Lewis made several trips to Washington, D.C. to meet with U.S. officials, including Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe, to promote Shawnee land rights.

He broke with Black Hoof and advocated Shawnee relocation to the west, promoting a Native confederacy with allied Cherokees in Missouri and the Arkansas Territory.

After his death, the Shawnees and Senecas of Lewistown, known as the "Mixed Band", were in 1831 compelled to cede their reservation in Ohio and move to Indian Territory.

"[5] Shawnees of Lewis's era belonged to one of five tribal divisions: Kispoko, Chalahgawtha (Chillicothe), Mekoche, Pekowi (Piqua), and Hathawekela.

[5] When Lewis was a child, the Iroquois ceded land south of the Ohio River (including present Kentucky) to the British in the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix.

Lewis fought in that war as well, taking part in St. Clair's defeat (1791) and the Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794), although not in a leading role.

[1] After their defeat in the Northwest Indian War, the Shawnees were divided between those who sought accommodation with the United States, those who wished to continue resisting, and those who left the U.S. by moving west of the Mississippi River.

Around 1796, he and his followers established the Shawnee village of Lewistown, in present-day Logan County, Ohio, just north of the Greenville Treaty line.

Wapakoneta was the home of Chief Black Hoof, the principal spokesman of the Ohio Shawnees and foremost advocate of accommodation with the United States.

The U.S. officials promised to punish the poachers, but they refused to issue a deed, saying that the division of lands on the Indian side of the Greenville boundary was outside of their jurisdiction.

[7] Back in Ohio, Lewis and Black Hoof encouraged their fellow Shawnees to adopt some American-style practices to better coexist with their white neighbors.

In 1808, Black Hoof and Lewis were the only Shawnees to sign the Treaty of Brownstown, which granted the United States a right-of-way to build a road through northwestern Ohio.

[8] There they attracted hundreds of converts to a movement that rejected the accommodationist program, which represented a challenge to the Shawnee chiefs who sat on the tribal council at Wapakoneta.

As the Americans continued to acquire additional Native land in a series of treaties, tensions arose between Prophetstown and the governor of the Indiana Territory, William Henry Harrison.

Lewis and other Shawnee leaders agreed to act as scouts and interpreters for the American army under General William Hull that was marching through Ohio to protect Detroit.

To demonstrate their loyalty, Captain Lewis joined more than 200 Shawnee and Delaware warriors for Harrison's invasion of Upper Canada, serving as scouts and skirmishers.

[17] Lewis returned to Lewistown after the battle, only to find that a mob of Americans had attacked his village, burning some cabins and destroying the cornfields.

[19] In October 1814, Lewis and 65 Shawnees joined Colonel Duncan McArthur's invasion of Upper Canada, fighting at the Battle of Malcolm's Mills on November 6.

[21] The American population in Ohio continued to rise after the War of 1812, increasing pressure on the Shawnees to cede their territory and move west of the Mississippi.

In the 1817 Treaty of Fort Meigs, they and leaders from other tribes ceded northwestern Ohio to the United States in exchange for carefully delineated reservations.

The treaty created three small Shawnee reservations in Ohio: Wapakoneta, Lewistown, and Hog Creek, encompassing about 170 square miles (440 km2).

Officials in Washington now favored a policy of Indian removal, which encouraged Natives to cede their lands to the government and resettle west of the Mississippi.

[28] There Lewis supported Cherokee Chief Takatoka's plan to create a Native confederacy of tribes in Arkansas and southern Missouri.

[27] Lewis returned to Wapakoneta with Indian agent Pierre Menard to make another attempt at convincing Black Hoof to emigrate to the west, which was again unsuccessful.

[31] After the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830, American officials increased pressure on Natives still living in Ohio to sign treaties and move to the West.