Native Americans
Painting of the Delaware chief at the time of removal, by George Catlin. ~ by Julia Pearson
The deep timeline of the Native American nations is recorded in archaeological digs and artifacts, as well as the written observations of the Europeans who pushed them from their homelands. It is estimated that before settlers arrived on the American continent in the 16 th and 17 th centuries, the native population numbered in the millions.
Different tribal nations had unique cultures, language families, and traditional lifeways. Due to diseases brought by the Europeans, plus warfare and forced displacement, historians estimate the Native American population was reduced by 90 %.
The state of Indiana was admitted to the Union on December 11, 1816, and was named for the Indiana Territory established in 1800. The name of Indiana was first used in 1768 for a tract of land ceded by the native tribes in Pennsylvania. The state government records the Miami,
62 Our Brown County • July / August 2024
Shawnee, Kickapoo, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Wea, Plankashaw, Chippewa, Delaware, Wyandot, Kaskaskia, and Eel River tribes as all living in Indiana at this time.
A significant and well-documented boundary was established in 1809 when William Henry Harrison, governor of the Indiana Territory, signed the Ten O’ clock Line Treaty with Miami Chief, Little Turtle. Sixteen miles in length, 7.29 miles passes through today’ s Brown County State Park.
It provided the acquisition of 3 million acres of Native American lands, recorded as a purchase by the United States government with the Delawares, Potawatomi, Miami, the Eel River Band of Miami, Weas, and the Kickapoo. Negotiations did not include the Shawnee, previously asked to leave the lands by Little Turtle.
Many of the tribes were refugee groups. Following the Treaty of St. Marys in 1818, the forced movement of tribes to the Missouri Territory began around 1821. Pioneer settlement in Brown County was not opened until the 1820 U. S. government survey was completed.
The first white man to arrive in Brown County is believed to be a German man, Johann Schoonover, who came to trade with the tribes. Trade goods would include iron kettles, knives, ax heads, drilling awls, cloth, blankets, brooches and gorgets, arms and ammunition. He lived along the creek which bears a variation of his name, Schooner Creek.
He was followed by William Elkins, who cleared land and built a homestead in the southeastern part of the county. Elkinsville is the name given to the community that sprang up around Elkins’ home.
Beginning in 1830 when the United States Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, the indigenous peoples were forced to move further west. Some individuals might have stayed behind because of intermarriage and strong trade relationships.
Settlement by Euro-Americans continued, and in 1835 a petition was presented to the state