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Joseph DeRoin

© Lisa Perkins

Joseph DeRoin was born near Bellevue, Nebraska it is thought sometime during 1819. His parents were Amabel DeRoin, a French trader, and an Otoe woman. Being a "half-breed," Joseph was never allowed to have full rights in the eyes of the law, and even his own tribe might not have accepted him. So, in 1836, he moved to the mouth of the Platte River to live in the Otoe main village, possibly hoping to gain the acceptance he might not have had living with his parents. He set up a trading post, which was considered to be an Indian trading post, and in 1853 created the village. It still bears his name today: St. DeRoin, Nebraska.

In 1830, the Otoe and Missouria surrendered part of their land; part of the treaty they signed provided an allotment of land for the Nemeha Half-Breed Reservation. By May of 1838, the Iowa, Omaha, and Otoe signed a treaty agreeing to sell the Nemaha reservation to the United States, giving "half-breeds" their own reservation. This land ran between the Little Nemeha River to the north and the Great Nemeha River to the south. This was approximately 138,000 acres. The "half-breeds" did not agree to this treaty. By 1856, a treaty was finally signed, and the "half-breeds" were moved to their own reservation. As was usually the case, white settlers "squatted" on the land illegally, eventually forcing the Native Americans off their own land, once again.

Joseph married Meek-Ka-Ahu-Me, an Omaha woman, and in 1841, they had a daughter they named Mary. By 1842, the Treaty of Prairie du Chien was in effect, and the DeRoin family was among the first to lay claim to land in the Nemeha-Richardson counties created by the treaty. That same year, Joseph took two more wives, Julie and Soula (Su-See) who were the daughters of Balone Baskette, a Frenchman, and an Iowa woman. With these two new wives, he had eight children. It is not told why, but Meek-Ka-Ahu-Me moved back to her village in 1843.

On April 21, 1858, Joseph, said to be domineering and cruel in nature, was holding an unsettled debt from a man named James Beddow. Most likely, noting the times, Joseph felt angry and frustrated at the way he was being treated, as a half-breed was considered less than a citizen. Joseph vowed to settle the score and collect the money he was owed. When he went to James Beddow to get the money that was rightfully his, he was told to stay off the land. Joseph, feeling that he was in the right, ignored Beddow. He crossed over Beddow's fence and was shot. Because of the laws of the time, and Joseph being a half-breed, Beddow was not held responsible for the death of Joseph DeRoin. When he died, Joseph DeRoin held the notes of eleven Otoe chiefs, totaling $1,500. Combined with other notes, he was owed $4,079.06. Today, that is quite a bit of money, but at that time it must have been considered a fortune.

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