Daily Receipts by the Miami Canal
On October 11th, 1846, just 5 days after the beginning of the Myaamia removal by the U.S. government, five canal boats carrying several hundred Myaamia people arrived in Cincinnati, OH by way of the Miami-Erie canal. In Cincinnati, they were forcibly moved to the Steamship Colorado and began their journey west on the Kaanseenseepiiwi (Ohio River) towards St. Louis, their next stop along the route towards the Unorganized Territory (Kansas), which would be their final destination for the next couple decades. The day after their departure, it was reported in the Cincinnati Gazette’s “Daily Receipts by the Miami Canal” that “Miami Indians 225 over and 78 under 8 years old” had arrived in Cincinnati via the Miami-Erie canal, along with other “cargo” goods like potatoes, wool, and butter. This news clipping, as well as others like it, provide a striking example of how the U.S. government and its citizens thought of the Myaamia people as they forced them off their homelands, essentially attempting to strip them of their basic human identity and beyond through reporting tactics and other actions.