Jacob Piatt Dunn

Who was Jacob Piatt Dunn?

Jacob Piatt Dunn Jr. was an American historian, journalist, and author. A political writer and reformer, Dunn worked on ballot reform issues based on the Australian ballot system, authored a new Indianapolis city charter, and served as adviser to Indiana governor Thomas R. Marshall and U.S. Senator Samuel M. Ralston.

Born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, Dunn grew up in Indianapolis, graduated from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, in 1874, and received a law degree from the University of Michigan in 1876. Dunn briefly practiced law in Indianapolis, then moved to Colorado in 1879, where he and his brothers prospected and looked after their father's mining interests. It was in Colorado that Dunn discovered an interest in journalism and history.

In 1884 Dunn returned to Indianapolis and completed his first book, Massacres of the Mountains: A History of the Indian Wars of the Far West, 1815–1875, published in 1886. Dunn continued to research and write about state and local history, including Greater Indianapolis: The History, the Industries, the Institutions, and the People of a City of Homes, his most important work.