Wapello

Chief Wapello; "Wa-pel-la the Prince, Musquakee Chief", from History of the Indian Tribes of North America. Wapello ( – March 15, 1842) was a peace chief of the Meskwaki, or Fox, people in what is now Iowa. Although born a Sauk, he became one of the principal civil leaders of the Meskwaki during the decades of United States expansion into the upper Mississippi Valley and served as one of the tribe's "money chiefs," the federally recognized leaders to whom treaty annuities were paid. He signed a series of treaties ceding Meskwaki and allied Sauk lands to the United States, worked closely with U.S. Indian agent Joseph M. Street, and was buried beside Street at the Sac and Fox Agency near present-day Agency, Iowa, a site now preserved as Chief Wapello's Memorial Park. As one of the Meskwaki's money chiefs, Wapello controlled a share of the resulting treaty annuities, which strengthened his standing with U.S. officials but also drew resentment from Meskwaki who regarded him, along with the fellow money chief Poweshiek, as too accommodating to both the United States and the Sauk. Wapello's reputation for heavy drinking further fed an image of him among critics as corrupt.

Treaties and diplomacy Over two decades, Wapello was party to a succession of treaties that steadily reduced Meskwaki and allied Sauk landholding in Iowa, including agreements concluded at Fort Armstrong in 1822 and 1832, at Prairie du Chien in 1825 and 1830, and at Dubuque in 1836. In 1837 he traveled with Keokuk and other chiefs to Washington, D.C., and on through several eastern cities, at the invitation of the United States government. During the visit he took part in negotiating yet another cession of Meskwaki and Sauk land.

Death and legacy While on a hunting trip near the Skunk River east of Ottumwa, Iowa, Wapello died on March 15, 1842. He was later buried in accordance with his oft-expressed wish that he be laid to rest alongside his good friend General Street, at the site of the government agency in what is now a small park named Chief Wapello's Memorial Park located southeast of Agency, Iowa.

Chief Wapello's portrait was painted by Charles Bird King and a lithograph included with the chief's biography in Thomas McKenney and James Hall's History of the Indian Tribes of North America (1836–1844, three volumes). Chief Wapello is currently the official corporate identity of Mid-Continent Airlines. In Iowa, the city of Wapello and Wapello County are named for him. West of Drakesville, in Davis County, rests Lake Wapello, the enclosing Lake Wapello State Park, and the adjacent former Boy Scout Camp Wapello. An annual event called Chief Wapello Days is held in Wapello, Iowa. In Illinois, the town of Hanover, was once named for Wapello and contains the Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation's Wapello Land and Water Reserve. The USS Wapello (YN-56), a United States Navy net tender in commission from 1941 to 1946, was named for him. A large, statue of Chief Wapello was installed in his honor atop the Wapello County Courthouse in Ottumwa, Iowa since the building was constructed in 1894. The statue and its mounting base received severe damage during a thunderstorm in June 2012, causing it to fall. After repair, restoration, and upgrade of the base with stainless steel, the statue was returned to the rooftop on March 13, 2014.