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Great Lakes / Old NorthwestTreaty

Treaty of St. Louis with the Sauk of Rock River, 1816

The Sauk of Rock River made peace in 1816 and unconditionally confirmed the 1804 St. Louis cession.

Signed
May 13, 1816
Senate
Ratified
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On May 13, 1816, commissioners William Clark, Ninian Edwards and Auguste Chouteau signed a treaty of peace and friendship at St. Louis with chiefs and warriors of the Sacs of Rock River and the adjacent country. The preamble starts from the Treaty of Ghent, whose ninth article called on the United States and Britain to end hostilities with Indian tribes and put them on their pre-war footing if they stopped fighting.

The commissioners' version of events, as written in the treaty, is that they invited the Rock River Sacs to meet at Portage des Sioux, but the Sacs "declined that friendly overture" and kept up hostilities and depredations. That, it says, "would have justified the infliction of the severest chastisement." The treaty adds that the Sacs "earnestly repented" and were "imploring mercy." That wording comes from the U.S. side. No Sauk account of the council appears in the sources here.

In Article 1 the Rock River Sacs "unconditionally assent to recognize, re-establish, and confirm" the 1804 Treaty of St. Louis and all other contracts with the Sac nation. In Article 2 the United States agreed to put them back on their pre-war footing if they delivered up plundered property to the officer at Cantonment Davis by July 1. Article 3 said failing to do so would forfeit their share of the 1804 annuities.

Before Knox says many Meskwaki and Sauk, including Black Hawk, considered the 1804 treaty void because it was "signed in the absence of important leaders and without the consent of the Tribal Council."

Good to know. The "under pressure" description rests on the treaty's own threats of punishment and annuity forfeiture; its "repented" and "imploring mercy" language is the U.S. commissioners' framing.

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. which would have justified the infliction of the severest chastisement upon themTreaty with the Sauk, 1816 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. do hereby unconditionally assent to recognize, re-establish, and confirm the treatyTreaty with the Sauk, 1816 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. having earnestly repented of their conduct, now imploring mercyTreaty with the Sauk, 1816 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  4. was signed in the absence of important leaders and without the consent of the Tribal CouncilThe Black Hawk War and Treaties (Before Knox)

Research notes. The 'under pressure' label relies on the treaty's own wording about punishment, the July 1 condition and the annuity forfeiture. The 'repented' and 'imploring mercy' language is the U.S. commissioners' framing. No independent account of the 1816 council is cited. Before Knox's account of Black Hawk's objection concerns the 1804 treaty, not this one. No acreage is involved.

What the treaty did to the land

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 16 million acres ceded to the United States by the Sauk and Fox

    By Treaty of St. Louis with the Sauk and Fox, 1804

    area 50 area 51

  2. 1815

    Land record

    Earlier terms confirmed for the land of the Sauk and Fox

    By Sauk at Portage des Sioux (1815)

    area 50 area 51

  3. 1815

    Land record

    Earlier terms confirmed for the land of the Sauk and Fox

    By Fox at Portage des Sioux (1815)

    area 50 area 51

  4. 1816

    This treaty

    Earlier terms confirmed for the land of the Sauk and Fox

    The Sauk of Rock River made peace in 1816 and unconditionally confirmed the 1804 St. Louis cession.

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:

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/83317519reference work
Research notes

Reaffirmation of RIT 43; Black Hawk later contested.

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