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Letter to Paicouchaiby and Other Potawatomi, 28 August 1843

Source Note

[JS], Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to [Paicouchaiby and Other Potawatomi, ], 28 Aug. 1843. Featured version copied [ca. 28 Aug. 1843]; handwriting of ; two pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes dockets, use marks, and notation.
Single leaf measuring 12¼ × 7¾ inches (31 × 20 cm). The leaf was unevenly cut along the left edge of the recto. It was folded in half twice and docketed for storage.
The document was docketed by , who served as the scribe for this letter. It was also docketed by Robert L. Campbell, who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1854 to 1874. Andrew Jenson, who began working in the Church Historian’s Office in 1891 and served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941, copied the document at some point, made some use marks on the letter in graphite, and added JS’s name to Campbell’s docket in graphite. The notation “Copied by A. J.” was apparently added by a clerk or secretary for Andrew Jenson. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s dockets, use marks, notation, and its inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Historian’s Office, Journal, 20 Nov. 1854 and 11 Apr. 1874.

    Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.

  2. [2]

    Jenson, Autobiography, 192, 389; Cannon, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891; Jenson, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891 and 19 Oct. 1897; Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 47–52.

    Jenson, Andrew. Autobiography of Andrew Jenson: Assistant Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . . . Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1938.

    Cannon, George Q. Journals, 1855–1864, 1872–1901. CHL. CR 850 1.

    Jenson, Andrew. Journals, 1864–1941. Andrew Jenson, Autobiography and Journals, 1864–1941. CHL.

    Bitton, David, and Leonard J. Arrington. Mormons and Their Historians. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988.

  3. [3]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 28 August 1843, JS responded to a letter from a group of Potawatomi leaders seeking his advice and counsel. This letter was the culmination of at least two earlier meetings between JS and Potawatomi Indians in April and July 1843. Lacking a trusted or effective interpreter, the Potawatomi were dissatisfied with these earlier meetings. In mid-August 1843, a group of Potawatomi—apparently led by a man named Paicouchaiby—hired an interpreter they trusted and wrote a letter to JS. The Potawatomi then sent a delegation of four men, one woman, and the interpreter to , Illinois, to deliver the letter to JS with the assistance of . The group’s letter complained of being forced from their ancestral lands and the constant pressure to cede additional land to the . Addressing JS as “father,” an honorific title by which some American Indians addressed federal Indian agents or other government representatives, the Potawatomi asked him for his advice and requested that he provide them a map of their land. According to , the purpose of their letter was to request that JS become their federal Indian agent. The delegation apparently arrived in Nauvoo on 25 August and delivered their letter by 28 August, when they met with JS in person.
JS and his associates treated his interactions with the Potawatomi in 1843 with some level of secrecy because outsiders were suspicious of their relationship. JS and other Latter-day Saints had a special interest in American Indians, believing them to be descendants of a Book of Mormon people known as the . The Saints believed that they would join with the Lamanite descendants in building the and that American Indians would play a key role in the calamities preceding the second coming of Jesus Christ. They viewed certain events, like the conversion of Oneida Indian in 1840 or the Potawatomi’s visits in 1843, as evidence that Book of Mormon prophecies were about to be fulfilled. Church leaders discouraged the Saints from speaking openly of these beliefs, recognizing that such ideas could produce a hostile reaction from other Americans. In April 1843, shortly after Paicouchaiby’s initial visit to , JS’s secretary drafted an anonymous letter to a newspaper in , in which he included a description of JS’s interview with the Potawatomi delegation. Even though the letter stated that JS had encouraged the Potawatomi to be peaceable and obey government officials, JS “objected to its being printed” because “it was too strong meat.” In the final letter, Richards omitted the discussion of the Potawatomi. Despite JS’s efforts to be discreet, Henry King, a general in the militia, wrote a letter to the of Iowa that summer describing JS’s earlier interview with Paicouchaiby. King copied an account of JS’s April 1843 meeting with the Potawatomi written by the interpreter and expressed his concern about a possible military alliance between the Potawatomi and the Latter-day Saints. This concern was relayed to the federal commissioner of Indian affairs and the secretary of war. The Potawatomi’s apparent request to have JS become their federal Indian agent may have been initiated to avoid such suspicion in the future.
On the afternoon of 28 August, the Potawatomi delegation met with JS at his . JS sent to summon to record JS’s response to the Potawatomi’s letter. JS’s response echoed the paternalistic rhetoric of the delegation’s earlier letter, addressing the Indians as JS’s “Dear children” and agreeing to become their “father.” The letter was carefully worded, perhaps to avoid arousing suspicion if other white Americans were to discover it. In the text featured here, JS expressed sympathy for the Potawatomi, pledged friendship, and offered counsel, but he also made a point of stating that he was bound by the laws of the and could act on their behalf only if he was appointed their federal Indian agent. JS had Clayton close the letter with “Your Father,” and JS did not sign his name. In response to the Potawatomi request for a map of their land, JS apparently had create a map, presumably around the same time that the letter was drafted. Both the map and the sent copy of the letter were likely inscribed on the back or opposite leaf of a bifolium containing the second issue of Facsimile 2 from the Book of Abraham.
made a retained copy of the letter, noting at the top that it was a copy of the original letter. The original letter and ’s map were then “put into the hands of the principal Indian, a young man of good stature,” according to Clayton, and the delegation returned to . The delegation apparently delivered the letter to Paicouchaiby, who retained it among his possessions. Because this sent copy has not been located, Clayton’s retained copy is featured here. Possibly in response to JS’s message, a larger delegation of Potawatomi visited JS in April 1844.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Dunham, Journal, [18] Aug. 1843; Historical Introduction to Letter from Paicouchaiby and Other Potawatomi, ca. 14 Aug. 1843.

    Dunham, Jonathan. Journals, 1837–1846. Jonathan Dunham, Papers, 1825–1846. CHL. MS 1387, fds. 1–4.

  2. [2]

    Letter from Paicouchaiby and Other Potawatomi, ca. 14 Aug. 1843.

  3. [3]

    Clayton, Journal, 26 Aug. 1843.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  4. [4]

    Clayton, Journal, 26 and 28 Aug. 1843.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  5. [5]

    See, for example, 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.

    Territorial Papers of the United States, the Territory of Iowa, 1838–1846. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M325. 102 reels. Washington DC: National Ar- chives and Records Service, 1979.

  6. [6]

    See “Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon.”; and Ashurst-McGee, “Zion Rising,” chap. 4.

    Ashurst-McGee, Mark. “Zion Rising: Joseph Smith’s Early Social and Political Thought.” PhD diss., Arizona State University, 2008.

  7. [7]

    Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 486–487 [3 Nephi 21:11–25]; Revelation, Sept. 1830–B [D&C 28:9]; see also Walker, “Seeking the ‘Remnant,’” 1–33.

    Walker, Ronald W. “Seeking the ‘Remnant’: The Native American during the Joseph Smith Period.” Journal of Mormon History 19 (Spring 1993): 1–33.

  8. [8]

    Walker, “Seeking the ‘Remnant,’” 1–33.

    Walker, Ronald W. “Seeking the ‘Remnant’: The Native American during the Joseph Smith Period.” Journal of Mormon History 19 (Spring 1993): 1–33.

  9. [9]

    For example, in July 1832, JS condemned the “ignorant & unstable Sisters, & weak members” in Missouri, whose zeal and predictions reportedly led some to believe that the Saints were “putting up the Indians to slay the Gentiles, or white Americans.” (Letter to William W. Phelps, 31 July 1832; see also Affidavit, 8 Sept. 1838; and Frederick G. Williams, Kirtland, OH, to “Dear Brethren,” 10 Oct. 1833, in JS Letterbook 1, p. 59.)

  10. [10]

    “For the Bee Truthiana No 6,” in “Truthiana,” 1843, drafts, CHL; JS, Journal, 23 Apr. 1843; Letter to Editor, between 22 and ca. 27 Apr. 1843.

  11. [11]

    Henry King, Keokuk, Iowa Territory, to John Chambers, Burlington, Iowa Territory, 14 July 1843; John Chambers, Burlington, Iowa Territory, to T. Hartley Crawford, Washington DC, 7 Aug. 1843; T. Hartley Crawford to James M. Porter, Washington DC, 23 Aug. 1843, in Territorial Papers of the United States, the Territory of Iowa, reel 56; see also T. Hartley Crawford, [Washington DC], to D. D. Mitchell, St. Louis, MO, 23 Aug. 1843, in U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Records of the Office of Indian Affairs, Letters Sent.

    Territorial Papers of the United States, the Territory of Iowa, 1838–1846. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M325. 102 reels. Washington DC: National Ar- chives and Records Service, 1979.

    U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Records of the Office of Indian Affairs, Letters Sent. Vol. 34, May 16, 1843–February 25, 1844. File Microcopies of Records in the National Archives, microcopy M21, reel 34. Washington DC: National Archives, 1942.

  12. [12]

    Richards, Journal, 28 Aug. 1843; Clayton, Journal, 28 Aug. 1843.

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  13. [13]

    Concern over the content of the two letters from and to the Potawatomi remained so great that, even though they were copied into JS’s history in 1855 sometime before that section of the history was published in 1857, Brigham Young ordered that the letters were “not to be printed.” (JS History, vol. E-1, 1709–1710; Vogel, History of Joseph Smith, 1:c; “History of Joseph Smith,” Deseret News [Salt Lake City], 11 Feb. 1857, 385.)

    Vogel, Dan, ed. History of Joseph Smith and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: A Source and Text-Critical Edition. 8 vols. Salt Lake City: Smith-Pettit Foundation, 2015.

  14. [14]

    Richards, Journal, 11 July 1846.

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

  15. [15]

    Copies of the second issue of Facsimile 2 were frequently used as writing material by JS’s clerks. The retained copy of JS’s letter is written on paper roughly the same dimensions as extant copies of the printed sheet, and in 1846, Willard Richards recorded that Paicouchaiby showed Brigham Young and other church leaders JS’s letter, Phelps’s map, and two sheets of hieroglyphics from the Book of Abraham, suggesting that the four items were connected. (“A Fac-simile from the Book of Abraham, No. 2.,” Second Issue, between ca. 15 Mar. and 1 Apr. 1843; Richards, Journal, 11 July 1846.)

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

  16. [16]

    Clayton later copied the letter into his journal entry for this date also. (Clayton, Journal, 28 Aug. 1843.)

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  17. [17]

    Clayton, Journal, 28 Aug. 1843.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  18. [18]

    In 1846, after the Saints were expelled from Nauvoo and sought refuge near Council Bluffs, Iowa Territory, among the Potawatomi, Paicouchaiby met with Brigham Young and other church leaders and showed them JS’s letter and Phelps’s map. He is identified in Willard Richards’s journal account as “Baquejappa” and as one of the Potawatomi’s “Capts.” (Richards, Journal, 11 July 1846.)

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

  19. [19]

    Council of Fifty, “Record,” 4 Apr. 1844.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter to Paicouchaiby and Other Potawatomi, 28 August 1843
Letter to Paicouchaiby and Other Potawatomi, 28 August 1843, as Recorded in Clayton, Journal History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844]

Page [1]

August 28— 1843
Dear children:—
I have received and read your kind words and agreeable to your wishes I now send you an answer. In regard to parting with your lands and selling them I do not think it is best for you to let them go but to keep them to live upon for yourselves and your children. And in regard to my giving you council and being your father, I have to say that I shall be happy to render you any assistance in my power in giving instructions and advice as well as to do any other business for you which lays in my power at any time if it be not contrary to the laws of the , which laws I am always obedient and subject to. I feel interested in the welfare and prosperity of all my red children and will most cheerfully do them all the good in my power as to do good is what I always delight in.— Should the appoint me as your agent to transact your business for you I shall cheerfully comply; and will always do the best I can for you, but you know I cannot do any thing in this matter except it be appointed me by the authorites of our land.
The bearer will bring you a map shewing the boundaries of your land which I hope you will be able to understand; he will also be able to tell you more about this business.
The Mormons are your friends and they are the friends of all men, and have the very best of feelings to all men and especially towards you my children. I wish you well, and hope the great God will bless you and abundantly supply you with every good thing, and that peace and prosperity may forever attend you and your children [p. [1]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to Paicouchaiby and Other Potawatomi, 28 August 1843
ID #
1153
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:79–84
Handwriting on This Page
  • William Clayton

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    In their letter to JS, the Potawatomi complained that whites always wanted more land and asked what would happen to them if they continued to cede territory. (Letter from Paicouchaiby and Other Potawatomi, ca. 14 Aug. 1843.)

  2. [2]

    Federal law forbade anyone from sending “any talk, speech, message, or letter to any Indian nation, tribe, chief, or individual, with an intent to produce a contravention or infraction of any treaty or other law of the United States, or to disturb the peace and tranquillity of the United States.” (An Act to Regulate Trade and Intercourse with the Indian Tribes, and to Preserve Peace on the Frontiers [30 June 1834], Public Statutes at Large, 23rd Cong., 1st Sess., chap. 161, p. 731.)

    The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845. . . . Edited by Richard Peters. 8 vols. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846–1867.

  3. [3]

    Possibly Jonathan Dunham or the unnamed young Potawatomi who was entrusted with the letter. Although extant sources do not indicate whether Dunham remained in Nauvoo or returned to Council Bluffs with the delegation, in 1846, Willard Richards implied that Dunham gave or delivered the letter and map to Paicouchaiby. (Richards, Journal, 11 July 1846.)

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

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