Northern origins Kickapoo comes from their word "Kiwigapawa", which roughly translates into "he moves from here to there." The tribe is part of the central Algonquian group and has close ethnic and linguistic connections with the Sac and Fox. The Kickapoo were first recorded in history in about 1667-70 at the confluence of the
Fox and
Wisconsin Rivers. Under pressure from the Menominee, the Kickapoo and their allies moved south and west into southern Michigan, northern Iowa, Ohio and Illinois. A treaty dated 7 June 1803 between the U.S. Government and the
Delaware,
Shawnee,
Potawatomi,
Miami,
Eel River,
Wea, Kickapoo,
Piankeshaw, and
Kaskaskia tribes occupying the country watered by the
Ohio,
Wabash and
Miami Rivers ceded lands previously granted in the
Treaty of Greenville in 1795 by General
Anthony Wayne, and Fort Wayne and
Vincennes, Indiana. 1815, 1816, 1819, and 1820 the tribe ceded all their lands on the Wabash, White and Vermilion Rivers and moved into
Missouri on the
Osage River. At the conclusion of the Texas Revolution, these groups moved south into Mexico. In 1854 the eastern portion of the Kansas lands was ceded to the United States leaving the Kickapoo the western 150,000 acres. Using these two clauses as a basis, the local agent, William Badger, convinced the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs Charles E. Mix that the Kickapoo were desirous of having their lands allotted. Considering that the tribe had always held their lands in common, it is unlikely that the tribe truly wanted allotment. However, in light of Badger's persuasion, Mix directed that allotment proceed if 1) the Indians paid for the costs of surveying and allotting the land, 2) 80 acres was allotted to each head of household, and 3) any lands remaining after allotment of the Kansas Kickapoo be reserved for resettlement of the Mexican Kickapoo. Holding the lands not allotted for the Southern Kickapoo, was not in the interests of the railroad and Badger began pressuring tribal citizens for allotment. Though they complained, it was a political election, not the tribal issues with their agent, that removed Badger from office and replaced him with his brother-in-law Charles B. Keith in 1861. Keith was a political ally of Senator
Samuel C. Pomeroy who was the president of the Atchison and Pike's Peak Railroad, the central section of the
Transcontinental railroad, which had been formed in 1859. The railroad wanted to gain the right-of-way across the Kickapoo Reservation and title to any surplus lands when the reservation was allotted. When news of the treaty being approved broke, protest erupted. The Kickapoo indicated that they were unaware that the agreement had been reached and thought that they were still negotiating terms. The
Kansas Attorney General, Warren William Guthrie, launched a grand jury hearing. The charges were considered serious enough that allotment was suspended and the new Commissioner of Indian Affairs, William P. Dole, appointed in 1863, traveled to Kansas to investigate. In the hearings that followed, allegations were made that Guthrie's real interest in the matter stemmed from his involvement with a rival railroad the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Corporation. Dole returned to
Washington and submitted his report to President
Lincoln on 4 April 1864. Some of the frustrated Kickapoo, decided to leave Kansas, and a group of about 700 headed for Mexico to join kinsmen there in September, 1864. In 1865 pressure from Pomeroy finally gained the approval to continue with the Kickapoo allotment, though the tribe resisted. By 1869, only 93 Kansas Kickapoo had accepted fee simple allotment, the remainder preferring to continue holding their lands in common. Though a small band, approximately 50 tribesmen returned from Mexico to the Kansas Reservation before the forfeit period lapsed, they settled on the common lands briefly, but then left before claiming their allotments. They later joined the Kickapoo in
Indian Territory in 1874. In 1875, a group of 114 of the Mexican Kickapoos were returned to the Kansas Reservation. In 1850, they agreed to act as a buffer between Mexicans, invading Texas settlers and the
Lipan, Comanche and other tribes in Northern
Coahuila. As a reward for their service, the Spanish governor awarded them a land grant at Hacienda del Nacimiento near the settlement of Santa Rosa (now known as
Melchor Múzquiz). At the peak of their strength, the southern Kickapoo, numbered about 1500 and by 1860 were living in a swath from the
Canadian and
Washita Rivers in
Indian Territory to the
Sabine and
Brazos Rivers in
Texas to the Remolino River in northern Mexico. In 1864, about 700 Kickapoo, frustrated with the duplicitous actions of agents and their railroad colleagues in
Kansas left to join their kinsmen in Mexico.
Confederate scouts picked up their trail and reported their findings to Captain Henry Fossett and Captain S. S. Totten, leader of a group of Texas Militiamen. On 8 January 1865, the Texans charged the Kickapoo at
Dove Creek, were engaged in battle for a brief half hour and then retreated. The Kickapoo had lost about 15 warriors and the Texans twice as many men. and claimed that the Mexican Kickapoo were responsible for raids in the western part of Texas. In an effort to pacify the Texas citizens and ward off difficulties with Mexico, the U.S. determined to retrieve the Kickapoo. In 1873, after complaints were again received indicating that Mexican authorities were using the Kickapoo to hide the theft of Texas cattle by Mexicans, another attempt was made to bring the Kickapoo to Indian Territory. Special Agents H. M. Atkinson and Col. T. G. Williams went to
Saltillo, to negotiate directly with Governor
Victoriano Cepeda Camacho. Though citizens and the Legislature of
Coahuila did not support the action, Cepeda appointed an officer to assist the agents and gave him a proclamation that they were to be assisted by the officials and citizenry. While the delegation was en route to Santa Rosa, a party of Americans under the command of General MacKenzie attacked the Kickapoo, thinking that they were a group of raiding
Lipan, which did not make the Kickapoo receptive to relocating when the agents arrived. In the autumn of 1874, Atkinson and Williams were finally able to persuade a group of about 300
Mexican Kickapoo to resettle. 283 Kickapoo received eighty-acre plots leaving 184,133 surplus acres for non-Indian settlement. In 1895, after the Kickapoo finally consented to allotment, the final Oklahoma
Land Run occurred on 23 May 1895. The
Land Run of 1895 was the smallest of
Oklahoma's five land runs, with approximately 10,000 participants. Because of the large number of contested claims and the problems with
Sooners, the remaining two land openings in Oklahoma were lotteries. ==20th century==