly letter he addressed me from the mission station.

     Wyandott Methodism early produced some of the finest specimens of Indian piety and thrilling pulpit eloquence. Mo-non-cue and Between-the-logs were most distinguished. None can read, without thrilling emotion, Father Finley's description of the effect produced at a camp meeting near Baltimore, while one of these sons of the forest painted the scene of the Cross. These passed away before the removal West, and others have followed since. They have some noble spirits yet, but few traces of their former greatness remain.

     On their removal West, the Wyandotts did not go to the lands which the Government proposed to assign them, but themselves purchased, with their public funds, from the Delawares, a wooded tract of very fertile land, finely undulating and well watered, being the point or delta above the confluence of the Kaw with the Missouri. The site was eligible and healthy. There was but little over one township of land; but this, with agricultural habits already in a good degree formed, was sufficient for the wants of the people. Here they settled, and soon made considerable improvements.

     Religious influence, and the influence of our Church, was stronger proportionally among them than any other Northern tribe. At the separation in 1845 an effort was made to bring them, too, under Southern control. But the body of the Church stood firm in their integrity, though it caused

them to endure "a great fight of afflictions." Their good brick church building was wrested from them and retained in the hands of a small minority; and they quietly retired, and erected a log-house of worship. A missionary was asked from the Ohio Conference, and was sent.

     The Indians on the frontier never have been left to manage their own affairs. Designing and restless men, near by in the States, have excited and corrupted them, and too often the Government agents and officers have lent their influence to the unholy purpose. The results then have been trumpeted abroad as expressions of Indian feeling and sentiment, when, in fact, it was only white aggression and outrage.

     The history of these transactions will be recollected. An excitement was raised and the missionary expelled. The authorities at Washington censured the act and removed the Agent, but still the same influences continued to prevail. The youth of the tribe, especially the half-breeds, were generally dissipated, reckless, and easily led into acts of outrage and riot. The opening of the Kansas struggle increased the flame; parties were arrayed, disorder and lawlessness were excited by outsiders of rank and influence, unprincipled and reckless half-breeds were set on; at length, in the hight (sic) of the Kansas excitement, both churches were fired and burned to the ground. Could the whole tale be told, and all the movements exposed that led to this state of things, a tinge perhaps might mantle the cheek of professed sanctity.

     At the time that my residence among them commenced they were in a state of comparative quiet. The body of the tribe were kind and respectful. None were ever otherwise, except--as I had reason to believe--when they were influenced by designing whites over the line. They were good, obliging neighbors. I spent my intervals at home agreeably, enjoyed many interesting seasons of worship with them and their esteemed missionary, and had personal inclinations been suffered to prevail, myself and family would probably have made a permanent residence among them.

They kindly translated what they conceived to be the adjective signification of my name into their language, calling me "Ta-hush-ta"--"Good."

     The Wyandotts at that time still retained their own form of government, chiefs and councilmen being elected by the tribe. The Head-Chief at that time was Ta-roo-me--if my orthography is right--his English name being John Hat. He was rude and uncultivated, but seemingly an honest man. The second Chief was Matthew Mud-Eater, an illiterate, but a mild, intelligent, good Indian. Others, however, exerted greater influence and were more deserving of notice than the Chiefs.

     SQUIRE GRAY-EYES, a native preacher, was the model man of the tribe. He was one of the early fruits of Finley's labors, and lived to a good old age. Small in stature, quick and active in his movements, spirited, but mild and gentle in his temper, scrupulously neat in his person, fervent and zealous in his piety, and exemplary in his walk, he was upon the whole one of the noblest specimens of Indian character. There must have been a secret power and pathos in his eloquence, for no white missionary ever could move and melt and sway the Wyandotts as he did, although he had labored with them a lifetime. The missionaries understood this, and when direct effect was intended they placed him in the front. Still he was unassuming, and seemed highly to appreciate and enjoy the labors of the missionaries through the interpreters, as his flowing tears and animated response "Zham-my" would often testify. His wife, considerably his junior, was neat and pious, and his home comfortable. I loved to visit him, though he could converse but little. He rarely attempted English. The only adventure of the kind I now recollect was an encomium upon Father Finley, then living, whose memory was held in great veneration among them. I was seated in his cabin one Sabbath afternoon. He had been sitting some time in silence, as if absorbed in reflection. Suddenly he exclaimed, "Jim Finley--good man--preach--jump!"

     He had a joyful meeting with his spiritual father in Indianapolis at the General Conference of 1856. The scene is graphically described by Rev. Mr. Jobson, one of the English delegates, in his interesting book upon "America and American Methodism." A mistake, however, occurs, but one pardonable in an enthusiastic foreigner, who perhaps for the first time looked upon a son of the forest. He speaks of him as having traveled to the seat of the Conference "on foot," "foot-worn and haggard," with "signs on his legs and clothes of his recent struggles over the soil and through the entangled brushwood of the forest." Not so. He had traveled by steamboat and railway, was by arrangement to have accompanied me, but started in advance. And as for tattered and worn garments, no one probably ever saw Gray-Eyes before the public in any other than neat and becoming attire, at least to American eyes. But Finley and Gray-Eyes have since that gone to join Mo-non-cue, Between-the-logs, Sum-mon- de-wat, and John Armstrong, in the land of the pure and the blessed.

     GEORGE W. CLARKE, a local preacher, was my near neighbor. He was a half-breed, of good sense, gentle manners, consistent piety, and a caution that approached timidity. He spoke English tolerably well, and was understood to render English correctly into Wyandott. He was our stated interpreter. I have enjoyed many pleasant opportunities of preaching through him. He had a good farm and comfortable residence near where Quindaro now stands. His retiring habits diminished his influence in times of excitement. He was selected, however, as one of the last delegates to Washington, and subsequently, in the time of the troubles, he was called into service as principal Chief of the tribe. It was, if memory serve, while filling that position that he was called from labor to reward.

      FRANCIS HICKS, another of the early converts, had in former years been a man of note. He sided with the Southern party, was principal Chief, and took part in the expulsion of our missionary, before stated. His influence waned,

and his health gradually failed. During my residence in the tribe he returned to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and soon after died in peace. He desired that his daughter should be educated at the Cincinnati Female College, and at his request I obtained for her a place there.

     BIG-TREE was another fine specimen, an early convert, now advanced in life, a licensed exhorter, faithful, consistent, in declining health, but always cheerful and buoyant, as well as courteous and gentlemanly in his demeanor. A sample of ready wit, coupled with gentlemanly bearing, occurred in my own intercourse with him that would not have disgraced more polished society. Big-Tree understood and spoke English very imperfectly, still, unlike Gray-Eyes, he would make the venture, and with him as with others it sometimes led to amusing mistakes.

     He lived on my way to the church, and on one Sabbath I took the liberty, after service, of inviting myself to dine with him, saying to him that he need not wait, as I was on foot, but go on and I would follow. Yielding a ready assent to the proposal, he started, while I in company with a friend followed on. Arrived at his cabin, we were politely invited in by the family and seated, but our intended host himself was not there. Time passed on without explanation, and the family entertained us with talk, but still he did not appear. Wondering at this, and fearing that something was wrong, I ventured to inquire. All was soon explained. He had misunderstood my self-invitation to dine with him for an invitation to himself to dine with me, and in that light had accepted it, and forthwith made his way to my house, a mile distant from his own. The family, on my arrival, seeing the mistake, had privately dispatched a messenger to him. About the time the explanation was over, Big-Tree entered in his usual bland way, and between a smile and a blush addressed me: "Been to your house--see your wife and children--all well." This over, we were entertained with simple but real hospitality. He too has since gone to the society of pure kindred spirits above.

Thus have nearly all the first lights of the Wyandott Church passed away.

     Other characters of interest were found among them. LITTLE CHIEF was a mild, placid old man, an example of Christian meekness and gentleness; he was a com peer of Gray-Eyes, and I think still lives. JOHN SOLOMON was a fine, brave fellow, a worthy Church member, of no great mental caliber, but possessing great physical power, with courage enough to use it, when occasion required, in defense of the right. SPLIT-THE-LOGS was an ingenious, public-spirited Indian, erected a mill, and contributed his influence to every good object. He was a firm, decided, sensible man, not a professor of religion, but his strong antislavery feelings led him to take a warm side with our people in all their struggles. R. M. R , partly French, was a native of Canada, where part of the tribe once resided, and had been raised among white relatives in entire ignorance of his Indian extraction. Taking part in one of the insurrections he was compelled to flee the country as a rebel, came to Ohio, mingled with ether relatives, and came to a knowledge of his Indian relationship, was recognized by the tribe, joined them, emigrated West, acquired a good property, and served as Secretary of the National Council. He was inclined to Romanism, but was a sensible, kind man, a good musician, and a valued neighbor.

     Specimens might be multiplied from personal knowledge, but I desire simply to present enough among the several tribes to do justice to Indian character. I have no sympathy with those, in any department, who can see nothing in Indians but degradation and vileness, and who heap upon them only opprobrious epithets. True they are in a great degree unenlightened; they have been victims at the hands of the whites to fraud, corruption, and the most debasing examples. Yet in my long and extended intercourse, an intercourse embracing almost every tribe upon our Western frontier, I have found much to admire in the true, genuine, uncorrupted Indian character.

     PROCEEDING still northward, we enter next the lands of the Kickapoos, whose line strikes the Missouri River immediately above Fort Leavenworth. The numbers of this tribe are considerable; their lands were good. In character and general improvements they are a degree below the tribes just noticed, have no very prominent men, and have attracted less attention. Some missionary effort has been expended among them, the results of which are still seen in the piety of some of the tribe. Among them the prophet Ken-i-kuk appeared, and run his race. His vagaries were a serious drawback to the work; though it is believed that he afterward became a true penitent. A meeting-house was erected, which, in my early wanderings, once afforded me a shelter for the night, when shelters were scarce. The Kickapoo village was finely situated on a bold bluff of the Missouri.

     After this came a tract occupied by the Sacs, and another by the lowas. These are small bands, but little improved. The Old School Presbyterians have a prosperous mission among the Iowas, with a good farm, buildings, and a flourishing school under the superintendence of Rev. Mr. Irwin. These lands reached to the month of Great Nemaha, the reputed line of Nebraska Territory.

      Several tribes were in the interior. The principal was that of the Pottawatamies, who had been removed from Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan, united with another section of the same tribe near Council Bluffs, and all placed about one hundred miles up the Kaw River, where they have a square of about thirty miles, lying well

on the two sides of the stream. This I have been wont to class among the inferior tribes, but they are, perhaps, improving at this time as fast as any other tribe. Their interior position is favorable, as it removes them from the exciting and corrupting influences of the frontier. Reference has already been made to the beneficial effects of a Catholic mission planted among them.

     The Kaws or Kansas Indians are an indigenous tribe, of rude, filthy habits, and seemingly almost untamable character, the lowest class of savages in the Territory. They have thus far resisted all efforts of Church and State for their permanent improvement. A reserve has been assigned them on the head-waters of the Neosho, but much of their time is spent in wandering over the settlements, begging, stealing, living upon entrails, and other tainted or refuse offals, to the great disgust and annoyance of the settlers. Dog meat is held in high estimation by the ruder Indians, and a fat puppy must be well guarded till able to take his own part.

     Near to these is a tract of land held by the Sacs and Foxes; and still east of these, upon the Maries Des Cygnes, and adjoining the fragmentary tribes before mentioned, is the little band of Ottawas, among whom has been a Baptist mission. About the time of one of my visits, the missionary, whose name has escaped me, died, and I have not learned that his place has been supplied. Identified with this tribe, though I think not properly belonging to it, is a prominent Indian known as Tawa Jones; educated at the school at the Great Crossings in Kentucky, and noted, in early life, for a chivalrous but unsuccessful attempt to ally himself with the domestic arrangements of the Chieftain who superintended; an incident that caused "no small stir" among the events of that day. Jones I found to be a sedate, sensible man, a Baptist preacher, apparently pious, with an intelligent Eastern lady as his wife, living on a fine farm, with good buildings, and surrounded by the comforts of life. But his antislavery sentiments exposed him to vio-

lence during the "dark years" that followed. He was fired at, barely escaped with life, and his fine residence was burned to the ground.

     The vast Territory of Nebraska includes numerous tribes but partially known. I shall now only speak of those on or near the border, leaving the interior and mountain tribes for the subsequent part of this volume.

     The fortieth parallel of north latitude divides the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska. This, upon actual survey, was found to strike the Missouri River a few miles below the mouth of Great Nemaha. There, upon the bluff, a monument is erected.

      Passing the Great Nemaha, we enter the Half-Breed Lands, a tract ten miles in width, and extending to the Little Nemaha north, a out thirty miles, set apart by the Government for the use of certain half-breeds of different tribes. Few of them live upon it; and since the treaty it has afforded a fine field for the rapacity of a few Frenchmen that have taken Indian wives, with a set of heartless, nominal agents. The lands are among the best in Nebraska. Back of these, about the Falls of Nemaha, the whites made early settlements.

     Above the Little Nemaha we enter the country of the Otoes, a large tract, extending north to the Great Platte. By the treaty an interior reserve is assigned them, to which they have retired. These have already been noticed in my description of Old Fort Kearney, which occupies a central point on the Missouri. This scope embraces what is now the best-improved portion of the Territory.

     North of the Platte were the Omahas, who held all the lands up to nearly opposite the mouth of the Great Sioux. This people are in a rude state, without agricultural habits, but somewhat in advance of the Otoes. Some rather prominent men have appeared among them, and a few have been educated. The Presbyterian mission, at Bellevue, has had in influence in improving and elevating the tribe. Under the late treaty, the Omahas have retired to their reserve in
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the north, among the Black-Bird Hills. The site of the mission is removed also. A large, costly, stone edifice has been erected, and the mission school reopened under the superintendency of Rev. Dr. Sturgess, of Long Island, New York. The Omahas live in a village of round, earth-covered lodges, of conical form, and disposed in a circle around a large central area. They have among thorn a Government agent and farmer; lands have been inclosed (sic) and plowed for them, but as yet their farming extends no further than the cultivation of small patches by the squaws. The whole Nation, save a few individuals that have made farms, at a stated season, abandon the village and take their annual hunt. While this practice continues, no tribe makes any considerable progress in civilization.

     Strange as it may appear, the Omahas have an excellent temperance law, which is said to be enforced promptly and with great effect. For every act of intoxication the offender is severely whipped by persons appointed for that purpose. An instance of its enforcement was mentioned to me while among them. A leading man, the interpreter of the tribe, was known to have been drunk. A party was dispatched to his house some miles from the village, who took him in hand and executed the sentence of the law without mercy. A cure was effected, and the man had not again offended.

     In rear of the two tribes last named, are the Pawnees, quite like the Kaws in character, but much more numerous. Wanderers, filthy, cowardly, thievish, their occasional assaults and depredations serve to call out the military powers of the Nebraska yeomanry and to open the way for an occasional dip into the National treasury. Other interior tribes will have a future notice.

      Some traits are common to all the Northern tribes. One is familiarity. They always greet you with a smile and the universal salutation of "howh," which frontier travelers soon learn to reciprocate. They are very fond of shaking hands. In return, however, for all these friendly demonstrations, they expect to receive some gratuity in the shape

of food or otherwise. Indians of the wandering tribes are great beggars.

     Another trait of fallen humanity which, in common with their civilized brethren, they exhibit in no small degree, is vanity. An Indian of the ruder tribes loves to impress you with the belief that he is a great man. Nearly all will claim to be Chiefs, and many boast of their visits to the National Capital. "Been to Washington" is a common announcement, and is supposed to give claims to peculiar respect; and one here and there will exhibit a medal with the likeness of one of the Presidents as a proof that he has been honored by his tribe with a place in a delegation.

     Great fervor and apparent devotion characterize the religious exercises of converted Indians. Never do I recollect witnessing any thing rude or light, or irreverent in connection with public worship from a professing Indian. At times, though seldom, they were attended with great outward emotion. One season of great interest with them is deeply printed in my recollection. The quarterly meetings for the Delaware and Wyandott missions were held alternately among the two people. On this occasion it was among the Delawares. There was a large attendance and quite a number of visitors present from the neighboring tribes. In our congregation were found represented Delawares, Wyandotts, Shawnees, Kickapoos, and Stockbridges. All participated in the exercises, and each, in his own tongue, spoke "the wonderful works of God." The reader may suppose it to have been a medley of confusion, but to us it seemed a scene of perfect order. The Divine Spirit seemed to convey a deep meaning even when words were not understood, and the power of God was mightily present. Among us was a Stockbridge woman, resident with her husband among the Delawares, of comely person, and interesting appearance, excellent sense, and exemplary piety. In the course of our exercises she was called upon to lead in prayer. She commenced in her own language, which she used for some time with great seeming fervor and im-

portunity; then, suddenly pausing, she changed to English. The first utterance was " Glory!" Resuming her petitions in English, she poured forth a strain of most impassioned eloquence, pleading the promises of God, and especially that recorded by the prophet "My word shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I have sent it." Such a scene I have not witnessed elsewhere, among whites or Indians.

     The Indian tribes generally pay great attention to the graves of their dead. Rude inclosures are sometimes made by planting poles in the form of pickets. Sometimes little houses are erected, poles are planted, from which little flags are left waving in the air; bottles or gourds are suspended with coffee or other provisions for the departed, with many other simple demonstrations of regard and affection.

     During the year preceding my removal to this frontier, and preparatory to the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska act, treaties had been made by the United States authorities with all the tribes immediately upon the frontier, except the Wyandotts. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs had visited the country in person, and entered into negotiations that resulted in treaties. The main body of these lands was ceded to the Government for a compensation, each tribe reserving a home to which they should retire. Different agreements were made with the several tribes. In most cases a stipulated price was paid to the tribe per acre. A few of the treaties gave to the Indians the proceeds of the sales, after deducting expenses. The reserves of each tribe were still held by its members in common, except the Shawnees, who availed themselves of that opportunity to obtain a title in severalty, making a dividend of two hundred acres per caput to men, women, and children. A small recusant band of Shawnees preferred still to retain possession in common, and a clause was inserted to meet their wishes.

      These treaty engagements were, so far as I have known, faithfully complied with by the Government, except in the

case of the Delawares. By the terms of their treaty the lands ceded were to be exposed to public sale, and they were to have the proceeds. Under this arrangement, they could not be subject to claim and pre-emption. But much of this tract was very valuable, and eager eyes were soon fixed upon it. One after another came in and took his claim. In vain did the Attorney-General decide against its legality, and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs protest. In vain were threats of military force in their expulsion. The number grew daily, till too large to be controlled. Might prevailed against right. What in an individual, or a few persons, would have been punished as trespass, when performed by many, was tolerated and sanctioned. The Government made provision for them, and the Delawares were compelled to submit. Still, as a people, they are in possession of great wealth.

     As usual, many extraneous influences were brought to bear in making these treaties. Personal and private interests and feelings were consulted, and rewards and punishments meted out. But in no particular was this so manifest as in the provision made for the several mission establishments within the bounds of the ceded Territories, by which gross and palpable injustice was done to faithful and successful laborers, acting under the direction of the largest and most influential Churches of the country, as well as to the tribes, or parts of tribes, who were the recipients of their labors and desirous of their continuance; and all this with an evident design to establish slavery. A fuller notice of this subject has been taken in a previous chapter.

     The Wyandotts owned no lands beyond their own immediate wants, and consequently made no treaty at that time. The following Winter, however, a delegation was sent to Washington to effect an arrangement by which their lands, till then held in common, should be apportioned out in severally. A treaty was formed by which the Wyandotts ceded all their lands to the Government, and the Government immediately reconveyed them to the tribe, with

conditions and regulations for their distribution as desired. The division was made in due time, allowing about forty acres to each man, woman, and child. The lands were valuable. The towns of Wyandott and Quindaro have since been laid out upon this tract by the white settlers. At the same time the funds held in trust for them by the Government were distributed in like manner; special guardianships being provided for in cases of incompetency.

     By the same treaty the Wyandotts were admitted to citizenship, which, for the first time, they exercised by voting at Leavenworth at the memorable election of the 13th of March, 1855. Thus the guardianship of the Government was taken off from this tribe, their disabilities removed, and they left to the common privileges and liabilities of other citizens.

     After this, many of them sold their lands. The whites rushed in and occupied them. Some of the tribe went to Canada. A portion joined the Senecas under an old intertribal agreement, and a part remain among the white settlers, subject to Territorial jurisdiction. A nominal government of their own is still kept up, but the tribe has nearly reached the period of its final disbandment.

     Comparing the Northern tribes with the Southern, on our frontier, the latter will be found to be greatly in advance, net only in numerical strength, but in personal wealth and improvements, education, agriculture, moral and religious influence, the production of men of talent, and in all the elements of civilization.

     These Territories were now receiving a large immigration. Settlers were entering, taking claims, erecting cabins, breaking prairie, and preparing for future residence. Many were from the contiguous States of Iowa and Missouri. Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin made large contributions. The East and North furnished their full share, with here and there a Southerner. Many were unmarried men. Many more had left families behind and were living a bachelor life. Some were religious; more

were moral in their lives; while a very large proportion made little pretension either to morals or religion, having never possessed them, or having left them behind.

     Upon this vast field, thus heterogeneously filling up, we had entered. Our tent was pitched, as already seen, among the Wyandotts, as a point possessing, at that time, facilities for family comfort and personal convenience, in going out and in to my work, above those afforded in any of the incipient white settlements. Here, for the second time in our itinerancy, we had taken up our abode among the sons of the forest.

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