Fourth Treaty of Prairie du Chien facts for kids
The fourth Treaty of Prairie du Chien was an important agreement between the United States government and several Native American tribes. This treaty was signed on July 15, 1830, in a place called Prairie du Chien.
The main people who signed for the United States were William Clark (a famous explorer) and Willoughby Morgan. The Native American tribes involved were the Sac and Fox, the Mdewakanton, Wahpekute and Sisseton Sioux, Omaha, Ioway, Otoe, and Missouria tribes. Later, in October 1830, the Yankton Sioux and Santee Sioux also agreed to follow this treaty. The US government officially announced the treaty in February 1831.
What Was the Treaty About?
This treaty was mainly about land. The tribes agreed to give up, or "cede," three large areas of land to the United States.
Land Cessions Explained
The first two pieces of land were long, thin strips. Each strip was 20 miles wide and ran along both sides of a border that was set up by an earlier treaty in 1825. This area stretched from the Mississippi River to the Des Moines River. Today, this land is in southeastern Minnesota and northeastern Iowa.
The third piece of land was much larger and shaped like a triangle. It covered parts of what is now southeastern Nebraska, northwestern Missouri, western Iowa, and southern Minnesota. This big area went from Kansas City, Missouri north to the Des Moines River, then towards Spirit Lake, Iowa and Worthington, Minnesota, down the Rock River, along the Missouri River, and back to Kansas City. A few years later, in 1836, other tribes also gave up parts of this large triangular area in what was called the Platte Purchase.
Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation
The treaty also created a special area called the Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation. This land was in southeastern Nebraska. It was set aside for people who had both European/American and Native American heritage. These individuals were often the children of European fur trappers and Native American women.
This provision was important because mixed-race people sometimes struggled to find their place. They might not have been given land on new reservations set up for Native American tribes, and they often felt caught between two different cultures. The Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation aimed to give them a place of their own.
