Patterns of Plunder: Corruption and the Failure of the Indian Reservation System, 1851–1887.

This article examines the widespread corruption and fraud perpetrated by Indian agents administering annuities—government payments of money, goods, and services—on Native American reservations between 1851 and 1887. Rather than supporting Indigenous communities, these agents systematically stole promised resources, deepening Native poverty and distrust while enriching settler populations and facilitating westward expansion. The complex reservation payment system, managed by underqualified and poorly supervised agents, enabled extensive graft that went largely unpunished, contributing to the failure of early reservation economies. This corruption intensified Native suffering and provided justification for later coercive assimilation policies, such as the Dawes Allotment Act of 1887 and Indian boarding schools. The article highlights how this system of plunder profoundly shaped both Native American and western U.S. history.