Messages and Letters of William Henry Harrison/Proclamation against trading with the Indians

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1150722Messages and Letters of William Henry Harrison — Proclamation against trading with the Indians (August 31, 1801)William Henry Harrison

Proclamation: Against Trading with the Indians

August 31, 1801
Executive Journal, 4

Frequent complaints having been made to the Governor by the Indians of the great mischiefs which have arisen from the Traders frequenting their Hunting Camps, the Governor Issued a proclamation notifying them that a regulation has been made by the Executive of the United States which declares that all persons who receive Licenses to trade with the Indians should confine themselves to the Towns and not follow the Indians to their Hunting grounds and that in future the said regulation would be strictly Enforced, and requireing all concerned to govern themselves accordingly; and whereas he had received undoubted information that a number of persons who were now trading in the Indian Country without Licences in Contempt of the Laws and authority of the United States he in the same proclamation Charged and required all officers Civil and Military Legally authorized to apprehend the persons and seize the goods of all such offenders, to the end that they may be dealt with according to Law.[1] [Abstract]

  1. Harrison was superintendent of Indian Affairs for Indiana territory. Each trader was required to hold a license from the superintendent and give bond for good behavior.