Indian Affairs and the Administrative State in the Nineteenth Century

375 Pages·2010·2.13 MB·English

by  Stephen J. Rockwell

IndianAffairsandtheAdministrativeState
intheNineteenthCentury
The framers of the Constitution and the generations that followed
builtapowerfulandintrusivenationaladministrativestateinthelate
eighteenthandnineteenthcenturies.Theromanticmythofanindivid-
ualized,pioneeringexpansionacrossanopenWestobscuresnationally
coordinated administrative and regulatory activity in Indian affairs,
land policy, trade policy, infrastructure development, and a host of
otherissueareasrelatedtoexpansion.
Stephen J. Rockwell offers a careful look at the administration
of Indian affairs and its relation to other national policies managing
andshapingnationalexpansionwestward.Throughoutthenineteenth
century, Indian affairs were at the center of concerns about national
politics, the national economy, and national social issues. Rockwell
describeshowavibrantandcomplicatednationaladministrativestate
operatedfromtheearliestdaysoftherepublic,longbeforetheProgres-
siveeraandtheNewDeal.
Stephen J. Rockwell is an Associate Professor of Political Science at
St. Joseph’s College in Patchogue, New York. He taught in the Polit-
ical Science and Public Administration programs at the University of
Michigan–FlintandworkedasaSeniorResearchAnalystattheBrook-
ings Institution in Washington, DC. He is the coauthor (with Peter
Woll)ofAmericanGovernment:CompetitionandCompromise(2001)
andcoeditor(withPeterWoll)ofananthologyentitledAmericanPolit-
icalIdealsandRealities(2000).

Indian Affairs and the Administrative State
in the Nineteenth Century
STEPHEN J. ROCKWELL
St.Joseph’sCollege,NewYork
cambridgeuniversitypress
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Firstpublished2010
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationdata
Rockwell,StephenJ.,1966–
Indianaffairsandtheadministrativestateinthenineteenthcentury/StephenJ.Rockwell.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-0-521-19363-4(hbk.)
1.IndiansofNorthAmerica–Governmentrelations–History–19thcentury. 2.Indiansof
NorthAmerica–legalstatus,law,etc.–History–19thcentury. 3.Federalgovernment–
UnitedStates–History–19thcentury. 4.Administrativeagencies–UnitedStates–
History–19thcentury. 5.UnitedStates–Territorialexpansion. 6.UnitedStates–
Politicsandgovernment–19thcentury. 7.UnitedStates–Ethnicrelations–Political
aspects–History–19thcentury. I.Title.
e93.r63 2010
323.1197–dc22 2009042793
isbn978-0-521-19363-4Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceor
accuracyofurlsforexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtoin
thispublicationanddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,
orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
To Mom and Dad
It does not seem a great task to attend to the business of directing
the management of about three hundred thousand Indians; but when
it is considered that those Indians are scattered over a continent, and
dividedintomorethantwohundredtribes,in[the]chargeoffourteen
superintendentsandsomeseventyagents,whosefrequentreportsand
quarterly accounts are to be examined and adjusted; that no general
rulescanbeadoptedfortheguidanceofthoseofficers,forthereason
thatthepeopleundertheirchargesaresodifferentinhabits,customs,
manners, and organization, varying from the civilized and educated
CherokeeandChoctawtothemiserablelizard-eatersofArizona;and
that this office is called upon to protect the Indians, whether under
treaty stipulations or roaming at will over his wild hunting-grounds,
fromabusebyunscrupulouswhites,whileatthesametimeitmustcon-
cedeeveryreasonableprivilegetothespiritofenterpriseandadventure
whichispouringitshardypopulationintothewesterncountry;when
these things are considered, the task assigned to this bureau will not
seemsolightasitissometimesthought.
–DennisCooley,CommissionerofIndianAffairs,1866,
quotedinGaryL.Roberts,“DennisNelsonCooley,”in
RobertM.KvasnickaandHermanJ.Viola,eds.,
TheCommissionersofIndianAffairs,1824–1977
(Lincoln:UniversityofNebraskaPress,1979),105
Contents
Acknowledgments pageix
Introduction 1
1 TheMythofOpenWildernessandtheOutlinesof
BigGovernment 9
2 ManagedExpansionintheEarlyRepublic 38
3 TippecanoeandTreaties,Too:ExecutiveLeadership,
Organization,andEffectivenessintheYearsof
theFactorySystem 68
4 TheKeytoSuccessandtheIllusionofFailure 103
5 BigGovernmentJacksonians 132
6 TragicallyEffective:TheAdministrationofIndianRemoval 159
7 PublicAdministration,Politics,andIndianRemoval:
PerpetuatingtheIllusionofFailure 188
8 ClearingtheIndianBarrier:IndianAffairsattheCenterof
NationalExpansion 217
9 ContainmentandtheWeakeningofIndianResistance:
TheEffectivenessofReservationAdministration 246
10 What’sanAdministratorToDo?ReservationsandPolitics 275
Conclusion:TheMythofLimitedGovernment 303
References 329
Index 351
vii

Acknowledgments
Research remains a deeply collaborative process. I am profoundly grateful
forthehelpI’vereceivedasI’veworkedonthisbook.
I am grateful for the generous institutional support provided at various
stages of this project by Brandeis University, the Gordon Center for Amer-
ican Public Policy, the Brookings Institution, the University of Michigan–
Flint,andtheThompsonCenterforLearningandTeaching.FordhamUni-
versity gave the project its start, at least indirectly, and I remain indebted
to Fordham for the confidence and support it offered many years ago. My
thanks,too,forthegeneroussupportgivenbySt.Joseph’sCollege,particu-
larlythroughtheFacultyDevelopmentSmallGrantsprogramandthrough
theawardofaSummerResearchGrant.ThestaffattheNationalArchives
in Washington were always helpful and generous with their time, as were
thelibrariansandstaffatBrandeis,Brookings,theUniversityofMichigan–
Flint, Fordham, and St. Joseph’s College. Research like this cannot move
forwardwithoutyourhelp.Thanks.
I am grateful for the comments and advice offered over many years
by my colleagues and friends. The scholars who read and commented on
thismanuscriptforCambridgeUniversityPressofferedinsightfulandhelp-
ful practical suggestions for shortening and improving the book. Albert
Price read several versions of the manuscript, including suffering valiantly
through the early versions and responding honestly, helpfully, and with
goodhumor.StevenFuchs,PeterWoll,FredWoodward,andBillAltermatt
alsocontributedsuggestionsandinsightsasthemanuscriptprogressed.Shep
Melnick,SidneyMilkis,andMortonKellerwereinthisfromthebeginning.
IamdeeplygratefulfortheircommitmentstomeandfortheirpatienceasI
pursuedanunconventionaltopic.ThankstoPeterSkerryforhisunwavering
supportformyresearchandforhisinfluenceonmytechnique(particularly
in showing me how well the telephone works). I have had many excellent
contacts at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, far too numerous to name here. I
ix