FORT LARAMIE TREATY OF 1868

TREATY WITH THE SIOUX - BRULÉ, OGLALA, MINICONJOU, YANKTONAI, HUNKPAPA, BLACKFEET, CUTHEAD, TWO KETTLE, SANS ARCS, AND SANTEE - AND ARAPAHO, 1868.



ARTICLE 1. From this day forward all war between the parties to this agreement shall forever cease. The Government of the United
States desires peace, and its honor is hereby pledged to keep it. The
Indians desire peace, and they now pledge their honor to maintain it.
If bad men among the whites, or among other people subject to the
authority of the United States, shall commit any wrong upon the
person or property of the Indians, the United States will, upon proof
made to the agent and forwarded to the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs at Washington City, proceed at once to cause the offender to
be arrested and punished according to the laws of the United States,
and also re-imburse the injured person for the loss sustained. If bad men among the Indians shall commit a wrong or depredation upon the person or property of any one, white, black, or Indian, subject to the authority of the United States, and at peace therewith, the Indians herein named solemnly agree that they will, upon proof made to their agent and notice by him, deliver up the wrong-doer to the United States, to be tried and punished according to its laws; and in case they wilfully refuse so to do, the person injured shall be re-imbursed for his loss from the annuities or other moneys due or to become due to them under this or other treaties made with the United States. And the President, on advising with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, shall prescribe such rules and regulations for ascertaining damages under the provisions of this article as in his judgment may be proper. But no one sustaining loss while violating the provisions of this treaty or the laws of the United States shall be re-imbursed therefor.

ARTICLE 2. The United States agrees that the following district of country, to wit, viz: commencing on the east bank of the Missouri river where the forty-sixth parallel of north latitude crosses the same, thence along low-water mark down said east bank to a point opposite where the northern line of the State of Nebraska strikes the river, thence west across said river, and along the northern line of Nebraska to the one hundred and fourth degree of longitude west from Greenwich, thence north on said meridian to a point where the forty-sixth parallel of north latitude intercepts the same, thence due east along said parallel to the place of beginning; and in addition thereto, all existing reservations on the east bank of said river shall be, and the same is, set apart for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of the Indians herein named, and for such other friendly tribes or individual Indians as from time to time they may be willing, with the consent of the United States, to admit amongst them; and the United Sates now solemnly agrees that no persons except those herein designated and authorized so to do, and except such officers, agents, and employes of the government as may be authorized to enter upon Indian reservations in discharge of duties enjoined by law, shall ever be permitted to pass over, settle upon, or reside in the territory described in this article, or in such territory as may be added to this reservation for the use of said Indians, and henceforth they will and do hereby relinquish all claims or right in and to any portion of the United States or Territories, except such as is embraced within the limits aforesaid, and except as hereinafter provided.

ARTICLE 3. If it should appear from actual survey or other
satisfactory examination of said tract of land that it contains less
than one hundred and sixty acres of tillable land for each person
who, at the time, may be authorized to reside on it under the
provisions of this treaty, and a very considerable number of such
persons shall be disposed to commence cultivating the soil as
farmers, the United States agrees to set apart, for the use of said
Indians, as herein provided, such additional quantity of arable land,
adjoining to said reservation, or as near to the same as it can be
obtained, as may be required to provide the necessary amount.

ARTICLE 4. The United States agrees, at its own proper expense,
to construct at some place on the Missouri River, near the center of
said reservation, where timber and water may be convenient, the
following buildings, to wit: a warehouse, a store-room for the use of
the agent in storing goods belonging to the Indians, to cost not less
than twenty-five hundred dollars; an agency-building for the
residence of the agent, to cost not exceeding three thousand dollars;
a residence for the physician, to cost not more than three thousand
dollars; and five other buildings, for a carpenter, farmer, blacksmith,
miller, and engineer, each to cost not exceeding two thousand
dollars; also a school-house or mission-building, so soon as a
sufficient number of children can be induced by the agent to attend
school, which shall not cost exceeding five thousand dollars.
The United States agrees further to cause to be erected on said
reservation, near the other buildings herein authorized, a good
steam circular-saw mill, with a grist-mill and shingle-machine
attached to the same, to cost not exceeding eight thousand dollars.

ARTICLE 5. The United States agrees that the agent for said
Indians shall in the future make his home at the agency-building;
that he shall reside among them, and keep an office open at all times
for the purpose of prompt and diligent inquiry into such matters of
complaint by and against the Indians as may be presented for
investigation under the provisions of their treaty stipulations, as also
for the faithful discharge of other duties enjoined on him by law. In
all cases of depredation on person or property he shall cause the
evidence to be taken in writing and forwarded, together with his
findings, to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, whose decision,
subject to the revision of the Secretary of the Interior, shall be
binding on the parties to this treaty.

ARTICLE 6. If any individual belonging to said tribes of Indians, or
legally incorporated with them, being the head of a family, shall
desire to commence farming, he shall have the privilege to select, in
the presence and with the assistance of the agent then in charge, a
tract of land within said reservation, not exceeding three hundred
and twenty acres in extent, which tract, when so selected, certified,
and recorded in the "land-book," as herein directed, shall cease to
be held in common, but the same may be occupied and held in the
exclusive possession of the person selecting it, and of his family, so
long as he or they may continue to cultivate it. Any person over eighteen years of age, not being the head of a family, may in like manner select and cause to be certified to him or her, for purposes of cultivation, a quantity of land not exceeding eighty acres in extent, and thereupon be entitled to the exclusive possession of the same as above directed.
For each tract of land so selected a certificate, containing a
description thereof and the name of the person selecting it, with a
certificate endorsed thereon that the same has been recorded, shall
be delivered to the party entitled to it, by the agent, after the same
shall have been recorded by him in a book to be kept in his office,
subject to inspection, which said book shall be known as the "Sioux
Land-Book."
The President may, at any time, order a survey of the reservation,
and, when so surveyed, Congress shall provide for protecting the
rights of said settlers in their improvements, and may fit the
character of the title held by each. The United States may pass such
laws on the subject of alienation and descent of property between
the Indians and their descendants as may be thought proper. And it is
further stipulated that any male Indians, over eighteen years of age,
of any band or tribe that is or shall hereafter become a party to this
treaty, who now is or who shall hereafter become a resident or
occupant of any reservation or Territory not included in the tract of
country designated and described in this treaty for the permanent
home of the Indians, which is not mineral land, nor reserved by the
United States for special purposes other than Indian occupation, and
who shall have made improvements thereon of the value of two
hundred dollars or more, and continuously occupied the same as a
homestead for the term of three years, shall be entitled to receive
from the United States a patent for one hundred and sixty acres of
land including his said improvements, the same to be in the form of
the legal subdivisions of the surveys of the public lands. Upon
application in writing, sustained by the proof of two disinterested
witnesses, made to the register of the local land-office when the land
sought to be entered is within a land district, and when the tract
sought to be entered is not in any land district, then upon said
application and proof being made to the Commissioner of the
General Land-Office, and the right of such Indian or Indians to enter
such tract or tracts of land shall accrue and be perfect from the date
of his first improvements thereon, and shall continue as long as he
continues his residence and improvements, and no longer. And any
Indian or Indians receiving a patent for land under the foregoing
provisions, shall thereby and from thenceforth become and be a
citizen of the United States, and be entitled to all the privileges and
immunities of such citizens, and shall, at the same time, retain all his
rights to benefits accruing to Indians under this treaty.

ARTICLE 7. In order to insure the civilization of the Indians
entering into this treaty, the necessity of education is admitted,
especially of such of them as are or may be settled on said
agricultural reservations, and they therefore pledge themselves to
compel their children, male and female, between the ages of six and
sixteen years, to attend school; and it is hereby made the duty of the
agent for said Indians to see that this stipulation is strictly complied
with; and the United States agrees that for every thirty children
between said ages who can be induced or compelled to attend school, a house shall be provided and a teacher competent to teach the elementary branches of an English education shall be furnished, who will reside among said Indians, and faithfully discharge his or her duties as a teacher. The provisions of this article to continue for not less than twenty years.

ARTICLE 8. When the head of a family or lodge shall have selected
lands and received his certificate as above directed, and the agent
shall be satisfied that he intends in good faith to commence
cultivating the soil for a living, he shall be entitled to receive seeds
and agricultural implements for the first year, not exceeding in value
one hundred dollars, and for each succeeding year he shall continue
to farm, for a period of three years more, he shall be entitled to
receive seeds and implements as aforesaid, not exceeding in value
twenty-five dollars. And it is further stipulated that such persons as commence farming shall receive instruction from the farmer herein provided for, and whenever more than one hundred persons shall enter upon the cultivation of the soil, a second blacksmith shall be provided, with such iron, steel, and other material as may be needed.

ARTICLE 9. At any time after ten years from the making of this
treaty, the United States shall have the privilege of withdrawing the
physician, farmer, blacksmith, carpenter, engineer, and miller herein
provided for, but in case of such withdrawal, an additional sum
thereafter of ten thousand dollars per annum shall be devoted to the
education of said Indians, and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs
shall, upon careful inquiry into their condition, make such rules and
regulations for the expenditure of said sum as will best promote the
educational and moral improvement of said tribes.

ARTICLE 10. In lieu of all sums of money or other annuities
provided to be paid to the Indians herein named, under any treaty or
treaties heretofore made, the United States agrees to deliver at the
agency-house on the reservation herein named, on or before the first
day of August of each year, for thirty years, the following articles, to
wit: For each male person over fourteen years of age, a suit of good
substantial woolen clothing, consisting of coat, pantaloons, flannel
shirt, hat, and a pair of home-made socks. For each female over twelve years of age, a flannel skirt, or the goods necessary to make it,
a pair of woolen hose, twelve yards of calico, and twelve yards of cotton domestics. For the boys and girls under the ages named, such flannel and cotton goods as may be needed to make each a suit as aforesaid, together with a pair of woolen hose for each.
And in order that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs may be able to
estimate properly for the articles herein named, it shall be the duty
of the agent each year to forward to him a full and exact census of
the Indians, on which the estimate from year to year can be based.
And in addition to the clothing herein named, the sum of ten dollars
for each person entitled to the beneficial effects of this treaty shall
be annually appropriated for a period of thirty years, while such
persons roam and hunt, and twenty dollars for each person who
engages in farming, to be used by the Secretary of the Interior in the
purchase of such articles as from time to time the condition and
necessities of the Indians may indicate to be proper. And if within
the thirty years, at any time, it shall appear that the amount of
money needed for clothing under this article can be appropriated to
better uses for the Indians named herein, Congress may, by law,
change the appropriation to other purposes; but in no event shall the
amount of this appropriation be withdrawn or discontinued for the
period named. And the President shall annually detail an officer of
the Army to be present and attest the delivery of all the goods
herein named to the Indians, and he shall inspect and report on the
quantity and quality of the goods and the manner of their delivery.
And it is hereby expressly stipulated that each Indian over the age of
four years, who shall have removed to and settled permanently upon
said reservation and complied with the stipulations of this treaty,
shall be entitled to receive from the United States, for the period of
four years after he shall have settled upon said reservation, one
pound of meat and one pound of flour per day, provided the Indians
cannot furnish their own subsistence at an earlier date. And it is
further stipulated that the United States will furnish and deliver to
each lodge of Indians or family of persons legally incorporated with
them, who shall remove to the reservation herein described and
commence farming, one good American cow, and one good
well-broken pair of American oxen within sixty days after such lodge
or family shall have so settled upon said reservation.

ARTICLE 11. In consideration of the advantages and benefits
conferred by this treaty, and the many pledges of friendship by the
United States, the tribes who are parties to this agreement hereby
stipulate that they will relinquish all right to occupy permanently the
territory outside their reservation as herein defined, but yet reserve
the right to hunt on any lands north of North Platte, and on the
Republican Fork of the Smoky Hill River, so long as the buffalo may
range thereon in such numbers as to justify the chase. And they, the
said Indians, further expressly agree:
1st. That they will withdraw all opposition to the construction of the
railroads now being built on the plains.
2d. That they will permit the peaceful construction of any railroad
not passing over their reservation as herein defined.
3d. That they will not attack any persons at home, or travelling, nor
molest or disturb any wagon-trains, coaches, mules, or cattle
belonging to the people of the United States, or to persons friendly
therewith.
4th. They will never capture, or carry off from the settlements,
white women or children.
5th. They will never kill or scalp white men, nor attempt to do them
harm.
6th. They withdraw all pretence of opposition to the construction of
the railroad now being built along the Platte River and westward to
the Pacific Ocean, and they will not in future object to the
construction of railroads, wagon-roads, mail-stations, or other works
of utility or necessity, which may be ordered or permitted by the
laws of the United States. But should such roads or other works be
constructed on the lands of their reservation, the Government will
pay the tribe whatever amount of damage may be assessed by three
disinterested commissioners to be appointed by the President for
that purpose, one of said commissioners to be a chief or head-man of
the tribe.
7th. They agree to withdraw all opposition to the military posts or
roads now established south of the North Plate River, or that may be
established, not in violation of treaties heretofore made or hereafter
to be made with any of the Indian tribes.

ARTICLE 12. No treaty for the cession of any portion or part of the
reservation herein described which may be held in common shall be
of any validity or force as against the said Indians, unless executed
and signed by at least three-fourths of all the adult male Indians,
occupying or interested in the same; and no cession by the tribe shall
be understood or construed in such manner as to deprive, without his
consent, any individual member of the tribe of his rights to any tract
of land selected by him, as provided in article 6 of this treaty.

ARTICLE 13. The United States hereby agrees to furnish annually
to the Indians the physician, teachers, carpenter, miller, engineer,
farmer, and blacksmiths as herein contemplated, and that such
appropriations shall be made from time to time, on the estimates of
the Secretary of the Interior, as will be sufficient to employ such
persons.

ARTICLE 14. It is agreed that the sum of five hundred dollars
annually, for three years from date, shall be expended in presents to
the ten persons of said tribe who in the judgment of the agent may
grow the most valuable crops for the respective year.

ARTICLE 15. The Indians herein named agree that when the
agency-house or other buildings shall be constructed on the
reservation named, they will regard said reservation their
permanent home, and they will make no permanent settlement
elsewhere; but they shall have the right, subject to the conditions
and modifications of this treaty, to hunt, as stipulated in Article 11
hereof.

ARTICLE 16. The United States hereby agrees and stipulates that the country north of the North Platte River and east of the summits of the Big Horn Mountains shall be held and considered to be unceded Indian territory, and also stipulates and agrees that no white person or persons shall be permitted to settle upon or occupy any portion
of the same; or without the consent of the Indians first had and obtained, to pass through the same; and it is further agreed by the United States that within ninety days after the conclusion of peace with all the bands of the Sioux Nation, the military posts now established in the territory in this article named shall be abandoned, and that the road leading to them and by them to the settlements in the Territory of Montana shall be closed. 3 Maps are included with set.

ARTICLE 17. It is hereby expressly understood and agreed by and
between the respective parties to this treaty that the execution of
this treaty and its ratification by the United States Senate shall have
the effect, and shall be construed as abrogating and annulling all
treaties and agreements heretofore entered into between the
respective parties hereto, so far as such treaties and agreements
obligate the United States to furnish and provide money, clothing, or
other articles of property to such Indians and bands of Indians as
become parties to this treaty, but no further.
In testimony of all which, we, the said commissioners, and we, the
chiefs and headmen of the Brulé band of the Sioux nation, have
hereunto set our hands and seals at Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory,
this twenty-ninth day of April, in the year one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-eight.



TOP

BACK


Send e-mail to:
sldavis@buffalosoldier.net
Copyright 2001, Stanford L. Davis, M.A.
All Rights Reserved
www.buffalosoldier.net