Winnebago at Washington, DC (1859)
The 1859 Winnebago treaty allotted the eastern Blue Earth reservation to individuals and sold the rest to pay debts.
- Signed
- April 15, 1859
- Senate
- Ratified
- Land given up
- about 88,000 acres
- Land set aside for the nations
- about 110,000 acres
What happened
What happened
On April 15, 1859, in Washington, Commissioner Charles E. Mix signed a treaty with Baptiste Lassalleur and other Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) chiefs and delegates. The treaty says "The Winnebago Indians having now more lands than are necessary for their occupancy and use" wished to abolish common ownership. The eastern part of their reservation would be assigned in severalty: up to 80 acres to each head of a family and up to 40 acres to each male over 18. Certain lands could be sold, and the Winnebago's debts were to be paid from the proceeds.
MNopedia says the Ho-Chunk, with old annuities expired, needed money to pay off their debts, and that Mankato-area settlers were jubilant but called for their complete removal. MNopedia says the Ho-Chunk had not been paid and settlers began moving onto the ceded land before the treaty was ratified on March 16, 1861.
After the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War, which the Ho-Chunk did not join, a federal act of February 21, 1863 authorized their exile from Minnesota. In May 1863, "under threat of military force," 1,945 were moved to Crow Creek, South Dakota. More than 550 died, MNopedia reports. They later moved to a reservation in Nebraska.
Good to know. The 1863 removal followed the 1862 war and a separate act of Congress, not this treaty's terms.
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
Supported by the sources below; some details rest on one source.
The Winnebago Indians having now more lands than are necessary for their occupancy and use
Treaty with the Winnebago, 1859 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)Their old annuities had expired, and they needed money to pay off their debts
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 1863 removal followed the 1862 war and a separate act of Congress, not this treaty's terms. This account does not draw on the Ho-Chunk Nation's own published history. The treaty was ratified March 16, 1861, and proclaimed March 23, 1861, nearly two years after signing.
What the treaty did to the land
About 88,000 acres given up. about 110,000 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.
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.
ceded to the United Statesabout 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.
- 1855
Land kept
About 198,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Winnebago
By Winnebago at Washington, DC (1855)
- 1859
This treaty
About 110,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Winnebago. About 88,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Winnebago
The 1859 Winnebago treaty allotted the eastern Blue Earth reservation to individuals and sold the rest to pay debts.
- 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-1859-0790reference work
Treaty with the Winnebago, 1859 Apr. 15, 1859. | 12 Stats., 1101.
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.