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Treaty

Sauk and Fox of the Mississippi at Washington, DC (1867)

In 1867 the Sac and Fox ceded about 157,000 acres in Kansas at $1 an acre for a new reservation south of Kansas.

Signed
February 18, 1867
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 48,000 acres
Land set aside for the nations
about 497,000 acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On February 18, 1867, in Washington, the Sacs and Foxes of the Mississippi signed a treaty with Commissioner of Indian Affairs Lewis V. Bogy and other U.S. officials. Five chiefs signed for the tribes: Keokuk, Che-kus-kuk, Uc-quaw-ho-ko, Mut-tut-tah and Man-ah-to-wah.

In Article 1 the tribes ceded the unsold part of their diminished Kansas reserve, which the treaty says held about 86,400 acres. In Article 2 they ceded the unsold part of their old reservation that was to be sold for their benefit under the 1860 treaty. The United States agreed in Article 3 to pay one dollar an acre for the whole, "about one hundred and fifty-seven thousand acres," less land set apart for individuals. It also agreed to pay the tribe's outstanding scrip debt of $26,574, plus interest. After deducting removal, subsistence and settlement costs, the money was to be added to the tribe's invested funds at five percent interest.

In Article 6 the United States agreed, "in consideration of the improvements upon the said reservation," to give the tribes a new home in the Indian country south of Kansas and south of the Cherokee lands, up to 750 square miles. A commission appointed by the Interior Secretary was to select it with delegations from the tribes. The sources here do not describe the move itself or the tribes' own account.

Good to know. The 157,000 acres is the treaty's own estimate for both cessions together.

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. being about one hundred and fifty-seven thousand acres of land, less the amount of land set apart for individualsTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Treaty with the Sauk and Foxes, 1867
  2. a tract of land in the Indian country south of KansasTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Treaty with the Sauk and Foxes, 1867
  3. containing about eighty-six thousand and four hundred acresTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Treaty with the Sauk and Foxes, 1867

Research notes. This account draws on the treaty text only, which does not say whether the move south of Kansas was freely chosen; it can reasonably be read as a removal. The 157,000 acres is the treaty's own estimate for both cessions together.

What the treaty did to the land

About 48,000 acres given up. about 497,000 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.

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. 1842

    Land kept

    About 287,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Sauk and Fox of the Mississippi

    By Sauk and Fox at Sauk and Fox Agency, Iowa Territory (1842)

    area 419 area 494

  2. 1859

    Land lost

    About 239,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Sauk and Fox of the Mississippi

    By Sauk and Fox at Sauk and Fox Agency, Kansas Territory (1859)

    area 419

  3. 1859

    Land kept

    About 48,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Sauk and Fox of the Mississippi

    By Sauk and Fox at Sauk and Fox Agency, Kansas Territory (1859)

    area 494

  4. 1867

    This treaty

    About 497,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Sauk and Fox of the Mississippi. About 239,000 acres named in the record. About 48,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Sauk and Fox of the Mississippi

    In 1867 the Sac and Fox ceded about 157,000 acres in Kansas at $1 an acre for a new reservation south of Kansas.

  5. 1891

    Land lost

    About 497,000 acres ceded to the United States by the Sauk and Fox of the Mississippi

    The 1899 record: “Confirms agreement by which these Indians cede to the U. S. the following lands: Beginning at a point on the left bank of the N. fork of the Canadian river”

    area 495

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:

Native legal and land defense, nationally

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Sources

  1. treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-sauk-and-foxes-1867-0951reference work
    Treaty with the Sauk and Foxes, 1867 Feb. 18, 1867. | 15 Stat., 495.

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