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Treaty

Six Nations at Fort Harmar (1789)

At Fort Harmar in January 1789, Six Nations leaders renewed the Fort Stanwix boundary and yielded claims west of it for $3,000 in goods.

Signed
January 9, 1789
Senate
Ratified

What happened

On 9 January 1789, at Fort Harmar on the Muskingum River, Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory, met the sachems and warriors of the Six Nations. He acted as commissioner plenipotentiary for the United States. The treaty says its purpose was to remove causes of controversy, regulate trade and settle boundaries.

The Six Nations, except the Mohawks, who did not attend, agreed to renew and confirm the engagements made at Fort Stanwix in October 1784. That included a boundary line running from a creek near Niagara, past Buffalo Creek, to the Pennsylvania border and down to the Ohio River. The treaty says the line would be the western boundary of Six Nations lands and that the Six Nations yield to the United States all claim to the country west of it.

For this, they received peace, the presents they had received before, and goods worth three thousand dollars delivered by St. Clair. The United States confirmed to the Six Nations the lands they lived on east and north of the line, keeping only six miles square around the fort at Oswego. The Oneida and Tuscarora were again secured in their lands.

The treaty also renewed peace and friendship, and gave the Mohawks six months to declare their assent. The text lists sachems' names and marks. It does not say what became of the Mohawk offer.

Summarized with AI assistance from 4 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

Well supported by the sources below.

  1. the Six Nations shall and do yield to the United States, all claim to the country west of the said boundaryTreaty with the Six Nations, 1789 (Fort Harmar), Tribal Treaties Database
  2. in consideration of a quantity of goods, to the value of three thousand dollars, now delivered to themTreaty with the Six Nations, 1789 (Fort Harmar), Tribal Treaties Database
  3. reserving only six miles square, round the fort of OswegoTreaty with the Six Nations, 1789 (Fort Harmar), Tribal Treaties Database
  4. if the Mohawks shall, within six months, declare their assent to the same, they shall be considered as includedTreaty with the Six Nations, 1789 (Fort Harmar), Tribal Treaties Database

Research notes. The treaty reaffirms a boundary first set at Fort Stanwix (1784). Which Six Nations leaders spoke for which communities, and later disputes over the Fort Harmar cession, are not covered by this text.

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.

Working with these nations

Native legal and land defense, nationally

Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.

Sources

  1. treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-six-nations-1789-0023reference work
    Jan. 9. 1789. | 7 Stat., 33. / scan: TREATY WITH THE SIX NATIONS, 1789. 23

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