Land area
Land of the Sauk and Fox in Illinois, Missouri and Wisconsin, ceded 1804 (area 50)
- 1804
Ceded to the United States
- 1815
Earlier terms confirmed
- 1815
Earlier terms confirmed
- 1816
Earlier terms confirmed
In the record
Ceded by the united Sauk and Fox at St. Louis in November 1804; the Sauk, the Fox and the Sauk of Rock River each agreed to and confirmed that treaty in 1815 and 1816. The area covers about 16 million acres in what is now Illinois, Missouri and Wisconsin.
The 1899 record names Meskwaki (Fox) and Sauk (Sac) as the people of this land.
How it was taken: a treaty made under documented pressure. Before Knox, a college-linked history, says many Sauk and Meskwaki considered the treaty void because important leaders and the tribal council were absent, which makes the signers' authority disputed.
Today, Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa, Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska and Sac & Fox Nation, Oklahoma carry the history of the people named here.
Written from the records linked here; open any of them for its sources.
Shapes come from C. C. Royce’s 1899 maps as georeferenced by the US Forest Service. They are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land. Royce recorded land the United States treated as ceded; the shape does not show a nation’s territory.
Who is doing the work
Land return and Native-led work nearby
- Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) Nation government Ojibwe treaty rights in ceded territories, natural resource stewardship, manoomin, and a Land Conservancy program… Give on their site Website
- Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Nation government Restoration of about 200,000 acres to reservation status (1975)
- Stockbridge-Munsee Community (Band of Mohican Indians) Nation government 372 acres on Monument Mountain's north slope (finalized Apr 2025; $2.5M, $2.26M state grant)
Native legal and land defense, nationally
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
- NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.
Connections
Links marked “suggested” were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.
Nations named for this land 5
- Meskwaki (Fox)as named in the 1899 recordsuggested
- Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraskamatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Sac & Fox Nation, Oklahomamatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowamatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Sauk (Sac)as named in the 1899 recordsuggested
Agreements recorded for this land 4
- Treaty of St. Louis with the Sauk and Fox, 18041804suggested
- Fox at Portage des Sioux (1815)1815suggested
- Sauk at Portage des Sioux (1815)1815suggested
- Treaty of St. Louis with the Sauk of Rock River, 18161816suggested
Located in 3
Sources
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1804-11-03primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1804-11-03primary record
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1815-09-13primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1815-09-13primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1815-09-14primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1816-05-13primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Illinois 1 (Library of Congress)primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Missouri 1 (Library of Congress)primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Wisconsin 1 (Library of Congress)primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Wisconsin 2 (Library of Congress)primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Illinois 2 (Library of Congress)primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Missouri 2 (Library of Congress)primary record
- USDA Forest Service, Tribal Lands Ceded to the United States (digitized Royce maps)reference work
The record’s fields
- Area number in the 1899 record
- 50
- Dates in the 1899 record
- 1804-11-03; 1815-09-13; 1815-09-14; 1816-05-13
- Kind of instrument
- Treaty or agreement
- Peoples as named in the 1899 record
- Sauk and Fox
- States
- IL; MO; WI
- Counties
- Adams; Audrain; Boone; Brown; Bureau; Calhoun; Carroll; De Kalb; Fulton; Grant; Green; Hancock; Henderson; Henry; Iowa; Jo Daviess; Kane; Kendall; Knox; La Salle; Lafayette; Lee; Lincoln; Marion; McDonough; McHenry; Mercer; Monroe; Montgomery; Peoria; Pike; Putnam; Ralls; Rock; Rock Island; Schuyler; Shelby; St. Charles; Stephenson; Walworth; Warren; Whiteside; Winnebago
- Map sheets in the 1899 record
- Illinois 1; Missouri 1; Wisconsin 1; Wisconsin 2; Illinois 2; Missouri 2
- Geometry
- Approximate shape from Royce’s 1899 maps
Research notes
geometry_role is 'cession' for every USFS feature: no field in the source distinguishes cessions from reservations.
- Kind
- Land area
- Confidence
- Medium