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Treaty

Iowa and Sauk and Fox of the Missouri (West of Missouri) at Fort Leavenworth (1836)

In 1836 the Ioway and Missouri Sac and Fox ceded the strip between Missouri and the Missouri River for $7,500 and a 400-section tract.

Signed
September 17, 1836
Senate
Ratified
Land set aside for the nations
about 235,000 acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On September 17, 1836, William Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, signed a treaty at Fort Leavenworth on the Missouri River. The other parties were chiefs, warriors and counsellors of the Ioway tribe and the band of Sacs and Foxes of the Missouri, then living west of the State of Missouri. The treaty text says it was represented to them as desirable that the lands between Missouri and the Missouri River be attached to the state, and the Indian title be entirely extinguished.

In Article 1 they ceded, "forever," all their right, title and interest in those lands. The text gives reasons in their name: that the lands could never be made available for Indian purposes, and that moving the state line would give a natural boundary between whites and Indians. The United States paid a present of $7,500 in money. ICT News, an Indigenous news outlet, reports that the cession added about 3,150 square miles to northwest Missouri. It also calls it the Platte Purchase.

In Article 2 the United States agreed to assign them a strip south of the Missouri River, making four hundred sections. The Sacs and Foxes were to take the lower half, and the Ioways the upper. Article 3 promised houses, 200 acres broken and fenced for each group, a farmer, blacksmith, schoolmaster and interpreter, tools, a year of rations, a ferry-boat, cattle, hogs and a mill. The treaty was proclaimed on February 15, 1837.

Good to know. The treaty itself states no acreage; the figure of about 3,150 square miles comes from ICT News.

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. forever cede, relinquish, and quit claim, to the United States, all our right, title, and interestTreaty with the Iowa, etc., 1836 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. the lower half to the Sacks and Foxes, and the upper half to the IowaysTreaty with the Iowa, etc., 1836 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. The Platte Purchase added about 3,150 square miles to the northwest corner of Missouri. The government paid $7,500 for it.Native History: For More Land Jackson Presents Removal Treaty to Congress (ICT News)
  4. making four hundred sectionsTreaty with the Ioway and Sac and Fox, 7 Stat. 511 (govinfo)

Research notes. The ceded strip's acreage is not stated in the treaty; the 3,150 square miles figure is from ICT News, not the treaty. The text states the tribes' reasons in the first person; it was written for the United States and signed with marks, and the sources used here do not describe the negotiation. Whether the Article 3 promises were carried out is not covered here.

What the treaty did to the land

About 235,000 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. 1836

    This treaty

    About 235,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Sauk and Fox of the Missouri, Iowa and others

    In 1836 the Ioway and Missouri Sac and Fox ceded the strip between Missouri and the Missouri River for $7,500 and a 400-section tract.

  2. 1854

    Land lost

    About 94,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Iowa

    By Iowa at Washington, DC (1854)

    area 323

  3. 1854

    Land kept

    Land recognized as land of the Sauk and Fox of the Missouri and the Iowa

    By Iowa at Washington, DC (1854)

    area 428

  4. 1854

    Land lost

    About 141,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Sauk and Fox of the Missouri

    By Sauk and Fox of Missouri at Washington, DC (1854)

    area 324

  5. 1854

    Land lost

    Part of the land ceded by the Iowa

    The 1899 record: “Cede tract assigned them by treaty of Sept. 17, 1836”

    area 323

  6. 1861

    Land record

    About 94,000 acres named in the record

    By Sauk and Fox of the Missouri and Iowa at Great Nemaha Agency, Nebraska Territory (1861)

    area 323 area 428

  7. 1876

    Land lost

    Land ceded to the United States by the Sauk and Fox of the Missouri and the Iowa

    The 1899 record: “Provides for the sale, with their consent, of 10 sections off W. end of their reserve”

    area 428

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-iowa-etc-1836-0468reference work
    Treaty with the Iowa, etc., 1836 Sept. 17, 1836. | 7 Stat., 511.

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