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Treaty of Little Arkansas (Cheyenne and Arapaho), 1865

In 1865 the Cheyenne and Arapaho signed the Little Arkansas treaty, which set a reservation and repudiated the 1864 Sand Creek attack.

Signed
October 14, 1865
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 51 million acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On October 14, 1865, on the Little Arkansas River, seven U.S. commissioners signed a treaty with the chiefs and headmen of the Arapaho and Cheyenne of the Upper Arkansas. The commissioners included John B. Sanborn, William S. Harney, Kit Carson and William W. Bent. Black Kettle signed as head chief.

Article 2 set apart a district along the Arkansas and Cimarron rivers for the tribes' "absolute and undisturbed use and occupation." The tribes did not have to settle there until the United States had cleared other Indians' claims to it. Until then they could range between the Arkansas and Platte rivers. They agreed to give up claims elsewhere. The treaty names especially the country between the forks of the Platte and the Arkansas, which it says they "claim to have originally owned, and never to have relinquished the title thereto."

Article 6 records the United States' wish "to express its condemnation of, and, as far as may be, repudiate the gross and wanton out-rages" at Sand Creek, Colorado Territory, on November 29, 1864. The treaty itself says the bands attacked there were "at peace with the United States, and under its flag," and that property was destroyed or taken "by the United States troops." It offers 320 acres to each named chief, including Black Kettle, and 160 acres to each widow or person who lost a parent. It also promised payment for property destroyed or taken.

Article 9 abrogated all former treaties. The treaty also promised forty years of annual spending for the tribes. A later treaty, signed at Medicine Lodge in 1867, replaced the money and annuities promised here with yearly deliveries of goods. The sources here do not say what happened to these grants.

Good to know. The statement that the tribes "never relinquished" certain lands records their claim as written in the treaty.

Summarized with AI assistance from 4 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. desirous to express its condemnation of, and, as far as may be, repudiate the gross and wanton out-ragesTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Treaty with the Cheyenne and Arapaho, 1865
  2. which country they claim to have originally owned, and never to have relinquished the title theretoTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Treaty with the Cheyenne and Arapaho, 1865
  3. Upon the ratification of this treaty all former treaties are hereby abrogated.Tribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Treaty with the Cheyenne and Arapaho, 1865
  4. under the treaty of October fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, made at the mouth of Little ArkansasTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Treaty with the Cheyenne and Arapaho, 1867 (Medicine Lodge)

Research notes. This account draws on the 1865 and 1867 treaty texts. The treaty's 'never relinquished' wording records the tribes' own claim as stated in the document. The treaty does not give the number of people killed at Sand Creek, so none is stated here.

What the treaty did to the land

About 51 million acres given up. Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.

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. 1851

    Land kept

    About 51 million acres recognized as land of the Arapaho of Upper Arkansas, Cheyenne of Upper Arkansas and others

    By Treaty of Fort Laramie (Horse Creek), 1851

    area 426 area 477

  2. 1861

    Land lost

    About 48 million acres ceded to the United States by the Arapaho of Upper Arkansas and Cheyenne of Upper Arkansas

    By Treaty of Fort Wise (Arapaho and Cheyenne of the Upper Arkansas), 1861

    area 426

  3. 1861

    Land kept

    About 3.8 million acres set aside as a reservation for the Arapaho and Cheyenne

    By Treaty of Fort Wise (Arapaho and Cheyenne of the Upper Arkansas), 1861

    area 477

  4. 1864

    Promise broken

    Fort Wise (1861), Sand Creek (1864) and the Little Arkansas reparations (1865)

    Fort Wise (1861) shrank Cheyenne and Arapaho land; the Sand Creek Massacre (1864) killed over 230, NPS says; the 1865 reparations were never paid.

  5. 1865

    This treaty

    Part of the land ceded by the Arapaho of Upper Arkansas and Cheyenne of Upper Arkansas. About 3.8 million acres ceded to the United States by the Arapaho and Cheyenne

    In 1865 the Cheyenne and Arapaho signed the Little Arkansas treaty, which set a reservation and repudiated the 1864 Sand Creek attack.

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. digitreaties.org/treaties/treaty/183517077reference work
Research notes

Stat. page per Stat. vol. 14 OCR index; Kappler page. Replaced by Medicine Lodge (1867).

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