Stockbridge and Munsee at Stockbridge, Wisconsin (1856)
In February 1856 the Stockbridge and Munsee ceded their Wisconsin and Minnesota lands for a new Wisconsin tract near the Menominee reservation.
- Signed
- February 5, 1856
- Senate
- Ratified
- Land given up
- about 22,000 acres
What happened
What happened
On February 5, 1856, at Stockbridge, Wisconsin, the Stockbridge and Munsee tribes ceded and relinquished "all their remaining right and title in the lands at the town of Stockbridge" and the 72 sections in Minnesota set aside for them in 1848, along with several sums and claims. The United States agreed to select and give them a tract in Wisconsin "near the southern boundary of the Menomonee reservation," large enough for 80-acre lots for heads of families and 40-acre lots for others. It also agreed to pay $41,100 for improvements, $20,550 for removal, and $18,000 for stock, tribal debts and settling their affairs.
The treaty's preamble recites decades of dispute: acts of Congress in 1843 and 1846 tried to allot their Lake Winnebago lands, "dissensions" persisted, and part of the tribe refused to be bound. The treaty was a settlement of that history.
The Stockbridge-Munsee Community's timeline records that the 1856 treaty, signed by Sachem Ziba T. Peters, established the reservation in Shawano County, Wisconsin. It adds that lumber barons claimed part of the reservation in 1871. The new tract came from a Menominee cession made that same month.
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 jointly and severally cede and relinquish to the United States all their remaining right and title in the lands at the town of Stockbridge
Treaty with the Stockbridge and Munsee, 1856 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)Treaty of 1856, Stockbridge-Munsee signed by Sachem Ziba T. Peters establishes new reservation in Red Springs and Bartelme in Shawano County
Tribal History Timeline, Stockbridge-Munsee Communitythe United States desire to locate said Stockbridges and Munsees near the said line in the western part of the said reservation
Treaty with the Menominee, 1856 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
Research notes. The Stockbridge-Munsee Community's own timeline also records earlier dispossession in New York and says of the loss of homelands that nothing 'that deserves the name of purchase' was made; that statement concerns the earlier history, not this treaty's terms. The 1871 timber claim is from the tribal timeline. The treaty was ratified April 18, 1856, and proclaimed September 8, 1856. Acreage: The treaty cedes 72 sections in Minnesota; the new Wisconsin tract is described only as large enough for 80-acre and 40-acre lots.
What the treaty did to the land
About 22,000 acres given up. Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.
named in the recordabout 65,000 acres
Land of the Menomini in Wisconsin, ceded 1856 (area 403)
Part of the Menominee's 1854 Wolf River home; two townships in its southwest corner were ceded in 1856 for the Stockbridge and Munsee, and an 1871 act ordered all but 18 sections sold.
ceded to the United Statesabout 22,000 acres
Land of the Stockbridge in Wisconsin, ceded 1856 (area 272)
Set apart for the Stockbridge as 72 sections in Minnesota by the 1848 treaty, then ceded back in 1856.
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.
- 1848
Land kept
About 22,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Stockbridge
By Stockbridge at Stockbridge, Wisconsin (1848)
- 1854
Land kept
About 65,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Menomini
By Menominee at Falls of Wolf River, Wisconsin (1854)
- 1856
This treaty
About 65,000 acres named in the record. About 22,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Stockbridge
In February 1856 the Stockbridge and Munsee ceded their Wisconsin and Minnesota lands for a new Wisconsin tract near the Menominee reservation.
- 1856
Land lost
About 65,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Menomini
By Menominee at Keshena, Wisconsin (1856)
- 1871
Land lost
Part of the land ceded by the Menomini
The 1899 record: “All except 18 sections of their reserve to be appraised and sold”
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:
Working with these nations
- Stockbridge-Munsee Community (Band of Mohican Indians) Nation government 372 acres on Monument Mountain's north slope (finalized Apr 2025; $2.5M, $2.26M state grant)
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-stockbridge-and-munsee-1856-0742reference work
Treaty with the Stockbridge and Munsee, 1856 Feb. 5, 1856. | 11 Stat., 663.
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.