Wyandot at Washington, DC (1850)
In 1850 the Wyandot released their claim to the 148,000 acres promised in 1842, which they said they never received, for $185,000.
- Signed
- April 1, 1850
- Senate
- Ratified
- Promises
- 1 of 1 broken or only partly kept
What happened
What happened
On April 1, 1850, Ardavan S. Loughery, commissioner for the United States, signed a convention at Washington with the head chief and deputies of the Wyandot tribe. The preamble looks back at the March 17, 1842 treaty, in which the Wyandot had sold their reservations in Ohio and Michigan and agreed to move west. In return the United States had agreed to convey a tract of 148,000 acres west of the Mississippi.
The preamble then says the Wyandot "never did receive the said one hundred and forty-eight thousand acres of land from the United States, but were forced to purchase lands from the Delaware nation of Indians." It adds that this purchase was agreed to and ratified by the United States. This was the treaty's own explanation for the settlement.
In Article 1 the Wyandot released and gave up all claim to the 148,000 acres. In return the United States agreed to pay $185,000, at $1.25 an acre. One hundred thousand dollars was to be invested in United States stocks at five per cent, with the interest paid to help the Wyandot pay their debts, including what they owed the Delawares for their lands. The other $85,000 was to be paid to the Wyandot nation or on its drafts. Article 2 had the United States pay the negotiation and delegation expenses. The convention was proclaimed on September 30, 1850.
What was promised, and what happened
- Broken
United States to assign the Wyandot 148,000 acres west of the Mississippi (the 1842 promise). (Art. 2 (1842))
never did receive the said one hundred and forty-eight thousand acres of land from the United States
treaties.okstate.edu
Good to know. The statement that the Wyandot were "forced to purchase" land from the Delawares is the treaty's own wording.
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.
never did receive the said one hundred and forty-eight thousand acres of land from the United States
Treaty with the Wyandot, 1850 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)being at and after the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre
Treaty with the Wyandot, 1850 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)Ardavan S. Loughery
Treaty with the Wyandot, 9 Stat. 987 (govinfo)
Research notes. The preamble's account (that the Wyandot were "forced to purchase" land from the Delawares) is the treaty's own wording. The treaty does not say how the $185,000 was ultimately used. Wyandot accounts of these events are not cited here.
What the treaty did to the land
Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.
named in the recordabout 24,000 acres
Land of the Delaware and Wyandot in Kansas, ceded 1855 (area 263)
Promised to the Wyandot as 148,000 acres west of the Mississippi in 1842, never delivered; they bought 39 sections from the Delaware in 1843 and ceded that tract in 1855.
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.
- 1842
Land kept
About 24,000 acres recognized as land of the Delaware and Wyandot
By Wyandot at Council House, Upper Sandusky, Ohio (1842)
- 1843
Land record
About 24,000 acres named in the record
The 1899 record: “By the terms of this agreement the Wyandot purchased of the Delawares 39 sections off the E. end of their reserve on Kansas river”
- 1850
This treaty
About 24,000 acres named in the record
In 1850 the Wyandot released their claim to the 148,000 acres promised in 1842, which they said they never received, for $185,000.
- 1855
Land lost
About 24,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Delaware and Wyandot
By Wyandot at Washington, DC (1855)
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:
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-wyandot-1850-0587reference work
Treaty with the Wyandot, 1850 Apr. 1, 1850. | 9 Stat., 987.
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.