 According to Dr William Lane, the Potawatomi natives were friendly, and the children of settlers and natives often played together.Chief Ne-au-to-beer-saw, called "Leather-nose", and Chief Wopkezike, lesser chiefs of the Baw Beese band of Potawatomi, are mentioned in many stories of the founding era.The native population was numerous until the U.S. government forcibly removed the Indians to reserves west of the Mississippi under authority of the Indian Removal Act and Treaty of Chicago.