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24 December 2005 

CHRONOLOGY 1841 to the Present 

                                                                                           1848
By this year, the Munsee had joined the Delaware on the their reserve. (Farley, p. 4)
8 January - Rev. Ira D. Blanchard was removed as the Delaware Baptist missionary. A new mission house, close to the new church located at the present 118th and States Avenues at Kansas City, Kansas, neared completion. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 36)
2 February - The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, ending the Mexican War. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 36)
15 February - The population of Delaware on the Kansas Reserve was about 1,085. This figure included 247 males over 18 years of age, 170 (68%) volunteered for military service with the United States. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 62)
1 March - Nak-ko-min, Principal Chief of the Delaware Nation, died. His successor was Captain Ketchum. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 36)
1 April  - Rev. John G. Pratt and his wife Olivia arrived at the Delaware Baptist Mission to take over. Rev. Pratt and Rev. Jotham Meeker moved the printing press from the printing office at the closed Stockbridge mission to the Ottawa Baptist Mission. The press was once again Rev. Meeker's responsibility. (Ibid.)
3 July - The Delaware Baptist Mission School reopened with  Rev. John G. Pratt as superintendent, Elizabeth S. Morse as teacher, and with 25 pupils (Hancks/Pratt, p. 37)
25 July - A Joint Resolution of Congress confirmed the Wyandot Purchase between the Delaware and the Wyandot. (Ibid.)
1 August - Now that Rev. Pratt was at the Delaware Mission, the Stockbridge Baptist Mission Church voted to disband and again merge its small congregation with the Delaware and Mohegan Baptist Mission Church. (Ibid.)
12-13 August - The Delaware and the Stockbridge Baptist mission churches were formally merged and reorganized at a meeting held at the Delaware church, with Rev. John G. Pratt as pastor. (Ibid.)
25 September - A classical department called the Western Academy, was organized at the manual labor school, with  Rev. Nathan Scarritt as principal. (Ibid.)
11-17 October - The Delaware, Miami, Peoria, Sauk and Fox, Shawnee, and Wyandot met at Fort Leavenworth to renew the old Northwest Confederacy. The Wyandot were confirmed as the Keepers of the Council Fire. When representatives of the Seneca asked to participate, they were reminded that the Six nations were never members of the confederacy. (Ibid.)
20 October - Fremont set out on his disastrous fourth expedition. The party was joined by James Secondine and several other Delaware on the 22nd of October. (Ibid.)
28 November - The Rev. Thomas Johnson was continued in charge of the manual training school, assisted by T. Hulbert.  Rev. Nathan Scarritt was returned as principal of the Western Academy.  Rev. B. Russell was assigned to the Delaware (Ibid.)

                                                                                           1849
3 March - Congress created the Home Department (Department of the Interior) and the Bureau of Indian Affairs was transferred to the new cabinet office from the War Department. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 38)
29 March -  Asiatic Cholera reached the Town of Kansas. (Ibid.)
29 March/April -  James C. Grinter, younger brother of Moses Grinter, settled at Secondine on the Delaware Reserve. He married Rosanna Marshall, sister of Anna Marshall. James Grinter  assisted as ferryman until 1855. (Ibid.)
30 May - Thomas Elliott, clerk of the Chouteau store at Secondine, died. [His grave was found in 1950, 1/4 mile east of the Grinter house.] (Ibid.)
31 May - Orlando Brown replaced William Madrill as Commissioner of Indian Affairs. (Ibid.)
9 August - Richard W. Cummins was dismissed as agent for the Fort Leavenworth Indian Agency after 19 years of service. He was replaced by Luke Lea. Isaac Mundy returned as the Delaware blacksmith, replacing Cornelius Yager. (Ibid.)
August - Eight Delaware and six Wyandot died of cholera. The Wyandot Green Corn Feast, normally held mid-August, was cancelled. (Ibid.)
August - Rev. Peery, formerly missionary for the Wyandot Episcopal Church South, was transferred to the manual training school to assist Rev. Johnson. Rev. Nathan Scarritt was returned as principal of Western Academy. Rev. J. A. Cummings was assigned to the Delaware. (Ibid.)
12 October - There were 121 students at the manual training school, including 32 Delaware, 39 Shawnee, and 12 Wyandot. (Ibid.)

                                                                                           1850
10 February - The U.S. established a post office at the village of Secondine more often called "Delaware." James Findlay, a trader, was the postmaster. (Farley, p. 2)
1 March - The ladies of the Missionary Society of Woburn, Massachusetts, sent a large box of clothing to the Pratt's at the Delaware Baptist Mission. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 39)
1 May - The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, meeting in St. Louis, changed the boundaries of the Indian Mission Conference, transferring the Kansas missions to the Lexington District of the St. Louis Conference. A Kansas Mission District was subsequently reestablished. (Ibid.)
May and June - The Pottawatomi, supported by other emigrant tribes including the Delaware and the Shawnee, made war on the Pawnee. (Ibid.)
1 July - Luke Lea replaced Orlando Brown as Commissioner of Indian Affairs. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 39)
Summer - The Methodist Episcopal Church South assigned Rev. N. T. Shalert to the Delaware. (Ibid.)
10 September - A post office was established at Delaware (Secondine). Indian Trader James Findlay was appointed as the postmaster. (Ibid.)

                                                                          1851
27 February - The Fort Leavenworth Indian Agency and Wyandot Sub-agency were abolished as of 1 July. It was to be replaced by a Kansas Agency serving the Delaware, Munsee, Shawnee, Stockbridge, Wyandot, and Christian Indians, with Thomas Moseley, Jr. as agent. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 40)
25 March - John C. McCoy commenced a survey of the Wyandot Purchase. (Ibid.
19 May - Subagent Moseley transmitted copies of John C. McCoy's map and field notes of the survey of the Wyandot Purchase to Washington. Two other sets were retained by the Wyandot and Delaware. (Ibid.)
1 August - The Wyandot paid in full, three years ahead of schedule.  the $16,000 balance remaining of monies owed to  the  Delaware for the Wyandot Purchase. (Ibid.)
25 August - Agent Moseley reported that for a year the Delaware refused to send their children to the manual labor school. He also reported that the Delaware mill on Mission Creek was a complete wreck. (Ibid.)
August - The Delaware Tribal Council complained that troops at Fort Leavenworth were taking coal and wood belonging to the Delaware. (Ibid.)
August - Rev. Nathan Scarritt resigned as principal of Western Academy to devote his time to preaching. He was appointed to a circuit including the Delaware, Shawnee and Wyandot
missions, with Rev. Daniel Dofflemeyer as his assistant. (Ibid.)
June - Four army deserters killed a Delaware and left his woman companion for dead at Cottonwood Creek, 40 miles west of Council Grove, stealing their goods and horses and fled into Missouri. The four were caught and tried in St. Louis; two were hung, one acquitted, and one turned state's evidence to save himself. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 41)
Summer? 1852 - Two sons of Captain Ketchum, principal Chief of the Delaware, were killed by a Sioux war party while trapping along the Upper Platte. (Ibid.)
26 October -  Agent Moseley prepared a census and roll of the Christian Indians within the Kansas Agency. They totaled 98, including 11 widows. The chiefs were Frederick Samuel, Joseph H. Killbuck, and Ezra Zacharias. [How many of these were Delaware?-Editor.] (Ibid.)
 

                                                                                        1852
Another group of Delaware was forced out of Texas to south-central Oklahoma. The Texas Legislature granted a "league of land" to Delaware Scout John Conner for service in 1848.
22 February - The Town of Kansas was incorporated as the City of Kansas. It soon became Kansas City. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 41)
February - The first volume of Schoolcraft's Indian Tribes of the United States was published. (Ibid.)
 3 March - Congress authorized the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to open immediate negotiations for re-cession of lands held by the emigrant tribes in Kansas. (Ibid.)
April -  Cyprian Choteau's license to trade with the Delaware was renewed. His  Kansa license was renewed a month later), but his Shawnee post apparently closed after 25 years of operation. (Ibid.)
26 July - A convention held at the Wyandot Council House organized the provisional Government of Nebraska Territory. (Ibid.)
14 September -  John C. Fremont and party arrived in Westport to outfit for a new expedition. (Hancks/Pratt, 42)
22 September - Fremont's fifth and last western expedition set out, but Fremont became ill and returned to Westport on the 24th. The party continued without him. (Ibid.)
October -  Neconhecond was chosen to succeed the late Secondine as chief of the Wolf Band of the Delaware. (Ibid.)
31 October - Fremont rejoined his expedition. (Ibid.)
30 December - The United States bought 45,000 square miles of desert from Mexico for $10,000,000. This was known as the Gadsden Purchase. (Ibid.)

                                                      1854 (What happened to 1853. Check]

The Delaware who remained in Texas and their allies were given a reservation below Clear Fork on the Brazos River to replace lands earlier reserved to them on the Sabine. (Smithsonian, 224/Westlager 1972:363-398) Texas kept its public lands when it became a state and the government had to negotiate with the state for the land to use. In the summer of  1854, the Texas legislature approved setting aside 12 leagues of  unsettled land in the western end of Peter’s Colony for the use of the Indians. When it was no longer used for this purpose, it would revert to the state. The Brazos Reservation was located 12 miles downstream from Ft. Belknap in southwestern Young County.  Capt. Shapley P. Ross was made the Brazos reservation agent and Zachariah Ellis Coombes was educational instructor. About 2,000 Indians took up life on the reservation.
February - Eli Thayer organized the New England Emigrant Aid Society (Hancks/Pratt, p. 43)
5 April - The government proposed to buy the land of the Shawnee. Eight Shawnee(?] were sent to negotiate with the government in Washington. (Ibid.)
10 April - Chief Ketchum, in a letter to President Franklin Pierce, reminds the President of the promise to never again remove the Delaware from their homes.
11 April - The Delaware and Shawnee delegations left Kansas City aboard aboard the steamboat POLAR STAR, en route to Washington, D. C. to discuss the purchase of their lands. (They were accompanied by Agent Benjamin F. Robinson and the Rev. Thomas Johnson. (Ibid.)
6 May - The Delaware signed a treaty agreeing to reduce the size of their Reserve to 275,000 acres and give up their outlet to the west. The ceded lands were to be surveyed, then sold at auction. The northern boundary between the Diminished Reserve and the Delaware Trust lands was the present Wyandotte County-Leavenworth County line. The United States was to pay $10,000 (less than one cent an acre) for the outlet, together with any monies realized from the sale of the Trust funds, in the form of a tribal trust fund. The Delaware gave up all existing annuities in exchange for $148,000, $74,000 to be paid in October 1854 $74,000 to be paid in October 1854, and $74,000 to be paid in October 1855, "to aid the Delaware in making improvements." The three Delaware band chiefs, Sarcoxie, Neconhecond, and Kockatowha signed the treaty. [Hereafter, no band chiefs as such signed treaties with the United States.] Secondine, though deceased, was granted an annuity of $2,000 which was subsequently claimed by his son James Secondine. As part of the Delaware treaty, the Munsee [Christian Indians] were granted four sections of land at $2.50 per acre near Fort Leavenworth and were expected to move off the Wyandotte Purchase. (Ibid.)
7 May - Indian Agent Robinson wrote to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs Manypenny concerning the claim of James Sarcoxie for service with General Butler against the Comanche in 1843 or 1844. (Ibid.)
10 May - The Shawnee signed a treaty ceding their Reserve back to he government, giving up 1,400,000 acres for $829,000, or less than $1 per acre. The remaining 200,000 acres were to be ceded back to the Shawnee, in an area within 30 miles of the Missouri state line where the Shawnee had their principal settlements. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 44)
10   May - Thomas Hart Benson wrote to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs Manypenny in support of the Delaware who served with Fremont during the Mexican War. he believed that they were entitled to the same benefits of land and pay as any others who served. He noted that Fremont has 10 Delaware with him on his current expedition. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 43)
19 May - Commissioner Manypenny denied the claim of James Sarcoxie on the recommendation of the Treasury Department. (Hancks/Pratt, p, 44)
30 May - The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed and signed into law by President Pierce. The act denied established Indian claims and  opened the territory to white settlement. (Ibid.)
30 May - The government established a reserve for the "absentee" or Red River Delaware on the Brazos River in Texas. These are the descendants of the old Cape Girardeau band. (Ibid.)
29 June  - The first party of settlers sponsored by the New England Emigrant Aid Company, led by Dr. Charles Robinson, arrived in Wyandotte on their way to the site of Lawrence. (Ibid.)
21 August - The government ceded 200,000 acres back to the Shawnee. The reduced reserve was to be divided into individual allotments of 200 acres each. with approximately 900 Shawnee remaining on the reserve. Most Shawnee took their land in severalty, but there were no provisions for citizenship. The Black Bob band was allowed to retain a common reserve rather than take allotments, and land not allotted was set aside for the Absent Shawnee. The treaty gave three sections of land containing the manual training labor school to the Methodist Episcopal Church South, 320 acres to the Friends Mission, 120 acres to the Baptists, and set aside five acres for the church and cemetery of Shawneetown. (Pratt)
1 September -  A provisional government was formed for the Territory
September - The pro-slavery town of Leavenworth grew up south of the fort on land illegally appropriated from the Delaware Trust Lands. The Delaware agreed to sell 320 acres for $24,000 after the fact. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 45)
7 October - Kansas territorial Governor Andrew Reeder arrived at Fort Leavenworth and established executive offices at the fort. (Ibid.)
25 October - David Z. Smith, Moravian missionary to the Munsee, asked Agent Robinson for immediate protection for his flock. White men had attempted to corrupt the Indians and threatened those who resisted. (Ibid.)
24 November - Governor Reeder moved his offices to the Fort Leavenworth Indian manual Training School. (Ibid.)

                                                                                            1855
12 January -  Rev. Jotham Meeker died at  the Ottawa Baptist Mission. Rev. John G. Pratt was instructed by the American Baptist Missionary Union instructed Rev. John G. Pratt to   oversee the mission and act as superintendent while Mrs. Meeker continued the school. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 45)
31 January - After five years of effort, the Wyandot Tribal Council signed a treaty dissolving their tribal status, allowing all competent Wyandot who wished to, to become U. U. S. citizen. They ceded the lands of the Wyandot Purchase to the United States, which was to survey,, subdivide, and re-convey, by patent in fee simple, to the individual members of the tribe. (Ibid.)
February - The Munsee vacated the Wyandot Purchase where they had lived more or less illegally for the last twelve years. The United Brethren (Moravian) mission then became the property of Isaiah Walker. (Ibid.)
20 February  - The United States Congress ratified the Wyandot Treaty. (Hancks/Pratt, 46)
5 March - Commissioner of Indian Affairs Manypenny and the Methodist Episcopal Church South signed a new agreement concerning the operation of the Manual Training School. The name was changed back from the Fort Leavenworth Indian Manual Labor School to the Delaware Indian Manual Labor School. The emphasis o manual training was soon dropped in favor of academics. (Ibid.)
10 March - The Kansas Agency was divided and the Wyandot Indian Agency organized with Robert C. Miller as agent. He lived in Westport and traveled to the reserves only when on tribal business. Major Benjamin F. Robinson continued as agent for the Delaware. (Ibid.)
20 April  - Moses Grinter was authorized to open a trading post with the Delaware. (Ibid.)
30 July - The government appointed Delaware Indian Agent Benjamin F. Robinson and the Wyandott Tribal Council appointed Lot Coffman and John C. McCoy as commissioners to oversee the division and allotment of the Wyandot Purchase among the individual members of the tribe. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 47)
3 September-17 October - Martin B. Hall surveyed the township lines of the Wyandott Purchase. William Caldwell, Deputy Surveyor for Kansas and Nebraska, then began the subdivision into sections. (Ibid.)
1 December - The Delaware and the Shawnee offered their services to defend Lawrence against a possible attack from Missouri. (Ibid.)                                                                        

                                                                          1856
1 February - The name of the Delaware Post office was changed to Secondine. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 48)
30 April  - A government plat of the Wyandot Purchase was prepared from the hall survey. (Ibid.)
5 May - Treaty between the Munsee and the Stockbridge.
11 May - The government gave the American Baptist Missionary Union an indentured to the 160-acre tract occupied by the Delaware Baptist Mission. (Ibid.)
June - A new building was built at the Delaware Baptist Mission at a cost of $2001.39. The old schoolhouse became a wash house. (Ibid.)
Summer - Violence erupted on the Shawnee Reserve over timber claims, town sites, squatters rights, and the issue of slavery. (Pratt)
10 July  - The Delaware chiefs petitioned the Wyandot Tribal Council concerning the government's new survey and plat of the Wyandot Purchase, which they said extended beyond McCoy's survey line of 1851. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 50)
August - Delaware Agent Benjamin F. Robinson posted a notice that Sarcoxie had sole right to land a ferry on the north bank of the Kansas River opposite Lawrence, and that no other could operate without the consent of the nation. (Ibid.)
3 September -  Sarcoxie wrote to the commandant of Fort Leavenworth asking for protection for the Delaware: "We have been invaded, and our stock taken by force, and our men taken as prisoners, and they threaten to lay our houses to ashes." Ready to take up arms against the pro-slavery forces, the Delaware were ordered to remain neutral. (Ibid.)
October - Work began on the construction of a new two-story, brick house for Moses and Anna Grinter. It was built by John Swagger on the crest of the hill overlooking the ferry. The bulk of construction on the Greek Revival style residence, the Grinter's third home, was done the following year. The house is still standing at 1420 South 78th Street, Kansas City, Kansas. [Now a Kansas State Museum] (Ibid.)
November - Delaware Trust Lands ceded in the treaty of 1854 were sold at auction at Fort Leavenworth, with an ensuing scandal. (Ibid.)

                                                                           1857
18 April  - Each Delaware was paid $57.50 from the proceeds of sales of the Delaware Trust Lands. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 51)
12 July - Captain Ketchum, the Principal Chief of the Delaware Nation, died at age 77. A  Methodist church member for 22 years, he was buried in the Delaware Indian Cemetery next to the White Church in Kansas City, Wyandotte County, Kansas. His will designated that his sister's son, James Connor as principal chief. James Connor declined in favor of his brother John Ketchum, who apparently was the U. S. government's choice. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 52)
Summer or Fall  - The Delaware, led by Captain Fall Leaf, served as scouts on an Army expedition commanded by Colonel Edwin V. Sumner against the Cheyenne. One U.S. soldier reported that they were superior to the Pawnee as scouts. (Hancks-Pratt 52/Farley, p. 9)
Fall & Winter - Delaware "Burly" Fall Leaf and Little Beaver were with Major Sedgewick along the Front Range. (Lavender, p. 358)
2 Oct. - Commissioner of Indian Affairs Denver, then in Westport, ordered Agent Robinson to immediately remove all intruders from the Delaware Reserve, to destroy any improvements that might have erected, and "To enforce the laws strictly and promptly." Brig. Gen. Harney at Fort Leavenworth was to furnish any troops necessary to carry out the orders. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 52)
Fall 1857/Winter 1858 - Major Sedgewick's Delawares, Fall Leaf and Little Beaver may have met some Missourians along the Front Range and obtained from them a goose quill containing a few grains of gold. (Lavender, p. 358)

                                                                           1858
By 1858, small depredations took place in the area and were always attributed to Reservation Indians. The Federal government decided to abandon the reservations on July 31, 1859 due to raids by unfriendly Indians and loss of many innocent lives. Major Neighbors, a true friend to the Indians, led the Indians on the caravan to the valley of the Washita, where on they were delivered by Neighbors to the Wichita agency officials in the Oklahoma territory on September 1, 1859 without loss of life. The Brazos River ran through the Brazos River Indian Reservation. The Indian reservation was below the confluence of the Clear Fork of the Brazos and the Salt Fork of the Brazos River which becomes the Brazos River which flowed through the Reservation. Major Robert Simpson Neighbors is buried in Young County, Texas near the town of Belknap. He was shot and killed on the streets of Belknap on September 14, 1859 after returning from the Indian Territory. (Submitted by Dorman Holub dorhulub@wf.net , Graham, Young County, Texas)

1 January - Another payment of $93,860 was paid to the Delaware from the proceeds of the sale of Delaware Trust lands, each individual receiving $95. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 53)
27 February - Delaware Agency blacksmith Isaac Mundy died in a hunting accident at the age of 41. He was buried in the Delaware Indian Cemetery next to the White Church. His widow, Lucy, moved to Weston, Mo. (Ibid.)
Summer  - The Munsee Reserve near Fort Leavenworth was sold and the Munsee were consolidated with the Swan Creek Chippewa in Franklin County, Kansas. The United Brethren Mission moved with the Munsees. It remained in operation until 1905. (Ibid.)

                                                                         1859
Texas Indians, including the Delaware, were removed to the Indian Territory (present Oklahoma) on the Wichita River.
29 January  - The Kansas Territorial Legislature created Wyandotte County out of portions of Leavenworth and Johnson counties, incorporated Wyandot and Quindaro as cities of the third class, and named Wyandot as the temporary county seat. (Hanks/Pratt, p. 55)
14 April - The Secondine Post office was closed. (Ibid.)
May - Delaware Agent Thomas B. Sykes contracted with William Cortez to move the tribe's steam-powered saw and grist mill from about four miles above the Grinter ferry to a point near where Stranger Creek entered the Kansas River, closer to the center of the Delaware Reserve. Cortez was to put the mill into good operating order, erect any necessary buildings, and then maintain and operate the mill. In payment he was to receive one-half of all lumber cut at the mill. (Ibid.)
3 June - Agent Sykes asked Governor Medary to provide a military escort from Fort Leavenworth for a large sum of money he was taking to the Delaware, part of the 1854 treaty payment. (Ibid.)
June - A drought began in Kansas that lasted until November, 1860. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 56)
16 July - Treaty between the Chippewa and the Munsee.
October - Clara Gowing, 27, arrived at the Delaware Baptist Mission as a missionary teacher. She was accompanied west by long-time teacher Elizabeth S. Morse, who had been in the east for a visit. In later years Miss Gowing gave a detailed description of the mission complex as it was at the time of her arrival. There were seven buildings, including a large, two-story frame residence with a one-story L. There was a similar dormitory for the Indian children, and a long school building divided internally by folding doors, both also of frame construction and facing south like the residence. Smaller outbuildings consisted of a wash house (the 1848 schoolhouse), a smoke house and a large stable built of logs. The frame church building stood about 1/4 mile away (possibly with a small cemetery nearby). For the third year in a row, attendance was 95 pupils. In addition to the two teachers, the boarding students were overseen by a matron, Mrs. Muse. (Ibid.)
1 November - Wyandotte County voters confirmed Wyandotte as the county seat. (Ibid.)

                                                                         1860
30 May - Under the Treaty of Sarcoxieville, the Delaware agreed to take the lands of their Diminished Reserve in severalty, as provided for in the Treaty of 1854. Each tribal member was allotted 80 acres, with allotments set aside for about 200 Absentee Delaware. Principal Chief John Connor was to receive 640 acres in fee simple, while the band chiefs Sarcoxie, Neconhecond, and Kockawtowha, and the interpreter Henry Tiblow, were each allotted 320 acres. The chiefs were also to draw an annual salary of $1,500 from the tribal trust fund. A tract of 320 acres was set aside on Stranger Creek, where the mill, schoolhouse, and Ketchum's store was; 160 acres for the agency building; 160 acres for the Baptist Mission; and. 40 acres each for the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church South, with the balance not allotted to be sold to the Leavenworth, Pawnee & Western Railway @ $1.25 per acre. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 57)
30 May  - The Delaware signed a treaty with the United States Commissioner Thomas B. Sykes at the Delaware Agency at Sarcoxie on the Delaware Reserve. (Ibid.)
6 June  - William G. Bradshaw was engaged to operate the Delaware mill on Stranger Creek, replacing William Cortez. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 58)
15 June - Delaware were participants in the Kiowa and Comanche campaign as guides in Maj. Sedgewick's command. As noted in Lt. J. E. B. Stuart's diary, participants were Fall Leaf, Sarcoxie, John Williams Buscom, Wilson, and Bullit.
20 July  - Rev. Charles Ketchum died at the age of 48 and was buried in the cemetery at White Church. He had been an interpreter, an ordained deacon and chief Delaware supporter of the Methodist Episcopal Church. (Ibid.)
October- Fifty Delaware sent a letter to President Buchanan protesting the Sarcoxieville Treaty and complaining that Delaware Indian Agent Thomas B. Sykes had provided three of the chiefs with liquor, so that they were drunk when signing. (Ibid.)
24 October - Moses Grinter closed his trading store at Secondine. His account book showed $14,134.13 still owed to him by his Delaware customers. (Ibid.)
6 November - Sarcoxie and Neconhecond led a delegation to Indian Territory [in present-day Oklahoma] to inspect lands that might be purchased from the Cherokee for the resettlement of the Delaware. (Ibid.)
28 November - The Delaware inspection party signed a letter at Cherokee Station on the Neosho River offering to buy 200 sections of land from the Cherokee Nation. (Ibid. )     

                                                                         1861
April - In retaliation for his warning to Col. William H. Emory -- commander of troops in Indian Territory-- of an impending Confederate attack, Texans destroyed the farm of noted Delaware scout Black Beaver, seized his livestock and grain, and placed a price on his head. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 59)
31 May - Col. Emory's troops, guided by Black Beaver, safely reached Fort Leavenworth after a 500-mile march from Fort Cobb in Indian Territory. (Ibid.)
June - Fielding Johnson of Quindaro was appointed Delaware Indian Agent replacing Thomas B. Sykes who left to join the Confederate Army. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 60)
2 July - The Delaware and the U. S. Commissioner, William P. Dole, at Leavenworth signed a treaty. Also present was attorney Thomas Ewing, Jr., agent for the Leavenworth, Pawnee & Western Railway. The treaty allowed the railroad to secure title to Delaware lands with a mortgage rather than cash. The railroad issued bonds to pay for the land, using 100,000 acres as security, then offered the remaining 123,000 acres for sale at $20 to $50 an acre. That gave to the railroad a profit of up to $3,000,000 without investing a cent of its own money. (Ibid.)
July - The Delaware were assigned their 80-acre allotments. The commissioners carrying out the work boarded at the Delaware Baptist Mission. (Ibid.)
24 September - Sarcoxie, Neconhecond, and John Connor addressed a petition from the Delaware to George McIntosh, Principal Chief of the Creek Nation, imploring his tribe to side with the Union. "We, the Chiefs of the Delawares, promise and obligate ourselves to lend the whole power of the Nation to aid and protect such tribes as may be invaded...We will permit no other Nation to war against the Union with impunity. (Ibid.)
24 September - A man named Hunneywell was taken by troops from Fort Leavenworth for supposedly attempting to incite the Delaware against the Union. A resident of the Delaware Reserve, with a Delaware wife, he had gone to Missouri to see about some horses for Rev. Pratt. He was released the next day. (Right along, the Delaware had been pressured to support the secession party when the Civil War erupted along the border. (Ibid.)
25 September - Rev. John G. Pratt contracted with Agent Johnson to serve as physician for the Delaware at $1,000 per annum. He was to be paid quarterly, for a period of four years. Rev. Pratt had been performing that function without salary for several years. (Ibid.)
4 October - Fifty-four Delaware under Captain Falleaf enlisted at Fort Leavenworth. (Ibid.)
October- Charles Journeycake was chosen as a chief of the Delaware. By 1865 he was designated a Assistant Chief and the traditional three band chiefs apparently done away with, because none signed in that manner. (Ibid.)
October - The Delaware volunteers, together with Lane's Kansas Brigade, arrived at Fremont's encampment near Springfield, MO. (Hancks/Pratt)
2 November - Fremont was relieved of the Western Command. Captain Fall Leaf's Delaware volunteers accompanied Fremont back to Sedalia out of personal loyalty to the general, then refused to continue their service. He discharged them and they returned to Kansas. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 6
December - The Creek chief Opothleyahola led a large group of pro-Union Indians to Kansas, fighting their way northward through Indian Territory. With him were at least 111 Delaware refugees, including James McDaniel, a political ally of the Principal Chief John Ross. (Ibid)

                                                                             1862
2 January  - Rev. John G. Pratt completed a census of the Delaware living within the jurisdiction of the Delaware Agency. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 62)
March - Commissioner of Indian Affairs Dole convinced the War Department that two regiments of Indian volunteers should be raised to escort hundreds of loyal Indian refugees back to their homes in Indian Territory. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 63)
April - Five or six Delaware stole 14 head of horses from  Wyandot Chief Tauromee on the Seneca Reserve in Indian Territory. He pursued them back to Kansas and recovered part of his property. He then filed a claim against the Delaware Nation for $830 in loss and damages. (Ibid.)
2 May 1862 - Brig. Gen. James G. Blunt took command of the Department of Kansas. He assigned Col. William Weer of the 10th Kansas Infantry to command Dole's "Indian Expedition." Two regiments were formed, the 1st Kansas Indian Home Guards consisting of loyal Creek and Seminole and Col. John Ritchie's 2nd Kansas Indian Home Guards, a more diverse group including Delaware, Kickapoo, Osage, Seneca, Shawnee, and refugees from the Five Civilized Nations. (Ibid.)
3 June - The American Baptist Missionary Union agreed to relinquish its indenture to the 160-acre allotment occupied by the Delaware Baptist Commission to Rev. John G. Pratt. The government still continued its appropriation for the school and conveyed title in the property to Rev. Pratt. Rev. Pratt would then lease the property back to the Union on the same terms as their previous occupation. (Pratt)
June - Col. John Ritchie, with Capt. Fall Leaf's help, recruited 86 mounted Delaware for Company D of the 2nd Kansas Indian Home Guard. Delaware enlisted in the services of the Union numbered 170 out of 201 eligible Delaware between the ages of 18 and 45. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 63) [This enlistment rater of 75% of the eligible male population must have been the highest in the United States during the Civil War, and perhaps ever in United States history.]
12 June - As a procedural matter, Rev. Pratt gave up his interest in the American Baptist Missionary Union's former indenture to the Delaware Mission property. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 64)
June - Rev. Pratt accompanied the Delaware chiefs to Washington. It was agreed that the Delaware could remain on their present reserve and schools and improvements were encouraged. The government promised to restore to the Delaware their stolen bonds and to build an academy, but neither was done. (Ibid.)
28 June - The First Federal Indian Expedition under Col. William Weer left Fort Scott for the Cherokee nation. The 1st Regiment had more than 1,000 men. Co. Ritchie's 2nd Regiment had 500 to 600 [including Delaware troops]. Roughly half the troops were mounted. (Ibid
30 June - Rev. Pratt prepared a report on the Delaware Baptist Mission School. For the past six months there were 52 boys and 30 girls in attendance. (Ibid.)
2 July - Delaware Indian Agent Fielding Johnson reported Tauromee's claim against the Delaware to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He vouched for Tauromee's loyalty and asked for instructions. (Ibid.)
3 July - Troops from Col. Weer's expedition surprised Col. James Clarkson's Confederates at Locust Grove in Indian territory, taking 110 prisoners over the next three days, most of Col. John Drew's Cherokee Regiment (supporters of Principal Chief John Ross) went over to the Union, although Drew remained loyal to the Confederacy. The Cherokees were attached to Ritchie's Regiment (which included the Delaware). (Ibid.)
16 July - Weer's expeditionary force occupied the Cherokee capital of Talequah. (Ibid.)
18 July - Col. William Weer occupied Fort Gibson. Despite his clear success, he was accused of exceeding his orders, removed from his command, and replaced by Col. R. W. Furnass. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 65)
27 July - While scouting the area between Tahlequah, Fort Gibson and Parkhill, troops from the expeditionary force encountered part of Stand Waite's Choctaw-Cherokee regiment at Bayou Manard [?]. Thirty-six Confederate Indians were killed (including their commander, Lt. Col. Thomas F. Taylor) and over 50 wounded. (Ibid.)
27 July - Principal Chief John Ross, his relatives and supporters, with the Cherokee national records and $250,000 in Confederate gold, started north for Kansas. (Ibid.)
7 August - Ross and his party arrived at Fort Scott. A week later he and his family left for Pennsylvania where they remained for the duration of the war. Backed by the Confederacy. Stand Waite assumed the position of Principal Chief of the Cherokee nation. (Ibid.)
6 September - Rev. Thomas Johnson submitted his last report on the Shawnee Indian Manual Labor Training School to Shawnee and Wyandot Indian Agent James B. Abbott. Attendance in the past year was 52 Shawnee children raging in age from 7 to 16. (Ibid.)
15 September - In his annual report to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Agent Abbott vouched for the loyalty of the Shawnee, with some 60 serving in Union forces and perhaps 40 more planning to enlist. he stated that the manual labor school appeared prosperous and well run. (Ibid.)
20 September - In an engagement at Shilley's Ford in Missouri, Col. John Ritchie's 2nd Kansas Indian Home Guard began fighting with other Union troops in the confusion of an attack. Ritchie lost his command over the incident and Captain Fall Leaf's Delaware returned to Kansas. Some were eventually classified as deserters; Falleaf [Fall Leaf] and Delaware Indian Agent Fielding Johnson worked for over a year to straighten out the mess. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 66)
30 September - The operation of the Shawnee Indian Manual Labor School was suspended and the contract between the government and the Methodist Episcopal Church South was suspended. (Ibid.)
3 December - Rev. John G. Pratt and Delaware Indian Agent Fielding signed the final contract by which the Delaware Baptist Mission became the property of Rev. Pratt. (Ibid.)
18 December -  The Delaware Tribal Council adopted a code of laws for the government of the nation. Unlike the Shawnee or Wyandot, most offices were appointive with power remaining concentrated in the hands of the chiefs. The laws say nothing about the office of chief, their number, or the nature of tribal elections. (Ibid.)

                                                                         1863
Company M of the 6th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, a Delaware Company, was mustered into service in the Union.
24 January - The Turkey Band of the Delaware Nation sent a petition to Commissioner of Indian Affairs Dole, asking for government recognition of Tonganoxie as successor to the late Kockatowa as chief of the Turkey Band and Joseph W. Armstrong as councillor. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 66)
27 March - The Wyandot were transferred from the Delaware Agency, partly at the request of Tauromee's Indian Party. There was continued friction between the two Wyandot factions and their respective councils. (Ibid.)
12 April  - Delaware Indian Agent Fielding Johnson appealed to Commissioner of Indian Affairs Dole to decide which tribal council legitimately represented the Wyandot. Johnson favored the Mudeater (Citizens Party) council. No decision was reached. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 67)
11 May -The Delaware Tribal Council repeated the request of 24 January or the recognition of Tonganoxie and Armstrong. Shortly thereafter Neconhecond, chief of the Wolf Band of the Delaware, died. (Ibid.)
July - The Delaware Baptist Mission School reached its peak of 107 pupils. Lucius Bolles assumed direction of the school, his wife Nannie and her father Charles Journeycake both served part of the time as teachers. At about this time, Rev. Pratt erected a steam-powered mill in a stone building on the east side of Mission Creek. It replaced an earlier animal-powered mill just to its south. (Ibid.)
31 July  - Brig. General Thomas Ewing, Jr., commander of the Department of the Border, established military posts at Westport, the manual labor school, and Little Santa Fe to protect the border with Missouri from guerrillas. (Hancks/Pratt, 68)
21 August - William C. Quantrill with 450 men attacked and burned Lawrence. Some 200 buildings were destroyed and 182 men and boys were killed. The guerrilla retreated as armed Delaware arrived at the north side of the Lawrence ferry. In the aftermath, Delaware led by White Turkey crossed the Grinter Ferry and picked off stragglers from Quantrill's band. (Ibid.)
23 August - Alarmed by what was feared to be a guerrilla attacked but turned out to be a brush fire, the children were hurriedly sent home from the Delaware Baptist Mission. (Ibid.)
28 October -  Stand Watie's Confederate Indians burned the Cherokee capital at Talequah [Indian Territory]. They burned principal Chief John Ross' house the next day. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 69)

                                                                        1864
3 February - John Moses and 150 Delaware sent a letter to Commissioner of Indian Affairs Dole that Ben Simon had been chosen to succeed Neconhecond as chief of the Wolf Band, with James Simon as second chief. Joseph W. Armstrong was chosen as chief of the Turkey Band with Joseph Thomas as second chief. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 70)
12 and 15 February - The state legislature called for the removal of all Indians from Kansas. (Ibid.)
24 February - Clara Glowing returned to her home in Concord, Massachusetts, ending over four years service as a missionary teacher at the Delaware Baptist Mission. (Ibid.)
14 April - Senator Lane informed Rev. John G. Pratt that his appointment as U. S. Indian Agent for the Delaware had been approved. Fielding Johnson was dismissed (despite Rev. Pratt's continuing support) after killing a man who assaulted him. (Ibid.)
23 April - Attorney W. M. Slough of Leavenworth wrote to Rev. Pratt, urging him not to accept the position of Delaware Indian Agent. (At this point Pratt had not yet been formally notified of his appointment.) (Ibid.)
April - Construction of the Union Pacific Eastern Division Railway westward from Wyandotte reached Secondine on the Delaware Reserve. (Ibid.)
15 May - Fielding Johnson received official notification of Rev. Pratt's appointment and in turn wrote Pratt of his readiness to turn over the office. Among the Wyandot, Tauromee's Indian Party council welcomed the change, and Pratt regularly attended their council meetings. (Ibid.)
9 June - J. C. Wyland sent Fielding Johnson an estimate of the cost of constructing a new Delaware mill at Evansville, including moving the engine and boiler from their present location at Sarcoxieville. The total was $4,638.30. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 71)
September - A report from Rev. John G. Pratt states that in addition to the four chiefs, there was a council of five members, selected according to fitness, which functioned as a legislative body or court. Another document from 1864 indicates that each band had one councillor, but that the band chief and the specific councilor could in turn select additional councillors, so that their number was apparently variable. This is consistent with Article VI of the 1862 Laws, which indicates that an unstated number of councillors were to be appointed by the chiefs, functioning in a manner similar to the Wyandot Legislative Committee. The chiefs and councillors together then appointed the clerk, three sheriffs, and a jailer. A treasurer was appointed annual on 1 April with specific duties, and appropriations were approved by the council twice a year, in April and October. The list of individuals who held the office of Delaware Principal Chief is better documented than among the fragmented Shawnee, but still somewhat uncertain. (Pratt?)
13 September - Reverend Pratt as the new office as Delaware Indian Agent, submitted a report on the status of the Delaware to Commissioner of Indian Affairs Dole. There were 1,055 members of the Delaware nation resident on the reserve. An inventory of their possessions included 554 horses worth $40,800 (the numbers were down substantially because of the war), 989 head of cattle worth $24,275, 1,807 swine worth $10,842, and 92 sheep worth $460. Despite the tribe's wealth, "The Delawares are affected by the unsettled conditions of the country. many of them are in the army. Their families are consequently left without male assistance." (Ibid.)
20 September - Commissioner of Indian Affairs Dole wrote to Rev. Pratt concerning 26 Delaware who were mustered into the 6th Kansas Calvary in 1862. The Army said they were mustered for three years, but the Delaware were supposedly told that it was for the remaining term of the regiment. Dole asked Pratt for documentation. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 2)
December - Construction of the Union Pacific Eastern Division Railway across the Delaware Reserve reached a point on the north side of the Kansas River opposite Lawrence. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 73)

                                                                       1865
2 January - Unknown persons murdered Rev. Thomas Johnson, living on his farm near Westport. He was buried in the Shawnee Methodist Mission cemetery southeast of the manual labor school. (Hancks/Pratt, 73)
1 September - Lucius Bolles Pratt, son of Rev. John G. and Olivia Evans Pratt, died at the Delaware Baptist Mission at the age of 24. The mission school continued under his wife Nannie. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 75)
26 December - The Wyandotte County Commissioners examined the route and appraised properties to be taken for the Missouri River Railroad (present Missouri Pacific), part of which would run through the Delaware Reserve. (Ibid.)    

                                                                         1866
1 January - Construction of the Union Pacific eastern Division Railway reached a point on the north side of the Kansas River opposite Topeka. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 76)
May - The Union Pacific Eastern Division Branch line across the Delaware Reserve opened to Leavenworth. (Ibid.)
4 July - The Delaware signed a treaty [14 Stat. 793--See Treaties for the complete text]] agreeing to sell their remaining lands in Kansas. The railroad through the former reserve having been completed, the Delaware were to receive full value of the lands sold in the treaty of 1860. The new treaty authorized the Secretary of the Interior to sell all the remaining part of the Delaware Reserve to the Missouri River Railroad Company at $25.0 per acre. Those Delaware who elected to become citizens [of the United States (and Kansas)] could retain their 80-acre allotments and were entitled to an equitable share of the sale proceeds. Monies from the sale of allotted lands would go to the individual owner, while the monies from the sale of  lands not allotted would be added to the tribe's general fund. The U. S. in turn agreed to sell to the Delaware 160 acres for every man, woman, and child that chose to remove to Indian Territory at the price the United States paid for it. Delaware going to Indian territory were then being expected to pay for their own removal.) Almost as an afterthought, the railroads were granted 200-foot rights-of-way through any new Delaware Reserve. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 77)
July - The Delaware Council House near the present 134th and Parallel in Kansas City, a mile and one-half northwest of the Baptist Mission, burned down. (Ibid.)
19 July - Treaty between the United States and Cherokees, 14 Stat 799, art. 15 provided that all tribes that the United States to the Cherokee Nation east of the 96' must pay headrights and will enjoy the rights of native Cherokees, but such tribes could also pay for their lands and thereby preserve their sovereignty. (A Lesson in Administrative Termination. See Treaties for the full text)
11 August - The United States signed a major treaty with the Cherokee, regularizing their post Civil War relationship. (Although John Ross had died, pro-Union Cherokee insisted that he be listed as Principal Chief.) Article 15 of the treaty provided for the settlement of friendly Indians on unoccupied Cherokee lands, at a price to be mutually agreed upon by the tribes. The government hoped to relocate the Delaware to the lands in question. (Ibid.)
20 August - President Johnson formally declared be Civil War to be over. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 77)
13 October - Reverend Pratt issued instructions to the Delaware delegation (the council and their interpreter) that had been chosen to proceed to Indian territory to examine the Cherokee lands. he provided them with a map of the lands in question, a copy of the Cherokee treaty. and a certification of their authority. (Ibid.)
7 November - The Cherokee National Council passed a resolution to enter an agreement with the Delaware, allowing for a reservation east or west west of the 96'. (A Lesson in Administrative Termination)
3-4 December - The new Delaware mill at Evansville burned. (Ibid.)
9 December - Delaware delegates, electing to preserve tribal organization, in company with Cherokee delegates, made an agreement for a 10 x 30-mile tract in Indian Country east of the 96'.
16 December - Special Agent Vital Jarrot and Joseph Bogy (brother of Commissioner of Indian Affairs) wrote to Reverend Pratt from Lawrence. They were commissioned to make new treaty proposals to the various tribes still resident in Kansas. They asked Pratt to assemble the Delaware at Tiblow on Saturday the 22nd. If the tribe was favorable to their proposal, Pratt and two tribal delegates were authorized to return to Washington with the commissioners to sign the treaty. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 78.
25 December - Special Commissioners Jarrot, Bogy, and Warnsworth wrote to Rev. Pratt from De Soto in Johnson County. Pratt asked them if they wished to confer with the Wyandot, but Abelard Guthrie informed them that the majority of the Wyandot were in Indian Territory and the others dispersed/ Still, if two Wyandot could be chosen to go to Washington, they could go with Rev. Pratt and the Delaware delegates. (Ibid.)
29 December - The Paymaster General for the District of Kansas requested Rev. Pratt's assistance in making payment to Cos. B, C, and D, 2nd Regiment of Indian Home Guards. Pratt was to inform him as to where and when the companies could be assembled. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 78)
A detachment of Delaware accompanied Hancock's expedition of 1867 against the Indians west of Fort Larned and several served with Custer at that time as scouts, guides, and hunters. Farley says that due to all the travel, many Delaware settled far from the reservation. (Farley, p. 9)

                                                                            1867
January - Superintendent of Indian Affairs Thomas Murphy at Atchison instructed Reverend Pratt to make an immediate investigation of the burning of the Delaware mill. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 78)
9 January-The United States established a post office at Edwardsville, Kansas, on the site of Anderson's Town. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 79)
25 January - Reverend Pratt prepared a Memoranda of National Expenses for the Delaware for the latter part of 1866. The salaried positions included two sheriffs at $100 each, one jailor and one clerk at $75 each, two assistant smiths at $45 per month, and a lumber measurer. (Ibid.)
31 January - The Delaware Tribal Council notified Reverend Pratt that they have decided not to rebuild the mill and discharge miller William G. Bradshaw. Pratt was to sell any equipment and lumber that was salvageable. (Hancks/Pratt, p.79)
14 February - The commanding officer Leavenworth approved the military escort for the treaty payment, but denied Reverend Pratt's request for the use of Sibley tents to shelter the Delaware at the payment site. He said that if shelter was to be provided at all, it would have been done by the Indian Department. (Ibid.)
16 February - Miller William G. Bradshaw sent a detailed report of the burning of the Delaware mill, together with an estimate of the loss, to Rev. Pratt. The total was $2,335. Bradshaw believed that the fire was arson; the roof was a sheet of flame before any of the rest of the building was touched  and suspected employees of the Union Pacific, Eastern Division. There had been conflicts with the railroad over the cutting and milling of timber on the Delaware Reserve. (Ibid.)
18 February - The Delaware tribe accepted the 9 December agreement, and 985 Delaware elected to preserve their tribal relations and enroll for removal to a new reservation in the Cherokee Nation. Those not enrolling on the 18 February registry would thereby remain in Kansas, sever their tribal relations, and become United States' citizens. (A Lesson in Administrative Termination, p. 124)
18-24 February  - Rev. Pratt made a treaty payment to the Delaware. The official enrollment list of the Delaware Nation prepared by Rev. Pratt listed 1,160 Delaware, 985 of who had reluctantly agreed to move to Indian Territory. The remaining 175 Delaware were to become citizens of the United States. They retained their 80-acre allotments. [21 adults and 49 minor Delaware. Why the discrepancy? (Ibid.) Those remaining became known as the "Kansas Delaware Tribe of Indians, "now the Kansas Delaware Tribe of Indians, Incorporated.]
23 February - The omnibus treaty negotiated by the Special Commissioners was signed, affecting a half dozen tribes with lands in Kansas. The treaty provided for the surrender of the last lands still held by the Ottawa, Quapaw, Seneca, Mixed Seneca and Shawnee, and the Confederated Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea and Piankashaw. The mixed band of Seneca (Mingo) and Shawnee were to divide, the Mingo joining the main group of Western Seneca and their lands sold separately for different amounts. (There was no mention of the Wyandot who were once with the mixed band.) (Ibid.)
29 March - Nathaniel G. Taylor was appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs replacing Lewis V. Bogy after less than five months, but his confirmation was delayed. There was continuing turmoil in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, with charges of corruption. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 80)
3 April - Delaware Indians accompanied General Winfield S. Hancock as scout guides, hunters, and interpreters on a move from Fort Hacker to Fort Larned. A detachment of Delaware scouts accompanied Colonel Custer west of Fort Larned. (KHC, v. 27, pp. 212-213)
8 April  - The Delaware  and the Cherokee signed an agreement by which the Delaware were to become part of the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory. They were to pay $279,424.28 into the Cherokee tribal fund for what they assumed were voting rights, citizenship and a proportionate share of Cherokee lands, although they did not intend to give up their Delaware identity and tribal organization. (There was over $900,000 in the Delaware tribal funds; by contract, in the wake of the Civil War the Cherokee were land rich but money poor.) The Delaware allotments were in a 10-by-30-mile area in present Washington County, Oklahoma, but were interspersed with the Cherokee. Many Delaware felt that they were being cheated by the Cherokee; they had no legal representation but the Cherokee's attorney was Thomas Ewing, Jr., former agent for the Leavenworth, Pawnee & Western Railway in Kansas. Among other problems, much of the land purchased turned out to be for life tenure rather than in perpetuity. In addition, the Delaware were excluded from access to certain Cherokee tribal funds. (Ibid.) The treaty referred to the  "incorporation" old Delaware into the Cherokee Nation. (A Lesson in Administrative Termination, p. 124. [The Delaware  who went to live with the Cherokee were later known as the "Eastern Oklahoma Delaware Tribe of Indians," headquartered at Bartlesville, Oklahoma. This group is now called the "Delaware Tribe of Indians," headquartered at Bartlesville, Oklahoma. In spite of the name, this tribe is a tribe, per se, and has no jurisdiction over the "Western Delaware Tribe of Indians," sometimes referred to as the "Absentee Delaware," at Anadarko, Oklahoma, nor the Kansas Delaware Tribe of Indians, the Idaho Delaware Tribe, or any of the other Delaware or Munsee Delaware tribes or nations.
8 April - Superintendent of Indian Affairs Thomas Murphy wrote to the Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs from Atchison that the Delaware-Cherokee treaty would save the government the cost of one agency. (Ibid.)
11 April - The [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware Tribal Council wrote to the Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs. asking for an accurate account and final settlement of the monies due the tribe. (Hancks/Pratt, 81)
15April - The [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware noted in the 3 April started out in pursuit of the Pawnee. (KHC, p. 214)
6 May - The [Eastern] Delaware acting in General Council refused to ratify the Articles of Agreement due to the reference of "incorporation. The majority of the Delaware signed the resolution signed the resolution [?] rejecting the same as a violation of the 1866 Delaware-United States Treaty. (A Lesson in Administrative Termination, p. 124.)
13 June - The Cherokee National Council ratified the Articles of Agreement. A Lesson in Administrative Legislation, p. 124)
6 August - Agent Pratt grudgingly transmitted the resolution rejecting the Articles of Agreement to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, presenting the resolution as an "expression of that unfettered class, which seek to keep alive old Indian customs and traditions." [Emphasis added. In spite of my declaration to try to be unbiased, Reverend Pratt seems less and less an admirable person. Editor] (Ibid.)
December - The mainstream of the Delaware began their move from Kansas to Indian Territory. (Ibid.)
27 December - Sixty-eight Delaware affixed their names to a document renouncing their status as Delaware and affirmed their new status as United States' Citizens. [And became the Kansas Delaware Tribe of Indians.]

                                                                            1868
16 January - Three  fourth of the Delaware Tribe again petitioned the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, protesting the Articles of Agreement as a violation of the 1866 Treaty; Delawares now faced starvation and poverty in Kansas.
5 May - The Commissioner of Indian Affairs traveled to Kansas, [and] after  assurances from the Commissioner, [the] Delawares proceeded into the Cherokee Nation. (A Lesson in Administrative Legislation, p. 124)
Spring and Summer - The Delaware continued their move  from Kansas to Indian Territory. Nominally supervised by Rev. Pratt. Each family made its own preparations and traveled at its own expense, the 200-mile journey taking from ten days to two weeks. They suffered considerable hardship and there were many deaths over the next year. The Delaware Baptist Mission school was closed. Missionary teacher Elizabeth S. Morse, 53, retired after 20 years of service at the mission and went to live with friends. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 81)
June  - The Grinter Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church South and adjoining cemetery were founded on two acres donated by Moses and Anna Grinter at the southwest corner of the present 78th Street and Swartz Road in Wyandotte County. (Ibid.)
21 September - Agent Pratt reported sickness during the [Delaware] tribe's removal; 200 of 985 Delawares died during the removal. A Lesson in Administrative Legislation, p. 124) [This was 20 percent of the population. Much is made, deservedly of the "Trail of Tears" of the Cherokee an the Seminole, but many do not realize that the Delaware suffered a great many deaths during each one of its removals, albeit over a longer period of time.]
16 October - Charles Journeycake wrote to Rev. Pratt from the Cherokee Nation in Indian territory and asked him to pay a rent of $2,100, saying that he would reimburse Pratt later. Rev. Pratt paid the debt. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 81)
13 November - The Delaware requested to cancel the agreement with the Cherokees. (A Lesson in Administrative Legislation, p. 124)
31 December - Rev. John G. Pratt's term as U. S. Indian Agent was supposed to expire as of this, but because of the many difficulties encountered by the Delaware in their move to the Cherokee Nation, his appointment was continued to October, 1869. He made five or six trips to Indian Territory during 1869 he following year. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 82)

                                                                          1869
The name of the Union Pacific, Eastern Division Railway was changed to the Kansas Pacific Railway. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 82)
4 January - Delaware Civil Township was established, Townships 11 and 12 (Goodspeed, p. 350)
8 March - Prairie Civil Township established, Township 10. (Goodspeed, p. 350).
21 April  - Ely S. Parker was appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs, replacing Nathaniel G. Parker. Formerly Grant's adjutant and secretary, Parker is a Seneca whose Indian name was Donehogawa. (Ibid.)
7 June - Despite differences in history, language and culture, the Shawnee from Kansas were officially merged with the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory. The Shawnee were to pay $50,000 for tribal membership and a share of Cherokee lands (a much better deal than the Delaware received), with money which they expected to get from the sale of the unallotted portion of the Reserve which had been set aside for the Absentee Shawnee. The Shawnee in Indian Territory remained split into three groups: the Eastern Shawnee, (descended from those with the mixed band) who had refused to be a part of the merger, the Shawnee-Cherokee, who would eventually lose much of their separate identity, and the Absentee Shawnee. Only the last group would be able to retain much of the Shawnee language and culture. (Ibid.)
1 July - The number of Delaware in the Cherokee Nation was 1,005, with one school in operation and two more planned. (Ibid.)

                                                                       1870
Publishers Heisler and McGee, Wyandotte, Kansas, issued a large and detailed "Map of Wyandotte County, Kansas compiled from Official records and surveys." It included township and district boundaries, a separate map of Wyandotte City, and business directories for Connor City, Edwardsville, Pomeroy, Quindaro, White Church, and Wyandotte City. Rev. Pratt had acquired land adjacent to the original 160 acres of the Delaware Baptist Union. His farm totaled 480 acres. The Journeycake, Ketchum and Grinter families also had substantial properties in western Wyandotte County, but most of the Delaware allotments had changed hands several times. the Tiblow ferry was apparently still in operation, but the Grinter ferry was no longer shown. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 82)
9 June - Journeycake wrote Agent Pratt and told him of individual Cherokee depredations against the Delaware. (A Lesson in Administrative Legislation, p. 124)
22 August - Superintendent of Indian Affairs Enoch Hoag's office in Lawrence forwarded the draft of a new Wyandot census list based on the treaty roll of 1855 to Commissioner of Indian Affairs Parker. As Rev. Pratt failed to complete it as directed by the Treaty of 1867, it had been prepared by the Superintendent's Office with the assistance of William Walker, Jr. There were 242 Wyandot still resident in Kansas, while 214 were on the Wyandot Reserve in Indian Territory. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 83)
16 November - Special Indian Agent George Mitchell appealed for relief for the Wyandot at the Neosho Agency. (Ibid.)

                                                                            1871
3 March - Congress passed an act discontinuing the practice of treating with the various Indian tribes as separate but dependent nations. They were thereafter subjected to legislation the same as other resident of the United States, (but would not become citizens themselves until 2 June 1924). (Hancks/Pratt, p. 84
1 June - 330 Delaware, with 200 following, left the Cherokee Nation, and resided on lands of the Peoria, stating they would never return. (A Lesson in Administrative Legislation, p. 124)
19 August -  The Superintendent of the Central Superintendency informed the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of the intent to arrange a separate district for Delaware in the Cherokee Nation. (A Lesson in Administrative Legislation, p. 124)
8 November - A new Delaware Baptist Church was organized at Charles Journeycake's house in the Cherokee Nation, initially with 11 members. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 85)

                                                                              1872
22 September - A building for the Delaware Baptist Church was dedicated in the Cherokee Nation, with Rev. John G. Pratt present. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 85)
23 September - Delaware Assistant Chief Charles Journeycake was ordained and licensed to preach at the new Baptist church. (Ibid.)
24 September - The first services were held in the Delaware Baptist Church, with Reverends Journeycake and Pratt presiding. There were 108 baptisms during the following year. (Ibid.)
3 December - After John Connor died, an [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware council elected James Ketchum Principal Chief of the Delaware nation by a majority of 68 votes. (Ibid.)

                                                                                1873
The Absentee Delaware [Western Oklahoma Delaware] merged with the Caddo at Washita Agency, Indian Territory (present Oklahoma) (Ibid.) The Delaware Tribe moved back in mass to the Cherokee Nation, but no separate district was ever set aside as promised.
6 April - James Connor became the Principal Chief of the [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware nation in Indian territory. (Hancks/Pratt, p. 86)
This ends the pertinent Pratt Papers concerning the Kansas Delaware.] We are indebted to the generosity of Larry C. Hancks in allowing us to use extracts and comments from "The Delaware Indians in Kansas, John G. Pratt and the Delaware Baptist Mission." His work was based on Pratt's chronology entitled The Emigrant Tribes. [Both of those works can be examined at the Wyandotte County (Kansas) Historical Museum.]

                                                                             1876
24 February - [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware leasers, including Charles Journeycake, petitioned Congress for a separate reservation, explaining "seven years of bitter experience have convinced us of our great mistake." A Lesson in Administrative Legislation, p. 124)

                                                                              1877
The Commissioner of Indian Affairs reported that Delaware/Cherokee relations were not good. and that the [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware requested to be removed to a reservation of their own. (A Lesson in Administrative Legislation, p. 124)

                                                                               1887
The General Allotment Act, called the "Dawes Act,' provided for land allotments in severalty and the termination of certain tribes. (Ibid.)

                                                                               1889
The [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware General Council elected six persons to act with legal authority on behalf of the tribe.  (Ibid.)               

                                                                                1894
The United States Supreme Court determined that the [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware Tribe contracted for all [Easter Oklahoma] Delaware to enjoy the rights  of Native Cherokee, including communal property rights. (Ibid.; Cherokee Nation v, Journeycake, 55 U. S. (1894)

                                                                                 1895
1 February - After the death of Chief Journeycake in 1894, the Department of Interior called a General Council for the purpose of selecting (5) men to perform the duties of Chief. The [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware chose a Ceremonial Chief to perform the traditional spiritual duties of the chief. (Ibid., p. 125)

                                                                                  1898
[Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware settlements included a Council house, two churches, two schools along the Caney River, two schools along the California River, and one on Lightning Creek, traditional religious grounds, and cemeteries - all built and paid for by the [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware Tribe].                                   
 

                                                                               1898 - 1914
Dawes Commission final census of Indian Territory, including the Delaware of the Cherokee Nation.  

                                                                                1902
7 August - The Cherokee people ratified the Cherokee Dawes Agreement providing for the dissolution of their reservation boundaries, and the abandonment of tribal government. Congress ratified the same. (Ibid.)

                                                                                 1904
April - Congress passed legislation appropriating funds to be used as "the [Eastern Oklahoma Delaware] tribal governing body directs." (Ibid.)
27-29 April -  The [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware in General Council, passed a resolution defining membership criteria, and officially vested the political authorities of the tribe in the General Council and Business Committee. The resolution was duly accepted by the Department of the Interior as valid expression of the tribal body. (Ibid.)

                                                                                  1905
The Comptroller General of the United States opinion determined that, under article 15 of the 1866 treaty with the Cherokee, the [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware Tribe "maintained its tribal organization," and that in 1904 Congress appropriated monies for the [Eastern Oklahoma[ Delaware Tribe as a political entity, and nor for the descendants of the tribe. The Attorney General and the Secretary of the Interior approved the opinion. (A Lesson in Administrative Legislation, p. 125)

                                                                                   1906
The [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware Tribe and the Secretary of the Interior approved the Delaware Per Capita Roll that had been complied by the Delaware Business Committee. Thereafter the 1906 roll served as the base roll for [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware tribal membership. (Ibid.)

                  1909
The survivors of the Delaware who went to Oklahoma, and their descendants, became U. S. citizens.

                                                                              1906 - 1921

The Delaware Business Committee and the General Council [of the eastern Oklahoma Delaware] continued to work toward pursuing tribal goals. George Bullette continued as the Chairman of the Business Committee until 1922. (Ibid.)

                                                                                   1922
The Business Committee of the [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware Tribe elected Joe Bartles as Chairman. The committee still needed an interpreter during Business Committee and General Council meetings. (Ibid.)

                                                                                   1935
John Collier, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, proposed an "organization and Constitution for the [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware Tribe. (Ibid.)

                                                                                   1940
3 December - Assistant Commissioner [of Indian Affairs], William Zimmerman, issued a departmental decision that the [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware Tribe was eligible for organization under the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act (OIWA), 49 Stat. 1967, of 1936. (Ibid.)

                                                                                    1941
23  January - Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Oscar I. Chapman, specifically approved Assistant Commissioner William Zimmerman's determination of the OIWA eligibility of the [Eastern Oklahoma Delaware] tribe. (Ibid.)

                                                                                     1946
23 February - The [Eastern Oklahoma Delaware] Tribe voted in General Council to begin the tribal treasury once again.  (Ibid.)
20 April - The General Council of the Eastern Oklahoma Delaware Tribe voted to  petition
the Governor of Oklahoma for the return of Delaware artifacts. The tribe voted  to join the American Council of American Indians                                                      

                                                                             1951 - 1955
The [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware filed suit against the United States for numerous treaty violations. The U. S. argued and lost in the Court of Claims on the argument that the [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware Tribe ceased as a political tribe in 1867. The Court of Claims determined the U. S. treaties with the Delaware were "unconsionable" and that the lands sold to the United States were worth sixty times the amount paid to the Delaware. (Ibid.)

                                                                                   1958
10 March - The Bureau of Indian Affairs discussed "possibilities and necessities for establishing a A Constitution and By-laws for the operation of the [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware Indians in tribal affairs.
7 August - The Department of the Interior issued a notice that for a General Council to adopt a Constitution and Bylaws.
7 September - The General Council passed a resolution to adopt the proposed bylaws. The Muskogee Area Office [of the Department of the Interior oversaw the election and certified the Delaware bylaws. (Ibid.)

                                                                                     1962
The Commissioner of Indian Affairs signed and approved the bylaws [of the Eastern Oklahoma Delaware Tribe of Indians]. (Ibid.)

                                                                                  1965 - 1970
The [Eastern Delaware] Tribe continued to receive direct supervision from the Muskogee Area Office.
28 December , the Tribal Chairman, H. L. McCracken, died. Presumably Bruce Townsend was elected as the Tribal Chairman after the death of Mr. McCracken, because of the entry "Bruce Miller Townsend continues as Tribal Chairman." (Ibid.)

                                                                                   1970 - 1979
The [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware Tribe contracted directly with the BIA, DHHS, HUD, and the Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission for the administration of services to tribal members.

                                                                                 1972
3 October - Congress appropriated programming funds for the [Eastern Oklahoma] Delaware Tribe to be used as the "governing body directs," thereby specifically recognizing the [Eastern Oklahoma[ Delaware Tribe as a political entity, possessing inherent authority  for self-government. (Ibid.) [This act marked the beginning of the modern period of the Eastern Oklahoma Delaware Tribe of Indians, who later called themselves the Delaware Tribe of Indians. Editor]

                                                                                   1979
The U. S. Department of the Interior decided that the "Eastern Delaware" Tribe were  no longer a recognized tribe.

                                                                                   1996
The Department of the Interior recognized the Delaware Tribe of Indians (Eastern Oklahoma Delaware).

                  2005

January  Denver  Cherokee Phoenix & Indian Advocate -  The  U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals recently denied the Delaware Tribe of Indians a motion for a panel rehearing of the court's 2004 ruling that stated the tribe is not separate and independent but still part of the Cherokee Nation.

Published 9 July 2004. Times New Roman 14 point. Photo check A. TH                                                              
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