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Treaty

Iowa at St. Louis, Missouri (1837)

In 1837 the Ioway released any claim to the land ceded in 1830 for $2,500 in horses, goods and presents.

Signed
November 23, 1837
Senate
Ratified
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On November 23, 1837, Joshua Pilcher, a U.S. Indian agent specially authorized by the President, signed a short treaty at St. Louis with the Ioway Indians, through their chiefs and delegates. In Article 1 the Ioway ceded to the United States all the right and interest in the land ceded by the July 15, 1830 treaty that they might be entitled to claim under the wording of that treaty's second article. The treaty states no acreage. It is a release of a claim to land already ceded under the 1830 treaty.

In Article 2 the United States agreed to pay $2,500 in horses, goods and presents when they signed the treaty at St. Louis. Article 3 had the United States pay the expenses of the negotiation and of the chiefs and delegates signing, to Washington and home. Article 4 made the treaty binding on the parties once ratified by the United States.

The treaty was proclaimed on February 21, 1838. Four Ioway delegates signed with marks. The text does not describe how the council was conducted, and the sources used here do not say what followed for the Ioway.

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. THE Ioway Indians cede to the United States all the right and interest in the land ceded by the treatyTreaty with the Ioway, 1837 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. the United States stipulate to pay them two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) in horses, goods and presentsTreaty with the Ioway, 1837 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. in horses, goods and presents, upon their signing this treaty in the city of Saint LouisTreaty with the Ioway, 7 Stat. 547 (govinfo)

Research notes. No acreage is stated. "A release of a claim" is a plain-English summary of Article 1, not the treaty's own wording. The cited sources do not describe what happened afterward.

What the treaty did to the land

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 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

  5. 1837

    This treaty

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

    In 1837 the Ioway released any claim to the land ceded in 1830 for $2,500 in horses, goods and presents.

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-1837-0500reference work
    Treaty with the Iowa, 1837 Nov. 23, 1837. | 7 Stat., 547.

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