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Letter from Paicouchaiby and Other Potawatomi, circa 14 August 1843
Source Note
Source Note
[Paicouchaiby and Other Potawatomi], Letter, [], to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, [ca. 14 Aug. 1843]; unidentified handwriting and handwriting of ; three pages; JS Collection (Supplement), CHL. Includes address and dockets.
Two leaves, one measuring 11 × 7–8¼ inches (28 × 18–21 cm) and the other 11 × 8½ inches (28 × 22 cm). Both leaves appear to have been torn from a bound volume or from larger leaves. The letter was inscribed in dark blue ink, beginning on the recto of one leaf, continuing on the recto of the second leaf, and finishing on the verso of the first leaf. It was trifolded twice in letter style and addressed by .
The letter was docketed “Letter from Lamanites” by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859, refolded the letter and copied Bullock’s docket. An unidentified scribe later added the date “1842 or 3” below Hawkins’s docket. The Church Historical Department (now CHL) published a register of the JS Collection in 1973. Between 1974 and 1984, staff continued to locate documents authored by or directed to JS in uncataloged church financial records and in name and subject files. The department also acquired additional JS documents from donors, collectors, and dealers. These newly located and acquired documents were kept together in a supplement to the JS Collection. A preliminary inventory of the supplement was created in 1992. This group of records was named the JS Collection (Supplement), 1833–1844, and its cataloging was finalized in 2017. The document’s early dockets and its inclusion in the JS Collection (Supplement) suggest continuous institutional custody.
Footnotes
- [1]
Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.
Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
- [2]
“Obituary of Leo Hawkins,” Millennial Star, 30 July 1859, 21:496–497.
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
- [3]
See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection (Supplement), 1833–1844, in the CHL catalog.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
In mid-August 1843, a council of Potawatomi Indians in wrote to JS in , Illinois, requesting advice and assistance concerning ongoing pressure from the federal government to cede their land. The Potawatomi had long resisted the westward expansion of the and were active participants in Tecumseh’s Indian confederacy that fought alongside the British in the War of 1812. As the fur trade declined in the early nineteenth century, the Potawatomi became increasingly dependent on government annuities. This left them vulnerable to unfavorable treaties that gradually stripped them of their lands in the present-day states of , , , and . The passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830 and the Black Hawk War of 1832—in which the Potawatomi sided with the United States—led to a final treaty, signed in in 1833, in which the Potawatomi traded their remaining lands east of the for land along the eastern bank of the , northwest of , Missouri. However, tensions between the Potawatomi and the Missourians led to the Potawatomi’s removal from that state in 1837.
In the aftermath of these treaties and removals, the Potawatomi splintered into several groups, some of which fled to , while others were forcibly relocated to present-day Kansas. In 1837, about 2,500 Potawatomi voluntarily moved to western . Treaties typically referred to these Iowa Potawatomi as the United Nation of Chippewa, Ottowa, and Potawatamie Indians, while the people themselves used names such as Potawatomi Nation, Prairie Band of Potawatomi Indians, and other variations. Over the next six years, the Iowa Potawatomi faced additional pressure from the government to relocate in the face of encroaching white settlement and became increasingly angry with the government’s failure to uphold its treaties.
In April 1843, three Potawatomi leaders from traveled to to speak with JS. The delegation seems to have been led by a man named Paicouchaiby. His exact position among the Potawatomi is unclear, though presumably he was a prominent member of a village or kinship group in Iowa Territory. Paicouchaiby signed or witnessed at least two letters to government officials as one of the “the Chiefs[,] head men and Warriors of the Pottowatomee Nation” in 1837 and 1842. In 1846 he signed a treaty with the as one of the “chiefs and principal men” of the Iowa Potawatomi.
During their April 1843 interview with JS, the Potawatomi expressed concern about their continued mistreatment from white settlers and the government. JS’s journal notes that the Indians were “much troubled” by their circumstances and “had borne their greivances patie[n]tly.” According to the interpreter, JS told them that “he could give them no assistance, that his hands were tied by the U. S. but that he could sympathize with them.” He also “advised them to stick to each other, to be friendly to the neighboring tribes, and pray a great deal to the G[reat] Spirit.” Distrustful of the interpreter, the Potawatomi delegation soon ended their interview with JS and declared they would return later that summer with their own interpreter. The Potawatomi returned on 26 June, while JS was away visiting his family in northern . recorded that he “took them home & fed them [and] gave them some trinklets &c.” Woodruff noted that, despite the Potawatomi’s desire to communicate, they “had no interpeter that could interpet much.” In the excitement following JS’s return to on 30 June—after avoiding extradition to —no one at the time recorded anything about JS’s possible interaction with the Potawatomi delegation.
It is unclear how Paicouchaiby and other Potawatomi learned of JS or why they decided to speak with him. Latter-day Saints crossed paths with some Potawatomi in during the 1830s, but there is no record of any sustained contact. It appears the Potawatomi initially believed that JS was an agent of the British government, and, like the Potawatomi who fled to following the 1833 treaty, they may have been seeking assistance from old allies. It is also possible that, having heard rumors that JS received revelation from God, the Potawatomi were seeking spiritual answers for their difficulties. During the April meeting, Paicouchaiby said, according to the interpreter, that unidentified “white men” told him that JS “could talk to the G[reat] Spirit, and he wanted him [JS] to advise them what to do.”
Shortly after the second Potawatomi delegation left in summer 1843, Latter-day Saint followed them, presumably on assignment from JS. Dunham had had an interest in preaching to American Indians since at least 1837, when participants in a prayer meeting in the at , Ohio, prophesied that he was “called to do a great work a mongst” the American Indians and that he would “go from tribe, to tribe, preaching to them in there tongue.” Consequently, Dunham undertook several missions to Indian settlements in both the eastern and Indian Territory in the West in the late 1830s. He left Nauvoo on 14 July 1843 and arrived at Potawatomi territory near Council Bluffs, Iowa Territory, on 28 July. Aside from his guide Neotanah, Dunham did not record meeting with specific Potawatomi. The exact purpose and nature of Dunham’s mission is similarly unclear.
During ’s time with the Potawatomi, the Potawatomi’s federal Indian agent, Richard S. Elliott, met with Potawatomi leaders in another attempt to convince them to cede their land in to the government and move to Indian Territory. Elliott reported that during their 8 August conference, the Potawatomi expressed considerable opposition to a new treaty and that “some of them shake their heads whenever a treaty is mentioned.” Elliott assisted the chiefs in preparing a letter to the of the in which they acknowledged the pressure to move farther west but stated that they did not want to enter into any new treaties because they believed that “our Great father does not act in good faith towards us, in declining to fulfil the stipulations of past treaties before we are more permanently settled.”
During this time, some Potawatomi leaders decided to send another delegation to to seek JS’s assistance. On 14 August, the Potawatomi engaged an unidentified French-Canadian interpreter, who had married a Potawatomi woman, to travel with their party. That day, held a council with several Potawatomi chiefs, and they spent the afternoon “in business matters writing,— preparing for the journey to Nauvoo.” It was presumably during that council that the interpreter or another unidentified scribe drafted the letter to JS explaining their concerns. The letter related the chiefs’ fears about giving up further land and requested JS’s help and advice. It addressed JS as “Father,” an appellation commonly used in Indian communications with federal Indian agents or other government representatives. The letter’s request that JS become their “Knew [new] father” almost certainly referred to a request for him to become their new federally appointed Indian agent. Though much of the letter is written in first person plural, suggesting it represented the thoughts of the council that drafted it, significant portions are written in first person singular and appear to capture the thoughts of Paicouchaiby in particular. For example, the closing lines of the letter explicitly state that Paicouchaiby desired JS’s advice. The letter also includes two lists of influential leaders among the Potawatomi: one composed of the great men among the Potawatomi and the other composed of four “Brave fellers,” including Paicouchaiby, who were apparently among those writing to JS. Due to phonetic spelling variations, only some of these names are recognizable in extant sources. There are also several known leaders whose names are missing from these lists, making the qualifications for inclusion unclear. One possible explanation is that the letter represented only the leaders of Paicouchaiby’s village or clan, rather than the views of the entire nation. Once the council completed the letter, Dunham addressed it to JS in his capacity as lieutenant general of the .
Three days later, on 17 August, a delegation consisting of the four Potawatomi men and one woman, their interpreter, and started for . The delegation arrived in Nauvoo on the night of 25 August. The council’s letter was presumably delivered to JS shortly thereafter. Although both and noted Dunham’s presence in Nauvoo the next day, the delegation was unable to visit JS until 28 August. Following their meeting, JS had write a response to their letter.
copied both the Potawatomi’s letter and JS’s response into his journal entry for that date, following the exact spelling and grammar of the text. Clayton’s journal copy includes an additional closing paragraph, attribution, and postscript not found in the original letter—possibly from a missing leaf. The original letter addressed by is featured here.
Footnotes
- [1]
Clifton, Prairie People, 185–216.
Clifton, James A. The Prairie People: Continuity and Change in Potawatomi Indian Culture, 1665–1965. Expanded ed. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1998.
- [2]
Edmunds, Potawatomis, 215–222, 229–254, 264–272.
Edmunds, R. David. The Potawatomis: Keepers of the Fire. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1978.
- [3]
Clifton, Prairie People, 279–346.
Clifton, James A. The Prairie People: Continuity and Change in Potawatomi Indian Culture, 1665–1965. Expanded ed. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1998.
- [4]
Treaty, 26 Sept. 1833, in Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, 2:402; Potawatomi, Butler, MO, to Edwin James, Fort Leavenworth, Unorganized U.S. Territory, 12 Sept. 1837; J. K. K. Burgion, Camp Fenwick (near Council Bluffs), Iowa Territory, to T. Hartley Crawford, Washington DC, 9 Aug. 1842; Potawatomi, Council Bluffs, Iowa Territory, to “Our Great Father the President of the United States,” Washington DC, 8 Aug. 1843, in U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, reel 215; Treaty, 5 and 17 June 1846, in U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Ratified Indian Treaties; Clifton, Prairie People, 317–319, 353–354.
Kappler, Charles J., comp. and ed. Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties. 7 vols. Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1904.
U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824–81. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M234. 962 reels. Washington DC: National Archives, 1959.
U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Ratified Indian Treaties, 1722–1869 . . . Treaties 230–252, Jan. 15, 1838–Aug. 6, 1848. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M668, reel 9. Washington DC: National Archives, 1966.
Clifton, James A. The Prairie People: Continuity and Change in Potawatomi Indian Culture, 1665–1965. Expanded ed. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1998.
- [5]
Potawatomi, Butler, MO, to Edwin James, Fort Leavenworth, Unorganized U.S. Territory, 12 Sept. 1837; Richard S. Elliott, Council Bluffs, Iowa Territory, to T. Hartley Crawford, Washington DC, 9 Aug. 1843, in U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, reel 215.
U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824–81. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M234. 962 reels. Washington DC: National Archives, 1959.
- [6]
Because the Potawatomi had no written language, Paicouchaiby’s name was spelled phonetically in several different ways by predominantly white scribes or interpreters. This volume follows the spelling found in Paicouchaiby’s letter. Iowa militia general Henry King, who learned about the April 1843 meeting from the interpreter, Mr. Hitchcock, identified the leader of the delegation as “Chief Apaquachawba.” (Henry King, Keokuk, Iowa Territory, to John Chambers, Burlington, Iowa Territory, 14 July 1843, in Territorial Papers of the United States, the Territory of Iowa, reel 56.)
Carter, Clarence Edward, and John Porter Bloom, comps. Territorial Papers of the United States. 28 vols. Washington DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1934–1975.
- [7]
His name appears in government records as early as 1832, when he and other Potawatomi fought for the United States in the Black Hawk War. The Potawatomi scouts roll identifies him as “Pay co je bai”. The Potawatomi’s company roll indicates that Paicouchaiby was not considered a chief, nor was he significant enough to sign the Potawatomi’s 1832 or 1833 treaties. Nevertheless, by 1837, Paicouchaiby—identified as “Pah ◊ cha be”—was the head of a household of ten individuals, one of the larger households among the Iowa Potawatomi. (“Potawatomi Indians in United States Service,” in Whitney, Black Hawk War, 1831–1832, 1:560; Treaty, 20 Oct. 1832; Treaty, 26 Sept. 1833, in Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, 2:354–355, 403–404, 410, 411, 412–413, 414, 415; “Register of Pottawatomis Chippeway & Ottoways Indians,” 1 Aug. 1837, p. 5, in U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, reel 215.)
Whitney, Ellen M., comp. The Black Hawk War, 1831–1832. 2 vols. Springfield, IL: Illinois State Historical Library, 1970.
Kappler, Charles J., comp. and ed. Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties. 7 vols. Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1904.
U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824–81. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M234. 962 reels. Washington DC: National Archives, 1959.
- [8]
In these letters his name was spelled “Pa co che bee” and “Pac,,co,,cha,,bee,” respectively. (Potawatomi, Butler, MO, to Edwin James, Fort Leavenworth, Unorganized U.S. Territory, 12 Sept. 1837; J. K. K. Burgion, Camp Fenwick [near Council Bluffs], Iowa Territory, to T. Hartley Crawford, Washington DC, 9 Aug. 1842, in U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, reel 215.)
U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824–81. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M234. 962 reels. Washington DC: National Archives, 1959.
- [9]
The treaty identified him as “Pacq-qui-pa-chee (the Squatter).” (Treaty, 5 and 17 June 1846, in U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Ratified Indian Treaties.)
U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Ratified Indian Treaties, 1722–1869 . . . Treaties 230–252, Jan. 15, 1838–Aug. 6, 1848. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M668, reel 9. Washington DC: National Archives, 1966.
- [10]
- [11]
Henry King, Keokuk, Iowa Territory, to John Chambers, Burlington, Iowa Territory, 14 July 1843, in Territorial Papers of the United States, the Territory of Iowa, reel 56.
Carter, Clarence Edward, and John Porter Bloom, comps. Territorial Papers of the United States. 28 vols. Washington DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1934–1975.
- [12]
Henry King, Keokuk, Iowa Territory, to John Chambers, Burlington, Iowa Territory, 14 July 1843, in Territorial Papers of the United States, the Territory of Iowa, reel 56.
Carter, Clarence Edward, and John Porter Bloom, comps. Territorial Papers of the United States. 28 vols. Washington DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1934–1975.
- [13]
Woodruff, Journal, 26 June 1843.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
- [14]
- [15]
See, for example, Letter from William W. Phelps, 24 Aug. 1834.
- [16]
Henry King, Keokuk, Iowa Territory, to John Chambers, Burlington, Iowa Territory, 14 July 1843, in Territorial Papers of the United States, the Territory of Iowa, reel 56.
Carter, Clarence Edward, and John Porter Bloom, comps. Territorial Papers of the United States. 28 vols. Washington DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1934–1975.
- [17]
In his journal, William Clayton noted that Dunham left “on his mission,” suggesting that Dunham’s aims were known and presumably sanctioned by church leaders. (Clayton, Journal, 14 July 1843.)
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
- [18]
“A Prophecey Delivered upon the Head of Jonathan Dunham,” 15 July 1837, Jonathan Dunham, Papers, CHL.
Dunham, Jonathan. Papers, 1825–1846. CHL.
- [19]
Walker, “Seeking the ‘Remnant,’” 24–25.
Walker, Ronald W. “Seeking the ‘Remnant’: The Native American during the Joseph Smith Period.” Journal of Mormon History 19 (Spring 1993): 1–33.
- [20]
During this mission, Dunham consistently misdated each entry one day earlier than the actual date. (Dunham, Journal, [14] and [28] July 1843; Clayton, Journal, 14 July 1843.)
Dunham, Jonathan. Journals, 1837–1846. Jonathan Dunham, Papers, 1825–1846. CHL. MS 1387, fds. 1–4.
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
- [21]
See Dunham, Journal, [29] July and [2] Aug. 1843.
Dunham, Jonathan. Journals, 1837–1846. Jonathan Dunham, Papers, 1825–1846. CHL. MS 1387, fds. 1–4.
- [22]
On other occasions, including in his reminiscences of this mission, Dunham displayed a radical millenarian belief in the imminent destruction of the United States at the hands of American Indians, and Latter-day Saints even called Dunham “Captain Black Hawk” after the Sauk Indian leader who fought the United States in the eponymous 1832 war. This belief likely influenced his 1843 mission to the Potawatomi. (See, for example, Letter from Thomas Burdick, 28 Aug. 1840; Council of Fifty, “Record,” 22 Mar. and 11 Apr. 1845; Reed Peck, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, in State of Missouri, “Evidence”; JS, Journal, 26 Aug. 1843.)
- [23]
Richard S. Elliott, Council Bluffs, Iowa Territory, to T. Hartley Crawford, Washington DC, 9 Aug. 1843, in U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, reel 215.
U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824–81. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M234. 962 reels. Washington DC: National Archives, 1959.
- [24]
Potawatomi, Council Bluffs, Iowa Territory, to “Our Great Father the President of the United States,” Washington DC, 8 Aug. 1843, in U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, reel 215.
U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824–81. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M234. 962 reels. Washington DC: National Archives, 1959.
- [25]
According to William Clayton, the Potawatomi paid the interpreter twenty-five dollars for his services. The French Creole population had a long history of cultural and political alliances with the Potawatomi; marriages between French traders and Potawatomi women were a common result of these ties. These traders and their descendants often served as intermediaries and interpreters between the Potawatomi and American settlers and government officials. (Dunham, Journal, [14] and [18] Aug. 1843; Clayton, Journal, 26 Aug. 1843; Edmunds, “Indians as Pioneers: Potawatomis on the Frontier,” 342–343; Edmunds, Potawatomis, 221–222, 227–228.)
Dunham, Jonathan. Journals, 1837–1846. Jonathan Dunham, Papers, 1825–1846. CHL. MS 1387, fds. 1–4.
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
Edmunds, R. David. “Indians as Pioneers: Potawatomis on the Frontier.” Chronicles of Oklahoma 65, no. 4 (Winter 1987–1988): 340–353.
Edmunds, R. David. The Potawatomis: Keepers of the Fire. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1978.
- [26]
Dunham, Journal, [14] Aug. 1843.
Dunham, Jonathan. Journals, 1837–1846. Jonathan Dunham, Papers, 1825–1846. CHL. MS 1387, fds. 1–4.
- [27]
See White, Middle Ground; Potawatomi, Butler, MO, to Edwin James, Fort Leavenworth, Unorganized U.S. Territory, 12 Sept. 1837; J. K. K. Burgion, Camp Fenwick (near Council Bluffs), Iowa Territory, to T. Hartley Crawford, Washington DC, 9 Aug. 1842; and Potawatomi, Council Bluffs, Iowa Territory, to “Our Great Father the President of the United States,” Washington DC, 8 Aug. 1843, in U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, reel 215.
White, Richard. The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650–1815. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824–81. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M234. 962 reels. Washington DC: National Archives, 1959.
- [28]
William Clayton noted in his journal that Dunham reported, upon his arrival in Nauvoo, that the Potawatomi “have resolved to petition the Prest. of the United States to appoint J. [JS] their agent and they look up to him as a father.” JS’s response to the Potawatomi’s letter explicitly addressed such a request. (Clayton, Journal, 26 Aug. 1843; Letter to Paicouchaiby and Other Potawatomi, 28 Aug. 1843.)
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
- [29]
Dunham, Journal, [17]–[18] Aug. 1843.
Dunham, Jonathan. Journals, 1837–1846. Jonathan Dunham, Papers, 1825–1846. CHL. MS 1387, fds. 1–4.
- [30]
Dunham, Journal, 26 Aug. 1843; Clayton, Journal, 26 Aug. 1843; JS, Journal, 26 Aug. 1843.
Dunham, Jonathan. Journals, 1837–1846. Jonathan Dunham, Papers, 1825–1846. CHL. MS 1387, fds. 1–4.
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
- [31]
Clayton, Journal, 28 Aug. 1843; JS, Journal, 28 Aug. 1843.
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
- [32]
Clayton, Journal, 28 Aug. 1843; Letter to Paicouchaiby and Other Potawatomi, 28 Aug. 1843.
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
- [33]
Clayton, Journal, 28 Aug. 1843.
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
Lieut. General
J. Smith
Ill— [p. [4]]
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Footnotes
Footnotes
Unidentified handwriting ends; Jonathan Dunham begins.