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Great Lakes / Old NorthwestTreaty

Treaty of Fort Wayne with the Delaware, Shawnee, Potawatomi, Miami, Eel River, Wea, Kickapoo, Piankashaw, Kaskaskia, 1803

At Fort Wayne in 1803 several nations fixed the Vincennes tract, ceded a salt spring, and agreed to sites for travelers' houses.

Signed
June 7, 1803
Senate
Ratified
Land set aside for the nations
about 1.8 million acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On June 7, 1803, William Henry Harrison, governor of Indiana Territory, held a treaty at Fort Wayne with the Delawares, Shawnees, Potawatomi, Miamis and Kickapoos. The Eel River, Wea, Piankashaw and Kaskaskia nations were represented by four named agents, Tuthinipee, Winnemac, Richerville and Little Turtle, "properly authorized by the said tribes."

The first article started from the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, which had reserved the post of Vincennes and nearby lands. It said it was hard to fix the exact limits of the tract "as held by the French and British governments," so the treaty set boundaries, starting at Point Coupee on the Wabash. In Article 2 the United States gave up any claim to lands next to that tract.

Article 3 had the tribes "relinquish and cede" the great salt spring on Saline Creek, with land around it not exceeding four miles square. The United States promised each year a quantity of salt for the tribes, not above 150 bushels, to be divided as their general council decided. Article 4 gave the United States the right to locate three tracts on the road between Vincennes and Kaskaskia, and one between Vincennes and Clarksville, for houses where travelers could stay, once the Kickapoo, Eel River, Wea, Piankashaw and Kaskaskia agreed.

Article 5 said that if settlers' claims fell inside the Indian side of the line, the line would be moved to include them, and an equal quantity of land would be given to the tribes at either end of the tract. The treaty gives no acreage.

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. it has been found difficult to determine the precise limits of the said tract as held by the French and British governmentsTreaty with the Delawares, etc., 1803 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. the said tribes do hereby relinquish and cede to the United States the great salt spring upon the Saline creekTreaty with the Delawares, etc., 1803 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. a quantity of salt not exceeding one hundred and fifty bushelsTreaty with the Delawares, etc., 1803 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  4. by their agents and representatives Tuthinipee, Winnemac, Richerville and Little TurtleTreaty with the Delawares, etc., 1803 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)

Research notes. The treaty mostly fixes the boundary of a tract the United States had reserved at Greenville; the text does not state a total acreage.

What the treaty did to the land

About 1.8 million acres recognized, kept or set aside for the nations. Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.

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.

  1. 1795

    Land kept

    About 1.8 million acres set aside as a reservation for the Chippewa, Delaware and others

    By Treaty of Greenville, 1795

    area 26

  2. 1803

    This treaty

    About 1.8 million acres recognized as land of the Chippewa, Delaware and others. Land ceded to the United States by the Delaware, Eel River and others

    At Fort Wayne in 1803 several nations fixed the Vincennes tract, ceded a salt spring, and agreed to sites for travelers' houses.

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.

This history belongs to living nations. Start with 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. digitreaties.org/treaties/treaty/90029845reference work
Research notes

Land description from memory.

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