In the late 1830s Antoine Ouilmette was involved in litigation against Joseph Fountain of Evanston and others, whom he accused of trespassing and illegally harvesting timber from the Ouilmette family's reservation. Ouilmette lost the suit and paid a large bill in court costs. It was after this that the Ouilmette family decided to leave. In 1838, the Ouilmette family moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where many Potawatomi had previously relocated. Archange Chevallier Ouilmette died there on November 25, 1840, and Antoine Ouilmette died there on December 1, 1841.