Tonight at the McElroy Environmental Education Center in Lima, a local history buff was given the chance to speak on a topic of his expertise.
Jim Fletcher, an expert on the Shawnee Native Americans, entertained a large crowd as he described the history of the Shawnee in West Central Ohio. Also known as the Hog Creek Shawnee, the tribe inhabited the Lima area in 1785 after the Treaty of Greenville was signed. The treaty allowed the Native Americans to settle on a land reservation, appropriately known today as Shawnee.
According to Fletcher, "The Kentucky Militia came into Ohio and destroyed some of their towns, so the Shawnee moved north..." The Shawnee moved north until they found sanctuary for nearly 50 years in the Lima area.
Although the Shawnee tribe worked well with white settlers, in 1833 President Andrew Jackson forced the Native American tribe west of the Mississippi River. They settled in Kansas until 1850 where the Shawnee were required to move once more to Oklahoma.
