Seneca of Sandusky River, Ohio, at Washington, DC (1831)

What happened

On February 28, 1831, James B. Gardiner, a commissioner for the United States, signed a treaty at Washington with the principal chiefs and warriors of the Seneca tribe residing on the Sandusky River in Ohio. The preamble says the Seneca "have earnestly solicited the President of the United States to negotiate with them" for an exchange of their Ohio land for land west of the Mississippi, and for their removal and settlement.

In Article 1 the Seneca ceded two tracts: the thirty thousand acres granted to them by the 1817 treaty at the Rapids of the Miami, and ten thousand acres reserved by the 1818 treaty at St. Mary's. That made "forty thousand acres" in all.

In Article 2 the United States agreed to remove the tribe, "about four hundred souls," to the west side of the Mississippi. It would grant them a tract next to the northern boundary of the Cherokee lands and the Missouri line, fifteen miles by seven, "containing about sixty-seven thousand acres." The United States also promised expenses and a year of provisions. It promised a grist mill, a saw mill and a blacksmith shop, and a $6,000 advance in place of their improvements.

The Ohio land would be sold, with the costs, the advance and the minimum price deducted. The Seneca would get any balance as a fund paying five percent a year. The Statutes at Large record a proclamation on March 24, 1831.

Good to know. The statement that the Seneca asked for the exchange is the treaty'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