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Treaty

Sioux (Miniconjou) at Fort Sully, Dakota Territory (1865)

At Fort Sully in October 1865 the Minneconjou Sioux agreed to leave overland routes and accept U.S. jurisdiction for $10,000 a year.

Signed
October 10, 1865
Senate
Ratified

What happened

On October 10, 1865, a United States commission met chiefs and head-men of the Minneconjon band of Dakota (Sioux) at Fort Sully, Dakota Territory. Commissioners were Governor Newton Edmunds, Edward B. Taylor, Major-General S. R. Curtis, Brigadier-General H. H. Sibley, Henry W. Reed and Orrin Guernsey. This is one of a series of separate treaties with Sioux bands that fall.

In Article 1 the band acknowledged itself "subject to the exclusive jurisdiction and authority of the United States." They promised to stop hostilities against its citizens and to use their influence, and physical force if needed, to keep other Sioux bands or nearby tribes from hostile acts. Article 2 had them stop attacks on other tribes unless attacked first, and Article 3 sent quarrels between tribes to the President for a decision.

Article 4 is the main trade. The band would "withdraw from the routes overland" already or later established through their country. The United States would pay $10,000 a year for twenty years in articles chosen by the Secretary of the Interior, as long as the band kept the treaty. Article 5 promised protection to individuals who chose to settle on band land for farming.

The treaty was ratified March 5, 1866, and proclaimed March 17, 1866. Two more chiefs came into the council on October 20 and asked to sign.

Good to know. This treaty ceded no land.

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. hereby acknowledge themselves to be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction and authority of the United StatesTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Sioux (Miniconjou) at Fort Sully, Dakota Territory (1865)
  2. shall withdraw from the routes overland already established or hereafter to be established through their countryTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Sioux (Miniconjou) at Fort Sully, Dakota Territory (1865)
  3. the sum of ten thousand dollars annually for twenty years, in such articles as the Secretary of the Interior may directTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Sioux (Miniconjou) at Fort Sully, Dakota Territory (1865)

Research notes. This account covers the signed terms only; the treaty text does not say what happened afterward, including later treaties. The text shows no cession of land.

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.

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.

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Sources

  1. treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-sioux-miniconjou-band-1865-0883reference work
    Treaty with the Sioux-Miniconjou Band, 1865 Oct. 10, 1865. | 14 Stats., 695.

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