Tree Disputes- A problem older then Indiana!

Tree Disputes in Indiana- An Age Old Problem

From the time the treaties were closed in 1805 until 1810, the Indians complained bitterly against the encroachments of the white men on ground which belonged to themselves, and of the unjustifiable killing of many of their number.

In laying the matter before Governor Harrison an old chief used these words: “You call us your children; why do you not make us happy as our fathers, the French, did? They never took from us our lands; indeed, they were in common between us. They planted where they please; they cut wood where they pleased, so did we.  But now if a poor Indian attempts to take a little bark from a tree to cover him from the rain, up comes a white man and threatens to shoot him, claiming the tree as his own.”

Reference: Quoted from History of Posey County, Indiana, Leffel, John C., b. 1850