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Treaty

Kickapoo of the Vermilion at Fort Harrison, Indiana (1819)

The Kickapoo of the Vermilion ceded their claimed lands on the Wabash River for an annuity, saying they planned to leave.

Signed
August 30, 1819
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 14 million acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On August 30, 1819, Benjamin Parke, a U.S. commissioner, signed a treaty at Fort Harrison, Indiana, with the chiefs, warriors and head men of the Kickapoos of the Vermilion.

In Article 1 they agreed to cede "all the lands which the said tribe has heretofore possessed, or which they may rightfully claim, on the Wabash river, or any of its waters." Article 2 explains why they described their claim: so the United States could fix a boundary with other tribes. It runs from the northwest corner of the Vincennes tract, along the line set in the 1805 Piankeshaw treaty, to the ridge between the Embarras and Little Wabash, to the source of the Vermilion, to the head of Pine Creek, and down to the Wabash.

In Article 3 the Kickapoo gave up an existing $1,000 annuity. The United States agreed to pay $2,000 a year in specie for ten years, and $3,000 was delivered at signing. The treaty calls the whole "a full compensation."

Article 4 says: "as the said tribe contemplate removing from the country they now occupy," the annuity would be paid at a place to be agreed. A convention of September 5, 1820 shows how that played out. The annuity was moved to Kaskaskia, Illinois, and the United States advanced $2,000 because the tribe was "now about leaving their settlements on the Wabash." The treaty was proclaimed on May 10, 1820.

Good to know. The plan to leave the Wabash is stated in the treaty as the Kickapoo's own.

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. all the lands which the said tribe has heretofore possessed, or which they may rightfully claim, on the Wabash river, or any of its watersTreaty with the Kickapoo of the Vermilion, 1819 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. As the said tribe contemplate removing from the country they now occupyTreaty with the Kickapoo of the Vermilion, 1819 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. as the said tribe are now about leaving their settlementsConvention with the Kickapoos of the Vermilion, 1820, 7 Stat. 210 (U.S. Statutes at Large, govinfo.gov)

Research notes. Acreage is not stated. The removal intent is stated in the treaty text as the tribe's own plan; the sources cited do not describe coercion, or say whether the 1820 departure was free or pressured.

What the treaty did to the land

About 14 million acres given up. 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. 1819

    Land lost

    About 14 million acres ceded to the United States by the Kickapoo (of the Vermillion)

    By Kickapoo at Edwardsville, Illinois (1819)

    area 110

  2. 1819

    This treaty

    Part of the land ceded by the Kickapoo (of the Vermillion)

    The Kickapoo of the Vermilion ceded their claimed lands on the Wabash River for an annuity, saying they planned to leave.

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. treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-kickapoo-1819-0184reference work
    Aug. 30, 1819. | 7 Stat., 202. / scan: 184 TRE.ATY WITH THE KICKAPOO, 1819.

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