Living Law,
Living LandSupport land rights
All treaties and agreements

Great Lakes / Old NorthwestTreaty

Treaty of Spring Wells, 1815

At Spring Wells, tribes allied with Britain in the War of 1812 were restored to their 1811 status and confirmed earlier treaties.

Signed
September 8, 1815
Senate
Ratified

What happened

On September 8, 1815, three U.S. commissioners, William Henry Harrison, Duncan McArthur and John Graham, met sachems, headmen and warriors at Spring Wells, near Detroit. The nations were the Wyandot, Delaware, Seneca, Shawnee, Miami, Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatomi, living in Ohio, Indiana Territory and Michigan Territory.

The preamble says the Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatomi, together with certain bands of the Wyandot, Delaware, Seneca, Shawnee and Miami, "were associated with Great Britain in the late war" and wanted to be restored to peace. In Article 1 the United States gave peace to the Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatomi. In Article 2 it agreed to restore to those three nations "all the possessions, rights, and priviledges, which they enjoyed, or were entitled to, in the year one thousand eight hundred and eleven." They in turn agreed to place themselves again under U.S. protection "and of no other power whatsoever."

Article 3 pardoned chiefs and warriors of the Wyandot, Delaware, Seneca and Shawnee who had kept fighting until the war ended. It cited the fidelity of others in those nations and the "repentance" of the Miami, shown by placing themselves under U.S. protection in 1814. In Article 4 all eight nations agreed to "renew and confirm the treaty of Greenville" of 1795 and all later treaties to which they were parties.

This was a peace treaty, not a new cession. The sources here do not describe the council. The OSU record shows ratification on December 26, 1815.

Good to know. The language of "repentance" and "pardon" is the treaty's own, written by the U.S. commissioners.

Summarized with AI assistance from 3 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. were associated with Great Britain in the late war between the United States and that powerTreaty with the Wyandot, etc., 1815 (Treaty of Spring Wells) (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. all the possessions, rights, and priviledges, which they enjoyed, or were entitled to, in the year one thousand eight hundred and elevenTreaty with the Wyandot, etc., 1815 (Treaty of Spring Wells) (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. agree to renew and confirm the treaty of Greenville, made in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-fiveTreaty with the Wyandot, etc., 1815 (Treaty of Spring Wells) (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)

Research notes. This summary rests on the treaty text alone. Whether the confirmations were freely given is not described in any source cited. The text's wording about 'repentance' and 'pardon' is the treaty's own, written by the U.S. commissioners. The treaty restores 1811 'possessions, rights, and privileges' without listing them.

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.

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/176530013reference work
Research notes

Land description from memory.

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