These included the Odawa and Potawatomi, two Anishinaabe tribes closely related to and allied with the Ojibwa. In 1848, Wisconsin achieved statehood; Indian nations were under increased pressure for removal and marginalization. Corrupt US Indian agents controlled annuity payments, sometimes underpaying tribes, and took authority not granted them by the bands. They allowed white settlers to move onto Ojibwa lands and refused the Ojibwa the rights reserved by treaties. The Ojibwa complained to Jackson about the mistreatment and broken promises, but politicians were more apt to listen to western land speculators, who saw possibilities for profit in removing the Ojibwa to Minnesota. Even with the treaties of 1837 and 1842, leaders worried about Ojibwa removal. Kechewaishke kept in constant contact with the other bands to ensure the Ojibwa upheld their obligations. He sent runners to all the bands to report back on any conduct that could construed as grounds for removal. Nothing was reported. But President Zachary Taylor signed the removal order on February 6, 1850, under corrupt circumstances, claiming to be protecting the Ojibwa from "injurious" whites. The Wisconsin legislature resisted the order and put aside plans for removal. Alexander Ramsey, the territorial governor of Minnesota, and Indian sub-agent John Watrous conspired on a plan to force the Ojibwa to Minnesota anyway, as the two men stood to gain personal economic and political benefits from removal. To force the Ojibwa to comply, Watrous announced he would pay future annuities only at Sandy Lake, Minnesota, instead of La Pointe, where they had been paid previously. This change resulted in the Sandy Lake Tragedy, when hundreds of Ojibwa starved or died of exposure in Minnesota and on the journey home because the promised annuity supplies were late, contaminated or inadequate. In a later letter, Kechewaishke described the conditions:  Back in La Pointe, Kechewaishke took several actions to forestall and prevent removal. He and other leaders petitioned the US government for the next two years to no avail. They did win considerable sympathy from whites who learned of the debacle in Sandy Lake. Newspapers throughout the Lake Superior region ran editorials condemning the removal effort. Kechewaishke sent two of his sons to St. Paul, where they obtained a portion of the annuities still owed. Ramsey and Watrous continued to work to remove the Ojibwa to Sandy Lake.