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Treaty with the Sioux (Pike), 1805

In 1805 Lieutenant Zebulon Pike obtained Sioux grants for military posts at the St. Croix and St. Anthony Falls; the Senate consented in 1808.

Signed
September 23, 1805
Senate
Never ratified
Promises
0 of 1 broken or only partly kept

The Senate never ratified this treaty, so under U.S. law it never took effect, even when the government acted on it.

What happened

On September 23, 1805, at the mouth of the St. Peters River, First Lieutenant Z. M. Pike of the U.S. Army signed an agreement with Sioux chiefs and warriors. The Minnesota Historical Society says the Army ordered Pike that year "to find a site for a military post along the Mississippi River." The document says its articles would be binding "when ratified and approved of by the proper authority."

In Article 1 the Sioux Nation granted the United States, "for the purpose of the establishment of military posts," nine miles square at the mouth of the St. Croix River. It also granted land from below the meeting of the Mississippi and St. Peters rivers up the Mississippi, to include the Falls of St. Anthony, nine miles on each side. The text also gives the United States "the full sovereignty and power over said districts forever." Article 2 left the payment blank. Article 3 promised the Sioux could still "pass, repass, hunt or make other uses of the said districts, as they have formerly done."

A note in the database says the Senate committee filled in $2,000 in goods or money, and the Senate advised and consented to ratification on April 16, 1808. It also says State Department records show no proclamation by the President. Yet more than twenty-five years later War Department correspondence treated the cessions "as an accomplished fact."

What was promised, and what happened

  • Not known

    The Sioux may pass, repass, hunt or make other uses of the ceded districts as they formerly did. (Art. 3)

    permit the Sioux to pass, repass, hunt or make other uses of the said districts, as they have formerly done treaties.okstate.edu

Good to know. The Senate consented in 1808, but the President never proclaimed 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. for the purpose of the establishment of military posts, nine miles square at the mouth of the river St. CroixTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Treaty with the Sioux, 1805 (Pike)
  2. the Senate, on the 16th of April, 1808, advised and consented to its ratification by a unanimous voteTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Treaty with the Sioux, 1805 (Pike)
  3. the correspondence of the War Department speaks of the cessions of land described therein as an accomplished factTribal Treaties Database (Oklahoma State University): Treaty with the Sioux, 1805 (Pike)
  4. In 1805, the US Army ordered Lt. Zebulon Pike to find a site for a military post along the Mississippi River.Minnesota Historical Society: Historic Fort Snelling timeline

Research notes. The OSU page prints 'Ratified Apr. 16, 1808. Never proclaimed by the President.' The Senate gave its consent, but no presidential proclamation is found. The treaty was signed by one Army officer as 'Agent at the above conference,' not by a treaty commissioner.

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.

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. treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-sioux-1805-1031reference work
Research notes

Kappler page from OSU URL slug (p. 1031). Ratification status: treated as unratified because the OSU/Kappler record sits in the unratified-document range (p. 1031); whether the Senate ever acted on it was not verified. Date.

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