The View from Piqua Agency: The War of 1812, the White River Delawares, and the Origins of Indian Removal

This essay explores the War of 1812 and its aftermath from the vantage point of Piqua, Ohio. Piqua was the seat of a U.S. Indian agency. During the war, it was the site of negotiations between the U.S. and a variety of Indian groups, as well as a refugee center for pro-American Delawares. Despite Delaware support for the U.S. during the war, their relations with local settlers was poor. The agent at Piqua facilitated the 1818 Treaty of St. Mary’s, which was only the second federal treaty removing Indians west of the Mississippi, and the first in the North.