The Putawatomies are on the north-eastern side of the Missouri river, but they are not satisfied, and the question of their locality is not fully settled. 444 Putawatomies are mingled with the Kickapoos, on the south-west side of the Missouri river.
The Weas, Piankeshaws, Peorias and Kaskaskias are remnants of the great western confederacy, of which the Miamies were the most prominent branch. These and other tribes constituted the Illini, Oillinois, or Illinois nation, that once possessed the country now included in the great States of Indiana, Illinois, &c. Their lands lie west of the State of Missouri, and south-west of the Missouri river.
The Delawares occupy a portion of the country in the forks of the Kanzau river, (or, as written by the French, Kansas.) They are the remnants of another great confederacy, the Lenni-Lenopi, as denominated by themselves.
The lands of the Kickapoos lie north of the Delawares, and along the Missouri, including 768,000 acres.
The Ottoes occupy a tract of country between the Missouri and Platte rivers, but their land is said to extend south and below the Platte.
The country of the O'Mahaus has the Platte river on the south, and the Missouri north-east.
The country of the Pawnees lies to the westward of the Ottoes and O'Mahaus. The boundaries are not defined.
The Puncahs are a small tribe that originated from the Pawnees, and live in the northern extremity of the country spoken of as the Indian territory.
Present Condition.—The Chocktaws, Cherokees and Creeks are more advanced in civilized habits then any other tribes. They have organized local governments of their own, have enacted some wholesome laws, live in comfortable houses, raise horses, cattle, sheep and swine, cultivate the ground, have good fences, dress like Americans, and manufacture much of their own clothing. They have schools and religious privileges, by missionary efforts, to a limited extent. The Cherokees have a written language, perfect in its form, the invention of Mr. Guess, a full-blooded Indian. The Senecas, Delawares, and Shawanoes, also, are partially civilized, and live with considerable comfort from the produce of their fields and stock. The Putawatomies, Weas, Piankeshaws, Peorias, Kaskaskias, Ottawas, and Kickapoos, have partially adopted civilized customs. Some live in comfortable log cabins, fence and cultivate the ground, and have a supply of stock; others live in bark huts, and are wretched. The Osages or Wos-sosh-ees, Quapaws, Kanzaus, Ottoes, O'Mahaus, Pawnees and Puncahs have made much less improvement in their mode of living. A few have adopted civilized habits, and are rising in the scale of social and individual comforts, but the larger portion are yet Indians.
Mr. McCoy estimates the whole number of aborigines in North America, including those of Mexico, at 1,800,000, of which 10,000 are so far improved as to be classed with civilized men, and amongst whom, there are as many pious Christians, as amongst the same amount of population in the United States. In addition to these, he estimates that there may be about 60,000 more, "which may have made advances toward civilization, some more and some less."