Kickapoo lived more than a century in Illinois
Many people know that a Kickapoo tribe of about 650 people lived south of Fairbury from 1828 to 1830.
Valentine and Rachel Darnall were the first white settlers in Livingston County in 1830. About the time the Darnall family arrived, the Kickapoo tribe decided to move to a location about three miles south of Chatsworth. They remained south of Chatsworth until the government forced them to leave Illinois in 1832.
The Kickapoo had lived in Illinois for more than a century before the government forced them to leave the state in 1832. They are believed to have originally lived in eastern Michigan before moving west into Wisconsin. Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet were the first Europeans to explore Illinois and record their findings in 1673. These French explorers recorded that the Kickapoo were present in Wisconsin in 1673.
In his 2011 book The Rhoads Site: A Historic Kickapoo Village on the Illinois Prairie, Mark J. Wagner researched the Kickapoo tribe's origins. His research indicated that the Kickapoo had lived in eastern Michigan before moving into Wisconsin. Over the decades, the Kickapoo gradually moved south into central Illinois.
In 1730, the Kickapoo participated in what is now known as the 1730 Fox Massacre at Arrowsmith, Illinois. Arrowsmith is 35 miles southwest of Fairbury. The Fox (or Meskwaki) were traveling through central Illinois when they constructed a defensive fortified encampment near present-day Arrowsmith.
Many Native American tribes, including the Kickapoo, as well as the French military, intensely disliked the Fox tribe. The combined forces of several Native American tribes and the French military massacred approximately 500 men, women, and children from the Fox tribe in 1730.
By about 1780, several Kickapoo villages were established in Central Illinois. The Rhoads site (named for the farmer who owned the land when the old village was discovered) was a Kickapoo village near Salt Creek and the junction of Kickapoo and Deer Creeks. The Grand Village of the Kickapoo also existed in McLean County near present-day Le Roy, Illinois.
In 1791, a U.S. military expedition tried to reach the Kickapoo villages in central Illinois. General James Wilkinson was ordered to attack the Kickapoo town on the prairie near the Sangamon River. His troops destroyed villages along the Wabash but turned back before reaching the Kickapoo in central Illinois. The Kickapoo retained control over much of their Illinois territory in that era.
By around 1800, French-descended settlers lived in southern Illinois. Other settlers began moving to southern Illinois, using the Ohio River to travel to Illinois. Settlers of European descent gradually occupied Illinois, working their way up from southern Illinois to central Illinois.
In October 1812, Illinois Territorial Governor Ninian Edwards led an expedition against Kickapoo villages in central Illinois. Edwards led about 360 militia and regular soldiers north from southern Illinois. After crossing the Sangamon River, the force moved toward Kickapoo settlements. This expedition likely attacked the Rhoads site near present-day Lincoln, Illinois. They destroyed houses and large quantities of food. They also captured horses and other possessions.
In November of 1812, General Samuel Hopkins led more than 1,200 Kentucky militia, rangers, and regular troops toward the Kickapoo villages. Severe cold and poor morale caused much of the expedition to turn back. Major Zachary Taylor continued forward with regular troops and skirmished with the Kickapoo.
In May of 1813, Illinois Territorial Governor Ninian Edwards sent three companies of Illinois Rangers under Major Benjamin Stephenson against the Kickapoo. Stephenson described arriving opposite the famous "Old Kickapoo Village." The inhabitants of the Grand Village of the Kickapoo had apparently left only three or four days earlier. His men burned the settlement, including large traditional houses and smaller structures. About a day later, they destroyed another Kickapoo settlement.
In 1818, Illinois became the 21st state in the Union. When a territory became a state, it usually meant that more settlers would enter the new state. This inevitably led to conflicts between settlers and the Native Americans who still owned the land.
On July 30, 1819, Kickapoo chiefs signed a treaty with the United States government at Edwardsville, Illinois. Under the treaty, the Kickapoo gave up their claims to a large area of central Illinois, including lands extending from the Wabash River west to the Illinois River. In return, the United States gave the Kickapoo $3,000 worth of merchandise, promised annual payments of $2,000 in silver for 15 years, and provided them with land along the Osage River in Missouri. The government also agreed to provide boats to help transport the Kickapoo and their possessions from Illinois to their new lands in Missouri. A second Kickapoo treaty followed one month later, on August 30, 1819, involving the Kickapoo of the Vermilion. Although the treaty anticipated their removal from Illinois, many Kickapoo did not leave and continued living in central Illinois for more than a decade.
In 1828, a Kickapoo tribe with about 650 members relocated from near Le Roy to a new village about six miles south of Fairbury on what is now called Indian Creek. They stayed there for about two years, then moved about 10 miles east to a location about three miles south of present-day Chatsworth. The Kickapoo built a large, permanent council house, ninety-seven wigwams, and several encampments.
As the Kickapoo moved from Fairbury to Chatsworth, Valentine and Rachel Darnall became the first white settlers in Livingston County. The departing Kickapoo gave the Darnalls some beans they had recently harvested. These beans proved to be invaluable in helping the Darnalls survive the terrible winter of 1830-1831.
According to the 1878 history book, a census of the Kickapoo tribe was conducted in 1830. The Kickapoo village south of Chatsworth had 630 men, women, and children.
The William McDowell family settled north of Fairbury in May of 1832. The McDowells immediately began building their cabin. The principal tool used in its construction was an axe. They brought a few panes of glass for a window with them to Illinois. They relied on their neighbors for straight wood for the window frames. They purchased the boards for the door and window casing of this primitive dwelling from the Kickapoo and brought them from Oliver's Grove with an ox team. The Indians had hewn them out for some purpose of their own, but were induced to part with them for a small supply of ammunition.
The Franklin Oliver family also settled south of Chatsworth in early 1832. The Oliver family accidentally camped overnight and discovered they were in the middle of a Kickapoo village. Franklin Oliver smoked a peace pipe with the Kickapoo Chief and became friends with the Chief.
Then the five-month-long Black Hawk War broke out. The settlers became very concerned that the Kickapoo would join the War and harm them. Franklin Oliver asked the Kickapoo Chief about the Black Hawk War. The Chief told Franklin Oliver that he and his family could stay, but he suggested the other settlers move east to Indiana temporarily. The other early settlers took the Chief's advice and moved temporarily to Indiana until the War ended.
The Kickapoo tribe south of Chatsworth did not participate in the Black Hawk War and took no aggressive actions against any white settlers. The five-month-long Black Hawk War ended in August of 1832.
Although interactions between the Kickapoo tribe and early settlers in Livingston County were peaceful, in September 1832 the United States government removed the remaining Kickapoo from their village south of Chatsworth and sent them to lands west of St. Louis. The Kickapoo had lived in Illinois for more than 100 years before they were forced to move to Missouri.
The Kickapoo eventually migrated to three western states and Mexico. Today, about 5,000 Kickapoo descendants live in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Mexico. The three federally recognized Kickapoo tribes in the United States maintain their own websites, where readers can learn more about the Kickapoo people and their history.
(Dale Maley's weekly history feature on Fairbury News is sponsored by Dr. Charlene Aaron)
Comments