Living Law,
Living LandSupport land rights
All treaties and agreements

Treaty

Kaskaskia, Peoria, Piankeshaw, and Wea at Washington, DC (1854)

In 1854 the united Kaskaskia, Peoria, Piankeshaw and Wea ceded their Kansas lands, keeping 160 acres per person for $66,000.

Signed
May 30, 1854
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 287,000 acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On May 30, 1854, in Washington, Commissioner George W. Manypenny and delegates of the Kaskaskia, Peoria, Piankeshaw and Wea signed a treaty. The treaty first recognized the four tribes, which had recently "united themselves into a single tribe." The tribe then ceded the tracts assigned to the groups in treaties of October 1832. They reserved "a quantity of land equal to one hundred and sixty acres for each soul in said united tribe," according to a schedule, plus ten sections held in common.

A section of 640 acres went to the American Indian Mission Association. The United States agreed to pay $66,000 in six annual installments, with $2,000 each for education and for settling affairs.

The Kansas Historical Society says Manypenny's 1854 treaties led 11 Kansas tribes to cede nearly 13 million acres and favored allotment: 160 acres per person on the tribal rolls, with the excess bought by the government for resale to railroad companies, settlers and speculators. It records that many allotted tribal lands were later mortgaged, leased or sold to whites after the 1887 Dawes Act. The OSU treaty database lists ratification on August 2, 1854.

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. a quantity of land equal to one hundred and sixty acres for each soul in said united tribeTreaty with the Kaskaskia, Peoria, etc., 1854 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. the sum of sixty-six thousand dollars, in six annual instalmentsTreaty with the Kaskaskia, Peoria, etc., 1854 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. convincing 11 Kansas tribes between March and June of 1854 to cede nearly 13 million acresKansas Territory map, Kansapedia (Kansas Historical Society)

Research notes. The Kansas Historical Society page is general and does not name these tribes. The cited sources do not trace later removals of the Peoria and associated tribes. The treaty reserves 160 acres for each person in the united tribe, ten additional sections held in common, and one section for a mission association.

What the treaty did to the land

About 287,000 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. 1832

    Land kept

    About 287,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Kaskaskia, Peoria and others

    By Kaskaskia and Peoria (including Michigamea, Cahokia, and Tamaroa) at Castor Hill, Missouri (1832)

    area 326 area 328

  2. 1832

    Land kept

    About 287,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Kaskaskia, Peoria and others

    By Piankashaw and Wea at Castor Hill, Missouri (1832)

    area 326 area 328

  3. 1854

    This treaty

    About 287,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Kaskaskia, Peoria and others. Land named in the record

    In 1854 the united Kaskaskia, Peoria, Piankeshaw and Wea ceded their Kansas lands, keeping 160 acres per person for $66,000.

  4. 1867

    Land lost

    Land ceded to the United States by the Kaskaskia, Peoria and others

    By Seneca; Mixed Seneca and Shawnee; Quapaw; Confederated Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, and Piankashaw; Miami; Ottawa; and Wyandot at Washington, DC (1867)

    area 328

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-kaskaskia-peoria-etc-1854-0636reference work
    Treaty with the Kaskaskia, Peoria, etc., 1854 May 30, 1854. | 10 Stats., 1082.

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