THE KICKAPOOS

The Kickapoo Indians resisted outsiders every attempt to settle their lands--until finally they were forced to remove west of the Mississippi River to the plains of the Southwest. There they continued to wage war and acted as traders for border captives and goods. In 1873 they reluctantly settled on a reservation in Indian Territory. There, corrupt politicians, land swindlers, gamblers, and whiskey peddlers preyed on the tribe. Not until the twentieth century did the Kickapoos received just treatment at the hands of the United States government.Arrell Morgan Gibson (1921-87) was the George Lynn Cross Research Professor of History at the University of Oklahoma. Among the numerous books he authored or edited are The Kickapoos: Lords of the Middle Border and The Chickasaws.