Delaware at St. Mary's, Ohio (1818)
At St. Mary's in 1818 the Delaware ceded all Indiana claims for a western country, moving aid and a $4,000 annuity.
- Signed
- October 3, 1818
- Senate
- Ratified
- Promises
- 0 of 2 broken or only partly kept
What happened
What happened
On 3 October 1818, at St. Mary's, Ohio, three United States commissioners (Jonathan Jennings, Lewis Cass and Benjamin Parke) made a treaty with the Delaware nation. In Article 1 the Delawares ceded to the United States all their claim to land in the state of Indiana. The text gives no acreage.
In return the United States agreed in Article 2 to provide the Delawares a country to live in on the west side of the Mississippi and to guarantee them peaceable possession of it. The United States also agreed to pay the full value of their improvements in the ceded country, to be set by persons the President appointed. It would furnish 120 horses worth no more than forty dollars each, boats called perogues, and provisions, to help them move.
The Delawares could use their improvements for three years if they needed that long. Article 5 promised a perpetual annuity of four thousand dollars, together with all earlier annuities, paid in silver wherever they went. A blacksmith would be provided west of the Mississippi.
Six named Delaware individuals were each to receive a half or quarter section of land on White River, which could not be sold without the President's approval. The United States also agreed to pay up to $13,312.25 of claims against the nation. The page lists a proclamation on 15 January 1819.
What was promised, and what happened
- Not known
Provide the Delawares a country west of the Mississippi and guarantee their peaceable possession. (Art. 2)
the United States agree to provide for the Delawares a country to reside in, upon the west side of the Mississippi
treaties.okstate.edu - Not known
Pay the Delawares a perpetual annuity of $4,000 in silver, plus earlier annuities. (Art. 5)
a perpetual annuity of four thousand dollars
treaties.okstate.edu
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.
The Delaware nation of Indians cede to the United States all their claim to land in the state of Indiana.
Treaty with the Delawares, 1818 (St. Mary's), Tribal Treaties Databasethe United States agree to provide for the Delawares a country to reside in, upon the west side of the Mississippi
Treaty with the Delawares, 1818 (St. Mary's), Tribal Treaties Databasea perpetual annuity of four thousand dollars
Treaty with the Delawares, 1818 (St. Mary's), Tribal Treaties DatabaseThe Delawares shall be allowed the use and occupation of their improvements, for the term of three years
Treaty with the Delawares, 1818 (St. Mary's), Tribal Treaties Database
Research notes. The treaty gives no acreage. Whether the promised western country, annuity and improvement payments were delivered as written is not shown in the treaty text.
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:
Working with these nations
- Stockbridge-Munsee Community (Band of Mohican Indians) Nation government 372 acres on Monument Mountain's north slope (finalized Apr 2025; $2.5M, $2.26M state grant)
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-delawares-1818-0170reference work
Oct. 3, 1818. | 7 Stat., 188. / scan: 170 TREATY . WITH THE DELAWARES, 1818.
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.