John C. Sullivan

John C. Sullivan (died 1830) was a surveyor who established the Indian Boundary Line and the Sullivan Line which were to form the boundary between Native Americans and white settlers in Indian Territory from Iowa to Texas.

Following the Indian Removal Act in 1830 all Native Americans west of the Mississippi River and many east of the river were moved west of the Indian Boundary Line. In 1838 disputes over the Sullivan Line were to touch off the bloodless Honey War over the boundary between Missouri and Iowa.

In the Treaty of Fort Clark in 1808, the Osage Nation, the most influential tribe in Missouri, ceded all lands west of Fort Clark near Sibley, Missouri in Jackson County, Missouri. In exchange for this, the tribe was paid merchandise worth $1,500 along with a fort to protect them and a government sanctioned trading post.

The specific boundaries:

The treaty provided the following provision:

In 1816 the boundary was "adjusted" 23 miles (37 km) west to the mouth of the Kansas River on the Missouri River which was a more significant geographic boundary than Fire Prairie Creek. Although no treaties were in place acknowledging the new line, the United States began to survey the new boundary line to which all were to be removed.

Sullivan was instructed to run by his boss William Rector, head of the survey agency for Missouri and Illinois territories to draw a line 100 miles (160 km) north from the mouth of the Kansas River and thence east 150 miles (240 km) and 40 chains to the Des Moines River.

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