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Treaty

Delaware, Potawatomi, Miami, Eel River, and Wea at Grouseland near Vincennes, Indiana (1805)

At Grouseland the Miami, Eel River and Wea ceded land after the Delaware gave up a claim the Miami disputed.

Signed
August 21, 1805
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 1.6 million acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On August 21, 1805, William Henry Harrison, governor of Indiana Territory, held a treaty at Grouseland, near Vincennes, with the Delaware, Potawatomi, Miami, Eel River and Wea. It followed a dispute that began a year earlier. In the Delaware treaty of August 18, 1804, the United States had promised to treat the Delaware as owners of the land between the White River, the Ohio and Clark's grant.

Article I says the Miami, from whom the Delaware derived their claim, "contend" they never meant to give the Delaware the right to the soil, only to let them occupy it. So, "for the sake of peace and good neighborhood," the Delaware gave up their claim and released the United States from its guarantee.

In Article II the Miami, Eel River and Wea ceded "all that tract of country" south of a line drawn from the northeast corner of the Fort Wayne tract. The United States added permanent annuities of $600 for the Miami and $250 each for the Eel River and Wea. It gave the Potawatomi $500 a year for ten years, and delivered $4,000 at the signing.

Article IV said the Miami, Eel River and Wea considered themselves one nation. The United States promised to treat them as joint owners of the Wabash country above the Vincennes tract and not to buy any of it without each tribe's consent. Article V had the other tribes acknowledge the Delaware right to sell the 1804 tract.

Good to know. The Miami objection to the Delaware claim is the treaty's own statement, not an independent account.

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 said Delewares have, for the sake of peace and good neighborhood, determined to relinquish their claimTreaty with the Delawares, etc., 1805 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. The said Maimi, Eel River, and Wea tribes, cede and relinquish to the United States foreverTreaty with the Delawares, etc., 1805 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. the United States do hereby engage to consider them as joint owners of all the country on the WabashTreaty with the Delawares, etc., 1805 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  4. they will not purchase any part of the said country without the consent of each of the said tribesTreaty with the Delawares, etc., 1805 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)

Research notes. The Miami objection to the Delaware claim is the treaty's own recital, not an independent account. No acreage is stated. The text says Kickapoo claims on the Vermillion River were not affected because the Kickapoo were not represented.

What the treaty did to the land

About 1.6 million acres given up. 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. 1804

    Land lost

    About 2.0 million acres ceded to the United States by the Delaware, Miami and others

    By Delaware at Vincennes, Indiana Territory (1804)

    area 49

  2. 1804

    Land record

    Earlier terms confirmed for the land of the Delaware, Miami and others

    By Piankashaw at Vincennes, Indiana Territory (1804)

    area 49

  3. 1805

    This treaty

    Earlier terms confirmed for the land of the Delaware, Miami and others. About 1.6 million acres ceded to the United States by the Delaware, Eel River and others

    At Grouseland the Miami, Eel River and Wea ceded land after the Delaware gave up a claim the Miami disputed.

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. treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-delawares-etc-1805-0080reference work
    Aug. 21, 1805. | 7 Stat., 91. / scan: 80 TREATY WITH THE DEL.AW ARES, ETC., 1805.

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