INTRODUCTION 13 



move should prove successful, he planned to present a 

 claim, real or fancied, against Shobonier, to obtain legal 

 title to the land. Although Indian reserves under the 

 treaty applied only to lands in Illinois, Butler evidently 

 hoped that an exception might be made to allow location 

 in Indiana. Shobonier's refusal to indicate the site of 

 his village doomed the speculator's plan to temporary 

 failure, but the Indian's removal, with others of his tribe, 

 west of the Mississippi in 1836 offered further oppor- 

 tunity. 



Associating himself with one John Mann, Butler then 

 induced the register at La Porte to forward a petition, 

 undoubtedly fraudulent, but allegedly representing Sho- 

 bonier and signed by his mark, to the General Land 

 Office, requesting the president to issue a patent to 

 Shobonier for sections 8 and 17, township 34 north, 

 range 8 west, in Lake County. The petition was refused 

 on the ground that the reservee could not be granted a 

 patent for these lands under the treaties of 1832, and 

 had no power to convey title to anyone but the United 

 States. In 1838 the same petition was presented to the 

 War Department. Again there was a refusal to recom- 

 mend a patent, although promise was given to locate 

 Shobonier's village and secure to him his rights under 

 the treaty. Robinson, aroused by these attempts, suc- 

 cessfully enlisted the aid of Albert S. White and other 

 Indiana members of Congress, and stated his case to 

 officials in Washington in a petition printed in this vol- 

 ume under date of November 4, 1837. Upon the fulfill- 

 ment of preemption requirements, in conjunction with 

 his brother Milo, in November, 1838, he legally purchased 

 the land where he had originally settled. 



Robinson's friendly relations with Shobonier were un- 

 doubtedly a factor in the defeat of Butler. The Indian, 

 in common with other Potawatomi chiefs, had several 

 temporary camps or villages, one where the town of 

 Crown Point was later established, another at Cedar 

 Lake, and a third on the Kankakee in Illinois. When 



