Chippewa of Saginaw at Saginaw, Michigan (1838)

What happened

This short treaty, signed at Saginaw, Michigan on January 23, 1838, is about how land the Saginaw bands had already ceded would be sold. Henry R. Schoolcraft signed for the United States, and six leaders signed for the bands.

The preamble says the chiefs feared that "combinations of purchasers" might form at the land sales to keep prices down, so that the proceeds paid to the tribe would be "greatly diminished." It also ties the sale to the bands' planned "removal and expatriation to the country west of the Mississippi."

Article 1 handles the lands ceded by the treaty of January 14, 1837. They were to be offered for sale by presidential proclamation, with a minimum of five dollars an acre for two years. After that the minimum would fall to two dollars and fifty cents, until all were sold. Article 2 says land still unsold after five years from ratification would be sold for whatever it would bring, but not below seventy-five cents an acre.

The treaty was proclaimed on July 2, 1838. The page does not show what the lands actually sold for.

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