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Great Lakes / Old NorthwestTreaty

Treaty of Chicago, 1821

In 1821 the Ottawa, Chippewa and Potawatomi ceded a large tract around the St. Joseph and Grand rivers, keeping reservations.

Signed
August 29, 1821
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 4.2 million acres
Land set aside for the nations
about 23,000 acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On August 29, 1821, Lewis Cass and Solomon Sibley signed a treaty at Chicago with the Ottawa, Chippewa and Potawatomi nations. The tribes ceded a large tract. Its boundary began on the south bank of the St. Joseph River near the Parc aux Vaches and followed former cession lines to the Grand River and Lake Michigan. A Michigan State University page says that by this treaty "most of the land in the southwestern part of the Lower Peninsula south of the Grand River was acquired."

Article 2 reserved tracts for the Indians. Two were six miles square, at Mang-ach-qua Village and at Mick-ke-saw-be. Others were at Na-to-wa-se-pe and Prairie Ronde, and at the head of the Kalamazoo River. Article 3 granted sections of land to named individuals, who were "Indians by descent," and barred them from selling without the President's permission.

The United States agreed to pay the Ottawa "one thousand dollars in specie annually forever," and the Potawatomi five thousand dollars annually for twenty years. It also funded blacksmiths and teachers for several years. The Greenville treaty's right to hunt on ceded land applied. The United States gained "the privilege of making and using a road through the Indian country" from Detroit and Fort Wayne to Chicago.

The Statutes at Large record a proclamation on March 25, 1822. The MSU page says that, for Michigan treaties generally, "in almost every instance, the Government failed to live up to its obligations."

Good to know. The quoted statement about unfulfilled obligations concerns Michigan treaties in general, not this treaty in particular.

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.

  1. The United States shall have the privilege of making andStatutes at Large, vol. 7 (GovInfo)
  2. pay to the Ottawa nation, one thousand dollars in specieStatutes at Large, vol. 7 (GovInfo)
  3. most of the land in the southwestern part of the Lower Peninsula south of the Grand River was acquiredIndian Cessions in Michigan (Michigan State University)
  4. In almost every instance, the Government failed to live up to its obligations.Indian Cessions in Michigan (Michigan State University)

Research notes. No acreage is given in the sources cited. The MSU quotation about unfulfilled obligations is about Michigan treaties in general, not a finding about this treaty. The treaty text itself does not describe how it was negotiated.

What the treaty did to the land

About 4.2 million acres given up. about 23,000 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.

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. 1821

    This treaty

    About 4.2 million acres ceded to the United States by the Chippewa, Ottawa and others. About 23,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Potawatomi, Chippewa and others

    In 1821 the Ottawa, Chippewa and Potawatomi ceded a large tract around the St. Joseph and Grand rivers, keeping reservations.

  2. 1827

    Land lost

    About 23,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Potawatomi

    By Potawatomi at St. Joseph, Michigan Territory (1827)

    area 138

  3. 1832

    Land kept

    Land set aside as a reservation for the Chippewa, Ottawa and others

    By Potawatomi (St. Joseph, Cold Water, Wabash, and Elkhart Bands) at Tippecanoe River, Indiana (1832)

    area 188

  4. 1833

    Land lost

    Land ceded to the United States by the Chippewa, Ottawa and others

    The 1899 record: “at Notawasepe, of 4 miles siiuare, contained in thethiid clause of the second article of the treaty made at Chicago on Aug. 29, 1821”

    area 188

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:

Working with these nations

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/100378017reference work
Research notes

Land description from memory.

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