Letter from William P. Dole to the Secretary of the Interior
3/13/1862
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Native Americans were caught between the Union and the Confederacy, and the loyalties of several tribes were split. In this letter, U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs William P. Dole describes the plight of a group of Creek Indians. Loyal to the Union, they were driven from their lands by Confederate forces and other Creeks sympathetic to the Confederacy. The refugees eventually fought their way to Kansas, where they faced starvation and harsh winter conditions.
Transcript
Department of the InteriorOffice of Indian Affairs
March 13th 1862
Sir:
I respectfully ask your attention to the condition of the Southern Indians now in Kansas, who have been driven from their homes by the disloyal Indians and by an insurrectionary force from Texas and Arkansas. There are now some eight thousand of them in Kansas in a condition of extreme destitution.
Under the authority of a recent Act of Congress I have authorized the Superintendent to expend the Annuities due to those tribes to provide the means to relieve their immediate and pressing wants. This source of relief will however soon be exhausted and unless other means shall be provided to subsist them, many of them must perish, These Indians are partially civilized and have for many years been engaged in agricultural labor to great advantage. If they shall be returned to their own homes and protected by an adequate force while engaged in cultivating their lands, they can raise the means of their subsistence and relieve the government from
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the necessity of making very large expenditures for them.
Unless they should be returned to their homes very soon, it will be to late to raise crops the present year, and the government will be under the necessity of subsisting them during the whole year. This it is estimated will cost nearly a half million of dollars.
Upon a full consideration of the whole subject I am fully satisfied that humanity as well as a regard for economy, requires that they should be returned to their homes and protected by a sufficient force while planting and raising their crops. Two regiments of volunteers with the aid of a portion of the loyal Indians would constitute a force sufficient for this purpose.
I therefore recommend that you will procure an order from the War Department detailing two Regiments of volunteers from Kansas to go with the Indians to their homes and to remain there for their protection as long as may be necessary. Also to furnish two thousand stand of arms and ammunition to be placed in the hands of the loyal Indians. The Indians who may armed should be subsisted as a part of the military force while they shall be in the service.
Hon C.B. Smith { Very respectfully Your Obt. Servant,
Secretary of Interior { Wm P. Dole
13-2 Commissioner
Department of Interior
Office of Ind. Affairs
March 13th 1862
Com. recommends that an order be procured from the War Department, detailing two regiments of volunteers to protect the Southern Indian in Kansas whilst raising their crops.
Letter to Secy of War asking that the request of Comr. be granted
March 14/62
[stamp]
Mr White
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This primary source comes from the Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior.
National Archives Identifier: 3854717
Full Citation: Letter from William P. Dole to the Secretary of the Interior; 3/13/1862; Letters Received, 1849 - 1880; Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior, Record Group 48; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/dole-secretary-interior, June 2, 2023]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
