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Treaty

Eel River, Wyandot, Piankashaw, Kaskaskia, and Kickapoo at Vincennes, Indiana Territory (1803)

In 1803 at Vincennes, five Indian groups agreed to let the United States place four one-square-mile tracts along two roads for inns.

Signed
August 7, 1803
Senate
Ratified

What happened

On 7 August 1803, at a council at Vincennes, William Henry Harrison met chiefs and warriors of the Eel River, Wyandot, Piankashaw and Kaskaskia nations. The Kickapoo took part through representatives who were chiefs of the Eel River nation. Harrison was governor of the Indiana Territory, superintendent of Indian affairs, and commissioner plenipotentiary of the United States for treaties with Indian nations northwest of the Ohio River.

The paper deals with the fourth article of a treaty made at Fort Wayne on 7 June 1803. The chiefs and warriors gave their free and full consent to that article. They relinquished and confirmed to the United States the privilege and right of locating three tracts of one mile square each on the road from Vincennes to Kaskaskia, plus one more tract of one mile square on the road from Vincennes to Clarksville.

The tracts were to go in places that best suited the convenience and interest of the United States. Their stated purpose was to set up houses of entertainment, meaning inns, for travellers.

It was proclaimed on 23 December 1803. The text names no payment and gives no exact tract locations.

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 privilege and right of locating three several tracts of land of one mile square each, on the road leading from Vincennes to KaskaskiaTreaty with the Eel River, etc., 1803, Tribal Treaties Database
  2. establishment of houses of entertainment for the accommodation of travellersTreaty with the Eel River, etc., 1803, Tribal Treaties Database
  3. The fourth article of the treaty holden and concluded at Fort Wayne, on the seventh day of June, one thousand eight hundred and threeTreaty with the Eel River, etc., 1803, Tribal Treaties Database
  4. also the tribe of the Kikapoes, by their representatives, the chiefs of the Eel River nationTreaty with the Eel River, etc., 1803, Tribal Treaties Database

Research notes. The text names no payment or exact location. Whether the Kickapoo representatives held authority for their people is not discussed.

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.

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Sources

  1. treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-eel-river-etc-1803-0066reference work
    Aug. 7, 1803. | 7 Stat., 77. / scan: 66 TREATY WITH THE EEL RIYER, ETC., 1803.

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