Comanche, Aionai (Hainai), Anadarko, Caddo, Lipan, Longwha (Tonkawa), Keechy (Kichai), Tahwacarro (Tawakoni), Wichita, and Waco at Council Springs, Robinson County, Texas, near the Brazos River (1846)
In 1846 the Comanche, Caddo, Wichita and others in Texas accepted United States protection and trade control at Council Springs.
- Signed
- May 15, 1846
- Senate
- Ratified
What happened
What happened
On May 15, 1846, U.S. commissioners P. M. Butler and M. G. Lewis met chiefs, counsellors and warriors of the Comanche, Caddo, Wichita, Waco and several other tribes at Council Springs, in Robinson County, Texas, near the Brazos River.
Article 1 has the signers acknowledge themselves "to be under the protection of the United States, and of no other power, state, or sovereignty whatever." Article 2 gives the United States "the sole and exclusive right of regulating trade and intercourse" with them, and bars unlicensed traders. Articles 3 and 5 are marked "stricken out" on the page.
Other terms covered prisoners. The tribes were to deliver up "all white persons and negroes who are now prisoners" among them, for which the United States would pay a fair compensation, while prisoners taken from them by Texas or the United States were to be returned to them. The treaty also set rules on punishing murder, robbery and horse stealing under state or territorial law.
In return the United States agreed to presents of goods worth ten thousand dollars, and blacksmiths, school-teachers and permission for preachers to reside among them. It was proclaimed on March 8, 1847. The page shows no land cession.
Good to know. This treaty contains no land cession.
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
Supported by the sources below; some details rest on one source.
acknowledge themselves to be under the protection of the United States, and of no other power, state, or sovereignty whatever
Tribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Comanche, Aionai (Hainai), Anadarko, Caddo, Lipan, Longwha (Tonkawa), Keechy (Kichai), Tahwacarro (Tawakoni), Wichita, and Waco at Council Springs, Robinson County, Texas, near the Brazos River (1846)the United States shall have the sole and exclusive right of regulating trade and intercourse with them
Tribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Comanche, Aionai (Hainai), Anadarko, Caddo, Lipan, Longwha (Tonkawa), Keechy (Kichai), Tahwacarro (Tawakoni), Wichita, and Waco at Council Springs, Robinson County, Texas, near the Brazos River (1846)to the amount of ten thousand dollars, at such time as the President of the United States may think proper
Tribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Comanche, Aionai (Hainai), Anadarko, Caddo, Lipan, Longwha (Tonkawa), Keechy (Kichai), Tahwacarro (Tawakoni), Wichita, and Waco at Council Springs, Robinson County, Texas, near the Brazos River (1846)
Research notes. The treaty text is the only source cited; it does not say what happened afterward, so this story stops at the signed terms. The treaty page shows Articles 3 and 5 as stricken out but does not show their original wording. The treaty contains no land cession.
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.
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.
Who is doing the work
This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:
- Caddo Nation of Oklahoma
- Comanche Nation, Oklahoma
- Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco, & Tawakonie), Oklahoma
Native legal and land defense, nationally
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
- NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.
Sources
Sources
- treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-comanche-aionai-anadarko-caddo-etc-1846-0554reference work
Treaty with the Comanche, Aionai, Anadarko, Caddo, etc., 1846 May 15, 1846. | 9 Stat., 844.
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.