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Treaty

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

In 1837 the Sac and Fox of Missouri released claims between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers for $160,000, most of it invested.

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, authorized by the President, signed a treaty at Washington with the Sacs and Foxes of Missouri, through their chiefs and delegates. In Article 1 they made three cessions. The first was all right or interest in the country between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, up to the Sac and Fox-Sioux boundary line described in the August 19, 1825 treaty. The second was the right to locate for hunting or other purposes on lands ceded in the July 15, 1830 treaty. The third was all claims under several treaties, including that of September 17, 1836, for which no appropriations had been made. The treaty states no acreage.

In Article 2 the United States agreed to pay $160,000. Of that, $2,500 was for merchandise and $100 for their interpreter, Jacques Mettez, and the balance of $157,400 was to be invested to earn not less than five per cent. The interest was to pay for a blacksmith's establishment ($1,000 a year), a farmer and tools ($1,600), and a teacher and school ($770), with the remaining $4,500 delivered in money or merchandise.

Article 3 had the United States pay the expenses of the negotiation and trip. The treaty was proclaimed on February 21, 1838. The text does not say how the council went, and the sources used here do not say what followed for this band.

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. Of all right or interest in the country between the Missouri and Mississippi riversTreaty with the Sac and Fox, 1837 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. To pay to the said Sacs and Foxes of the Missouri, the sum of one hundred and sixty thousand dollarsTreaty with the Sac and Fox, 1837 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. To pay to the said Sacs and Foxes of the Missouri, the sumTreaty with the Sac and Fox of Missouri, 7 Stat. 543 (govinfo)

Research notes. No acreage is stated. The "September 17th, 1836" treaty named in Article 1 matches the Fort Leavenworth treaty of that date with the Ioway and the Missouri band of Sac and Fox (told separately). The cited sources do not describe what happened afterward.

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

    area 151

  3. 1837

    Land record

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

    By Yankton Sioux at Washington, DC (1837)

    area 151

  4. 1837

    Land lost

    About 1.3 million acres ceded to the United States by the Sauk and Fox

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

    area 244

  5. 1837

    This treaty

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

    In 1837 the Sac and Fox of Missouri released claims between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers for $160,000, most of it invested.

  6. 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-1837-0497reference work
    Treaty with the Sauk and Foxes, 1837 Oct. 21, 1837. | 7 Stat., 543.

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