When the Federal Government passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830, Native American tribes began to be forced from their homelands. As European immigrants continued to arrive in the United States, the government decided more space was necessary for them, forcing Native Americans onto unpopulated lands west of the Mississippi River. The Indian Removal Act was specifically passed to relocate the Five Civilized Tribes from the southeast. Over time, it resulted in several treaties with other tribes located east of the Mississippi River, but not everyone agreed to “go peacefully” away. In 1832, negotiations started with various Potawatomi bands to relocate them from their homelands in Indiana to Kansas. Over the following years, many reluctantly agreed, but Chief Menominee and his band at Twin Lakes, Indiana, stood firm and refused to sign the treaties.
By August 1838, most of the Potawatomi bands had peacefully relocated to their new lands in Kansas, but Chief Menominee’s band stubbornly remained at their Twin Lakes village. Hundreds of others who refused to leave their homeland joined Menominee’s group, which expanded from four wigwams in 1821 to 100 by 1838. Consequently, Indiana Governor David Wallace ordered General John Tipton to deploy the state militia to forcibly remove the tribe. On August 30th, General Tipton and 100 soldiers arrived at Twin Lakes Village to round up the tribe. To prevent the Indians from returning to their homes, the soldiers burned their crops and homes. By September 4th, the march began with over 859 Native Americans and a caravan of 26 wagons carrying their belongings. Chief Menominee and two other chiefs, No-taw-kah and Pee-pin-oh-waw, were confined in a horse-drawn jail wagon while the rest of the tribe followed on foot or horseback. Each day, the journey started at 8:00am and continued until 4:00pm. It was only when they stopped to rest, that the Indians finally received their single meal for the day.
Those 859 Potawatomi Indians were forced from their homeland near Plymouth, Indiana, and made to march 660 miles to present-day Osawatomie, Kansas at gunpoint. Over a two-month journey, 42 members of the tribe, mostly children, died from typhoid fever and the stress of forced removal, while around the same number managed to escape. By the time they reached Osawatomie, Kansas, in November, only 756 remained. A young priest, Father Benjamin M. Petit, traveled with them, providing spiritual, emotional, and physical care, especially for the sick. That fall, a severe drought left them with stagnant water, likely causing more cases of typhoid. As their numbers dwindled, Father Petit baptized dying children, blessed graves, and held daily Mass, even after he began to feel ill himself during the journey.
On October 13, 1838, while traveling along the Osage River in Missouri, Father Petit wrote a letter describing the march to Bishop Simon Brute, Vincennes, Indiana. “The order of march was as follows: The United States flag, carried by a dragoon; then one of the principal officers, next the staff baggage carts, then the carriage, which during the whole trip was kept for the use of the Indian chiefs, then one or two chiefs on horseback led a line of 250 to 300 horses ridden by men, women, children in single file, after the manner of savages.
On the flanks of the line at equal distance from each other were the dragoons and volunteers, hastening the stragglers, often with severe gestures and bitter words. After this cavalry came a file of forty baggage wagons filled with luggage and Indians. The sick were lying in them, rudely jolted, under a canvas which, far from protecting them from the dust and heat, only deprived them of air, for they were as if buried under this burning canopy – several died.”
They marched across the vast prairies of Illinois, crossed the Mississippi River at Quincy, Missouri, followed the rivers through Missouri, and entered Kansas Territory just south of Independence, Missouri. When they arrived at what is now Osawatomie, Kansas, on November 4, 1838, 42 of the 859 Potawatomi had passed away. Despite the government’s promises, with winter approaching there were no houses waiting for them. The Potawatomi were distressed, and Father Petit, who by then was gravely ill, stayed with them for a few weeks. He coordinated with Jesuit Father Christian Hoecken, who ran Saint Mary’s Sugar Creek Mission, to have the Potawatomi move to that location. About 20 miles south of Osawatomie, near present-day Centerville, Kansas, the mission had been established the previous year for another group of Potawatomi, including Chiefs Kee-wau-nay and Nas-waw-kay, who had relocated voluntarily.
A few weeks later, on January 2, 1839, Father Petit began his journey to Indiana, accompanied by Abram “Nan-wesh-mah” Burnett. At that time, Burnett had to support Petit on his horse because the priest was covered in sores and too ill to ride unaided. By the time they reached Jefferson City, Missouri, Petit was so unwell that he had to switch to traveling in a wagon. The two arrived at the Jesuit seminary in Saint Louis, Missouri, on January 15th, but Petit’s condition had worsened, leaving him unable to continue his travels. He passed away at the seminary on February 10, 1839, at just 27 years old. Initially buried in the Jesuit Cemetery in Saint Louis, his remains were moved in 1856 to Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. Today, many Potawatomi consider Father Petit a saint.
The Saint Mary’s Sugar Creek Mission marked the end of the Potawatomi Trail of Death. Since no homes were provided for them, they sought refuge along the creek bank’s steep, rocky walls, where blankets and campfires provided warmth. They endured their first Kansas winter this way. Over time, they constructed wigwams and log cabins, while calling the mission home for the next decade. In 1841, three years after their arrival, Mother Rose Philippine Duchesne joined the mission. She was 72 years old. Despite failing health, she taught young tribal members and established the first Indian girls’ school west of the Mississippi. Devoted to prayer, she earned the name Quah-kah-ka-num-ad, “Woman-Who-Prays-Always.” In 1988, she was canonized as the first female saint west of the Mississippi River.
The Potawatomi of the Woods Mission Band stayed in eastern Kansas for ten years before moving further west to Saint Mary’s, Kansas, in 1848, near the Prairie Band Potawatomi Reservation at Mayetta, Kansas. During their time at the mission, over 600 Potawatomi died, many shortly after arriving. Chief Alexis Menominee passed away on April 15, 1841, at the age of 50, and all are buried at the site. In 1861, a new treaty offered the Potawatomi land in Oklahoma. Those who signed it became the Citizen Band Potawatomi and were granted US citizenship. Today, their headquarters are in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Unfortunately, the mission no longer 
exists, but the site honors the Potawatomi’s struggles at the Saint Philippine Duchesne Memorial Park. In the 1980s, the Eastern Kansas Diocese purchased 450 acres where the original Sugar Creek Mission stood. The park, dedicated in 1988, features a large circular altar, a 30-foot-tall metal cross, seven wooden crosses with metal plaques honoring those who died there, and interpretive signs sharing information about the Potawatomi and the original mission buildings.
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