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Treaty

Osage at Council Grove (1825)

In August 1825 the Osage agreed to a marked road to New Mexico, forever free to US and Mexican travelers, for $800.

Signed
August 10, 1825
Senate
Ratified
Promises
0 of 1 broken or only partly kept

What happened

This treaty grew out of an act of Congress approved on 3 March 1825, which authorized the President to have a road marked from the western frontier of Missouri to the confines of New Mexico. The act required the commissioners to get the consent of the tribes along the way, by treaty. Benjamin Reeves, George Sibley and Thomas Mather were the commissioners.

On 10 August 1825, at Council Grove on the Neosho River, one hundred and sixty miles southwest of Fort Osage, they met chiefs and head men of the Great and Little Osage. The Osage agreed that the commissioners could survey and mark a road through any territory the Osage owned or claimed. They agreed that the road would be forever free for citizens of the United States and of the Mexican Republic, who could pass and repass without hindrance or molestation. They also promised friendly aid to travellers they met on it, and agreed the road reached a reasonable distance on either side, so travellers could find food and camping places.

For these privileges the commissioners promised five hundred dollars, in money or goods at the Osage's option. They also acknowledged goods already given worth three hundred dollars. The text says these sums are "full and complete compensation" for every privilege granted.

The treaty was proclaimed on 3 May 1826. The text sets no road width and gives no acreage.

What was promised, and what happened

  • Not known

    Pay the Osage $500 in money or goods for the road privileges. (Art. 5)

    the sum of five hundred dollars treaties.okstate.edu

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

Well supported by the sources below.

  1. to cause a road to be marked out from the Western frontier of Missouri to the confines of New MexicoTreaty with the Great and Little Osage, 1825 (Council Grove), Tribal Treaties Database
  2. shall, when marked, be forever free for the use of the citizens of the United States and of the Mexican RepublicTreaty with the Great and Little Osage, 1825 (Council Grove), Tribal Treaties Database
  3. the sum of five hundred dollarsTreaty with the Great and Little Osage, 1825 (Council Grove), Tribal Treaties Database
  4. full and complete compensation for every privilege herein granted by said ChiefsTreaty with the Great and Little Osage, 1825 (Council Grove), Tribal Treaties Database

Research notes. The text sets no width for the road and gives no acreage; it says the road extends 'a reasonable distance on either side'. The text does not record the Osage view of the 'forever free' clause.

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.

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

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Sources

  1. treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-great-and-little-osage-1825-0246reference work
    Aug. 10, 1825. | 7 Stat., 268. / scan: 246 · TREATY WITH THE GREAT AND LITTLE OSAGE, 1825 •.

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