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Great Lakes / Old NorthwestTreaty

Treaty of Fort Wayne (1809), Delaware, Potawatomi, Miami, Eel River

At Fort Wayne in 1809 four nations ceded a large Indiana tract, though Tecumseh disputed the signers' authority to sell it.

Signed
September 30, 1809
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 3.0 million acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On September 30, 1809, William Henry Harrison, governor of Indiana Territory, signed a treaty at Fort Wayne with leaders of the Delaware, Potawatomi, Miami and Eel River Miami. In Article 1 the Miami and Eel River, "and the Delawares and Putawatimies, as their allies," agreed to cede two tracts. The first lay between the earlier Fort Wayne boundary, the Wabash River and a line from Raccoon Creek, and was to be thirty miles wide at its narrowest. The second began at Fort Recovery and ran south along the Greenville line.

For the cession the United States agreed to annuities of $500 each for the Delaware, Miami and Potawatomi and $250 for the Eel River. The text says those annuities and $5,200 in goods delivered at signing were "full compensation." The tribes kept the Greenville treaty's hunting rights on the land. Article 5 said the consent of the Wea was needed to complete the title to the first tract, and Article 9 offered a cession for the Kickapoo if they agreed.

The National Library of Medicine's Native Voices timeline says Harrison negotiated the treaty to acquire 3 million acres. It says the Shawnee leader Tecumseh told Harrison "that the signers have no authority to sell the land," questioned whether they could sell land held in common with other peoples, and warned Americans not to settle there while organizing fighters.

The Wea and Kickapoo gave their consent in separate October and December 1809 treaties, covered in other atlas records.

Good to know. The National Library of Medicine puts the cession at 3 million acres; the treaty gives no figure. The "under pressure" description rests on the disputed authority of the signers, not on any account of force.

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 Delawares and Putawatimies, as their allies, agree to cede to the United States all that tract of countryTreaty with the Delawares, etc., 1809 (Treaty of Fort Wayne) (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. the goods now delivered to the amount of five thousand two hundred dollars, shall be considered as a full compensationTreaty with the Delawares, etc., 1809 (Treaty of Fort Wayne) (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. the consent of the Wea tribe shall be necessary to complete the title to the first tract of land here cededTreaty with the Delawares, etc., 1809 (Treaty of Fort Wayne) (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  4. The Shawnee leader Tecumseh tells Harrison, a future U.S. president, that the signers have no authority to sell the land.1809: Treaty of Fort Wayne takes 3 million acres from Native peoples (National Library of Medicine, Native Voices)

Research notes. The National Library of Medicine puts the cession at 3 million acres; the treaty text gives no figure. The 'under pressure' label rests on the disputed authority of the signers per the NLM timeline, not on described force. Tecumseh's objection is reported by NLM; the Shawnee view is not otherwise sourced here.

What the treaty did to the land

About 3.0 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. 1795

    Promise broken

    Greenville 1795 and Fort Wayne 1809: encroachment, then cession under pressure

    Greenville (1795) promised to protect tribal lands; in 1809 Fort Wayne ceded more, and Tecumseh said the signers could not sell it.

  2. 1809

    This treaty

    About 3.0 million acres ceded to the United States by the Delaware, Eel River Miami and others

    At Fort Wayne in 1809 four nations ceded a large Indiana tract, though Tecumseh disputed the signers' authority to sell it.

  3. 1809

    Land record

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

    By Wea and Indians Northwest of the Ohio at Vincennes, Indiana Territory (1809)

    area 71

  4. 1809

    Land record

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

    By Kickapoo at Vincennes, Indiana Territory (1809)

    area 73

  5. 1816

    Land record

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

    By Wea and Kickapoo at Fort Harrison, Indiana Territory (1816)

    area 71 area 73

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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Working with these nations

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Sources

  1. digitreaties.org/treaties/treaty/12013184reference work
Research notes

Acreage approx. 2.5 million; Tecumseh's opposition to this treaty fed the Prophetstown conflict.

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