William Henry Harrison to Thomas Jefferson, 29 August 1805
From William Henry Harrison
Vincennes 29th Augt. 1805
Dear Sir
It gives me great pleasure to have it in my power to inform you that the conferrence I have lately had with the Several Tribes of Indians under my Superintendance has had a most beneficial effect—that every improper prejudice has been removed from their minds and that all the chiefs have both generally & individually expressed the Warmest attachment to the United States and their Willingness to follow their advice in every instance. One of their orators at the breaking up of the Council assured me in the name of the rest that they would in future look upon the United States in the same light that they had formerly done their fathers the French—An unexpected Compliment and one which I never Supposed I Should hear from an Indian.—They almost universally Consider the era of the French establishment in this Country as their golden Age—And time has not deminished the ardour of their attachment to that nation. I have transmitted to the Secretary of War the Treaty which was the result of the late Conferrence, with some explanatory observations, And I do myself the Honor to enclose herewith a copy of the Same presuming that the Secretary is now in the Eastern States—the compensation for the Tract Which has been ceded amounts as nearly as I can ascertain it to about one cent per acre. this is much higher than I could have wished it to have been but it was impossible to Make it less.—I have informed the Secretary of War that the remaining Piankeshaw claims can be easily purchased and that I wait your instructions on this head. Should you think proper to direct me to proceed with it I hope to make up by that purchase for any excess in the Compensation that has been given for the tract which has lately been ceded. I persued your directions relative to the Turtle. You will soon receive from him a letter expressive of his great Satisfaction at the result of the late Conferrence & his entire devotion to the Interests of the United States. A deputation from the several Tribes have been selected to go with me to St. Louis to meet the Osages & I have no doubt but We shall be able to Make them smoke the pipe of Peace together.
At the earnest solicitation of Judge Griffin I have ventured to trouble You again upon the Subject of exchanging his situation for a Seat on the Judiciary bench of one of the adjacent Territories—It is supposed that Judge Huntington has resigned his Commission in the Territory of Michigan if this should be the case the person whom you may design for his Successor would in all probability prefer the situation which Judge Griffin Holds here to a similar one in that remote Country—The Judge speaks the French language & is Well acquainted at Detroit & I am certain that his removal would be highly acceptable to the people there
I have the Honor to be Dear Sir with the truest Respect Your Huml Servt.
Willm Henry Harrison
RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Thomas Jefferson President of the U.S.”; endorsed by TJ as received 3 Oct. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: “A Treaty Between the United States of America and the Tribes of Indians called the Delewares, Putawatimies, Miamies, Eel River and Weas,” signed at Grouseland, near Vincennes, on 21 Aug. by Harrison for the United States, John Gibson and 10 others as commissioners for Indiana Territory, Benjamin Parke as their secretary, William Wells as agent of Indian affairs, Hockingpomsga and four others for the Delawares, Topinabee and two others for the Potawatomis, Kakonweconner (or Long Legs) and four others for the Miamis, Wanonecana (or Night Stander) and two others for the Eel River people, and Assonnonquah (or Labossiere) and two others for the Weas; the Miamis claim that when they ceded to the Delawares the land addressed in an 1804 treaty between the Delawares and the United States (see Vol. 45:24-5), they had not intended to convey to them the “right of the soil” but only a right to occupy the land; the Potawatomi, Miami, Eel River, and Wea tribes here sanction the right of the Delawares to sell that land; the Miami, Eel River, and Wea tribes also cede the tract of land that lies “to the south of a line to be drawn from the north East corner of the Tract ceded by the Treaty of Fort Wayne so as to strike the general boundary line running from a point opposite to the mouth of the Kentucky river to Fort recovery at the distance of fifty miles from its commencement on the Ohio river”; the United States grants an annuity of $600 to the Miamis, $250 to the Eel Rivers, $250 to the Weas, and $500 to the Potawatomis for 10 years, along with an additional $4,000 distributed among the tribes at the time of signing; the United States recognizes the Miami, Eel River, and Wea tribes as one nation with joint ownership of any land on the Wabash River above the Vincennes tract that has not already been ceded (Tr in same; certified by Parke on 29 Aug.).
Among his explanatory observations, Harrison told Dearborn that the Miami and Potawatomi leaders wanted an increase in their annuities to put them on the same footing as the Delawares, which would in part compensate them for the land ceded in the Treaty of Vincennes in 1804. Harrison refused their initial demands for a larger annuity, but allowed that they could gain more if they ceded more land, thus spurring the negotiations at Grouseland. He was concerned about the treaty provision acknowledging that the Miami, Wea, and Eel River tribes held land in common, but was certain that “it will be no difficult matter to get them in the course of a few years to make a division of the land,” and the United States would be able to purchase those lands soon (Douglas E. Clanin and Ruth Dorrel, eds., The Papers of William Henry Harrison, 1800-1815, 10 microfilm reels [Indianapolis, 1994-99], 2:324-7).
Your directions relative to the Turtle: see TJ to Harrison, 28 Apr. Following TJ’s instructions to exhibit “liberality” toward Little Turtle, Harrison promised him $50 per year in addition to his pension and directed Wells, who was the Miami leader’s interpreter and son-in-law as well as the agent, to purchase an enslaved man for him. Little Turtle was also a signer of the treaty at Grouseland (same, 327; Vol. 30:82n).
John Griffin was at this point a judge for Indiana Territory. In a 3 Oct. letter to Madison, Griffin’s father, Cyrus Griffin, recommended his son’s relocation to Michigan “principally on account of health” (RC in DNA: RG 59, LAR, endorsed by TJ: “Griffin John to be judge Michigan”; , 10:403-4). Samuel Huntington had recently declined the Michigan post (George Tod to TJ, 2 June; TJ to Robert Smith, 9 June).