684 



KICKAPOO 



[b. a. e. 



Kickapoo (from Kiivtgapavo , 'he stands 

 about,' or ' he moves about, standing now 

 here, now there ' ) . A tribe of the central 

 Algonquian group, forming a division 

 with the Sauk and Foxes, with whom 

 they have close ethnic and linguistic con- 

 nection. The relation of this division is 

 rather with the Miami, Shawnee, Menom- 

 inee, and Peoria than with the Chippewa, 

 Potawatomi, and Ottawa. 



History. — The people of this tribe, un- 

 less they are hidden under a name not 

 yet known to be synonymous, first ap- 

 pear in history about 1667-70. At this 



time they were found by AUouez near the 

 portage between Fox and Wisconsin rs. 

 Verwyst (Missionary Labors, 1886) sug- 

 gests Alloa, Columbia co.. Wis., as the 

 prolaable locality, about 12 m. s. of the 

 mixed village of the Mascouten, Miami, 

 and Wea. No tradition of their former 

 home or previous wanderings has been 

 recorded; but if the name Outitchakouk 

 mentioned by Druillettes ( Jes. Rel. 1658, 

 21, 1858) refers to the Kickapoo, which 

 seems probable, the first mention of them 

 is carried back a few years, but they were 

 then in the same locality. Le Sueur 



(1699) mentions, in his voyage up the 

 Mississippi, the river of the Quincapous 

 (Kickapoo), above the mouth of the Wis- 

 consin, which he says was "so called from 

 the name of a nation which formerly 

 dwelt on its banks." This probably re- 

 fers to Kickapoo r., Crawford co., Wis., 

 though it empties into the W^isconsin, 

 and not into the Mississippi. Rock r., 

 111., was for a time denominated the 

 "River of the Kickapoos," but this is 

 much too far s. to agree with the stream 

 mentioned by Le Sueur. A few years 

 later a i)art at lea.st of the tribe appears 

 to have moved s. and settled somewhere 

 about Milwaukee r. They entered into 

 the plot of the Foxes in 1712 to burn the 

 fort at Detroit. On the destruction of 

 the Illinois confederacy, about 1765, by 

 the combined forces of the tribes n. of 

 them, the conquered country was parti- 

 tioned among the victors, the Sauk and 

 Foxes moving down to the Rock r. coun- 

 try, while the Kickapoo went farther s., 

 fixing their headquarters for a time at 

 Peoria. They appear to have gradually 

 extended their range, a portion centering 

 about Sangamon r., while another part 

 pressed toward the E., establishing them- 

 selves on the waters of the Wabash, de- 

 spite the opposition of the Miami and 

 Piankashaw. The western band became 

 known as the Prairie band, while the 

 otlicrs were denominated the Vermilion 

 band, from their residence on Vermilion 

 r. , a branch of the Wabash. They played 

 a prominent part in the history of this 

 region up to the close of the AVar of 1812, 

 aiding Tecumseh in his efforts against the 

 United States, while many Kickapoo 

 fought with Black Hawk in 1832. In 

 1837 Kickapoo warriors to the number 

 of 100 were engaged by the United States 

 to go, in connection with other western 

 Indians, to fight the Seminole of Florida. 

 In 1809 they ceded to the United States 

 their lands on Wabash and Vermilion 

 rs., and in 1819 all their claims to the 

 central portion of Illinois. Of this land, 

 as stated in' the treaty, they "claim a 

 large portion by descent from their an- 

 i-estors, and the balance by conquest from 

 the Illinois nation, and uninterrupted 

 possession for more than half a century." 

 They afterward removed to Missouri and 

 thence to Kansas. About the year 1852 a 

 large party left the main body, together 

 with some Potawatomi, and went to Texas 

 and thence to Mexico, where they became 

 known as "Mexican Kickapoo." In 

 1863 they were joined by another dissat- 

 isfied party from the tribe. The Mexican 

 band proved a constant source of annoy- 

 ance to the border settlements, and efforts 

 were made to induce them to return, 

 which were so far successful that in 1873 

 a number were brought back and settled 



