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The Godfroy Reserve was a tract of land allotted to Chief Francois Godfroy (Palaanswa), chief of an American native tribe, the Miami Nation, by United States government Indian treaty. The reserve is located along the
Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties
Compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1904. {{authority control Geography of Blackford County, Indiana Native American history of Indiana Former American Indian reservations Miami tribe
The Godfroy Reserve was a tract of land allotted to Chief Francois Godfroy (Palaanswa), chief of an American native tribe, the Miami Nation, by United States government Indian treaty. The reserve is located along the Salamonie River
The Salamonie River is a tributary of the Wabash River, in eastern Indiana in the United States. The river is long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 19, 2011 It is ...
in Blackford County, Indiana
Blackford County is located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Indiana. The county is named for Judge Isaac Blackford, who was the first speaker of the Indiana General Assembly and a long-time chief justice of the Indiana Supreme ...
. The Miami Tribe was forced to move west to Kansas Territory (and later to Indian Territory
The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...
), but several tribal leaders, all of mixed French Canadian and Native American heritage, were allotted land in Indiana. This exception was due to their history of cooperation with the US and their willingness to participate in government attempts to "civilize" them.
The reserve land was occupied as a Half-breed tract between about 1814 and 1834, after which Chief Godfroy left because white neighbors repeatedly encroached upon the land, and because of the conditions of the Treaty of 1834 between Indiana and the Miamis who remained.
The text of the marker reads:
Reserved by U.S. to Chief Francois Godfroy of the Miami Nation of Indians by treaty at St. Mary's, Ohio, 6 October 1818, 3, 840 acres on Salamonie River at La Petite Prairie, Harrison Township, Blackford County; reserve lands sold 1827, 1836.The history of the Reserve and of Chief Godfroy is detailed in ''History of Jay County, Indiana: including its World War record''. Unsuccessful efforts were made in the 1960s to turn the reserve into a state park. Efforts were again made in the 2000s, but since it was the habitat of two plants, the
frog orchid
''Coeloglossum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the orchid family Orchidaceae. It has long been considered to have only one species, ''Coeloglossum viride'', the frog orchid. Some recent classifications regard ''Coeloglossum'' as part of the ...
and the small purple-fringed orchid, on the Endangered Species List
On 29 January 2010, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 5220 (2754 animals, 1 fungus, 2464 plant, 1 protist) endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and sub-populations.
For IUCN lists of endangered species by kingd ...
, the plans failed. The site once contained many Native American artifacts.
References
External links
Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties
Compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1904. {{authority control Geography of Blackford County, Indiana Native American history of Indiana Former American Indian reservations Miami tribe