Osage at Portage des Sioux (1815)
On 12 September 1815 the Great and Little Osage made peace with the United States at Portage des Sioux and confirmed earlier treaties.
- Signed
- September 12, 1815
- Senate
- Ratified
What happened
What happened
On 12 September 1815, at Portage des Sioux, William Clark, Ninian Edwards and Auguste Chouteau, commissioners of the United States, signed a treaty of peace and friendship with the king, chiefs and warriors of the Great and Little Osage tribes or nations.
The preamble says both sides wanted to re-establish peace and friendship, and to put the Osage on the same footing as before the war. Article 1 provides that every injury or act of hostility by either side would be forgiven and forgot. Article 2 declares perpetual peace and friendship between all citizens of the United States and all individuals of the Osage tribes.
In Article 3 the parties recognized, re-established and confirmed every earlier treaty, contract and agreement between the United States and the Osage tribes or nations. It does not name any earlier treaty.
The text cedes no land, sets no boundary and promises no payment. The page lists ratification on 26 December 1815. It does not describe who signed for the Little Osage or the Great Osage beyond the signature block, and it does not say what led them to the council.
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
Supported by the sources below; some details rest on one source.
Every injury, or act of hostility, by one or either of the contracting parties against the other, shall be mutually forgiven and forgot.
Treaty with the Osage, 1815, Tribal Treaties Databasethe king, chiefs, and warriors of the said tribes or nations
Treaty with the Osage, 1815, Tribal Treaties Databaserecognize, re-establish, and confirm, all and every treaty, contract, and agreement, heretofore concluded between the United States and the said Osage tribes or nations
Treaty with the Osage, 1815, Tribal Treaties DatabaseRatified Dec. 26, 1815.
Treaty with the Osage, 1815, Tribal Treaties Database
Research notes. The treaty does not name the earlier treaties it confirms.
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.
Who is doing the work
This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:
Native legal and land defense, nationally
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
- NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.
Sources
Sources
- treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-osage-1815-0119reference work
Sept. 12, 1815. | 7 Stat., 133. / scan: 120 TREATY WITH THE SAUK, 1815.
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.