Fort Smith Council

Fort Smith Council
DateSeptember 8–21, 1865
LocationFort Smith, Arkansas
Also known asIndian Council

The Fort Smith Council (September 21, 1865), also known as the Indian Council, was a series of meetings held at Fort Smith, Arkansas from September 8–21, 1865, that were organized by the United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Dennis N. Cooley, for Indian tribes east of the Rockies (and particularly those living in what was then defined as Indian Territory).[1]

Other members of Cooley's party representing the U. S. government were: Elijah Sells, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Southern Superintendency; William Harney, an Army officer who had spent most of the Civil War in Europe; Ely Parker, a Seneca chief and U. S. Army officer who had been the military secretary for General Grant; Charles Mix, secretary of the council and long-time chief clerk at the Bureau of Indian Affairs.[2][a]

As president of the Treaty Commission, D. N. Cooley started the second day with his opening address. First, he reminded all present of the reasons for the meeting. The purpose was to discuss the future treaties and land allocations following the close of the American Civil War. Attendance was mandatory for all the tribes that had signed treaties with the Confederate States government—Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Cherokee, Shawnee, Delaware, Wichita, Comanche, Great Osage, Seneca, and Quapaw. The purpose was to notify them that, by taking up war against the United States, they had abrogated all their previous treaties and forfeited all their lands and annuities, and to discuss terms of the new treaties. He noted that Congress had already passed a law to that effect on July 5, 1862, forming the starting point for any new treaties. It was also to notify those tribes living in Indian Territory that some of their previous lands were to be turned over to the tribes who were being relocated from their reservations in Kansas.[3]

  1. ^ Hartzog, Martha. Fort Smith Council. accessed February 3, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Moulton, Gary. "Chief John Ross and the Fort Smith Council of 1865." In: Proceedings: War and Reconstruction in Indian Territory: A History Conference in Observance of the 130th Anniversary of the Fort Smith Council. September 14 - 17, 1995. Fort Smith, Arkansas. Accessed February 3, 2017.
  3. ^ Peery, Dan W. "A Foreordained Commonwealth", Chronicles of Oklahoma 14:1 (March 1936) 22-48 (retrieved February 5, 2017)


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