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Treaty

Sauk and Fox at Washington, DC (1824)

In 1824 the Sauk and Fox ceded their Missouri land claims; a tract by the Des Moines River was set aside for mixed-ancestry relatives.

Signed
August 4, 1824
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 11 million acres
Land set aside for the nations
about 116,000 acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On August 4, 1824, William Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, signed a treaty in Washington with chiefs and head men of the "Sock and Fox" tribes (the treaty's spelling). Its stated aim was "to perpetuate peace and friendship" and to remove causes of dispute from undefined boundaries.

The two nations ceded all their claims to land within the state of Missouri lying between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. The boundary ran from the mouth of the Kansas River north one hundred miles to the northwest corner of Missouri, then east to the Mississippi. The treaty sets aside a small tract between the Des Moines and Mississippi rivers "for the use of the half-breeds belonging to the Sock and Fox nations." This is the treaty's own wording. Article 2 says the tribes would not settle or hunt on the ceded land after January 1, 1826, without special permission.

In return the United States promised $1,000 in cash or goods, $500 a year to each tribe for ten years, a blacksmith, and help with farming. The Statutes at Large record a proclamation on January 18, 1825.

Notes on Iowa, a history blog, says the tract held 119,000 acres in what is now Lee County, Iowa. It says Congress repealed that part of the treaty in 1834, after the Black Hawk War and the Black Hawk Purchase.

Good to know. The 119,000-acre figure and the 1834 repeal come from one history blog. The blog calls this the first cession of Iowa lands, though the treaty itself concerns Missouri.

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

Supported by the sources below; some details rest on one source.

  1. none of their tribes shall be permitted to settle or hunt upon any part of it, after the first day of January, 1826Tribal Treaties Database (OSU)
  2. is intended for the use of the half-breeds belonging to the Sock and Fox nationsTribal Treaties Database (OSU)
  3. In 1834, the US Congress repealed the portion of the treaty providing for the “Half-Breed Tract”Iowa History Daily: August 4 - The First Treaty (Notes on Iowa)

Research notes. The 119,000-acre figure and the 1834 repeal come from a blog by Kevin T. Mason (Notes on Iowa) and are not confirmed by an official record. The blog calls this the first cession of lands in Iowa, while the treaty text itself concerns Missouri. Acreage of the Missouri cession is not stated.

What the treaty did to the land

About 11 million acres given up. about 116,000 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. 1808

    Land lost

    About 11 million acres ceded to the United States by the Great and Little Osage, Iowa and others

    The 1899 record: “leding to tlie T. .S. all lauds lying E. of said line and N. of the southwardly bank of the river Arkansas”

    area 69

  2. 1824

    Land lost

    Part of the land ceded by the Great and Little Osage, Iowa and others

    By Iowa at Washington, DC (1824)

    area 69

  3. 1824

    This treaty

    Part of the land ceded by the Great and Little Osage, Iowa and others. About 116,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Sauk and Fox

    In 1824 the Sauk and Fox ceded their Missouri land claims; a tract by the Des Moines River was set aside for mixed-ancestry relatives.

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-sauk-and-foxes-1824-0207reference work
    Aug. 4, 1824. | 7 Stat., 229. / scan: 207

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