William Walker (Wyandot leader)
Encyclopedia
William Walker was a Wyandot Indian leader and the first provisional governor of Nebraska
Territory which also encompassed the present-day state of Kansas
.
. He was the son of William Walker, Sr., a White man who was captured by Delaware Indians in 1777 in Russell County, Virginia
. Walker, Sr. was later sold to the Wyandot and grew up among them. William, Sr. married Catherine Rankin, one-fourth Wyandot Indian. The couple had 10 children.
Walker was educated in a Methodist school in Worthington, Ohio
and spoke English and French, several Indian languages, and read Latin and Greek. He was described as an eloquent speaker and forceful writer on political and literary subjects. He married Hannah Barrett (d. 7 Dec 1863) on 8 April 1824. She was a student in a Christian mission school at Upper Sandusky, Ohio
and probably part Indian. The couple had five children. Walker became a merchant, an interpreter, postmaster at Upper Sandusky, and served as Private Secretary to Lewis Cass
the Governor of Michigan
territory. He became head chief of the Wyandot in 1835. After the death of his first wife, Walker married Evelina J. Barrett, a widowed sister-in-law of his first wife, in 1865. She died on 28 Aug 1868.
. In 1832, Walker headed a delegation of five Wyandot to explore their proposed new lands. The report of the Wyandot, written by Walker, was highly unfavorable toward the land they saw and the Whites they encountered on the frontier, an “abandoned, dissolute, and wicked class of people,” many of whom were “fugitives from justice.”
The murder of a Wyandot chief and his family finally persuaded the Wyandot that the American government would not protect them in Ohio and, in 1843, 664 Wyandot left Ohio by steamboat for their new home in Kansas. Their new lands, purchased from the Delaware, encompassed the present Kansas City, Kansas
.
Kansas historian William E. Connelley described the Wyandot. “When the Wyandots came to Kansas no member of the tribe was more than one-fourth Indian. The tribe was Indian; the people three-fourths white. They brought with them their church, their schools, their Masonic lodge, a code of laws for their government. They set up their institutions here. They enforced law.”
Walker’s election as provisional governor was not accepted by the federal government but it prompted Congress to hasten the official organization of the future Kansas and Nebraska by passing the Kansas–Nebraska Act 1854 which opened the territory to White settlement and allowed settlers to determine if slavery would be allowed in their territories. The Wyandot people were divided on the issue of slavery although some, Walker included, owned slaves. Walker, however, opposed secession
Although a few Wyandot benefited from selling their lands to White settlers for most it proved to be disastrous and they soon moved to Oklahoma and new lands there. Walker, however, remained in Kansas where he died on 13 February 1874. .
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
Territory which also encompassed the present-day state of Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
.
Background
Walker was born March 5, 1800 in Wayne County, MichiganWayne County, Michigan
-History:Wayne County was one of the first counties formed when the Northwest Territory was organized. It was named for the American general "Mad Anthony" Wayne. It originally encompassed the entire area of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, as well as small sections that are now part of northern...
. He was the son of William Walker, Sr., a White man who was captured by Delaware Indians in 1777 in Russell County, Virginia
Russell County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 30,308 people, 11,789 households, and 8,818 families residing in the county. The population density was 64 people per square mile . There were 13,191 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile...
. Walker, Sr. was later sold to the Wyandot and grew up among them. William, Sr. married Catherine Rankin, one-fourth Wyandot Indian. The couple had 10 children.
Walker was educated in a Methodist school in Worthington, Ohio
Worthington, Ohio
-Dissolution of the Company:By August 11, 1804 the plat maps were completed, payments or notes promising payments collected and deeds prepared for all sixteen thousand acres of the Scioto Company's purchase...
and spoke English and French, several Indian languages, and read Latin and Greek. He was described as an eloquent speaker and forceful writer on political and literary subjects. He married Hannah Barrett (d. 7 Dec 1863) on 8 April 1824. She was a student in a Christian mission school at Upper Sandusky, Ohio
Upper Sandusky, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 6,533 people, 2,744 households, and 1,682 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,246.2 people per square mile . There were 2,910 housing units at an average density of 555.1 per square mile...
and probably part Indian. The couple had five children. Walker became a merchant, an interpreter, postmaster at Upper Sandusky, and served as Private Secretary to Lewis Cass
Lewis Cass
Lewis Cass was an American military officer and politician. During his long political career, Cass served as a governor of the Michigan Territory, an American ambassador, a U.S. Senator representing Michigan, and co-founder as well as first Masonic Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Michigan...
the Governor of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
territory. He became head chief of the Wyandot in 1835. After the death of his first wife, Walker married Evelina J. Barrett, a widowed sister-in-law of his first wife, in 1865. She died on 28 Aug 1868.
The Move to Kansas
Despite their adaption to American mores, political pressure increased on the Wyandot in the 1830s to exchange their lands in Ohio for land in what would become the state of KansasKansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. In 1832, Walker headed a delegation of five Wyandot to explore their proposed new lands. The report of the Wyandot, written by Walker, was highly unfavorable toward the land they saw and the Whites they encountered on the frontier, an “abandoned, dissolute, and wicked class of people,” many of whom were “fugitives from justice.”
The murder of a Wyandot chief and his family finally persuaded the Wyandot that the American government would not protect them in Ohio and, in 1843, 664 Wyandot left Ohio by steamboat for their new home in Kansas. Their new lands, purchased from the Delaware, encompassed the present Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The city is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified...
.
Kansas historian William E. Connelley described the Wyandot. “When the Wyandots came to Kansas no member of the tribe was more than one-fourth Indian. The tribe was Indian; the people three-fourths white. They brought with them their church, their schools, their Masonic lodge, a code of laws for their government. They set up their institutions here. They enforced law.”
Provisional Governor of Nebraska Territory
On July 26, 1853, Walker was elected provisional governor of the territory of Nebraska at a meeting at the Wyandot Council house. The group that elected him were Wyandot, White traders, and outside interests who wished to preempt the federal government’s organization of the territory and to benefit from settlement of Kansas by White settlers. Walker and the others were also promoting Kansas as the route for the proposed trans-continental railroad.Walker’s election as provisional governor was not accepted by the federal government but it prompted Congress to hasten the official organization of the future Kansas and Nebraska by passing the Kansas–Nebraska Act 1854 which opened the territory to White settlement and allowed settlers to determine if slavery would be allowed in their territories. The Wyandot people were divided on the issue of slavery although some, Walker included, owned slaves. Walker, however, opposed secession
Although a few Wyandot benefited from selling their lands to White settlers for most it proved to be disastrous and they soon moved to Oklahoma and new lands there. Walker, however, remained in Kansas where he died on 13 February 1874. .