These legal documents relate to the case of the Kansas Territory vs. Sanford M. Bickerstaff for selling liquor to members of the Ottawa tribe on October 20, 1856 in the Kansas Territory. Bickerstaff was indicted by the U. S. District Court for the Kansas Territory, Second District, in Tecumseh during the November 1856 court term. The warrants for Bickerstaff's arrest were returned unserved. Two branches of the Ottawa tribe had been given 72,000 acres centered around the present-day town of Ottawa, KS. Alcohol was prohibited on Native American land from 1832-1953.
Kansas Memory
Kansas Historical Society
Kansas Territory versus Sanford M. Bickerstaff for selling liquor to Indians - 3