After the U.S. took American Indian lands in central Indiana by treaty in 1818, some Indian villages and camps remained as white settlers rushed to buy land. In the spring of 1824, white men murdered nine Indian men, women, and children living at their winter camp on a stream about eight miles east of here. White residents soon arrested all but one of the culprits. To allay fears of settlers and Indians, U.S. Indian Agent John Johnston used federal funds to provide supplies to the families of the Indian victims and to build a log jail near here to secure the accused. Following jury trials, three perpetrators were hanged in 1825, and Governor James Ray pardoned one young man. In this rare case, Indians obtained some justice from U.S. law.