The Removal Map shows removals in or near the Chicago region or removals of tribal nations whose homelands include Chicago. It depicts approximate removal routes based on primary and secondary historical accounts and attempts to illustrate the general routes that removal parties took. Some of these removals were directly orchestrated and overseen by US officials, while in other cases, communities made the difficult decision to leave a place for the safety of their communities and the well-being of future generations. Even when removals were not directly overseen by U.S. troops, they were still forced departures from land as a result of settler colonialism. Many communities with ancestral connections to Chicago were often removed simultaneously and (in many cases) on the same removal. Most removals targeted communities that signed treaties in which removal was either an implied or explicit stipulation. Removals  of any kind were often deadly, tragic events, and as the period wore on into the 1850s, removals happened regardless of the cost of human life. On the map, we have marked removal routes with a beginning, any points of convergence with other removals, and an end. However, please note: the removal routes featured here represent only the first stages of Indian Removal (1830-1851). Many of these communities were subjected to further removals as the 19th century progressed to places as far south as present-day Oklahoma. You can learn more about each of the removals by clicking on the route beginning icons.  Sources used for this map are listed within each map point.  

To view the map in a new page, click here.