The Potawatomi Trail of Death was a tragic forced removal of Native Americans driven by greed and western expansion. On September 4, 1838, 859 Potawatomi people began a 660-mile march from Indiana to Kansas. This grueling journey lasted 61 days, during which 42 Potawatomi died due to harsh conditions and scarcity of resources. The state of Indiana and the federal government wanted the Potawatomi's land for westward expansion and canal construction. Despite many tribes having moved peacefully, Chief Menominee and his band at Twin Lakes refused to leave their ancestral lands. Governor David Wallace dispatched General John Tipton with a militia to forcibly remove them. The militia burned their village and crops before the march commenced. Upon arriving in Kansas on November 4, 1838, the promised aid and cabins were absent. The Potawatomi were forced to endure the winter in ravines. A marker near Rochester, Indiana, commemorates the first child's death on September 5, 1838. Today, over 70 markers trace the entire route of this devastating event.