Winnebago at Washington, DC (1855)
The 1855 Winnebago treaty traded the Ho-Chunk's Long Prairie land in Minnesota for a Blue Earth River reservation.
- Signed
- February 27, 1855
- Senate
- Ratified
- Land given up
- about 1.0 million acres
- Land set aside for the nations
- about 198,000 acres
What happened
What happened
On February 27, 1855, in Washington, Commissioner George W. Manypenny and Winnebago chiefs signed a treaty. The Winnebago ceded the tract granted to them under the 1846 treaty, north of the Minnesota (St. Peter's) River and west of the Mississippi, "estimated to contain about eight hundred and ninety-seven thousand and nine hundred (897,900) acres." Parts of it were to be sold for the tribe's benefit. In exchange the Ho-Chunk got a reservation along the Blue Earth River.
MNopedia says the Ho-Chunk ceded 897,900 acres near Long Prairie "in exchange for two hundred thousand acres along the Blue Earth River," a site better suited to farming. They began the move on May 24, 1855. Local white citizens met in Mankato to protest their arrival, and the Ho-Chunk soon held some of the territory's best cropland.
MNopedia reports that settlers pressed for their removal anyway. After the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, which the Ho-Chunk did not join, a federal act of February 21, 1863 authorized exile from Minnesota. In May 1863, under threat of military force, 1,945 Ho-Chunk were moved to Crow Creek, South Dakota, and more than 550 died.
Good to know. The 200,000-acre size of the Blue Earth reservation is MNopedia's figure; the treaty estimates the ceded tract at about 897,900 acres.
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.
hereby cede, sell, and convey to the United States all their right, title, and interest in, and to, the tract of land
Treaty with the Winnebago, 1855 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)ceded 897,900 acres of their land near Long Prairie in exchange for two hundred thousand acres along the Blue Earth River
Ho-Chunk and Blue Earth, 1855-1863, MNopedia (Minnesota Historical Society)under threat of military force
Ho-Chunk and Blue Earth, 1855-1863, MNopedia (Minnesota Historical Society)
Research notes. The treaty estimates the ceded tract at about 897,900 acres; the 200,000-acre size of the Blue Earth reservation is MNopedia's figure. This account does not draw on the Ho-Chunk Nation's own published history. The 1863 removal belongs to later instruments (the 1859 treaty and the 1863 act).
What the treaty did to the land
About 1.0 million acres given up. about 198,000 acres recognized, kept or set aside for the nations. Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.
ceded to the United Statesabout 1.0 million acres
Land of the Winnebago in Minnesota, ceded 1855 (area 361)
Promised to the Winnebago in Minnesota in 1846, then ceded back in the 1855 treaty in exchange for a reserve on the Blue Earth River.
set aside as a reservationabout 110,000 acres
Land of the Winnebago in Minnesota, ceded 1863 (area 439)
The eastern part of the Winnebago's Blue Earth reserve, kept in 1859, was sold on their behalf under an 1863 act once they were removed.
set aside as a reservationabout 88,000 acres
Land of the Winnebago in Minnesota, ceded 1859 (area 416)
Granted to the Winnebago in 1855 as 18 miles square on the Blue Earth River in Minnesota; the western part was given up in 1859, to be sold by the United States on their behalf.
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.
- 1846
Land kept
About 1.0 million acres set aside as a reservation for the Winnebago
By Winnebago at Washington, DC (1846)
- 1855
This treaty
About 1.0 million acres ceded to the United States by the Winnebago. About 198,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Winnebago
The 1855 Winnebago treaty traded the Ho-Chunk's Long Prairie land in Minnesota for a Blue Earth River reservation.
- 1859
Land kept
About 110,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Winnebago
By Winnebago at Washington, DC (1859)
- 1859
Land lost
About 88,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Winnebago
By Winnebago at Washington, DC (1859)
- 1863
Land lost
About 110,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Winnebago
The 1899 record: “Upon their removal the reserve of the Winnebago in Minnesota to be sold by U. S. in trust for their benefit”
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-winnebago-1855-0690reference work
Treaty with the Winnebago, 1855 Feb. 27, 1855. | 10 Stat., 1172.
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.