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Treaty

Sauk and Fox (Confederated Tribes) at Washington, DC (1837)

In 1837 the confederated Sac and Fox ceded 1,250,000 acres west of their 1832 cession and agreed to leave it within eight months.

Signed
October 21, 1837
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 1.3 million acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On October 21, 1837, Carey A. Harris, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, signed a treaty at Washington with the confederated Sacs and Foxes, through their chiefs and delegates. In Article 1 the tribes ceded two things. One was a tract containing 1,250,000 acres, lying west of and adjoining the tract they had conveyed in the treaty of September 21, 1832. The other was any right or interest in the land ceded on July 15, 1830 that they might claim under the wording of that treaty's first article.

In Article 2 the United States agreed to survey the ceded land, pay up to $100,000 of the tribes' debts that were found justly due and admitted by the Indians, and deliver $28,500 in goods. It also agreed to build two grist mills and support two millers for five years, to spend $24,000 breaking up and fencing ground on the land they kept, and to invest $200,000 in State stocks at not less than five per cent.

Article 4 says the Sacs and Foxes agreed to remove from the ceded tract within eight months of ratification. Keokuck's village was excepted: they could retain it for two years. Article 5 had the United States pay the expenses of the negotiation and of the chiefs' and delegates' trip. The treaty was proclaimed on February 21, 1838. The text does not describe how the council went, and the sources used here do not say what followed.

Summarized with AI assistance from 3 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. a tract of country containing 1,250,000 (one million two hundred and fifty thousand) acres lying west and adjoining the tractTreaty with the Sac and Fox, 1837 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. agree to remove from the tract ceded, with the exception of Keokuck's village, possession of which may be retained for two yearsTreaty with the Sac and Fox, 1837 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. a tract of country containing 1,250,000 (one million two hundred and fifty thousand) acresTreaty with the Sac and Fox, 7 Stat. 540 (govinfo)

Research notes. The 1832 cession is identified in the text only as the treaty of September 21, 1832. Later Sac and Fox cessions are separate entries and are not described here.

What the treaty did to the land

About 1.3 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. 1830

    Land lost

    About 11 million acres ceded to the United States by the Iowa, Medewakanton and others

    By Treaty of Prairie du Chien (1830), Sauk, Fox, Sioux, Omaha, Iowa, Oto, Missouri

    area 151

  2. 1837

    Land record

    Earlier terms confirmed for the land of the Iowa, Medewakanton and others

    By Yankton Sioux at Washington, DC (1837)

    area 151

  3. 1837

    Land record

    Earlier terms confirmed for the land of the Iowa, Medewakanton and others

    By Sauk and Fox of Missouri at Washington, DC (1837)

    area 151

  4. 1837

    This treaty

    Earlier terms confirmed for the land of the Iowa, Medewakanton and others. About 1.3 million acres ceded to the United States by the Sauk and Fox

    In 1837 the confederated Sac and Fox ceded 1,250,000 acres west of their 1832 cession and agreed to leave it within eight months.

  5. 1837

    Land record

    Earlier terms confirmed for the land of the Iowa, Medewakanton and others

    By Iowa at St. Louis, Missouri (1837)

    area 151

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-sauk-and-foxes-1837-0495reference work
    Treaty with the Sauk and Foxes, 1837 Oct. 21, 1837. | 7 Stat., 540.

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