MIAMIS, a tribe of Indians of the great Algonquin family, and whose habitat was in the neighborhood of Green hay (Wisconsin) as early as 1658, when they were found there by the French. They were also discovered in 1670 about the Fox river, to the number of 8,000, and disclosing social and tribal conditions of a more elevated character than those usual among the tribes so far They occupied a village of houses made of matting, and surrounded by a palisade; and their chief displayed several of the adjuncts of rank and authority. Later, this tribe was collected on the St. Joseph's river, and in 1683 they.were at war with the Sioux and the Iroquois at the same time, being aided by the Illinois, who were friendly to them, in their struggle with the latter. They afterwards became inimical to the French, and made overtures to the English, being by this time engaged in a war with the Hurons, and threatenino. the Chippewas. The Miamis were in fact a warlike tribe, and not a little aggressive. 'In 1705 the French brought about a war between them and the Ottawas. Finally, when the French and English war broke out, they were in doubt to which side to ally themselves, but generally supported the English and made depredations on the French. Yet when the French were driven out of that part of the country the 3liamis united with Pontiac in the capture of the British forts, St. Joeph's and Miami: and when the American revolution beg,an they opposed: the patriots and sided with the English. After the close of the revolutionary war they tonttnued to oppose the settlement of the country by the whites, and in 1790 it was found necessary to send a force against diem under geD. Harmer. A series of battles, in which
success veered from one side to the other, failed to effect a reconciliation, and hostility continued unti11795, when peace was made. In 1790 they had been able to put in the fiela only about 1500 warriors, and after the peace they rapidly dwindled in numbers and importance. They now ceded lands between the Wabash river and the Ohio state line, but the new mode of living imposed upon them by the nature of the annuity system com pleted their degradation. Their naturally warlike and energetic character succumbed to the inroads effected by an idle life and facility for obtaining intoxicating liquors; and thot.igh they broke into action and attack.ed the whites on one or two occasions, their anc.ient spirit had deserted them, and these conflicts availed them nothing. In 1822 their entire number amounted only to between two and three thousand, living on three different reservations. They gradually ceded all their lands to the U. S. government, and in 18,46 :they were removed to the neighborhood of the fort Leavenworth agency. They then numbered only 250 souls, and were dissipated and wretched in the extreme. About the year 1873 the remains of this once powerful tribe, 150 in number, were finally placed on the Quapaw reservation.