Treaty with The Kickapoo
June 28, 1862
Articles of a treaty made and concluded at the agency
of the Kickapoo tribe of Indians, on the 28th day of June,
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two,
by and between Charles B. Keith, commissioner, on the part
of the United States, and the undersigned chiefs, headmen,
and delegates of the Kickapoo Nation, on behalf of said nation.
Article 1.
The Kickapoo tribe of Indians, believing that it will contribute
to the civilization of their people to dispose of a portion
of their present reservation in Kansas, consisting of one
hundred and fifty thousand acres of land, to allot land in
severalty to those members of said tribe who desire to have
separate tracts of lands, and have adopted the customs of
the whites, and to set apart for the others of said tribe
a portion of said reservation, to be held by them in common,
or (if a majority of them so elect) provide for them a suitable
home elsewhere, to be held by them in common, it is therefore
hereby agreed that the Secretary of the Interior shall cause
the whole of said reservation to be surveyed in the same manner
as the public lands are surveyed, and the quantity of land
hereinafter mentioned to be set apart to those of said tribe
who desire to have their land in severalty; and, if so elected
by a majority of the others of said tribe, the quantity of
land hereinafter mentioned to be by such others held in common,
and the remainder of the land, after the special reservations
hereinafter provided for shall have been made, to be sold
for the benefit of said tribe.
Article 2.
It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to
cause to be made an accurate census of all the members of
the tribe, and to classify them in separate lists, showing
the names, ages, and numbers of those desiring lands in severalty,
and of those desiring lands in common, designating chiefs
and heads of families respectively; each adult choosing for
himself or herself, and each head of a family for the minor
children of such family, and the agent for orphans and persons
of an unsound mind and otherwise incompetent, as to which
of these classes they will belong. And thereupon shall be
assigned, under the direction of the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs, to each chief, at the signing of the treaty, one
half section; to each other head of a family, one quarter
section; and to each other person, forty acres of land; to
include in every case as far as practicable, to each family,
their improvements and a reasonable portion of timber, to
be selected according to the legal subdivision of survey.
When such assignments shall have been completed, certificates
shall be issued by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for
the tracts assigned in severalty, specifying the names of
the individuals to whom they have been assigned respectively,
and that said tracts are set apart for the perpetual and exclusive
use and benefit of such assignees and their heirs. Until otherwise
provided by law, such tracts shall be exempt from levy, taxation,
or sale, and shall be alienable in fee, or leased, or otherwise
disposed of only to the United States, or to persons then
being members of the Kickapoo tribe, and of Indian blood,
with the permission of the President, and under such rules
and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior shall provide,
except as may be hereinafter provided. And on receipt of such
certificates, the person[s] to whom they are issued shall
be deemed to have relinquished all right to any portion of
the lands assigned to others in severalty, or to a portion
of the tribe in common, and to the proceeds of sale of the
same whensoever made.
Article 3.
At any time hereafter, when the President of the United States
shall have become satisfied that any adults, being males and
heads of families, who may be allottees under the provision
of the foregoing article, are sufficiently intelligent and
prudent to control their affairs and interests, he may, at
the request of such persons, cause the lands severally held
by them to be conveyed to them by patent in fee-simple, with
power of alienation; and may, at the same time, cause to be
set apart and placed to their credit severally, their proportion
of the cash value of the credits of the tribe, principal and
interest, then held in trust by the United States, and also,
as the same may be received, their proportion of the proceeds
of the sale of lands under the provisions of this treaty.
And on such patents being issued, and such payments ordered
to be made by the President, such competent persons shall
cease to be members of said tribe, and shall become citizens
of the United States; and thereafter the lands so patented
to them shall be subject to levy, taxation, and sale, in like
manner with the property of other citizens: Provided, That,
before making any such application to the President, they
shall appear in open court, in the district court of the United
States for the district of Kansas, and make the same proof
and take the same oath of allegiance as is provided by law
for the naturalization of aliens; and shall also make proof,
to the satisfaction of said court, that they are sufficiently
intelligent and prudent to control their affairs and interests;
that they have adopted the habits of civilized life, and have
been able to support, for at least five years, themselves
and families.
Article 4.
To those members of said tribe who desire to hold their lands
in common, there shall be set apart from the present reservation
of the tribe an undivided quantity, sufficient to allow one
half section to each chief, one quarter section to each other
head of family, and forty acres to each other person, and
said land shall be held by that portion of the tribe for whom
it is set apart by the same tenure as the whole reserve has
been held by all of said tribe under the treaty of 1854. And
upon such land being assigned in common, the persons to whom
it is assigned shall be held to have relinquished all title
to lands assigned in severalty, and in the proceeds of sales
thereof whenever made; or should a majority of the adult males
of said class decide to remove to the Indian country south
of Kansas, then, and in that case, their new home shall not
be limited to the quantity above designated, but shall be
as large as can be purchased with the proceeds of the sale
of the tract to which they would have been entitled had they
determined to remain upon the present reservation, computing
the same at the rate of at least one dollar and twenty-five
cents per acre: Provided, That the purchase of such new home
shall be made by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, under
the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, and at such
locality within said Indian country as he may select: And
provided also, That such new home shall be purchased and the
Indians entitled removed thereto, within the period of two
years after the completion of the survey herein provided for.
And such Indians shall be entitled to the benefits of their
full proportionate share of all assets belonging to said tribe,
in the same manner that they would have been entitled had
such removal not been made, deducting therefrom the necessary
expenses of their removal.
Article 5.
The Kickapoo tribe of Indians, entertaining the opinion that
it is the desire of the Government and the people of the United
States to extend railroad communication as far west as possible
in the shortest possible time, and believing that it will
greatly enhance the value of their lands reserved in severalty
by having a railroad built, connecting with the eastern railroads
running from the city of Atchison, in the State of Kansas,
westerly in the direction of the gold mines in Colorado Territory;
and entertaining the opinion that the Atchison and Pike's
Peak Railroad Company, incorporated by an act of the legislative
assembly of the Territory of Kansas, approved February 11,
1859, has advantages for travel and transportation over all
other companies, it is therefore provided that the Atchison
and Pike's Peak Railroad Company shall have the privilege
of buying the remainder of their land within six months after
the tracts herein otherwise disposed of shall have been selected
and set apart, provided said railroad company purchase the
whole of such surplus lands at the rate of one dollar and
twenty-five cents per acre; and when the selections shall
have been made and assigned as aforesaid, it shall be the
duty of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to notify the president
of said railroad company thereof; and if said railroad company
signifies its consent to purchase said surplus lands within
sixty days thereafter, and shall make, execute, and deliver
to the Secretary of the Interior the bonds of the said company
in a penal sum equal to double the value of said surplus lands
as heretofore ascertained, with the condition that the said
bonds shall become void whenever the said company shall comply
with the conditions of the treaty, the Secretary of the Interior
shall issue to said railroad company certificates of purchase,
and such certificates shall be deemed and held in all courts
as evidence of the right of possession in said railroad company
to all or any part of said lands, unless the same shall be
forfeited as hereinafter provided. And if said railroad company
make such purchase, it shall be subject to the following considerations,
viz: They shall construct and fully equip a good and efficient
railroad from the city of Atchison, in the State of Kansas,
westerly, within six years, and as follows: The first section
of fifteen miles of said road to be completed within three
years from the date of said purchase, and the second section
to a point as far west as the western boundary of said reservation
within three years thereafter; and no patent or patents shall
issue to said company or its assigns for any portion of said
lands until the first section of said road shall be completed,
and then for not more than one-half of said lands; and no
patent or patents shall issue to said company or its assigns
for any of the remaining portion of said lands until said
second section of said railroad shall be completed as aforesaid;
and before any patents shall issue for any part of said lands,
payments shall be made for the lands to be patented at the
rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. And said
company shall pay the whole amount of the purchase-money for
said lands in the securities of the United States to the Secretary
of the Interior, in trust for said Kickapoo tribe of Indians,
within six years from the date of such purchase; and when
so paid the president is authorized hereby to issue patents
therefor. Said company shall, in like manner, pay to the Secretary
of the Interior, in trust as aforesaid, each and every year,
until the whole purchase-money shall have been paid, interest
from date of purchase, at six per cent. per annum, on all
the purchase-money remaining unpaid. Said interest, and the
interest due on the purchase-money after it is paid to the
United States, shall be held in trust and paid to said Indians
on the first day of April of each and every year; and in ten
years from the ratification of this treaty there shall be
paid by the United States to said tribe of Indians ten thousand
dollars, as their first instalment upon the amount of said
purchase-money, and ten thousand dollars each and every year
thereafter until all is paid.
Article 6.
In case said railroad company shall fail to complete either
section of said railroad in a good and efficient manner, or
shall fail to pay the whole of the purchase-money for said
lands within the time herein prescribed, or shall fail to
pay all or any part of the interest upon the same each year
as aforesaid, within thirty days from the date when such payment
of interest may fall due, then the contract or purchase shall
be deemed and held absolutely null and void, if the Secretary
of the Interior shall so determine, and said company or its
assigns shall forfeit all payments of principal and interest
made on such purchase, and all right and title, legal and
equitable, of any kind whatsoever, in and to all and every
part of said lands which shall not have been before the date
of such forfeiture earned and paid for pursuant to the provisions
of this treaty. And whenever any patents shall issue to said
railroad company for any part of said lands, it shall contain
the condition that the said company shall sell the lands described
in such patent, except so much as shall be necessary for the
working of the road, within five years from the issuing of
such patent. And said company shall have the perpetual right
of way over the lands of the Kickapoos not sold to it for
the construction and operation of said railroad, not exceeding
one hundred feet in width, and the right to enter on said
lands and take and use such gravel, stone, earth, water, and
other material, except timber, as may be necessary for the
construction and operation of the said road, making compensation
for any damages to improvements caused by obtaining such material,
and for any damages arising from the location or running of
said road, to improvements made before the road was located;
such damages and compensation, in cases where said company
and the persons whose improvements are injured or the property
taken cannot agree, to be ascertained and adjusted under the
direction of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. And in case
said company shall not promptly pay the amount of such damages
and compensation, the Secretary of the Interior may withhold
patents for any part of the lands purchased by them until
payment be made of the amount of such damages, with six per
cent. interest thereon from the date when the same, not including
improvements, shall have been ascertained and demanded; and
in case said company shall not purchase said surplus lands,
or having purchased, shall forfeit the whole or any part thereof,
the Secretary of the Interior shall thereupon cause the same
to be appraised at not less than one dollar and twenty-five
cents peracre, and shall sell the same in quantities not exceeding
one hundred and sixty acres at auction, to the highest bidder
for cash, at not less than [the] appraised value: Provided,
however, In case any of said lands have been conveyed to bona-fide
purchasers by said railroad company, such purchasers shall
be entitled to a patent for said lands so purchased by them
on payment to the United States in trust for said Kickapoos
of the appraised value thereof, (exclusive of their improvements,)
and not less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre
therefor, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed
by the Secretary of the Interior. On the purchase of said
lands by the said railroad company the same shall become a
part of the State of Kansas, but none of said lands shall
be subject to taxation until the patents have been issued
therefor.
Article 7.
[Stricken out.]
Article 8.
[Stricken out.]
Article 9.
[Stricken out.]
Article 10.
Whereas some years since a portion of the Kickapoos went
down among the Southern Indians, and there is reason to believe
that but few, if any, of them will ever return, and they having
been notified of the provisions of this treaty, it is hereby
agreed that they shall receive no benefits arising therefrom,
unless they return to the present reservation of the Kickapoos
within one year from the ratification of this treaty, in which
case it is hereby agreed that forty acres each be allotted
to them, with the understanding that they will occupy, improve,
and cultivate the same, and in every respect to be governed
by the same rules and regulations as is prescribed for the
government of the lands reserved by the preceding articles.
Article 11.
There shall be reserved six hundred and forty acres of land
to be selected by the chiefs of said tribe of Kickapoos as
a site for a saw and grist mill, three hundred and twenty
acres where the mission-house now is, and one hundred and
sixty acres where the house built for the agency now is, which,
with the improvements thereupon, shall be disposed of when
the objects for which they have been reserved shall have been
accomplished, in such a manner and for such purposes as may
be provided by law.
Article 12.
[Stricken out.]
Article 13.
In as much as it was provided by the treaty between the United
States and said Kickapoos, entered into on the 18th day of
May, A. D. 1854, that the President may cause to be surveyed,
in the same manner that the public lands are surveyed, the
reservation provided for the Kickapoos, it is agreed that
the expense of said surveys shall be paid by the United States
out of the proceeds of sales of said lands, and all expenses
incident to the negotiation and execution of this treaty,
and not otherwise provided for, shall be defrayed by the Kickapoos;
the same to be deducted from any funds applicable to that
purpose now or hereafter held for them in trust by the United
States.
Article 14.
It is further agreed that all rights, title, and interest
of the Kickapoos in their present reservation shall cease,
and the same is hereby ceded to and vested in the United States,
subject to the limitations and for the purposes herein expressed
and provided for.
Article 15.
Any stipulation in former treaties inconsistent with those
embraced in the foregoing articles shall be of no force or
effect.
Article 16.
Should the Senate reject or amend any of the foregoing articles,
such rejection or amendment shall not affect the other provisions
of this treaty, but the same shall go into effect when ratified
and approved.
In testimony whereof, the said Charles B. Keith, commissioner
as aforesaid, and the undersigned chiefs, headmen, and delegates
of the Kickapoo Tribe of Indians, have hereunto set their
hands and seals, at the place, on the day, and in the year
hereinbefore written.
- Charles B. Keith, [SEAL.]
- Commissioner on behalf of the United States.
- Chief Par-thee, or the Elk Chief, his x mark. [SEAL.]
- Chief Pah-kah-kah, or John Kennekuk, his x mark. [SEAL.]
- Chief Mack-a-tair-chee-qua, or Black Thunder, his x mark. [SEAL.]
- Ken-ne-kuk, or Stephen Pen-sion-eau, his x mark. [SEAL.]
- Mah-mah-she-cow-ah, or Bear Track, her x mark. [SEAL.]
- Pet-ti-quauk, or Rolling Thunder, his x mark. [SEAL.]
- John C. Anderson, [SEAL.]
- Toth-way, or Frank Cadue, his x mark. [SEAL.]
Executed in presence of -
- John E. Badger.
- H. C. Pursel.
- Nelson S. Shaler.
- Paschall Pensioneau, his x mark, United States interpreter.
- W. D. Barnett, witness to signature of Paschall Pensioneau.
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