Ulysses S. Grant Signed Presidential Appointment.

[GRANT, Ulysses S.].

Item Number: 126096

Rare original Presidential appointment signed by Ulysses S. Grant as the eighteenth President of the United States. One page, partially printed, the commission is dated January 26, 1871 and appoints William H. Forbes as Agent for the Sioux Indians at Devils Lake, Dakota Territory. Signed by Ulysses S. Grant as President and countersigned by Columbus Delano, Grant’s Secretary of the Interior. With the seal of the Department of the Interior. Accompanied by an original carte-de-visite of Grant. In near fine condition.

When Grant took office in 1869, the nation's policy towards Native Americans was in chaos, affecting more than 250,000 Native Americans being governed by 370 treaties. He appointed Ely S. Parker, a Seneca and member of his wartime staff, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the first Native American to serve in this position, surprising many around him. Grant's religious faith also influenced his policy towards Native Americans, believing that the "Creator" did not place races of men on earth for the "stronger" to destroy the "weaker". The overall objective of Grant's peace policy was to assimilate Indians into white culture, education, language, religion, clothing, and government. In April 1869, Grant signed legislation establishing an unpaid Board of Indian Commissioners to reduce corruption and oversee implementation of what was called Grant's Indian "Peace" policy. In 1871, Grant ended the sovereign tribal treaty system; by law individual Native Americans were deemed wards of the federal government. Grant's Indian policy was undermined by Parker's resignation in 1871, denominational infighting among Grant's chosen religious agents, and entrenched economic interests. Indian wars declined overall during Grant's first term, while on October 1, 1872, Major General Oliver Otis Howard negotiated peace with the Apache leader Cochise.