Born to Anthony and Molly Street in
Virginia, he studied
law under
Henry Clay and traveled to
Frankfort, Kentucky, where he became the editor of
The Western World in July 1806. He eventually settled in
Shawneetown during the early 19th century, where his father-in-law, Governor
Thomas Posey, died of
typhus fever at his home on March 9, 1818. Following the death of
Nicholas Boilvin in 1827, Street became the U.S. Indian Agent to the
Winnebago. He and his family were among the first whites to settle in
Prairie du Chien who lacked French, Roman Catholic, or French-Canadian heritage and were among the few
Presbyterian families to live in the area. While residing at Prairie du Chien, he was present in 1827 at the signing of
the peace treaty ending the "
Winnebago War". During his administration, his attempts to help the Winnebago ultimately failed largely due to the interests of the
American Fur Company. In 1831, Street wrote to
U.S. Secretary of War Lewis Cass that when the Sauk, Fox and other tribes had agreed to cede their lands in western Iowa the previous year, a local trader had reported that "The Sacs and Foxes wish to sell to the United States the whole of their country that borders on the Mississippi, but they won't sell unless the commissioners will pay to Messrs. Farnham and Davenport what the Indians owe them." He and his brother-in-law
Alexander Posey both participated in the Black Hawk War and, in the weeks following the
Battle of Bad Axe, members of the
Sioux delivered 68 scalps and 22 prisoners to him. The
Winnebago Prophet and
Black Hawk were delivered to him by two Winnebago warriors, One-Eyed Decorri and Cha-e-tar, at the agency headquarters on August 27, 1832. One-Eyed Decorri claimed credit for Black Hawk's capture, telling Street, In a letter sent on September 3, Street reported: "The day after Gen's Scott and Atkinson left this place, I sent out two parties of Winnebagos to bring Black Hawk, the Prophet and Neopope to me." During 1832 and 1833, he was extensively involved in post-war settlements with the Sac and Fox and was eventually named as a U.S. government liaison and representative of the Sauk and Fox in 1836. The following year, he accompanied a Sauk and Fox delegation to
Washington, D.C., where they agreed to relinquish 1,250,000 of their lands in Iowa to the United States, officially signing the "Second Purchase" treaty on October 21, 1837. He later accompanied the Fox chieftain
Poweshiek to select a location for the Sac and Fox agency on the Des Moines River. The agency was located on the Lower Des Moines, at the site of present-day
Agency City, Iowa. Using money from the U.S. Indian Fund, he oversaw the construction of several buildings, including a small farm for his family when they arrived from Prairie du Chien in April 1838. Recognizing the scarcity of game in the region, he encouraged the federal government to introduce farming to the agency as well as the establishment of
Presbyterian missions to provide education to the local tribes. Street had been in negotiations with the U.S. government on behalf of the Fox and Sauk for another purchase of Sac and Fox lands in Iowa; however, he had been in failing health for some time and died at the agency on May 5, 1840. His son-in-law, Major
John Beach, took over his position as agent to the Sac and Fox and hosted a week-long council which resulted in the signing of the treaty on October 11, 1842. One of the clauses requested by the chieftains was a special
stipend to be paid to Street's widow. He was greatly respected among both his contemporaries as well as
Native Americans. The war chieftain
Wapello, a close personal friend, requested to be buried alongside him in what is now
Chief Wapello's Memorial Park. ==References==