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Treaty

Chippewa of the Mississippi at Washington, DC (1867)

In 1867 the Chippewa of the Mississippi ceded their 1865 reservation, estimated at two million acres, and received a farming reservation at White Earth.

Signed
March 19, 1867
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 2.3 million acres
Land set aside for the nations
about 1.3 million acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On March 19, 1867, in Washington, special commissioner Louis V. Bogy and other U.S. officials signed a treaty with ten chiefs of the Chippewas of the Mississippi, led by Que-we-zance, or Hole-in-the-Day. The preamble explains the reason. The tract set apart for them in 1865 "is not adapted for agricultural purposes" for those who wanted to farm, while some of the bands wanted to stay on part of it and sell the rest.

In Article 1 the Chippewas ceded all their Minnesota lands secured under the 1865 treaty, except for a tract around Leech Lake, Cass Lake and Lake Winnibigoshish. In Article 2 the United States set apart a separate tract to provide "a suitable farming region," in a square as nearly as possible. It was to include White Earth Lake and Rice Lake and contain thirty-six townships. Any part of it lying outside the 1865 reservation would count as part payment for the cession.

The treaty estimates the ceded land at about two million acres. The United States agreed to pay $5,000 for school buildings and $4,000 a year for ten years and as long as the President saw fit for schools. It also promised $10,000 for a sawmill with a gristmill, $5,000 to help build houses for those who moved, and $5,000 for cattle, horses and farm tools.

Good to know. "About two million acres" is the treaty's own estimate.

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. it has been found that the said reservation is not adapted for agricultural purposesTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Treaty with the Chippewa of the Mississippi, 1867
  2. estimated to contain about two million of acresTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Treaty with the Chippewa of the Mississippi, 1867
  3. which reservation shall include White Earth Lake and Rice Lake, and contain thirty-six townships of landTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Treaty with the Chippewa of the Mississippi, 1867
  4. In order to provide a suitable farming region for the said bands there is hereby set apart for their use a tract of landTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Treaty with the Chippewa of the Mississippi, 1867

Research notes. This account rests on the treaty text alone. 'About two million acres' is the treaty's own estimate.

What the treaty did to the land

About 2.3 million acres given up. about 1.3 million 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.

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-chippewa-of-the-mississippi-1867-0974reference work
    Treaty with the Chippewa of the Mississippi, 1867 Mar. 19, 1867. | 16 Stats., 719.

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