History Back Drop:
Native Hunting Lands and U.S. Westward Expansion

The land that Thomas homesteaded in Dodge County Wisconsin in 1848 was just fifteen years earlier a part of a large swath of territory inhabited by several Native American tribes. These tribes were primarily the Winnebago, Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi. The Dodge County area was part of a large hunting and fishing region that sustained the native's way of life and culture for hundreds if not thousands of years.

During the period between 1830 and 1833 the tribes living in the area (in these years the area was a part of Michigan Territory) were forced to sell or give their land to the federal government. This action was part of a broad policy of the United States at the time to expand the boundaries of the country westward. Sadly, this expansion policy came at the expense of the native people. Once the land was ceded, the Indian groups were moved west of the Mississippi River. Most Potawatomi, Ojibwa, and Ottawa tribes who lived in this area in the 1830s were relocated to Kansas.

Source: www.scils.rutgers.edu/~dalbello/FLVA/voices/839/voices/amind/landcessions.jpg