A forum for sharing questions and research
Were the Miami Tribe the only Indian people that was not required to walk when they were removed west? Was there removal by canal boat unique?
As for tribes that were transported by canal boat during the infamous Removal Period is an interesting question. In all I've read about the Wabash & Erie Canal, I am not aware of any other tribe (than the Miami) that took canal boats out of Indiana. However, there may have been others living elsewhere along major waterways that were sent away by steamboat, flatboats or canal boats.
In a book by Gloria Jahoda, The Trail of Tears, The Story of the American Indian Removals 1813-1855 there is a passage that is worth mentioning. It appears that late in 1831, the Ohio Seneca and Delaware people were sent away on "canal boats."
Whether they floated the Miami Erie Canal or they chanced the notion of putting a long slender canal boat into the current of the Miami River is not made specific. The quote reads:
"The coughing and chilled Senecas were herded onto canal boats in which they traveled down the Miami River to Cincinnati between shores of ice where coated branches glittered with immobile droplets like diamonds. Many Indians were now tottering with influenza...as the canal boats passed Hamilton, Ohio. At Cincinnati, the Miami's (River) end, there was no time for sleep or warmth. On the day of their arrival most of the Senecas were prodded aboard the steamboat Ben Franklin for St. Louis. But 110 Senecas, and 58 Delawares traveling with them who were related by ties of village and kinship, mounted tired nags to make the overland journey. The Indians had heard the shrill whistle of the Ben Franklin screaming at the wharf and would not trust themselves to a monster which emitted such cacophonies."
Jahoda writes that after reaching St. Louis they landed at Cuivre. Floods were sweeping down the hills into the Missouri and Grand overflowing the marshes, and there were no boats available. The party resorted to wagons and on July 4, 1832. reached the Elk River Indian settlement that would become the State of Oklahoma one day. It cost the lives of 32 Indians and 48 more were expected to die shortly thereafter.
In a book by Gloria Jahoda, The Trail of Tears, The Story of the American Indian Removals 1813-1855 there is a passage that is worth mentioning. It appears that late in 1831, the Ohio Seneca and Delaware people were sent away on "canal boats."
Whether they floated the Miami Erie Canal or they chanced the notion of putting a long slender canal boat into the current of the Miami River is not made specific. The quote reads:
"The coughing and chilled Senecas were herded onto canal boats in which they traveled down the Miami River to Cincinnati between shores of ice where coated branches glittered with immobile droplets like diamonds. Many Indians were now tottering with influenza...as the canal boats passed Hamilton, Ohio. At Cincinnati, the Miami's (River) end, there was no time for sleep or warmth. On the day of their arrival most of the Senecas were prodded aboard the steamboat Ben Franklin for St. Louis. But 110 Senecas, and 58 Delawares traveling with them who were related by ties of village and kinship, mounted tired nags to make the overland journey. The Indians had heard the shrill whistle of the Ben Franklin screaming at the wharf and would not trust themselves to a monster which emitted such cacophonies."
Jahoda writes that after reaching St. Louis they landed at Cuivre. Floods were sweeping down the hills into the Missouri and Grand overflowing the marshes, and there were no boats available. The party resorted to wagons and on July 4, 1832. reached the Elk River Indian settlement that would become the State of Oklahoma one day. It cost the lives of 32 Indians and 48 more were expected to die shortly thereafter.
About
© 2009 Created by Museum Guy on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
