Julius Wilm Settlers as Conquerors Free Land Policy in Antebellum America ce) Franz Steiner Verlag Cover illustration: Squatter Family Travelling, Mustrated American News, November 15, 1851, 185 Courtesy, American Antiquarian Society Bibliographic information published by the German National Library: The German National Library lists this publication in the Deutsche National- bibliografie; detailed bibliographic information is available at <http://dnb.d-nb.de>. ‘This publication and all parts thereof are protected by copyright. Any usage beyond the narrow limits of the Copyright Act is not permissible and liable to prosecution. © Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2018 Print: Memminger MedienCentrum, Memmingen Printed on acid-free and age-resistant paper. Printed in Germany. ISBN 978-3-515-12131-6 (Print) ISBN 978-3-515-12132-3 (E-Book) Contents Acknowledgments . 2.00.0... 2.0 ccc cesses ceeescee eee e see eeeeeeeeeeceees i 1 Introduction .. 0.00.ce ccc c.e eee ee.ceeeeet erens 13 Defining the Shape of the Possible: Free Land in Congressional Debates, 1798-1829 ...2.0.. 0.e.e.e 2.1 The Political Dismissal of a Popular Concept 2.2 Propositions in Congressional Debates................. ee 2.3 Conceivable Policy 2.2.2... 0... ecco c cece cece cece ence cccees Between Mass Politics and a Vehicle of Colonial Expansion: The Development of Free Land Legislation, 1828-50............... 59 3.1 The Emergence of Mass Politics in the West and Southwest, 18205-18308 . 0.0c ce .ceeeesce eeeeenes 60 3.2 Smearing Indians to Access the Government Domain: The Donation Proposal for Missouri and Arkansas, 1828-40...... 66 3.3 Bringing Indian Removal to a Radical Conclusion: The Donation Proposal for Florida, 1838-42 ..............0.0.. 86 3.4 Countering British Dominance on the Pacific Coast: The Donation Proposal for Oregon Country, 1839-50............ 115 6 = Contents 4 Realities of a Settler Utopia: Land Claims, Settlement Development and Frontier Relations, 1840-60... 20.02.0cece0 c .ee.e . eee 155 4.1 Boosting the Growth of a State: Arkansas, 1840-50............. 157 4.2 A Double-Edged Sword: Florida, 1842-50 .............0..0008 163 4.3 Contradictions of a Success: Oregon, 1850-60 .................. 191 5 Political Assessments and Reconceptualizations, 1850-62......... 233 6 Conclusion: Failures of a Land Policy and the Persistent Contradictions of Settler Imperialism .......................0.00. 251 Appendices... 0.0... cece eee ence eet eee n eer nen eeeenenes 261 Bibliography... 2.02... cece cece cece cee c ne cnet ene eee ee 263 Figures Figure 1: Engraved land warrant, 1856.............. Figure 2: The Mississippi Territory, 1798-1803 Figure 3: Proposed donation land corridor in the Midwest, 1813-1815 ..... 4i Figure 4: Oregon Country, 1818-1846 2.0... eeec eeee eee cee 45 Figure 5: Senator Thomas Hart Benton, 1837 0.0.0c.ec2e e.ee. .e ee e 49 Figure 6: Seal of the US General Land Office ...2.... c c.ece 2cece. ce ce 55 Figure 7: “The County Election,” engraving 1854 ...............0ce0e .a e 62 Figure 8: “The Arkansas Traveler,” lithograph ca. 1850 ...............00. 69 ’ Figure 9: William S. Fulton and Ambrose H. Sevier, late 1830s to early 1840s 20. ceccecee cnet e eee ees 71 Figure 10: Proposed donation land belt in Arkansas and Missouri, 1838 ..... 74 Figure 11: Choctaw council house at Nunih Waya ......2... 00.2.0... cee 79 Figure 12: Seminole village, lithograph 1837 2.2.20... eee ee 88 Figure 13: Osceola, drawing 1838.0... 22... ccc eee c eee cece eee ee 90 Figure 14: The US Army scorches Abraham’s Town, lithograph 1837......... 93 Figure 15: Florida governor Richard Keith Call ...... 2.00c ce.ce .ce.ca Figure 16: Army surgeon general Thomas Lawson..............00000e0ee Figure 17: Florida settler camps on army aid rolls, July 1842 . Figure 18: Indians fishing at Willamette Falls, 1841 Figure 19: Fort Vancouver, 1841 ....0.... .cec.e e.ee eee Figure 20: Senator Lewis F. Linn 2.0.0cc0c e.ee .eee. ee e Figure 21: Inside a Chinook lodge, 1841.00ce .cec0e 0cece. ce.ce .ee ns Figure 22: American bluster in the Oregon dispute, cartoon 1846 ......... 133 Figure 23: Oregon counties in 1846 .... 2... kee cece eee eee eee 143 Figures Figure 24: Senator Sidney Breese ............., Figure 25: Arkansas donation land, June 5, 1847 Figure 26: The Armed Occupation Act and east Florida counties in1850.... 165 Figure 27: Palmetto hut, 1871 2.20.2. 0e cc.c 0eeee. cec.e eee. eee ees 170 Figure 28: Detail from an 1844 survey plat .....00. .cce. c.ece. e.ee eee 173 Figure 29: Malaria deaths in Florida, map 1874 ..................00000. 179 Figure 30: Holata Micco or Billy Bowlegs, 1852 ...0..... ccc. ce0ce e.ee a ee 189 Figure 31: Detail from an 1861 survey plat .........0.c c.ec0e 0ee.e c0 ee e 192 Figure 32: Western Oregon in 1860 2.2.000. ce.ce c2ece .cee .eee.eeee ee 195 Figure 33: Immigrants heading to the Pacific Coast, 1853 ................ 200 Figure 34: Settler cabin built in 1847, drawing 1910 .........0.......00. 206 Figure 35: Portland’s business district, 1852 ....0.... c.c cc.c e.cee.eee es 213 Figure 36: Native plank lodge, 1850s 0.02.cc0 cec2e c.ece .eee .e eee es 217 Figure 37: Militia mobilization order, October 1855 .............c0e00eee 228 Figure 38: Tecumtum (Elk Killer) or Chief John ........0...0 .cec.e .e0ee 230 Figure 39: Tables Table 1: Sold and Unsold Land in the Western States and Territories, c.1827 50 Table 2: Census Population in the Southwestern United States, 1820-40 ... 52 Table 3: US Army Casualties in Florida by Year, 1835-42 ...............-. 92 Table 4: Total vs. Civilian Population in South Florida Counties, 1840 ...... 94 Table 5: Participants in the Army’s Colonization Program by Age, Gender, and Ethnicity, July1842 2.0.00... cece ee eee 110 Table 6: Annual Overland Immigration to Oregon, 1840-50 ............. 139 Table 7: Oregon Provisional Land Claims, August 21, 1845 to April 7, 1849 .144 Table 8: Oregon Settlers Claiming Land More Than Once, 1845-49 ........ 145 Table 9: Arkansas Donation Land by County, June 5, 1847 ............... 159 Table 10: AOA Settlement Permits Issued, 1842-43 ............2.e.e.e 167 Table 11: Cancellations of AOA Permits, August to December 1843 ......... 75 Table 12: Permits Issued at Newnansville Canceled for Failure to File Affidavit by December 12, 1843 ....2.... c.ece. ce.ce .eee eee 180 Table 13: AOA Claimants on Tax Rolls, 1845-48 ....0-0.... .cec.e e.ee eee 182 Table 14: Slave Ownership Among AOA Claimants on Tax Rolls, 1845-48 ... 183 Table 15: Distribution of Slave Ownership ............. Table 16: AOA Claims and Their Rates of Success Table 17: Verified DLCA Claims South of the Columbia River, 1850-55 ...... 197 Table 18: Male and Female DLCA Claimants .......2..02..0. .e e.e e.ee 199 Table 19: Wealth of DLCA Claimants in the Counties of Washington, Benton, and Yamhill, 1852, 1853.20.ee0e 0e.ee .ee.e e ee 202 Table 20: DLCA Patents Issued for Claims South of the Columbia River by Year ocecce ce eee tee ete eee ene eee 209 10 Tables Table 21: Verified Claims and Patents Issued for DLCA Claims South of the Columbia Rivero... 2.0... eee eee e nee 210 Table 22: Wealth of Unsuccessful DLCA Claimants in the Counties of Washington, Benton, and Yamhill in 1852-53 ................ 211 Table 23: Oregon Donation Land Claims vs. Farm Land Listed in 1860 Census ... 00... e eee cece cece een e tee cevenees 214 Appendix A: Land Claims and Patents Issued Under Antebellum Free Land Laws . 20.0.2... leeetee nn e ee eaes 261 Acknowledgments T he research that has gone into this book could not have been under- taken without the generous help of many individuals and institutions. Norbert Finzsch at the University of Cologne agreed to supervise my dissertation and supported its development in many ways. In Cologne, Barbara Liithi, Hanjo Berressem, Dorothea Schulz, Peter W. Marx, and Andreas Speer all commented on my research at different points. Joe Knetsch at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Stephen Dow Beckham at Lewis & Clark College, and William G. Robbins at Oregon State University shared their expertise and made valuable suggestions about relevant source material. An in- vitation to participate in the Summer School of the German Historical Institute in Washington, DC, allowed me to discuss my ideas with a unique group of young historians. Mischa Honeck introduced us to some of the most interest- ing research libraries and archives in the United States. The a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities Cologne made it possible to pursue my thesis by providing me with a generous stipend and funding to travel. The work experi- ence at a.7.t.e.s. has simply been incredible! Talso have to thank the archivists and library staff at many institutions: the libraries at the University of Arkansas, the Free University of Berlin, the Uni- versity of Cologne, the University of Central Arkansas, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, the University of Florida, Florida State University, the University of Georgia, the University of Oregon, the University of Southern Illinois, the state historical societies of Missouri, Ohio, and Oregon, and the state archives of Arkansas, Florida, New York, and Washington. I am also in- debted to the staff at the Matheson Museum in Gainesville, the Florida Depart- 12 Acknowledgments ment of Environmental Protection in Tallahassee, the Missouri History Mu- seum in St. Louis, the Library of Congress, the National Archives in Washing- ton, DC, College Park, and Seattle, as well as the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin. Several historians took time to read and criticize chapter drafts, Eva Bischoff (Trier University), S. Charles Bolton (University of Arkansas - Little Rock), Joe Knetsch (Tallahassee), William G. Robbins (Oregon State University), and Alexander van Wickeren (University of Cologne) all made perceptive com- ments on earlier drafts of selected chapters. Victoria Tafferner (Free University of Berlin) corrected the language throughout the original thesis version. I also have to thank the series editors of the Transatlantische Historische Studien for their willingness to support the development of this book and the anonymous peer reviewers for their criticisms and suggestions. The patient and insightful commentary on multiple drafts by Elisabeth Engel, Mischa Honeck, and Axel Jansen of the German Historical Institute in Washington, DC, has helped to ~ improve the structure and argument in many ways. Special thanks to Patricia C, Sutcliffe for correcting and editing the final book manuscript. Finally, I need to thank my parents and my friends for entertaining me during the past four years and enduring more discussions of land conflicts in the American Old West than most people do in a lifetime. Thank you!