by William Welge, Oklahoma Historian & Author When the name Henry L. Dawes comes up few know much about him except for the hundreds of thousands of American Indians whose lives were forever changed by this man. Born in Cummington, Massachusetts October 30, 1816, Dawes was well educated. He  practiced law and was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. After serving as U.S. Attorney for a period of time, Dawes was elected to Congress in 1857 and continued to serve in Congress until 1875 at which time he was elected to the United States Senate. In 1887, Senator Dawes authored the landmark (pun intended) legislation of allotment to Indians…