The Tribes West of the Mississippi – Indian Wars

By treaties concluded by the agents of the United State government at different periods, nearly all of the Indian tribes have been induced to remove west of the Mississippi. Those who remain in the haunts of their fathers are chiefly converts to Christianity, and in a half civilized state. Many of the tribes have dwindled into insignificance, yet the few who remain are proud to maintain their distinctive appellation, and support the independence of their old clan. The most powerful and numerous tribes in the northwest are the Sioux, or Dacotahs, the Blackfeet, Crows, and Pawnees. A few of the … Read more

Black Hawk’s War – Indian Wars

Black Hawk

We have now to record the events of a war “which brought one of the noblest of Indians to the notice and admiration of the people of the United States. Black Hawk was an able and patriotic chief. With the intelligence and power to plan a great project, and to execute it, he united the lofty spirit which secures the respect and confidence of a people. He was born about the year 1767, on Rock river, Illinois. At the age of fifteen he took a scalp from the enemy, and was in consequence promoted by his tribe to the rank of a brave.

Treaty of October 11, 1842

Treaty of October 11, 1842

Treaty of October 11, 1842, with the Confederated tribes of Sauk and Fox at the agency of the Sauk and Fox Indians in the Territory of Iowa. Schedule of debts annexed. Resolution of Senate, February 15, 1843. Ratification of President, March 23, 1843. The confederated tribes of Sacs and Foxes cede to the U. S. all the lands west of the Mississippi river to which they have any claim or title. The Indians reserve a right to occupy for three years from the signing of this treaty all that part of the land above ceded which lies west of a line running due north and south from the painted or red rocks on the White Breast fork of the Des Moines River, which rocks will be found about 8 miles in a straight line from the junction of the White Breast with the Des Moines. Upon ratification of this treaty the U. S. agree to assign a tract of land suitable and convenient for Indian purposes to the Sacs and Foxes for a permanent home for them and their descendants, which tract shall be upon the Missouri river or some of its waters.

Treaty of August 4, 1824

To perpetuate peace and friendship between the United States and the Sock and Fox tribes or nations of Indians, and to remove all future cause of dissensions which may arise from undefined territorial boundaries, the President of the United States of America, by William Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and sole Commissioner specially appointed for that purpose, of the one part, and the undersigned Chiefs and Head Men of the Sock and Fox tribes or nations, fully deputized to act for and in behalf of their said nations, of the other part, have entered into the following articles and conditions, … Read more

Treaty of September 3, 1822

Articles of a Treaty entered into and concluded at Fort Armstrong, by and between Thomas Forsyth, Agent of Indian Affairs, authorized on the part of the United States for that purpose, of the one part, and the Chiefs, Warriors, and Head Men, of the United Sac and Fox Tribes, for themselves and their Tribes, of the other part. Whereas by the ninth article of the Treaty made and entered into between the United States and the Sac and Fox Tribes of Indians, concluded and signed at Saint Louis, in the District of Louisiana, on the third day of November, one … Read more

Treaty of May 13, 1816

A treaty of peace and friendship made and concluded at St. Louis between William Clark, Ninian Edwards, and Auguste Chouteau, commissioners plenipotentiary of the United States of America, on the part and behalf of the said states, of the one part, and the undersigned chiefs and warriors of the Sacs of Rock river and the adjacent country, of the other part. Whereas by the ninth article of the treaty of peace, which was concluded on the twenty-fourth day of December, eighteen hundred and fourteen, between the United States and Great Britain, at Ghent, and which was ratified by the president, … Read more

Treaty of September 13, 1815

A treaty of peace and friendship, made and concluded between William Clark, Ninian Edwards, and Auguste Chouteau, Commissioners Plenipotentiary of the United States of America, on the part and behalf of the said States, of the one part; and the undersigned Chiefs and Warriors of that portion of the Sac Nation of Indians now residing on the Missouri river, of the other part. Whereas the undersigned chiefs and warriors, as well as that portion of the nation which they represent, have at all times been desirous of fulfilling their treaty with the United States, with perfect good faith; and for … Read more

Dawes Act

General Allotment Act or Dawes Act An Act to Provide for the Allotment of Lands in Severalty to Indians on the Various Reservations (General Allotment Act or Dawes Act), Statutes at Large 24, 388-91,      Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in all cases where any tribe or band of Indians has been, or shall hereafter be, located upon any reservation created for their use, either by treaty stipulation or by virtue of an act of Congress or executive order setting apart the same for their … Read more

Illinois Indian Land

Black Hawk

With the rapid increase of a white population between the Lakes and the Mississippi, which followed the conclusion of hostilities with England and her Indian allies, new difficulties began to arise between the natives and the settlers. Illinois and Wisconsin were inhabited by various tribes of Indians, upon terms of bitter hostility among themselves, but united in their suspicions and apprehensions at the unprecedented inroads of emigrants from the east. The Winnebago, dwelling in Wisconsin; the Pottawatomie, situated around the southern extremity of Lake Michigan; and the Sac, (afterwards mingled with the Foxes, and usually coupled with that tribe,) of … Read more

1759, August 28, Fort Loudoun

Sir Your Dispatches of the 31st of July, I recd. By James Holmes: I acquainted your Excellency by Charles McCuningham of the Little Carpenter being gone to Warr, with thirty Young fellows and Willi_awaw, with him. He was no sooner gone but I found great attentions in the Disposition and Mind of the Indians; for he kept them very quiet. Tho’ I thank God I live here very easy, in the Upper Towns, and I hear no bad Talks, tho I do not know how long it will continue. I have Recd. Intelligence from the Lower Towns, that it is … Read more

Treaty of September 17, 1836

Articles of a treaty, made and concluded at Fort Leavenworth, on the Missouri river, between William Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, on the part of the United States, of the one part, and the undersigned chiefs, warriors, and counsellors of the Ioway [Iowa] tribe and the band of Sacks [Sac] and Foxes of the Missouri, (residing west of the State of Missouri,) in behalf of their respective tribes, of the other part. Article 1. By the first article of the treaty of Prairie du Chien, held the fifteenth day of July eighteen hundred and thirty, with the confederated tribes of … Read more

Sac and Fox Reservation

Report of Special Agent Reuben Sears on the Indians of the Sac and Fox tract or reservation, Sac and Fox agency, Tama County, Iowa. 2.5 miles from the town of Tama, September 1890. Names of Indian tribes or parts of tribes occupying said reservation: (a) Pottawatomie, Sac (Sauk) and Fox of the Mississippi, and Winnebago. The unallotted area of this tract is 1,258 acres, or 2 square miles. The tract has been surveyed and subdivided. It was established by purchase. (See act of Congress approved. March 2, 1867, 14 U. S. Stats, p. 507.) Deeds November 1870, and 1882 and … Read more

Sauk Indians

Sauk Indians. From Osā’kiwŭg, meaning “people of the outlet, or people of the yellow earth.” Also called: Hotǐ’nestakon’, Onondaga name. Satoeronnon, Huron name. Quatokeronon, Huron name. Za’-ke, Santee and Yankton Dakota name. Sauk Connections. The Sauk belonged to the Algonquian linguistic stock and the same subdivision as that embracing the Foxes and Kickapoo. Sauk Location. On the upper part of Green Bay and lower course of Fox River. (See also Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Oklahoma.) Sauk History. The earliest known home of the Sauk was about Saginaw Bay, Michigan, which still bears their name. Shortly before appearance … Read more

The Sac and Fox of the Mississippi

Sauk and Fox habitation covered with Elm bark

The history of the Sacs and Foxes of the Mississippi is the same as that of the Missouri portion of the tribes, except that they had never wandered so far from the ancestral home. They lived nearer the Mississippi River, and the other band lived on the Missouri River—or the Osage, a branch of the Missouri, and from these circumstances came the names of the two bands. One band was the Sacs and Foxes of the Mississippi, and the other the Sacs and Foxes of the Missouri. The Sacs and Foxes of the Mississippi owned and held about three-fourths of … Read more