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Treaty

Extracts from the Treaty with the Indians at Loggstown [Logstown] (1752)

At Logstown in June 1752, Ohio-country Indian leaders confirmed the 1744 Lancaster deed and promised not to molest British settlers southeast of the Ohio.

Signed
June 13, 1752
Senate
Not recorded

What happened

This is a colonial record from 1752, before the United States existed. The National Archives series includes colonial treaties because United States treaty-making followed a custom set by Great Britain and the colonial governments.

Virginia's governor, Robert Dinwiddie, sent three commissioners, Joshua Fry, Lunsford Lomax and James Patton, to Logg's Town on the Ohio River. His commission says they were to deliver a royal present to the northern Indians in friendship with Virginia and to strengthen the chain of friendship. An editor's footnote adds that the aim was to get the Six Nations to confirm the 1744 Treaty of Lancaster, helping the Ohio Company's plans.

In council the commissioners told the Indians that Virginia held a deed from the Onondaga council at Lancaster, and asked their Ohio brethren to confirm it. Their speaker, the Half King, said they were willing to confirm what their council had done, but had never understood that the Lancaster land reached beyond the hill on the far side of the Allegheny. He added that they lacked full power on the Ohio and must tell their council at Onondaga.

The signed paper nevertheless records the consent of six sachems to the Lancaster deed, and to British settlements on the southern or eastern parts of the Ohio. It says those settlements would go unmolested, and that they would help protect them. It is dated 13 June 1752.

Good to know. Some listings date this to 1 June 1752, but the text gives 13 June as the signing date. The Half King's words come from English-language minutes kept by Virginia's side.

Summarized with AI assistance from 5 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error

What the sources say, and how this was checked

Supported by the sources below; some details rest on one source.

  1. we never understood, before you told us Yesterday, that the Lands then sold were to extend further to the Sun settingTreaty of Logstown, 1752, Tribal Treaties Database, Oklahoma State University
  2. We must acquaint our Council at Onondago of the Affair, and whatsoever they bid us do, we will do.Treaty of Logstown, 1752, Tribal Treaties Database, Oklahoma State University
  3. that the said Settlement or Settlements shall be unmolested by us, and that we will, as far as in our power, assist and ProtectTreaty of Logstown, 1752, Tribal Treaties Database, Oklahoma State University
  4. this thirteenth day of June, in the Year of our Lord 1752Treaty of Logstown, 1752, Tribal Treaties Database, Oklahoma State University
  5. Negotiation of formal treaties with the Indians by the United States Government followed a custom established by Great Britain and the colonial governments.National Archives, Ratified Indian Treaties, 1722-1869 (microfilm publication M668)

Research notes. Some listings give 1 June 1752, which differs from the signing date in the text (13 June). The page is a compilation of the Virginia commissioners' journal and the treaty text, with later editors' footnotes, so the footnote about purpose is a modern editor's view. The Lancaster deed's boundaries were disputed; this page does not resolve them. The Half King's quoted speech is read through English-language minutes taken by Virginia's side.

What happened next

Everything the record holds about this land and this treaty, in order: what earlier agreements said, what this one did, and what the United States, the courts and the nations did afterwards.

Who is doing the work today

The nations connected to this treaty come first, then groups returning land and defending treaty rights. Support goes directly to them.

Native legal and land defense, nationally

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Sources

  1. treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-of-logstown-1752-21778reference work
    this thirteenth day of June, in the Year of our Lord 1752

Corrections to this record

  • The signing date was listed as “1752-06-01”; corrected from treaties.okstate.eduthis thirteenth day of June, in the Year of our Lord 1752

Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.