Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851)

Campsite of Fort Laramie Mounted riflemen 1851
The campsite location of Fort Laramie Mounted riflemen in 1851 near the junction of the North Platte River and Horse Creek west of Morrill, Nebraska.

Fort Laramie National Historic Site, with tipis across Laramie River, where the treaty of 1868 was negotiated.

The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 was signed on September 17, 1851 between United States treaty commissioners and representatives of the Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho, Crow, Assiniboine, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nations. Also known as Horse Creek Treaty, the treaty set forth traditional territorial claims of the tribes.[1][2]

The United States acknowledged that all the land covered by the treaty was Indian territory and did not claim any part of it. The boundaries agreed to in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 would be used to settle a number of claims cases in the 20th century.[3] The Native Americans guaranteed safe passage for settlers on the Oregon Trail and allowed roads and forts to be built in their territories, in exchange for promises of an annuity in the amount of fifty thousand dollars for fifty years. The treaty also sought to "make an effective and lasting peace" among the eight tribes, who were often at odds with each other.[1][4]

  1. ^ a b Josephy, Alvin M. (1993). The patriot chiefs : a chronicle of American Indian resistance (Revised ed.). New York: Penguin Books. pp. 249–251. ISBN 0-14-023463-2. OCLC 30361180.
  2. ^ Paragraph 69, Report to The President By The Indian Peace Commission, January 7, 1868
  3. ^ See, for example, Meyer, Roy W.: The Village Indians of the Upper Missouri. The Mandans, Hidatsas, and Arikaras. Lincoln and London, 1977, p. 186. Sutton, Imre (Ed.): Irredeemable America. The Indians Estate and Land Claims. Albuquerque, 1985.
  4. ^ Kappler, Charles J. (1904). "Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties". p. 594. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014.