In addition, construction was completed in 1827 on a two-story brick residence that was partially funded by the U.S. government for Richardville and his family in Fort Wayne, Indiana, under the terms of the Treaty of Mississinewas.

[2][3][4] Jean Baptiste de Richardville (Peshewa or Pinšiwa, meaning 'Wildcat' or 'Lynx' in the Miami-Illinois language) was born about 1761 in the Miami (Myaami) village of Kekionga (Miamitown), present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana.

[10] Richardville spent part of his childhood with his father in Quebec, where he received a few years of formal education before returning to Kekionga in late 1770s to live among the Miamis with his mother.

[14] After the War of 1812, Richardville began to culturally identify more with the Miami people, instead of the creole French, and became a "prominent leader of the tribe.

[5][15] Under the terms of Article 4 of the Northwest Ordinance (1787), the U.S. Congress declared that all navigable waters and portages between the Mississippi and the Saint Lawrence Rivers were free for all to use.

[16][17] In 1824 Richardville had gained sufficient wealth to be among the first to purchase a lot in Fort Wayne, Indiana, that would serve as a site for his home and trading post.

Due to the two métis (mixed blood) men's previous relationships with federal officials, they became treaty-signing chiefs for the Miamis, interpreters at treaty negotiations, and brokers of tribal business affairs.

Richardville proved to be a shrewd negotiator on behalf of the Miami people, in addition to increasing his own personal wealth and landholdings in the process.

[25] Richardville signed the Treaty of St. Mary's (1818), which ceded most of the Miami lands south of the Wabash River in central Indiana to the U.S. government.

[26][15] The Miamis eventually received 6.4 cents an acre for their land and an increase in their permanent annuity payment to $18,400, among other concessions of goods and services.

Richardville and the other Miami leaders also negotiated with federal government officials to exempt from the land cessions an area known as the Miami National Reserve, a tract of land encompassing 875,000 acres (354,000 hectares) , approximately 37 square miles (96 km2), in central Indiana, east of present-day Kokomo and 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Indianapolis.

Because of its location near proposed highway and canal routes, the Miami National Reserve was one of the most potentially valuable pieces of land for commercial development in Indiana.

The fee simple titles allowed Richardville and the others who received them the authority to dispose of their property without obtaining prior approval from the federal government.

In the Treaty of the Wabash (1840) signed on November 28, 1840, the Miami people finally agreed to cede their remaining tribal lands of 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares) of the Miami National Reserve in Indiana in exchange for 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares) in what became present-day Kansas and agreed to their removal from Indiana within five years, among other terms.

[34][3][35] According to historian Donald Chaput in "The Family of Drouet de Richeville: Merchants, Soldiers, and Chiefs of Indiana," Richardville became "one of the richest men in the United States.

"[10] In Information Respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States (1868), Henry R. Schoolcroft described Richardville as "the most wealthy man of the native race in America.

"[36] According to Chaput, who used Schoolcraft's book as his source, Richardville had about $200,000 in cash at the time of his death in 1841 and owned thousands of acres of land in Indiana, as well as his stately brick home in Fort Wayne.

[3] Some sources have claimed that Richardville eventually controlled more than 20 square miles (52 km2) along the St. Joseph, St. Marys, Mississinewa, Salamonie, and Wabash Rivers.

In his later years, Richardville retained only a few hundred acres in Indiana, including the site of his home in Fort Wayne and land at the Forks of the Wabash.

[37][38] Richardville died on August 13, 1841, at his home along the Saint Marys River, southeast of Fort Wayne, in Allen County, Indiana.

As a negotiator and signatory on treaties made on behalf of the Miamis, he tried to protect their interests at a time when the political power of American Indians was in decline.

While he personally benefitted from his role as a tribal chief and treaty negotiator, Richardville also tried to obtain favorable terms for the Miami people and the best prices available for their lands.

"[42] However, in Narrative of an Expedition to the Source of St. Peter's River (1824), author William H. Keating called the Miami chief "one of the most artful and deceitful of his nation.

Anson recognized Richardville's shrewd negotiating abilities in arranging "good terms of other Miami chiefs and bands," as well as his own financial gain.

Anson also found that Richardville also took care of his family and friends, and, most importantly, delayed for decades the removal of the Miami people from Indiana.

Richardville, who wanted a larger, more elaborate two-story residence contributed an additional $1,600 of his own funds to pay for the house, which had a total estimated cost at the time of $2,200.

[38] The society opens the house monthly during the summer season for visitors, and operates a variety of programs on Miami history at the site.

As part of the provisions of a treaty with the Miamis in 1834, the land grant at the Forks of the Wabash was converted to a fee simple title in Richardville's name.

While it is likely that Richardville stayed on the Forks of the Wabash property during treaty negotiations, some have argued that the Greek Revival-style home was built in 1843–44, two or three years after Richarville's death.