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Treaty

Quapaw at Harrington's, Arkansas Territory (1824)

In 1824 the Quapaw ceded their Arkansas reservation and agreed to join the Caddo on the Red River; the move went badly.

Signed
November 15, 1824
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 1.2 million acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On November 15, 1824, the Quapaw Nation signed a treaty at Harrington's, in the Territory of Arkansas, with Commissioner Robert Crittenden for the United States. The Quapaw ceded "all claim or title" to lands in Arkansas territory. The boundary ran from the Arkansas River opposite the Post of Arkansas southwest to the Ouachita, up the Ouachita to the Saline Fork, and back to the Arkansas at Little Rock. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas says settlers and territorial officials who wanted valuable Quapaw land on the Arkansas River "put pressure on the Quapaw."

Article 4 says the Quapaw "will hereafter be concentrated and confined to the district of country inhabited by the Caddo Indians, and form a part of said Tribe." They were to start moving before January 20, 1826. The United States promised $500 to each of four head chiefs for the losses of leaving their farms, $4,000 in goods, $1,000 a year for eleven years, and corn, meat and salt for six months. Two sections were reserved to James Scull against a $7,500 debt the Quapaw owed him.

The Encyclopedia of Arkansas says the Quapaw moved to Caddo country in early 1826 "but met with disaster." Flooding destroyed crops, and starvation killed sixty people. It says "by 1830, all of the Quapaw had returned to Arkansas."

Good to know. Sources differ on the annuity: the Encyclopedia of Arkansas says $2,000 a year for eleven years, while the treaty says $1,000 a year for eleven years on top of the existing annuity.

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. will hereafter be concentrated and confined to the district of country inhabited by the Caddo Indians, and form a part of said TribeTribal Treaties Database (OSU)
  2. Done at Harrington’s, in the Territory of Arkansas, on the fifteenth day of NovemberStatutes at Large, vol. 7 (GovInfo)
  3. These groups put pressure on the Quapaw, who signed the Treaty of 1824 and ceded their reservation to the United States.Quapaw, Encyclopedia of Arkansas
  4. By 1830, all of the Quapaw had returned to Arkansas.Quapaw, Encyclopedia of Arkansas

Research notes. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas says the Quapaw got a $2,000 annuity for eleven years; the treaty text says $1,000 a year for eleven years in addition to their present annuity. This story follows the treaty. Acreage is not stated in the treaty; the Encyclopedia says the 1818 reservation covered one million acres.

What the treaty did to the land

About 1.2 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. 1818

    Land kept

    About 1.2 million acres set aside as a reservation for the Quapaw

    By Quapaw at St. Louis (1818)

    area 121

  2. 1824

    This treaty

    About 1.2 million acres ceded to the United States by the Quapaw

    In 1824 the Quapaw ceded their Arkansas reservation and agreed to join the Caddo on the Red River; the move went badly.

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-quapaw-1824-0210reference work
    Nov. 15, 1824. | 7 Stat., 232. / scan: 210 TREATY WITH THE QUAPAW, 1824.

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