Editing Muncie, Indiana (section)

===Early settlement===
The area was first settled in the 1790s by the [[Lenape]] (Delaware) people, who were forced west from their tribal lands in the [[Mid-Atlantic states|Mid-Atlantic region]] (all of [[New Jersey]], southeastern [[New York (state)|New York]], eastern [[Pennsylvania]], and northern [[Delaware]]) to new lands in present-day [[Ohio]] and eastern [[Indiana]]. The Lenape founded several towns along the [[White River (Indiana)|White River]], including Munsee Town,<ref>According to an historical map of "The Indians" by Clark Ray.</ref> near the site of present-day Muncie.

Contrary to popular legend, the city's early name of Munsee Town is derived from the "Munsee" clan of Lenape people, the white settlers' name for a group of Native Americans whose village was once situated along the White River. There is no evidence that a mythological Chief Munsee ever existed.<ref>{{cite book | author= Richard A. Greene | title =Muncie and Delaware County: An Historical Sketch | publisher =Delaware County Historical Society | year =1965 | location =Muncie, Indiana | page =15 }}</ref> ("Munsee" means a member of or [[Munsee language|one of their languages]].{{citation needed|date=April 2016}})

In 1818, the area's native tribes ceded their lands to the federal government under the terms of the [[Treaty of St. Mary's]] and agreed to move farther west by 1821. New settlers began to arrive in what became [[Delaware County, Indiana]], {{Circa|1820}}, shortly before the area's public lands were formally opened for purchase. The small trading village of Munsee Town, renamed Muncietown, was selected as the Delaware County seat and platted in 1827.<ref name=Greene15-16>Greene, pp. 15–16.</ref> On January 13, 1845, Indiana's governor signed legislation passed by the [[Indiana General Assembly]] to shorten the town's name to Muncie. Soon, a network of roads connected Muncie to nearby towns, adjacent counties, and to other parts of Indiana. The [[Indianapolis and Bellefontaine Railroad]], the first to arrive in Muncie in 1852, provided the town and the surrounding area with access to larger markets for its agricultural production, as well as a faster means of transporting people and goods into and out of the area.<ref>Greene, pp. 7–8.</ref><ref name=Spurgeon23-24>{{cite book |author1=Wiley W. Spurgeon  |author2=H. Duane Harrison  |name-list-style=amp | title =Muncie and Delaware County: An Illustrated Retrospective | publisher =Windsor Publications | year =1984 | location =Woodland Hills, California | pages =23–24 | isbn =0897811046}}</ref>

Muncie incorporated as a town on December 6, 1854, and became an incorporated city in 1865.<ref>Greene, pp. 7–6 and 15–16.</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=William Harrison Kemper |title=A Twentieth Century History of Delaware County, Indiana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lx4VAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA113|year=1908|publisher=Lewis Publishing Company|page=113}}</ref> John Brady was elected as the city's first mayor. Muncie's early utility companies also date to the mid-1860s, including the city's [[Water supply|waterworks]], which was established in 1865.<ref>Greene, pp. 9, 13.</ref>

After the [[American Civil War]], two factors helped Muncie attract new commercial and industrial development: the arrival of additional railroads from the late 1890s to the early 1900s and the discovery of abundant supplies of [[natural gas]] in the area.<ref name=Spurgeon27>Spurgeon, p. 27.</ref> Prior to the discovery of nearby natural-gas wells and the beginning of the [[Indiana gas boom|gas boom]] in Muncie in 1886, the region was primarily an agricultural area, with Muncie serving as the commercial trading center for local farmers.<ref>{{cite book | title =Muncie of To-Day: Its Commerce, Trade and Industries, Descriptive and Historical | publisher =Windmill Publications | edition =reprint | year =1999 | location =Mt. Vernon, Indiana | page =5 | oclc=41400603}}</ref>