George Washington Manypenny

Who is George Washington Manypenny?

George Washington Manypenny was the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the United States from 1853-1857.

Manypenny was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He moved to Ohio in 1830 where he worked in the newspaper business and served as clerk of the circuit court based in Zanesville, Ohio. His appointment as Indian Commissioner came during the administration of Franklin Pierce. He was responsible for settling 52 treaties during his tenure, many of them in Kansas and Nebraska.

From 1859 to 1862 he was editor of the Ohio Statesman. He then retired from the newspaper business to become manager of the state public works. In 1876 Manypenny was appointed chair of a special commission to investigate the issues that led to the Sioux outbreak that year, which included the defeat of the American forces under Armstrong at the Little Big Horn. In 1880 he wrote Our Indian Wards which detailed a variety of wrongs perpetrated on the Indians, along with recommendations for reforms.