Chief Wapello's Memorial Park, also known as Chief Wapello's Gravesite and the Site of Sac and Fox Indian Agency, is a historic site located near

Agency, Iowa Agency is a city in Wapello County, Iowa, United States. The population was 620 at the 2020 census. It is the historic site of an Indian trading post and the grave of Chief Wapello. History An Indian agency In United States history, an Indian ...

, United States. The property was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1975. The park is on the site of the Indian Agency that became the home of the Sauk and

Meskwaki The Meskwaki (sometimes spelled Mesquaki), also known by the European exonyms Fox Indians or the Fox, are a Native American people. They have been closely linked to the Sauk people of the same language family. In the Meskwaki language, the ...

(Fox) tribes. with They were relocated here by the United States government after the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the "British Band", crosse ...

of 1832. General

Joseph M. Street General Joseph Montfort Street (October 18, 1782 – May 5, 1840) was a 19th-century American pioneer, trader and US Army officer. During the 1820s and 1830s, he was also a U.S. Indian Agent to the Winnebago and later to the Sauk and Fox tribe ...

was appointed the

Indian Agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government. Background The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of t ...

and settled with his family on the agency. He earned the respect of the Meskwaki chief Wapello. A stone marker marks the site of the Agency House. Another stone marker commemorates the 1842 negotiations for the tribes to hand over their Iowa lands to the United States government, and the first Christian services that were held in Iowa's interior by the Reverend Thomas Kirkpatrick, a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

Circuit Rider, in 1838. The tribes were relocated from here to

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. This land was the agency's garden area. When Street died in 1840 he was buried at this location on the agency and the tribes gave the property that surrounds the grave to his wife so she and her family could make a living. Two years later Wapello was buried next to General Street. Other graves include those of Eliza Street and their children and Major

John Beach Major John Beach (January 1, 1812 – August 31, 1874) was a United States Army officer during the Black Hawk and American Civil War. He was the last U.S. Indian Agent to the Sac and Fox tribes. A son-in-law to General Joseph Street, Beach ...

who was the Street's son-in-law and who replaced General Street as Indian Agent. The

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

was granted an

easement An easement is a nonpossessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B". An easement is a propert ...

on the south side of the park by the Street family with the stipulation that they take care of it. This they have done and the

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

marker in the park was installed by the railroad.

References

{{NRHP in Wapello County, Iowa Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Wapello County, Iowa Tourist attractions in Wapello County, Iowa Native American history of Iowa