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Treaty

Menominee at Keshena, Wisconsin (1856)

In 1856 the Menominee ceded up to two townships of their reservation at 60 cents an acre to settle the Stockbridge-Munsee.

Signed
February 11, 1856
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 65,000 acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On February 11, 1856, at Keshena, Wisconsin, the Menominee tribe met in general council with commissioner Francis Huebschmann and agreed to cede "a tract of land, not to exceed two townships in extent," to be selected in the western part of their reservation on its south line. It was to be a place with no permanent Menominee settlements, for locating the Stockbridge and Munsee Indians and other "New York Indians." The agreement came six days after the Stockbridge-Munsee treaty at Stockbridge.

The preamble states the purpose: "the United States desire to locate said Stockbridges and Munsees near the said line in the western part of the said reservation." The United States agreed to pay 60 cents an acre, if the New York Indians were located there. The money was to be spent on Menominee improvements in the way the 1854 Treaty of Wolf River set for the $40,000 earlier set aside for their removal.

The Stockbridge-Munsee Community's timeline dates its Shawano County reservation to the 1856 treaties and records that lumber barons claimed part of the reservation in 1871. Article 3 also let the President, with the Senate, or Congress adopt whatever policy for managing Menominee affairs they judged best if the treaties proved insufficient.

Good to know. The statement that the Menominee had "no objection" 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.

  1. the United States desire to locate said Stockbridges and Munsees near the said line in the western part of the said reservationTreaty with the Menominee, 1856 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. at the rate of sixty cents per acreTreaty with the Menominee, 1856 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. Treaty of 1856, Stockbridge-Munsee signed by Sachem Ziba T. Peters establishes new reservation in Red Springs and Bartelme in Shawano CountyTribal History Timeline, Stockbridge-Munsee Community

Research notes. The preamble says there was 'no objection on the part of the Menomonees', which is the treaty's own statement and not an independent account. The treaty states no acreage, only 'not to exceed two townships' at 60 cents per acre, and the cited sources do not give the final acreage transferred. The treaty was ratified April 18, 1856, and proclaimed April 24, 1856.

What the treaty did to the land

About 65,000 acres given up. Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.

  • ceded to the United Statesabout 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.

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. 1854

    Land kept

    About 65,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Menomini

    By Menominee at Falls of Wolf River, Wisconsin (1854)

    area 403

  2. 1856

    Land record

    About 65,000 acres named in the record

    By Stockbridge and Munsee at Stockbridge, Wisconsin (1856)

    area 403

  3. 1856

    This treaty

    About 65,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Menomini

    In 1856 the Menominee ceded up to two townships of their reservation at 60 cents an acre to settle the Stockbridge-Munsee.

  4. 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”

    area 403

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:

Working with these nations

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-menominee-1856-0755reference work
    Treaty with the Menominee, 1856 Feb. 11, 1856. | 11 Stats., 679.

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