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Detroit, Michigan Territory, Stampless Letter to John Johnston, Indian Agent, 1823

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Native Americana Start Price:200.00 USD Estimated At:280.00 - 450.00 USD
Detroit, Michigan Territory, Stampless Letter to John Johnston, Indian Agent, 1823
SOLD
200.00USDto s*******Z+ buyer's premium
This item SOLD at 2022 Jul 27 @ 16:10UTC-4 : AST/EDT
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Detroit, Michigan Territory, 1823. Handwritten letter addressed to John Johnston, Esq., an Indian Agent in Piqua, Ohio. The letter is regarding the sum of shares, and other financial details of a Mr. Shaw, who may have been a Native American. The author also mentions the "next session of Congress," in regards to the possible increase in sums for Mr. Shaw's expenses. The handwriting can be difficult to decipher. John Johnston (1775-1861) was an Indian agent in the United States Northwest Territory. Johnston's career with Native Americans started as a wagoner for General Anthony Wayne's Legion of the United States. In 1802, President Thomas Jefferson appointed Johnston as Indian Agent at the new trading agency in Fort Wayne, and by 1809 he was in charge of two Indian Agencies. His primary responsibility was to manage trade so that Indians in the area would not seek trade with the nearby British. Johnston was responsible to the territorial governor, William Henry Harrison, and to the Superintendent of Indian Trade. Almost immediately, however, a rivalry began between Johnston and William Wells, the official interpreter at Fort Wayne. The Miami of Fort Wayne trusted Wells, who had been adopted into their tribe, while U.S. government officials questioned Wells' loyalty and sided with Johnston. Johnston remained at Fort Wayne through a period of growing resentment between the American Indians and the United States, and filed a report summarizing Indian accounts of the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. That same year, an Indian agency was established at Piqua, Ohio, and Johnston asked to be transferred to the new agency. He was at this agency during the War of 1812, and organized a Shawnee party under Captain Logan to rescue women and children during the Siege of Fort Wayne, where his brother, Stephen, was killed. He had much better relations with the local Shawnee and Wyandot than he had with the Indians at Fort Wayne, and served as Indian Agent until 1829. He helped negotiate the Treaty of Upper Sandusky in 1842, which removed the Wyandot from Ohio to the West. Besides his duties as an Indian agent, he also contributed to many other facets of Ohio. Fine condition with a hole at center, damage to margins, toning, and staining. Postal handstamp on back. Interesting piece.