THE WYANDOT REMOVAL TRAIL / UPPER SANDUSKY

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THE WYANDOT REMOVAL TRAIL

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UPPER SANDUSKY (July 11, 1843)

THE WYANDOT REMOVAL TRAIL

The Wyandot called the Grand Reserve home nearly a century before Ohio statehood. They
built houses, cultivated the land, and grew bountiful groves of fruit trees. They governed from
the nearby Wyandot Council House and operated a productive saw and grist mill.1 Many sent
their children to school and worshiped at the limestone church, built in 1824, and recognized as
the first Methodist mission in the country.2 But Ohioans set their sights on Wyandot lands in
the fertile Sandusky River Valley. State and federal governments were unwilling to allow the
Wyandot to remain on their chosen homelands, despite their participation in American society
and friendly relations with neighboring settlers.3 Following the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the
Wyandot were the last tribe removed from the State of Ohio in 1843.

UPPER SANDUSKY (July 11, 1843)

The Wyandot reached the difficult decision to remove to lands unknown along the Missouri

River, after decades of resistance and failed negotiations.4 Reverend Squire Grey Eyes delivered

a farewell address at the Wyandot Mission Church: “Here our dead are buried. We have placed

fresh leaves and flowers upon their graves for the last time. No longer shall we visit them. Soon

they shall be forgotten, for the onward march of the strong White Man will not turn aside for

Indian graves.”5 The Wyandot began their Removal Trail in Upper Sandusky on July 11, 1843.

After 150 arduous miles, they boarded steamboats in Cincinnati and said goodbye to their

homes.6 However, removal from Ohio could not erase their history and legacy. Every year,

citizens of the Wyandotte Nation return to celebrate their heritage.