Yorktown/Mt. Pleasant Historical Alliance and Museum

Category: Timeline

Use this category to post to the timeline. Must start the title of post with a year.

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1783 Treaty Ending the Revolutionary War

The Treaty of Paris was signed with the British ending the Revolutionary War.

The Spanish, along with American citizens, marched into Western Quebec (what later became the Northwest Territory, which included Indiana), and expelled the British forces. Sir Henry Clinton lead forces that forced British General Cornwallis to retreat to Yorktown, Virginia. Cornwallis surrendered in October 1781.

 On September 3, 1783, the treaty was signed between Great Britain and the United States which officially ended the war.

Below: In 1774, Indiana was part of the Province of Quebec. In 1883, present-day Indiana was ceded by the British to the United States.

Map, 2005 Encyclopedia of Britannia
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1830 Indian Removal Act

The Indian Removal Act of 1830 authorized the American government to enforce the removal of Native Americans from the eastern United States to lands west of the of the Mississippi River. The Act followed a series of land cession treaties made between 1795 to 1846 that affected tribes in Indiana. Most Indiana tribes were moved between 1830 and 1846. Present-day Oklahoma, was then “Indian Territory”. It was “set aside” for Native Americans forced to relocate west.

The Lenape (Delaware/and some Munsee) moved well before the Indian Removal Act in 1830. During the Treaty of St. Mary’s in 1818, the Delaware negotiated for a three year wait before they had to move. The Delaware had been in Indiana for only 25 years, coming from a large area in the east, centered around New York and the Delaware River. They spent time in Pennsylvania and the Old Northwest Territory (in present-day Ohio) before coming to land along the White River. The powerful Miami, in the north, gave their permission for the settlement.

In 1820, most Delaware, with some Munsee, left Indiana. On their way to Oklahoma, they lived first in Missouri. The Delaware settled on the James River in Missouri and called it “Anderson’s Village”, after their village in Indiana, “Anderson’s Town”. Both were named after well-respected Chief Anderson. The tribe then moved to Iowa, and lastly, Kansas (1835-1867). Some of the tribe moved to Ontario, Canada, others to Wisconsin. Still others settled in Texas. The tribe splintered into smaller and smaller groups after each move.

The Munsee going to Ontario, Canada became known as the “Munsee of the Thames.” Today they are recognized as a First Nation and are called the “Delaware Nation at Moraviantown“. These were mostly Native Americans who were converted to Christianity by the Moravian missionaries.

The Lenape (Delaware) were perhaps the most moved of all of the Native American tribes. The tribe was pushed ever westward. They sold their land in Kansas after 32 years, when they were once again force to move, and purchased land from the Cherokee in Washington County, Indian Territory (Oklahoma).

The last Delaware Indian in Delaware County was “Indian Jim”. Well-known throughout the community of Munsee Town, Born James Muscoe (1810-1871) to parents, Jake and Sally Moscow (Moscow). Jim hid in a fodder shack when it was time for the Delaware to leave and remained hidden for 15 days before he came out. Judge Lewis Rees took him in and he lived out his life in Delaware County, south of Munsee Town until the judge died in 1852.

Watch the documentary, “The Lenape on the Wapahani River”. This 30-minute documentary was produced in 2014 and details the forced moves of the Lenape from first contact in the 1560’s to present time in Oklahoma.

Many smaller bands and clans of the Delaware and Munsee tribes exist. Some were absorbed into or merged with other tribes as they became smaller in number.

For more information:

Indian Removals in Indiana

The Christian Munsee

Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians

1782 Gnadenhutten Massacre

Chief William Anderson

Gelelemend (John Kilbuck Jr.)—Munsee leader and prominent Moravian native convert

Munsee–a subtribe of the Lenape

The Lenape (Delaware Indians)

Delaware Tribe of Indians

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1785-1795 Little Turtle’s War

Little Turtle’s War, also known as the Northwest Indian War, was fought between 1785-1795. Britain ceded the land in the Northwest Territory to the United States after the end of the Revolutionary War but Britain maintained military forts and outposts around the Great Lakes even after that time. The agreement between the U.S. and Britain, the Treaty of Paris (1783), marked the Great Lakes as a boundary between the two countries.

Britain continued to support Native American agitators. Native Americans had a centuries-old history of conflict among themselves over the land surrounding the Great Lakes. In 1785, Native Americans formed the Western Confederation of tribes with the help of Britain to resist European settlers encroaching on the tribal lands. The tribes also wanted all land north of the Ohio River This is considered to be the first conflict of the United States Indian Wars.

The United States was defeated badly in Harmar Campaign in 1790 and St. Clair’s Defeat in 1791. The St. Clair’s Defeat cost the lives of 1,000. President Washington sent General “Mad Dog” Anthony Wayne to lead the forces to enforce land rights in the Northwest Territory. (Note: Ft. Wayne, Indiana is named for Anthony Wayne.)

Unknown to the Western Confederacy who thought that Britain would help them, the Brits had signed the Jay Treaty in 1795 which gave assurances to the U.S. that Britain would no longer aid the Native Americans.

In 1794, General Wayne won a decisive victory in the Battle of Fallen Timbers on August 20, 1794.

After the defeat of the Western Confederacy, the Native Americans were compelled to sign the Treaty of Greenville in 1795. The treaty, included the Delaware, Wyandot, Shawnee, Ottawa, Chippewa, Potawatomi, Miami, Wea, Kickapoo, and Kaskaskia tribes. The treaty redefined the boundary between the U.S. and Native American land. This line was known as the Greenville Treaty Line. The treaty gave a large swath of land to the United States government that included northwestern Ohio and a strip of land in southern Indiana.

(Map from Ohio Lands and Their Subdivisions (1918) page 98)

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9132 W Smith St., Yorktown, Indiana 47396
Next to Osborn County Kitchen
Free Parking in the Town Lot

Museum is Open

12 Noon-4:00 PM on Thursdays and Fridays

Other hours by appointment

Contact us

Karen Strahan Brown Good,  President Email: yorktownhistoricalalliance@gmail.com

Phone: 765-729-0093

 

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