Shawnee and Delaware at Castor Hill, Missouri (1832)

What happened

On October 26, 1832, commissioners William Clark, Frank J. Allen and Nathan Kouns signed a treaty at Castor Hill, St. Louis County, Missouri. The other side was the chiefs, warriors and counsellors of the Shawnoes and Delawares "late of Cape Girardeau."

The preamble gives the background. Parts of both nations had settled near Cape Girardeau under a Spanish permission dated January 4, 1793. The Delawares lived there until 1815, when "from various causes, it became necessary for them to remove, leaving their fields and improvements." Later treaties assigned lands to each nation, but the 1829 Delaware treaty made "no compensation" for the Delawares' improvements or lost stock. The United States said it wished "to indemnify the said Delawares for all losses and injuries."

In Article 1 the two bands ceded all their lands within Missouri, and all claims against the United States for loss of property and improvements. In return the Delawares were to receive $2,000 in stock, $1,000 for breaking up and fencing ground, $2,500 for a mill and $1,500 for a school. They were also to receive $5,000 in merchandise and $12,000 placed with the superintendent to pay debts the Delawares acknowledged.

Article 4 paid the Shawnees $1,200 on signing and $500 more once they reached their lands on the Kanzas River. It also supplied a year of provisions after removal. The Statutes at Large record a proclamation on February 12, 1833.

Summarized with AI assistance from 3 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error