Treaty of St. Mary's with the Miami, 1818
At St. Mary's in 1818 the Miami ceded a large tract, kept reservations, and were promised a perpetual $15,000 annuity and mills.
- Signed
- October 6, 1818
- Senate
- Ratified
- Land given up
- about 7.1 million acres
- Land set aside for the nations
- about 955,000 acres
What happened
What happened
On October 6, 1818, Jonathan Jennings, Lewis Cass and Benjamin Parke, commissioners of the United States, signed a treaty at St. Mary's, Ohio, with the Miami nation.
In Article 1 the Miami ceded a tract that begins at the Wabash River near the mouth of Raccoon Creek and runs up the Wabash to the reserve near Fort Wayne. From there it follows the St. Mary's River, the line of the 1817 Wyandot cession, and the old Indian boundary line to Fort Recovery. Article 2 reserved tracts for the Miami, including one along the Wabash from the mouth of the Salamonie to the mouth of the Eel River. Article 3 granted tracts by patent to Jean Baptiste Richardville, the principal chief, and to named Miami people.
In Article 5 the United States agreed to pay a perpetual annuity of $15,000 in silver. It promised a grist mill and a saw mill, a blacksmith and a gunsmith, farm implements and 160 bushels of salt a year.
A Myaamia Center blog quotes agents' letters from 1817 and 1818. One agent wrote that Cass "might promise Richardville something handsome if he would induce the Miamis to sell us the White River Country." Another wrote that the Miami "must open their ears" or lose all their land. The blog concludes that refusing to sell "simply meant losing the land for nothing."
Good to know. Agents' letters proposed an inducement for the Miami leader Richardville; whether any was paid is not confirmed, though the treaty grants him land.
Summarized with AI assistance from 5 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.
following tract of country : beginning at the Wabash river
Treaty with the Miamies, 1818, 7 Stat. 189 (U.S. Statutes at Large, govinfo.gov)The United States agree to grant, by patent, in fee simple
Treaty with the Miamies, 1818, 7 Stat. 189 (U.S. Statutes at Large, govinfo.gov)one hundred and sixty bushels of salt
Treaty with the Miamies, 1818, 7 Stat. 189 (U.S. Statutes at Large, govinfo.gov)I think you might promise Richardville something handsome if he would induce the Miamis to sell us the White River Country
The Lost Treaty of Fort Meigs (Myaamia Center, Miami University)refusing to sell simply meant losing the land
The Lost Treaty of Fort Meigs (Myaamia Center, Miami University)
Research notes. The blog presents agents' letters proposing an inducement for Richardville; whether any was paid is not confirmed, though the treaty grants him land. The blog is a student research piece with faculty guidance. The treaty text does not name Indiana; the Indiana State Library blog links the treaty to the 'New Purchase boundary' but is not otherwise relied on. No acreage is stated.
What the treaty did to the land
About 7.1 million acres given up. about 955,000 acres recognized, kept or set aside for the nations. Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.
ceded to the United Statesabout 7.1 million acres
Land of the Miami in Indiana and Ohio, ceded 1818 (area 99)
Ceded by the Miami in the 1818 Treaty of St. Mary's, their lands in Indiana and Ohio.
set aside as a reservationabout 536,000 acres
Land of the Miami in Indiana, ceded 1840 (area 258)
Part of the Miami's 1818 Big Reserve; when the rest of the reserve was ceded in 1840, these 50 sections were granted to individuals.
set aside as a reservationabout 117,000 acres
Land of the Miami in Indiana, ceded 1834 (area 198)
Kept for the Miami as their big reserve along the Wabash, between the Salamonie and Eel rivers, in the 1818 Treaty of St. Mary's; part of it was ceded in October 1834.
set aside as a reservationabout 116,000 acres
Land of the Miami in Indiana, ceded 1838 (area 251)
Kept by the Miami as part of their Big Reserve in the 1818 Treaty of St. Mary's; this part was ceded in the 1838 treaty at the Forks of the Wabash.
set aside as a reservationabout 94,000 acres
Land of the Eel River or Thorntown party of Miami Indians in Indiana, ceded 1828 (area 142)
Kept by the Eel River (Thorntown) Miami as a 10-mile-square tract on Sugar Tree Creek in the October 1818 treaty, then ceded in February 1828.
set aside as a reservationabout 46,000 acres
Land of the Miami in Indiana, ceded 1838 (area 253)
Kept by the Miami in 1818 as a reserve opposite the mouth of the Abonette; what remained of it was ceded in the 1838 Miami treaty.
set aside as a reservationabout 23,000 acres
Land of the Miami in Indiana, ceded 1834 (area 197)
Kept for the Miami as a 10-mile-square reserve opposite the mouth of the Abonette (Mississinewa) in the 1818 Treaty of St. Mary's; part of it was ceded in October 1834.
set aside as a reservationabout 23,000 acres
Land of the Miami in Indiana, ceded 1838 (area 252)
Kept by the Miami in 1818 as a reserve on the Wabash below its forks, then ceded in the 1838 Miami treaty.
set aside as a reservationabout 23,000 acres
Land of the Miami in Indiana, ceded 1872 (area 256)
Part of the Miami's 1818 Big Reserve, kept in 1838 for Me-to-sin-ia's band, deeded in 1840 to his son Me-shing-go-me-sia, and divided among band members by an act of Congress in June 1872.
set aside as a reservation
Land of the Miami in Indiana, ceded 1834 (area 196)
Kept for the Miami as a 2-mile-square reserve on the Salamonie River in the 1818 Treaty of St. Mary's, then ceded in whole or in part in October 1834.
set aside as a reservation
Land of the Miami in Indiana, ceded 1838 (area 254)
Kept by the Miami in 1818 as a reserve at the mouth of Flat Rock Creek, then ceded in the 1838 Miami treaty.
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.
- 1818
This treaty
About 7.1 million acres ceded to the United States by the Miami. About 955,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Miami and Eel River or Thorntown party of Miami Indians
At St. Mary's in 1818 the Miami ceded a large tract, kept reservations, and were promised a perpetual $15,000 annuity and mills.
- 1828
Land lost
About 94,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Eel River or Thorntown party of Miami Indians
By Miami (Eel River or Thorntown Party) at Wyandot Village Near the Wabash, Indiana (1828)
- 1834
Land lost
About 140,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Miami
By Miami at Forks of the Wabash, Indiana (1834)
- 1838
Land lost
About 186,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Miami
By Miami at Forks of the Wabash, Indiana (1838)
- 1838
- 1840
Land lost
About 536,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Miami
By Miami at Forks of the Wabash, Indiana (1840)
- 1840
- 1872
Land lost
About 23,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Miami
The 1899 record: “By act of Congress approved June 1, 1872, the reserve was partitioned among the band and patents issued in severalty”
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
- digitreaties.org/treaties/treaty/100464210reference work
Research notes
Land description from memory.
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.