South Dakota Estate Purchase Agreement: Fill & Download for Free

Q. What was the original agreement between the Sioux and the U.S. government?A. TL;DR1851 First Fort Laramie Treaty or Treaty of Traverse des Sioux signed between Sioux and US government established land rights and attempted to create peace between white miners traveling to California for the Gold Rush and the Sioux people. The U.S. agreed the Sioux held sovereign rights to the Black Hills and the Sioux agreed to allow railroad and trail passage across these territories in exchange for annual federal payments of $50,000 for 50 years to the tribes. Shortly after the treaty was signed, the U.S. government began erecting several fortified trading posts.Sioux land represented about 5% of the entire continental US - covering most of the present-day states of North and South Dakota, and parts of Nebraska, Montana and Wyoming.1868 Fort Laramie Treaty (XVII Articles) brought peace between the Sioux and the US government by guaranteeing that the Sioux had "absolute and undisturbed use of the Great Sioux Reservation...No persons...shall ever be permitted to pass over, settle upon, or reside in territory described in this article, or without consent of the Indians...No treaty for the cession of any portion or part of the reservation herein described...shall be of any validity or force...unless executed and signed by at least three-fourth of all adult male Indians, occupying or interested in the same."This treaty proved to be one of the most controversial in the history of US-Indian relations - it ended the war between the Sioux and the U.S. government, split the Oglala nation into those "friendlies" willing to work with the U.S. government and the "hostiles" with whom the U.S. banned trade, and set the legal stage for Sioux claims to the Black Hills that continue into the 21st Century.The Federal Government and the Lakota Sioux (Chronology of Exploits)Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, 1851 (First Fort Laramie Treaty)Sioux Treaty of 1868Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) - WikipediaThe Federal Government and the Lakota Sioux (Chronology of Exploits)1851 First Fort Laramie Treaty signed between Sioux and US government established land rights and attempted to create peace between white miners traveling to California for the Gold Rush and the Sioux people. The U.S. agreed the Sioux held sovereign rights to the Black Hills and the Sioux agreed to allow railroad and trail passage across these territories in exchange for annual federal payments of $50,000 for 50 years to the tribes. Shortly after the treaty was signed, the U.S. government began erecting several fortified trading posts.Sioux land represented about 5% of the entire continental US - covering most of the present-day states of North and South Dakota, and parts of Nebraska, Montana and Wyoming.1852 U.S. government violated the 1851 treaty. The U.S. Senate decreased the annual payment of $50,000 to the Sioux people from 50 years to 10 years.1862 Gold found in Montana. The US began building the Bozeman Trail through Sioux territory as well as army forts along the trail - both actions being in direct contravention of the 1851 Fort Laramie treaty.1866 Sioux Indians attacked a supply train traveling on the Bozeman Trail on December 21st. Soldiers led by Lieutenant Colonel William Fetterman retaliated but all 80 soldiers were killed by a small Sioux army led by Red Cloud. General Sherman's response on behalf of the U.S. Army was, "We must act with vindictive earnestness against the Sioux, even to their extermination, men, women, and children." The Indians called the Fetterman Massacre the Battle of 100-In-The-Hands. This map shows the trail, U.S. forts, and the site of the Fetterman Massacre.1867 Congress passed a bill for an Indian peace commission to be lead by Lieutenant General William T. Sherman. Government negotiators were to offer $15,000 annual annuites for tribes of 5,000 or 6,000 people if they would remove themselves from the traditional Sioux homelands in the Great Plains - the Powder River Country. During negotiations between government officials and Oglala chief Red Cloud (pictured to the right),Red Cloud walked out of the meeting declaring: "The Great Father sends us presents and wants us to sell him the road, but the White Chief comes with soldiers to steal it before the Indian says yes or no! I will talk with you no more! I will go - now! - and I will fight you! As long as I live I will fight you for the last hunting grounds of my people."Thus began the Powder River War (Red Cloud's War) as the Lakotas and their Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho allies fought the U.S. Army at the various forts in Lakota territory. Those Sioux friendly to the U.S. government, however, signed a treaty giving Euro-Americans the right to use the Bozeman Trail in return for guns and ammuition. Soon thereafter, the U.S. Army began building more forts along the Trail.At the Grand Council of 6,000 tribes at Bear Butte, the sacred mountain of the Cheyenne, Crazy Horse, Red Cloud, and Sitting Bull, among other great leaders, pledged to end further encroachment of Sioux territory by the whites.1868 Fort Laramie Treaty brought peace between the Sioux and the US government by guaranteeing that the Sioux had "absolute and undisturbed use of the Great Sioux Reservation...No persons...shall ever be permitted to pass over, settle upon, or reside in territory described in this article, or without consent of the Indians...No treaty for the cession of any portion or part of the reservation herein described...shall be of any validity or force...unless executed and signed by at least three-fourth of all adult male Indians, occupying or interested in the same."This treaty proved to be one of the most controversial in the history of US-Indian relations - it ended the war between the Sioux and the U.S. government, split the Oglala nation into those "friendlies" willing to work with the U.S. government and the "hostiles" with whom the U.S. banned trade, and set the legal stage for Sioux claims to the Black Hills that continue into the 21st Century.1874 Gold discovered in the Black Hills and white miners began trespassing on Lakota hunting grounds in the Black Hills. An expedition began into the Black Hills led by George Armstrong Custer. In the photo below, Custer poses with his Indian scouts during the Black Hills expedition. The man pointing to the map was named "Bloody Knife," a member of the Cree tribe.Kneeling Bloody Knife next to seated George Custer1875 Federal government tried to buy the Black Hills for $5 million. The Sioux refused to meet with the government commission.On December 3, 1875, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs required that all Sioux people report to their agency by January 31, 1876 for a head count.1876 On February 7, the War Department authorized General Sheridan to move into Indian lands and round up the "hostile Sioux" who had not reported to their agency. The first attack happened on March 17 - sooner than the Sioux were expecting - thus escalating hostilities that culminated in the Battle of Little Big Horn on June 17 - also known as Custer's Last Stand. The battle occurred after General Custer and the 7th Calvary attacked a Sioux camp. Custer and all his men were killed in what was the largest defeat ever of a U.S. force by Native Americans. Afterwards, Congress voted funds for two new forts along the Yellowstone River, authorized 2,500 new recruits to be sent to Sioux country, and moved control over reservations from the Indian Bureau into the hands of the U.S. Army.In August, Congress passed the Sioux Appropriation Bill stating that “hereafter there shall be no appropriation made for the subsistence” of the Sioux, unless they first relinquished their rights to the hunting grounds outside the reservation and ceded the Black Hills to the United States. Red Cloud's Oglala band signed, after which all of his followers were disarmed and dehorsed.1877 Congressional Act of 1877 violated the Fort Laramie Treaty by requiring the Sioux to relinquish the Black Hills and 22.8 million acres of their surrounding territory. In less than 20 years, the Sioux Nation shrunk from 134 million acres to less than 15 million.1889 After the Sioux refused to sell 9 million additional acres of their reservation to the US government, Congress passed the Sioux Act. The Act redefined the requested 9 million acres as "surplus lands" open to white settlement under the Dawes Act and divided the Lakotas into five separate reservations: Standing Rock, Cheyenne River, Pine Ridge, and Upper and Lower Brule. The remaining land was given to the new states of North and South Dakota. Any Indians who refused to be confined to reservations were declared "hostile." The 9 million acres was then opened up for public purchase for white ranchers and homesteaders.1890 The Battle at Wounded Knee occurred after U.S. Army was sent to Pine Ridge Reservation to quell Sioux participation in the Ghost Dance. The Ghost Dance originated with Wovoka of the Paiutes who reported that God told him in a dream that if Indians danced for five days, they could meet their departed ancestors. After their reunion, the dead relatives would come back to life and help to save the Sioux from the evils of white domination. To the Indians, the Ghost Dance offered hope and a chance for survival; to the U.S. Army, the dance symbolized resistance and the possibility of Indian rebellion.On December 29, 1890, Sioux Chief Big Foot met four cavalry units which were under orders to capture him. The Sioux raised a white flag to signal their promise not to fight. They were taken to an army camp at Wounded Knee Creek where they were ordered to give up their weapons. The medicine man, Yellow Bird, started the Ghost Dance, urging his tribesmen to join him by chanting in Sioux, "The bullets will not go toward you." When one young Indian refused to give up his rifle, confusion ensued during which several braves pulled rifles from their blankets, and the soldiers opened fire. At least 150 Indian men, women, and children were left dead; as many as 300 may have perished when the wounded died soon thereafter. The Seventh Calvary, Custer's avenged regiment, received 23 Congressional medals of honor for their involvement at Wounded Knee.1896 On February 22, 1897, President Grover Cleveland established the Black Hills Forest Reserve. This land was protected against fires, wasteful lumbering practices, and timber fraud. In 1905, the Black Hills Forest Reserve was transferred to the Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 1907, it was renamed the Black Hills National Forest.1910 The Sioux Reservation was further reduced with the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations losing more land to white homesteaders.1918 The Lakota Sioux hired an attorney who sought the return of the Black Hills under the Treaty of 1868. Thus began the longest lawsuit in American history.1923 The Lakota Sioux filed suit with the US Court of Claims demanding compensation for the loss of the Black Hills. It was not until 1942 that the Court finally dismissed the claim.1946 The Sioux filed suit with the newly-created Indian Claims Commission. In 1954, the Commission dismissed the case on the grounds that it had already been denied.1956 Sioux reinstated their claim to the Indian Claims Commission on the grounds that they had been represented by "inadequate counsel."1973 The American Indian Movement (AIM) began the first organized extralegal battle for the Black Hills. AIM occupied Wounded Knee Cemetery on Pine Ridge Reservation to alert the world about the vested economic interest the U.S. government held in the Hills and the extent to which that interest governed U.S. governmental policy and federal court cases regarding their land. (For a detailed understanding of the upheaval at the Pine Ridge Reservation between 1973 and 1975, as well as the aftermath, click here.)1974 The Indian Claims Commission decided that the US government had taken Sioux land in violation of the 5th Amendment because it had not paid just compensation, and subsequently awarded the Sioux $17.5 million (the estimated "value" of the land at the time it was misappropriated) plus 5% simple interest calculated annually since 1877 - for a total of $105 million. The US government appealed and the Court of Claims reversed the decision on the grounds that the claim had already been litigated and decided in 1942. However, it also found that "a more ripe and rank case of dishonorable dealings will never, in all probability, be found in our history."1978 Congress passed an act enabling the Court of Claims to rehear the case. Sioux argued that they should be compensated on new grounds - "dishonorable dealings."1979 The U.S. Court of Claims found that the 1877 Act that seized the Black Hills from the Sioux violated the 5th Amendment. The US had taken the Black Hills unconstitutionally and court reinstated the $17.5 million plus 5% interest for a total of $105 million. The US government appealed.1980 In the United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians, the US Supreme Court found that the Congressional Act of 1877 constituted "a taking of tribal property which had been set aside by the treaty of Fort Laramie for the Sioux's exclusive occupation." The $105 million award was upheld. The Sioux then turned down the money, claimed that "The Black Hills are not for sale." Instead, they demanded that the US government return the Black Hills and pay the money as compensation for the billions of dollars in wealth that had been extracted and the damages down while whites illegally occupied the Hills.AIM, under direction of Russell Means, occupied an 880 acre area in the Black Hills which became known as Yellow Thunder Camp. The U.S. government sued AIM, claiming that they must leave federal property. AIM counter-sued, arguing that U.S. Forest Service policies in the Black Hills violated the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 and Lakota religious freedom under both the First Amendment and the 1978 American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA).1983 The Black Hills Steering Committee was created and its members drafted a bill for Congress that asked for 7,300,000 acres of federal land in the Black Hills in South Dakota. The Committee promised to keep all federal employees working in the Black Hills.1985 U.S. District Court Judge ruled in favor of AIM, arguing that the Lakota had every right to the Yellow Thunder Camp, particularly because AIRFA recognized entire geographic areas as well as specific sites to be sacred areas.1988 The Eighth Circuit Court reversed the U.S. District Court's decision. AIM ended its occupation of Yellow Thunder Camp.1995 Controversy erupted when the U.S. National Park Service asked climbers to consider not climbing Devil's Tower in the Black Hills during the month of June to honor the Lakota's spiritual traditions. A local climbing company and several climbers sued the National Parks Service by arguing that the Park Service's actions violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. which prohibits the government from sponsoring, supporting, or becoming entangled in religious affairs.A Wyoming judge decided that the Park's policy was an "endorsement" of one religion over another and delivered a court injunction on the Park's policy. The Park Service appealed.1999 Upon appeal, the United States Court of Appeal determined that the Park's policy was not an endorsement, but rather was an "accommodation." The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.2000 The U.S. Supreme Court denied the plaintiff's appeal of the 10th Circuit ruling, thus upholding the appellate court’s decision as final. Nonetheless, climbing was allowed to resume. However, National Park Policy requires that during June, rangers ask climbers to voluntarily refrain from climbing on the Tower and hikers to voluntarily refrain from scrambling within the inside of the Tower Trail Loop2007 On December 19, a small group of activists calling itself the Lakotah Freedom Delegation announced that the Lakotah were withdrawing from all treaties previously signed with the United States and were planning to regain their sovereignty over thousands of acres of traditional territory in North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska and Montana. According to the group, the withdrawal immediately and irrevocably ended all agreements between the Lakota Sioux Nation of Indians and the United States Government outlined in the 1851 and 1868 Treaties at Fort Laramie Wyoming. The group argued that their declaration of independence was not a secession from the United States, but rather a reassertion of sovereignty. Their leader is Russell Means, one of the prominent members of the American Indian Movement in the late 1960's and 1970's.Property ownership in the five-state area of Lakota nation - parts of North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana - had been illegally homesteaded. Lakota representatives announced that if the United States did not enter into immediate diplomatic negotiations, liens would be filed on real estate transactions in the five state region, clouding title over literally thousands of square miles of land and property.2008 Indian activists ask that the 23 Medals of DIS Honor awarded in 1890 to the members of the 7th Calvary of the United States Army be rescinded for the murder of innocent women children and men at Wounded Knee.2009 Internal conflicts about the Black Hills claim erupted among the Sioux. Some tribal members have hired a lawyer and have filed suit to receive the money rather than the land as compensation. This has caused a great deal of animosity among tribal members, some who feel that taking money for the Black Hills was the equivalent of giving up their identities as Indians.2012 The monetary compensation gained through the longest legal battle in U.S. history remained unclaimed; the settlement is now worth about $1 billion. The map to the left shows the orginal land promised by the 1868 treaty (gold), the land - including the Black Hills - illegally taken by the U.S. government in the 1877 (orange), and the Lakota reservations as they appeared after 100 years of court actions (brown).Pine Ridge Reservation, home to many of the Lakota people, is one of the poorest communities in the United States.Transcript of "America's native prisoners of war"Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, 1851Eric W. WeberCite Weber, Eric. "Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, 1851." MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society. Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, 1851 (accessed March 15, 2018).Painting by Frank B. Mayer, a witness to the negotiations and signing of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux. Painted in 1885.The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux of 1851 is an agreement between the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota and the U.S. government. It transferred ownership of much of southern and western Minnesota from the Dakota to the United States. Along with the Treaty of Mendota, signed that same year, it opened twenty-four million acres of land to settler-colonists. For the Dakota, these treaties marked another step in the process that saw them increasingly marginalized in and dismissed from land that was their home.During the early decades of the 1800s, white immigrants began moving west of the St. Croix River into land held by American Indians. Though their numbers were relatively small at first, they were eager to use the land for farming and industry. They wanted to move further west, deeper into Indian lands. Influential men, including Alexander Ramsey and Henry Sibley, convinced the U.S. government to negotiate the purchase of land from American Indian groups living in the region. Through this transaction, Ramsey and Sibley also hoped to recoup debts that fur traders claimed various Indian bands owed to them.By 1850, both the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota were in a difficult situation. Animals that they had hunted for food and trade were not abundant enough to support their people anymore. Some groups saw selling their land as a way to gain resources they needed to survive. A land cession treaty, with guaranteed annuity payments, could help them through these tough times and, for some Dakota, offered a way to rebuild their communities.In July 1851, Sibley, Ramsey, and federal commissioner Luke Lea chose Traverse des Sioux as the site for treaty negotiations. It took several weeks for enough representatives of the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands to arrive. Once they had arrived, however, it did not take long to come to an agreement. The Dakota were in a very weak bargaining position because they believed that if they did not sell their land, the United States would take it. Negotiations took several days, and some Dakota leaders initially resisted the demands made by the commissioners because they asked for so much. Ultimately however, the Dakota gave in.On July 23, the Dakota signed the treaty with the government commissioners. The Treaty had three primary results. First, it ceded much of the southern and western portion of Minnesota to the U.S. for about seven and a half cents an acre. Second, it provided for a reservation of ten miles on each side of the Minnesota River. Finally, the treaty arranged for payment to the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands for the land they had ceded. They were to receive a portion of the money immediately. Some funds were set aside for the construction of schools and other services. The rest was to be placed in an account managed by the federal government. From that account, the bands were to receive an annual interest payment in both cash and goods.After the Dakota leaders had signed two copies of the treaty, they were directed to a third piece of paper held by Joseph R. Brown, a prominent fur trader. All but two of them also signed this agreement. The paper, known as the Traders' Paper, directed the government to pay off various debts claimed by white and mixed-race fur traders using the money owed to the bands from the treaty. This repayment method was common at the time, and the Dakota, given the chance, would perhaps have agreed to it. However, the deceptive methods that Brown and other traders used to get the leaders to sign angered the Dakota. No one read the paper aloud or translated it for the Dakota, many of whom believed it to be another copy of the treaty. Many Dakota felt cheated by this process, and they added this incident to a growing list of reasons to distrust the federal government.Following the treaty, Sibley, Ramsey, and Lea negotiated a similar treaty at Mendota with other Dakota bands, which was signed on August 5. In the decade after the signing of these treaties, over 100,000 white immigrants moved to Minnesota to live on the land that Indigenous peoples had ceded.CiteWeber, Eric. "Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, 1851." MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society. Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, 1851 (accessed March 15, 2018).© Minnesota Historical SocietySioux Treaty of 1868Spotted Tail, Sinte Gleska, Sicangu or Brulé Lakota Sioux Chief of Great Renown, about 1880.Background"This war was brought upon us by the children of the Great Father who came to take our land from us without price."--Spotted TailThe report and journal of proceedings of the commission appointed to obtain certain concessions from the Sioux Indians, December 26, 1876The history of Native Americans in North America dates back thousands of years. Exploration and settlement of the western United States by Americans and Europeans wreaked havoc on the Indian peoples living there. In the 19th century the American drive for expansion clashed violently with the Native American resolve to preserve their lands, sovereignty, and ways of life. The struggle over land has defined relations between the U.S. government and Native Americans and is well documented in the holdings of the National Archives. (From the American Originals exhibit script.)From the 1860s through the 1870s the American frontier was filled with Indian wars and skirmishes. In 1865 a congressional committee began a study of the Indian uprisings and wars in the West, resulting in a Report on the Condition of the Indian Tribes , which was released in 1867. This study and report by the congressional committee led to an act to establish an Indian Peace Commission to end the wars and prevent future Indian conflicts. The United States government set out to establish a series of Indian treaties that would force the Indians to give up their lands and move further west onto reservations.In the spring of 1868 a conference was held at Fort Laramie, in present day Wyoming, that resulted in a treaty with the Sioux. This treaty was to bring peace between the whites and the Sioux who agreed to settle within the Black Hills reservation in the Dakota Territory.The Black Hills of Dakota are sacred to the Sioux Indians. In the 1868 treaty, signed at Fort Laramie and other military posts in Sioux country, the United States recognized the Black Hills as part of the Great Sioux Reservation, set aside for exclusive use by the Sioux people. In 1874, however, General George A. Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills accompanied by miners who were seeking gold. Once gold was found in the Black Hills, miners were soon moving into the Sioux hunting grounds and demanding protection from the United States Army. Soon, the Army was ordered to move against wandering bands of Sioux hunting on the range in accordance with their treaty rights. In 1876, Custer, leading an army detachment, encountered the encampment of Sioux and Cheyenne at the Little Bighorn River. Custer's detachment was annihilated, but the United States would continue its battle against the Sioux in the Black Hills until the government confiscated the land in 1877. To this day, ownership of the Black Hills remains the subject of a legal dispute between the U.S. government and the Sioux.The DocumentsSioux Treaty of 1868Click to EnlargeView Pages: 1 | 2 | 3National Archives Identifier: 299803General Alfred Terry's TelegramClick to EnlargeView Pages:Endorsement1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 910 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 1617 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21National Archives Identifier: 300379Letter from Captain John S. PolandClick to EnlargeView Pages: Endorsement | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6National Archives Identifier: 301973Selected Photographs of Custer's 1874 Expedition 519425Click to EnlargeColumn of Cavalry, Artillery, and Wagons, 1874National Archives Identifier: 519427This article was written by Linda Darus Clark, a teacher at Padua Franciscan High School, in Parma, OH.Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) - WikipediaThe Treaty of Fort Laramie (also called the Sioux Treaty of 1868 was an agreement between the United States and the Oglala, Miniconjou, and Brulé bands of Lakota people, Yanktonai Dakota and Arapaho Nation signed on April 29, 1868 at Fort Laramie in the Wyoming Territory, guaranteeing the Lakota ownership of the Black Hills, and further land and hunting rights in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. The Powder River Country was to be henceforth closed to all whites. The treaty ended Red Cloud's War.BackgroundMap showing the major battles of Red Cloud's War along with major treaty boundariesThe first Treaty of Fort Laramie, signed in 1851, attempted to resolve disputes between tribes and the US Government, as well as among tribes themselves, in the modern areas of Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota. It set out that the tribes would make peace among one another, allow for certain outside access to their lands (for activities such as travelling, surveying, and the construction of some government outposts and roads), and that tribes would be responsible for wrongs committed by their people. In return, the US Government would offer protection to the tribes, and pay an annuity of $50,000 over 10 to 15 years. However, the 1851 treaty had a number of shortcomings which contributed to the deterioration of relations and subsequent violence over the next several years. The federal government never kept its obligation to protect tribal resources and hunting grounds, and only made a single payment toward the annuity. Although the federal government operated via representative democracy, the tribes did so through consensus, and although local chiefs signed the treaty as representatives, they had limited power to control others who themselves had not consented to its terms. Finally, the discovery of gold in the west, and the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad led to substantially increased travel through the area, and conflicts between the tribes, settlers, and the US government, and eventually open war beginning in 1866.Alexander Gardner (1821-1882) Native American ImagesIndian Peace CommissionThat year the United States Department of the Interior called on tribes to negotiate safe passage through the Bozeman Trail, while the United States Department of War moved Henry B. Carrington along with a column of 700 men into the Powder River Basin, sparking Red Cloud's War. After losing resolve to continue the war, following defeat in the Fetterman Fight, sustained guerrilla warfare by the Native Americans, exorbitant rates for freight through the area, and difficulty finding contractors to work the rail lines, the US Government, organized the Indian Peace Commission to negotiate an end to ongoing hostilities.A peace counsel chosen by the government arrived on April 19, 1868, at Fort Laramie in what would later become the US state of Wyoming.ArticlesThe treaty was laid out in a series of 17 articles:Article IArticle one called for the cessation of hostilities, stating "all war between the parties to this agreement shall for ever cease." If crimes were committed by "bad men" among white settlers, the government agreed to arrest and punish the offender, and reimburse any losses suffered by injured parties. The tribes agreed to turn over criminals among them, any "bad men among the Indians," to the government for trial and punishment, and to reimburse any losses by suffered by injured parties.These terms effectively relinquished the authority of the tribes to punish crimes committed against them by white settlers. It also provided that if the tribes failed to deliver their wrongdoers to the government, the government was authorized to reimburse losses out of annuities owed to the tribe.Similar provisions appeared in nine such treaties between the government and tribes. In practice, the "bad men among the whites" clause was seldom enforced. The first plaintiff to win a trial case on the provision did so in 2009, based on the provision in the 1868 Fort Laramie treaty.Article IIFront page of 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, from US Government archivesArticle two of the treaty changed the boundaries for tribal land and established the Great Sioux Reservation, to include areas of present day South Dakota west of the Missouri River, which included the Black Hills, and set aside for the "absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of the Indians". In total, it set aside about 25% of the Dakota Territory as it exited at the time.It made the total lands smaller and moved it further eastward. This was to "take away access to the prime buffalo herds that occupied the area and encourage the Sioux to become farmers."The government agreed that no parties, other than those authorized by the treaty, would be allowed to "pass over, settle upon, or reside in the territory".According to one source writing on article two, "What remained unstated in the treaty, but would have been obvious to Sherman and his men, is that land not place in the reservation was to be considered United States property, and not Indian territory."Article IIIArticle three provided for allotments of up to 160 acres (65 ha) of tillable land to be set aside for farming by members of the tribes.By 1871, 200 farms of 80 acres (32 ha) and 200 farms of 40 40 acres (16 ha) had been established including 80 homes. By 1877, this had risen to 153 homes "50 of which had shingle roofs and most had board floors" according to an 1876 report by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.Article IVThe government agreed to build a number of buildings on the reservation: Warehouse, Store-room, Agency Building, Physician residence, Carpenter residence, Farmer residence, Blacksmith residence, Miller residence, Engineer residence, School house and Saw mill.Article four also provided for the establishment of an agency on the reservation for the purpose of government administration, although in practice, five were constructed and two more later added. These original five were composed of the Grand River Agency (Later Standing Rock), Cheyenne River Agency, Whetstone Agency, Crow Creek Agency, and Lower Brulé Agency. Another would be set up on the White River, and another on the North Platte River, later moved to also be on the White.Article VThe government agreed the agent for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and keep his office open to complaints, which he will investigate and forward to the Commissioner. The decision of the Commissioner, subject to review by the Secretary of the Interior, "shall be binding on the parties".Article VIArticle six laid out provisions for members of the tribes to take legal individual ownership of previously commonly held land, up to 320 acres (130 ha) for the heads of families, and 80 acres (32 ha) for any adult who was not the head of a family.This land then "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."Article VIIArticle seven addressed education for those aged six to 16, in order to, as the treaty states, "insure the civilization of the Indians entering into this treaty".The tribes agreed to compel both male and females to attend school, and the government agreed to provide a schoolhouse and teacher for every 30 students who could be made to attend.Article VIIIIn article eight, the government agreed to provide seeds, tools, and training for any of the residents who selected tracts of land, and agreed to farm them. This was to be in the amount of up to $100 dollars worth for the first year, and up to $25 worth for the second and third years.These were one of a number of provisions of the treaty designed to encourage farming, rather than hunting, and move the tribes "closer to the white man's way of life."Article IXAfter ten years the government may withdraw the individuals from article 13, but if so, will provide $10,000 annually "devoted to the education of said Indians ... as will best promote the education and moral improvement of said tribes." These are to be managed by a local Indian agent under the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.Article XArticle 10 provided for an allotment of clothes, and food, in addition to one "good American cow" and two oxen for each lodge or family who moved to the reservation.It further provided for an annual payment over 30 years of $10 for each person who hunted, and $20 for those who farmed, to be used by the Secretary of the Interior for the "purchase of such articles as from time to time the condition and necessities of the Indians may indicate to be proper."Article XIOne of the signature pages from the treaty, including X marks for the tribal leaders, as a substitute for signed namesArticle eleven included several provisions stating the tribes agreed to withdraw opposition to the construction of railroads, military posts and roads, and will not attack or capture white settlers or their property. The government agreed to reimburse the tribes for damages caused in the construction of works on the reservation, in the amount assessed by "three disinterested commissioners" appointed by the President.It guaranteed the tribes access to the area to the north and west of the Black Hills[c] as hunting grounds, "so long as the buffalo may range thereon in such numbers as to justify the chase."As one source examined the treaty language with regard to "so long as the buffalo may range", the tribes considered this language to be a perpetual guarantee, because "they could not envision a day when buffalo would not roam the plains"; however:The concept was clear enough to the commissioners … [who] well knew that hide hunters, with Sherman’s blessing, were already beginning the slaughter that would eventually drive the Indians to complete dependence on the government for their existence.Article XIIArticle seven required the agreement of "three-fourths of all the adult male Indians" for a treaty with the tribes to "be of any validity".Hedren reflected on article 12 writing that the provisions indicated the government "already anticipated a time when different needs would demand the abrogation of the treaty terms."These provisions have since been controversial, since subsequent treaties amending that of 1868 did not include the required agreement of three-fourths of adult males, and so under the terms of 1868, are invalid.Article XIIIThe government agreed to furnish the tribes with a "physician, teachers, carpenter, miller, engineer, farmer, and blacksmiths".Article XIVThe government agreed to provide $100 in prizes for those who "in the judgment of the agent may grow the most valuable crops for the respective year."Article XVOnce the promised buildings were constructed, the tribes agreed to regard the reservation as their "permanent home" and make "no permanent settlement elsewhere"Article XVIArticle 16 stated that country north of the North Platte River and east of the Big Horn Mountains would be "unceded Indian territory" that no white settlers could occupy without the consent of the tribes.This included 33,000,000 acres (13,000,000 ha) of land outside the reservation which were previously set aside by the 1851 treaty, as well as around an additional 25,000,000 acres (10,000,000 ha).As part of this, the government agreed to close the forts associated with the Bozeman Trail. Article 16 did not however, address issues related to important hunting grounds north and northwest of the reservation.Article XVIIThe treaty, as agreed to "shall be construed as abrogating and annulling all treaties and agreements heretofore entered into."SigningOver the course of 192 days ending November 6, the treaty was signed by a total of 156 Sioux, and 25 Arapaho, in addition to the commissioners, and an additional 34 signatories as witnesses.Although the commissioners signed the document on April 29 along with the Brulé, the party broke up in May, with only two remaining at Fort Laramie to conclude talks there, before traveling up the Missouri River to gather additional signatures from tribes elsewhere.Throughout this process, no further amendments were made to the terms. As one writer phrased it, "the commissioners essientially cycled Sioux in and out of Fort Laramie ... seeking only the formality of the chiefs' marks and forgoing true agreement in the spirit that the Indians understood it."http://amertribes.proboards.com/thread/609/gardner-fort-laramie-1868?page=3Sioux ChiefsMembers of the Peace Commission at Fort Laramie, 1868Following initial negotiations, those from the Peace Commission did not discuss the conditions of the treaty to subsequent tribes who arrived over the following months to sign. Rather, the treaty was read aloud, and it was allowed "some time for the chiefs to speak" before "instructing them to place their marks on the prepared document."As the source continues:These tribes had little interest in or understanding of what had taken place at the Fort Laramie councils. They wanted the whites out of their country and would fight as long as necessary.The process of abandoning the forts associated with the Bozeman Trail, as part of the conditions agreed to, proved to be a long process, and was stalled by difficulty arranging the sale of the goods from the fort to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Fort C.F. Smith was not emptied until July 29, and Fort Phil Kearny and Fort Reno until August 1. Once abandoned, Red Cloud and his followers, who had been monitoring the activities of the troops rode down and burned what remained.The peace commission dissolved on October 10 after presenting its report to Congress, which among other things, recommended the government "cease to recognize the Indian tribes as domestic dependent nations," and that no further "treaties shall be made with any Indian tribe."William Dye, the commander at Fort Laramie was left to represent the commission, and met with Red Cloud, who was among the last to sign the treaty on November 6.The government remained unwilling to negotiate the terms further, and after two days, Red Cloud is reported to have "washed his hands with the dust of the floor" and signed, formally ending the war.The US Senate ratified the treaty on Feb. 16, 1869.SignatoriesNotable signatories presented in the order they signed are as follows. Two exceptions are included. Henderson was a commissioner, but did not sign the treaty. Red Cloud was among the last to sign, but is listed out-of-order along with the other Oglala.CommissionersNathaniel Green Taylor, Commissioner of Indian AffairsWilliam Tecumseh Sherman, then lieutenant general, US ArmyWilliam S. Harney, then brevetted as major general, US ArmyJohn B. Sanborn, former general, US Army, and former member of a previous peace commission organized by Alfred SullySamuel F. Tappan, journalist, abolitionist, and activist who rose to prominence after investigating the Sand Creek massacreChristopher C. Augur, then brevetted as major general, and director of the Department of the PlatteAlfred Terry, then brevetted as major general, US ArmyJohn B. Henderson, then US Senator and Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Indian AffairsChiefs and headmenBruléIron ShellSpotted TailWhite BullOglalaYoung Man Afraid Of His HorsesSitting BullAmerican HorseBlue HorseRed CloudMiniconjouLone HornSpotted ElkBig EagleYanctonaisLittle SoldierRed HorseLittle ShieldAftermath and legacyMap of the 1868 Great Sioux Reservation, and the subsequent changes in reservation borders. Although the treaty required the consent of three fourth of the males of the tribes, many did not sign or recognize the results. Others would later complain that the treaty contained complex language that was not well explained in order to avoid arousing suspicion.Yet others would not fully learn the terms of the agreement until 1870, when Red Cloud returned from a trip to Washington D.C.The treaty overall, and in comparison with the 1851 agreement, represented a departure from earlier considerations of tribal customs, and demonstrated instead the government's "more heavy-handed position with regard to tribal nations, and ... desire to assimilate the Sioux into American property arrangements and social customs."According to one source, "animosities over the treaty arose almost immediately" when a group of Miniconjou were informed they were no long welcome to trade at Fort Laramie, being south of their newly establish territory. This was notwithstanding that the treaty did not make any stipulation that the tribes could not travel outside their land, only that they would not permanently occupy outside land, and only expressly forbid the traveling of white settlers on the reservation.Both the tribes and the government chose to ignore portions of the treaty, or to "comply only as long as conditions met their favor," and between 1869 and 1876, at least seven separate skirmishes occurred.The government eventually broke the terms of the treaty following the Black Hills Gold Rush and an expedition into the area by George Armstrong Custer in 1874, and failed to prevent white settlers from moving onto tribal lands. Rising tensions eventually lead again to open conflict in the Great Sioux War of 1876.The 1868 treaty would be modified three times by the US Congress between 1876 and 1889, each time taking more land originally granted, including unilaterally seizing the Black Hills in 1877.However, as of 2018, Congress does not recognize these subsequent modifications.United States v. Sioux Nation of IndiansOn June 30, 1980, in United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the government had illegally taken the land. It upheld an award of $15.5 million for the market value of the land in 1877, along with 103 years worth of interest at 5 percent, for an additional $105 million. The Lakota Sioux, however, have refused to accept payment and instead continue to demand the return of the territory from the United States. As of 24 August 2011 the Sioux interest on the money has compounded to over 1 billion dollars.CommemorationMarking the 150th anniversary of the treaty, the South Dakota Legislature passed Senate Resolution 1, reaffirming the legitimacy of the treaty, and according to the original text, illustrating to the federal government that the Sioux are "still here" and are "seeking a future of forward-looking, positive relationships with full respect for the sovereign status of Native American nations confirmed by the treaty."On March 11, 2018, the Governor of Wyoming, Matt Mead signed a similar bill into law, calling on "the federal government to uphold its federal trust responsibilities," and calling for a permanent display of the original treaty, on file with the National Archives and Records Administration, in the Wyoming Legislature.See alsoBlack Hills Land Claim, ongoing dispute between the Sioux and the US GovernmentDakota Access Pipeline, underground oil pipeline, opposed by some Sioux based on the terms of the 1851 and 1868 treatiesIndian Appropriations Act, series of legislation passed by the US government related to tribal landsFort Laramie Treaty of 1868American Indian Rights And Treaties – The Story Of The 1868 Treaty Of Fort Laramie, video from Insider ExclusiveFort Laramie Treaty: Case Study from the National Museum of the American IndianCollection of Photographs by Alexander Gardner (photographer), from his travels with the Peace Commission at Fort Laramie in 1868, from the Minnesota Historical SocietyBlack Hills of South Dakota and WyomingThe signing of a peace treaty by William T. Sherman and the Sioux at Fort Laramie, Wyoming.Describe the agreement the dakota sioux made the U.S. government and the reason for their uprising? (answers.yahoo.com)Best Answer: Reason for their Uprising -Land dispute between the government and the Siuox Tribe in Minnesota.Agreement-The US set aside two reservations for the Sioux along the Minnesota River, each about 20 miles (30 km) wide and 70 miles (110 km) long.The Upper Sioux Agency was established near Granite Falls, Minnesota, while the Lower Sioux Agency was established about thirty miles downstream near Redwood Falls, Minnesota. The Upper Sioux were satisfied with their reservation, since it included several of their old villages.The Lower Sioux were displaced from their traditional woodlands, and were dissatisfied with their territory. The Sioux were also resentful of the separate "trader's paper" included in the treaty, which paid $400,000 of the promised treaty total to fur traders and mixed-bloods who had financial claims against the Indians.Peace, War, Land and a Funeral: The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868

Q. How many people were living in Louisiana Territory when Lewis and Clark came?A. Total population living in Louisiana Territory in 1803, around 70,000.Non-native population was around 60,000 inhabitants, of whom half were African slaves.Native population from census below - 7,460 (700 not counted, possibly perished from small pox). Statements regarding 1000 families. If true , can raise the population to above 10,000.Indians in the Province of Louisiana in 1803 – Access GenealogyUpdated: December 7, 2014At the time of the purchase of Louisiana from France in 1803 the knowledge of the province and its Indian tribes was very limited. The Louisiana purchase of 1803 embraced almost all the area of What now comprises seventeen states and two territories, with gross areas as follows: part of the state of Alabama, west of the Perdido and on the Gulf, below latitude 31° north, estimated to contain 2,300 square miles; part of the state of Mississippi, west of Alabama, adjoining Louisiana on the Gulf, and south of 31° north latitude, estimated at 3,600 square miles; the state of Louisiana, 48,720 square miles; the state of Arkansas, 53,850 square miles; the state of Missouri, 60,415 square miles; the state of Kansas; all but southwest corner (estimated), 73,542 square miles; the state of Iowa, 50,025 square miles; the state of Minnesota, west of the Mississippi River, 57,531 square miles; the state of Nebraska, 77,510 square miles; the state of Colorado, east of the Rocky Mountains and north of Arkansas River, 57,000 square miles; the state of Oregon (nominally and by discovery), 96,030 square miles; the state of North Dakota, 70,705 square miles; the state of South. Dakota, 77,650 square miles; the state of Montana, 146,080 square miles the state of Idaho, 81,800 square miles; the state of Washington, 60,180 square miles; the state of Wyoming, all but the zone in the middle, south, and southwest part, 83,503 square miles; the Indian territory, 31,400 square miles; Oklahoma territory, 30,030 square miles; making a total area of 1,108,021 square miles, or 766,733,140 acres.The Department of State, by direction of President Jefferson, prepared a descriptive statement of the Indians and tribes in this province. It contained all the information then possessed by the government as to the several tribes, as follows:The Indian nations within the limits of Louisiana as far as known are as follows, and consist of the number specified:On the eastern bank of the Mississippi, about 25 leagues from Orleans, are the remains of the nation of Houmas, or Red Men, which do not exceed 60 persons. There are no other Indians settled on this side of the river either in Louisiana or west Florida, though they are at times frequented by parties of wandering Choctaws.On the West side of the Mississippi are the remains of the Tounicas, settled near and above Point Coupee, on the river, consisting of 50 or 60 persons.In the AtacapasOn the lower parts of the Bayou Teche, at about 11 or 12 leagues from the sea, are two villages of Chitamachas, consisting of about 100 souls.The Atacapas, properly so called, dispersed throughout the district, and chiefly on the bayou or creek of Vermillion, about 100 souls. Wanderers of the tribes of Biloxes and Choctaws, on Bayou Crocodile, which empties into the Teche, about 50 souls.In the Opelousas to the northwest of AtacapasTwo villages of Alibamas in the center of the district near the church, consisting of 100 persons.Conchates, dispersed through the country all far west as the river Sabinus and its neighborhood, about 350 persons.On the River RougeAt Avoyelles, 19 leagues from the Mississippi, is a village of the Biloxi nation, and another on the lake of the Avoyelles, the whole about 100 souls.At the Rapide21 leagues from the Mississippi, is a village of the Choctaws of 100 souls, and another of Biloxes, about 2 leagues from it, of about 100 more. About 8 or 9 leagues higher up the Red River is a village of about 50 souls, All these are occasionally employed by the settlers in their neighborhood as boatmen.About 80 leagues above Natchitoches, on the Red River, is the nation of the Cadoquies, called by abbreviation Cados; they can raise from 800 to 400 warriors, are the friends of the whites, and are esteemed the bravest and most generous of all the nations in this vast country; they are rapidly decreasing, owing to intemperance and the numbers annually destroyed by the Osages and Choctaws.There are, besides the foregoing, at least 400 to 500 families of Choctaws, who are dispersed on the west, side of the Mississippi, on the Ouacheta and Red Rivers, as far west as Natchitoches, and the whole nation would have emigrated across the Mississippi had it not been for the opposition of the Spaniards and the Indians on that side who had suffered by their aggressions.On the River ArkansasBetween the Red River and the Arkansas there are but a few Indians left as most tribes are almost extinct. On this last river is the nation of the same name, consisting of about 200 warriors, They are bravo yet peaceable and, well disposed, and have always been attached to the French and espoused their cause in their wars with the Chickasaws, whom they have always resisted with success. They live in three villages; the first is 18 leagues from the Mississippi, on the Arkansas River, and the others are 3 and 6 leagues from the first. A scarcity of game on the eastern side of the Mississippi has lately induced a number of the Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, etc., to frequent the neighborhood of Arkansas, where game is still in abundance; they have contracted marriages with the Arkansas, and seem inclined to make a permanent settlement and incorporate themselves with that nation. The number is unknown, but is considerable tool is every day increasing.On the river St. FrancisOn the river St. Francis, in the neighborhood of New Madrid, Cape Girardeau, Reviere a la Pomme, and the environs, are settled, a number of vagabonds, emigrants from the Delawares, Shawnese, Miamis, Chickasaws, Cherokees, Piorias, and supposed to consist in all of 500 families. They are at times troublesome to the boats descending the river, and have even plundered some of them and committed a few murders. They are attached to liquor; seldom remain long in any place. Many of them speak English; and understand it, and there are some who even read and write it.At St. GenevieveAt St. Genevieve, in the settlement among the whites, are about 30 Piorias, Kaskaskias, and Illinois, who seldom hunt for fear of the other Indians; they are the remains of a nation which 50 years ago could bring into the field 1,200 warriors.On the MissouriOn the Missouri and its waters are many and numerous nations, the best known of which are the Osages, situated on the river of the same name on the right bank of the Missouri, at about 80 leagues from its confluence with it; they consist of 1,000 warriors, who live in two settlements at no great distance from each other. They are of a gigantic stature and well proportioned, are enemies of the whites and of all other Indian nations, and commit depredations from the Illinois to the Arkansas. The trade of this nation is said to be under an exclusive grant. They are a cruel and ferocious race, and are hated and feared by all the other Indians. The continence of the Osage River with the Missouri is about 80 leagues from the Mississippi.Sixty leagues higher up the Missouri, and on the same bank, is the river Kanzas and on it the nation of the same name, but at about 70 or 80 leagues from its mouth, It consists of about 210 warriors, who are as fierce and cruel as the Osages, and often molest and ill treat those who go to trade among them.Sixty leagues above the river Kanzas, and at about 200 leagues from the mouth of the Missouri, still on the right bank, is the Riviere Platte, or Shallow river, remarkable for its quicksand and bad navigation; and near its confluence with the Missouri dwells the nation of Octolactos, commonly called Otos, consisting of about 200 warriors, among whom are 25 or 80 of the nation of Missouri, who took refuge among them about 25 years since.Forty leagues up the river Platte you come to the nation of the Penis, composed of about 700 warriors in four neighboring villages; they hunt but little, and are ill provided with firearms; they often make war on the Spaniards in the neighborhood of Santa Fe from which they are not far distant.At 300 leagues from the Mississippi and 100 from the river Platte, on the same bank, are situated the villages of the Maims. They consisted in 1799 of 500 warriors, but tire said to have been almost out of last year by the smallpox.At 50 leagues above the Maims, and on the left bank of the Missouri, dwell the Poneas to the number of 250 warriors, possessing in common with the Maims their language, society, and. vices, Their trade has never been of much value, and those engaged in it are exposed to pillage and ill treatment.At the distance of 450 leagues from the Mississippi, and on the right bank of the Missouri, dwell the Arlearas to the number of 700 warriors, and 60 leagues above, the Mandane nation, consisting of above 700 warriors likewise. Those two last nations are well disposed to the whites, but have been the victims of the Sioux, or Mandowessies, who, being themselves well provided with firearms, have taken, advantage of the defenseless situation of the others, and. have on all occasions murdered them without mercy.No discoveries on the Missouri beyond the Mandane nation have been accurately detailed,, though the traders have been informed that many large navigable rivers discharge their waters into it far above it, and that there are many numerous nations settled upon them.The Sioux, or MandowessiesThe Sioux, or Mandowessies who frequent the country between the north bank of the Missouri and Mississippi, are it great impediment to trade and navigation. They endeavor to prevent all communication with the nations dwelling high up the Missouri to deprive them of ammunition and arms, and thus keep them subservient to themselves. In the winter they are chiefly on the banks of the Missouri and massacre all who fall into their hands.There are a number of nations at a distance from the banks of the Missouri to the north and south, concerning whom but little information has been received.Returning to the Mississippi and ascending it from the Missouri, about 75 leagues above the mouth of the latter, the river Moingona, or Riviere de Moine, enters the Mississippi on the west side, and on it are situated the Ayons, a nation originally from the Missouri, speaking the language of the Otatachas. It consisted of 200 warriors before the smallpox lately raged among them.The Sacs and RenardThe Sacs and Renards dwell on the Mississippi about 300 leagues shove St, Louis, and frequently trade with it; they live together and consist of 500 warriors; their chief trade is with Michilimakinae, and they have always been peaceable and friendly.The other nations on the Mississippi higher up are but little known to man. The nations of the Missouri, though cruel, treacherous, and insolent, may doubtless be kept in order by the United States if proper regulations are adopted with respect; to them.It is said that no treaties have been entered into by Spain with the Indian nations westward of the Mississippi, and that its treaties with the Creeks, Choctaws, etc., are in effect superseded by our treaty with that power of the 27th October, 1795.How the Louisiana Purchase Changed the WorldHISTORY STORIES10 Little-Known Facts About the Lewis and Clark ExpeditionBY EVAN ANDREWS // OCTOBER 26, 2015Lewis & Clark ExpeditionIn 1804, Jefferson sends a team to explore lands acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery will travel nearly 8,000 miles over three years, reaching the Pacific Ocean and clearing the path for westward expansion.In May 1804, President Thomas Jefferson dispatched Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s Corps of Discovery on an expedition to explore the Louisiana Purchase and hunt for an all-water route across the North American continent. The two-and-a-half-year trek saw the men travel some 8,000 miles from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean and back, mostly by boat and on horseback. By the time they finally emerged from the wilderness in September 1806, they had made contact with dozens of Indian tribes, survived repeated brushes with death and become the first U.S. citizens to lay eyes on the wonders of the uncharted West. Explore 10 surprising facts about one of America’s first and greatest expeditions of discovery.Lewis first met Clark after being court-martialed by the Army.Lewis (L) and Clark (R). (Credit: Jean-Erick PASQUIER/Getty Images)While serving as a frontier army officer in 1795, a young Meriwether Lewis was court-martialed for allegedly challenging a lieutenant to a duel during a drunken dispute. The 21-year-old was found not guilty of the charges, but his superiors decided to transfer him to a different rifle company to avoid any future incidents. His new commander turned out to be William Clark—the man who would later join him on his journey to the West.Lewis had served as Thomas Jefferson’s secretary.In 1801, Lewis left the army and accepted an invitation to serve as Thomas Jefferson’s presidential secretary. Lewis had known Jefferson since he was a boy—he’d grown up on a Virginia plantation only a few miles from Monticello—and the pair went on to forge a mentor-protégé relationship while working together in the White House. When Jefferson conceived of his grand expedition to the West in 1802, he immediately named the rugged, intellectually gifted Lewis as its commander. To help the young secretary prepare, Jefferson gave him a crash course in the natural sciences and sent him to Philadelphia to study medicine, botany and celestial navigation.Thomas Jefferson believed the expedition might encounter wooly mammoths.Woolly Mammoth. (Credit: Royal BC Museum, Victoria, British Columbia)Before Lewis and Clark completed their expedition, Americans could only speculate on what lurked in the uncharted territories beyond the Rocky Mountains. Even Thomas Jefferson, who’d amassed a small library of books on the frontier, was convinced the explorers might have run-ins with mountains of salt, a race of Welsh-speaking Indians and even herds of wooly mammoths and giant ground sloths. The expedition failed to sight any of the long-extinct creatures, but Lewis did describe 178 previously unknown species of plants and 122 new animals including coyotes, mountain beavers and grizzly bears.The Spanish sent soldiers to arrest the expedition.Jefferson often described Lewis and Clark’s expedition as a scientific mission to study the lands acquired in the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, but the explorers’ central goal was to find a water route to the Pacific, which would increase trade opportunities and help solidify an American claim on the far Northwest. That was distressing news for the Spanish, who feared the expedition might lead to the seizure of their gold-rich territories in the Southwest. On the suggestions of U.S. Army General James Wilkinson—a Spanish spy—the governor of New Mexico dispatched four different groups of Spanish soldiers and Comanche Indians to intercept the explorers and bring them back in chains. Luckily for Lewis and Clark, the hostile search parties failed to locate them in the vastness of the frontier.Clark brought his slave on the journey.York statue by Ed Hamilton. (Credit: Dennis Macdonald/Getty Images)Along with more than two-dozen enlisted men and officers, the Corps of Discovery also included Clark’s personal slave, York. The tall manservant was a hit with frontier tribes, many of whom had never seen a person with dark skin. The Arikara people of North Dakota even referred to York as “Big Medicine” and speculated that he had spiritual powers. Though not an official member of the Corps of Discovery, York made the entire journey from St. Louis to the Pacific and back, and became a valued member of the expedition for his skills as a hunter. When the explorers later voted on where to place their winter camp in 1805, he and the Shoshone interpreter Sacagawea were both allowed to participate. As historian Stephen E. Ambrose later noted, this simple show of hands may have marked the first time in American history a black man and a woman were given the vote.Lewis and Clark’s arsenal included 200 pounds of gunpowder and an experimental air rifle.The Corps of Discovery carried one of the largest arsenals ever taken west of the Mississippi. It included an assortment of pikes, tomahawks and knives as well as several rifles and muskets, 200 pounds of gunpowder and over 400 pounds of lead for bullets. Lewis also had a state-of-the-art pneumatic rifle he used to impress Indian tribes on the frontier. After pumping compressed air into the gun’s stock, he could fire some 20 shots—each of them almost completely silent. Despite being armed to the teeth, most of the explorers never had to use their weapons in combat. The lone exception came during the return journey, when Lewis and three of his soldiers engaged in a gun battle with Blackfeet Indians that left two natives dead.Sacagawea reunited with her long lost brother during the journey.“Lewis & Clark at Three Forks,” mural in lobby of Montana House of Representatives. (Credit: Edgar Samuel Paxson)One of the most legendary members of the Lewis and Clark expedition was Sacagawea, a teenaged Shoshone Indian who had been kidnapped from her tribe as an adolescent. Sacagawea, her husband and her newborn son first joined up with the explorers as they wintered at a Hidatsa-Mandan settlement in 1804, and she later served as an interpreter and occasional guide on their journey to the Pacific. During a run-in with a band of Shoshone in the summer of 1805, she famously discovered the tribe’s chief was none other than her long lost brother, whom she had not seen since her abduction five years earlier. The tearful reunion helped facilitate peaceful relations between the explorers and the Shoshone, allowing Lewis to procure much-needed horses for his trek over the Rockies.Only one member of the expedition died during the trip.The Lewis and Clark expedition suffered its first fatality in August 1804, when Sergeant Charles Floyd died near modern day Sioux City, Iowa. Lewis diagnosed him as having “bilious colic,” but historians now believe he suffered from a burst appendix. Over the next two years, the expedition endured everything from dysentery and snakebites to dislocated shoulders and even venereal disease, but amazingly, no one else perished before the explorers returned to St. Louis in September 1806. One of the worst injuries came during the trip home, when an enlisted man accidentally shot Lewis in the buttocks after mistaking him for an elk. Though not seriously wounded, the explorer was forced to spend a few miserable weeks lying on his belly in a canoe while the expedition floated down the Missouri River.Lewis later died under mysterious circumstances.Meriwether Lewis. (Credit: Universal History Archive/Getty Images)Lewis battled depression and mood swings for most of his life, and his condition only worsened after he returned from the transcontinental expedition in 1806. The great explorer reportedly suffered from money troubles, drinking too much and struggling as the governor of Louisiana. He was twice prevented from committing suicide during an 1809 journey to Washington, but only a few days later, he was found dead in a cabin along the Natchez Trace with gunshot wounds to the head and chest. Some have since speculated he was murdered, but most historians believe he took his own life.Clark adopted Sacagawea’s children.During her time with the Corps of Discovery, Sacagawea was accompanied by her newborn son, Jean Baptiste, whom the explorers nicknamed “Pomp.” William Clark took a shine to the boy, and when Sacagawea left the expedition in August 1806, he offered to adopt him and “raise him as my own child.” Sacagawea initially turned down the offer, but she later allowed Clark to provide for her son’s education in St. Louis. Following Sacagawea’s death in 1812, Clark became the legal guardian of both Jean Baptiste and her other child, a daughter named Lisette. Little is known about what became of Lisette, but Jean-Baptiste later traveled to Europe before returning to the American frontier to work as a trapper and wilderness guide.RELATED CONTENTTOPIC Louisiana PurchaseNEWS 8 Things You May Not Know About the Louisiana PurchaseLouisiana PurchaseConsequences of the Louisiana PurchaseThe Louisiana Purchase has often been described as one of the greatest real estate deals in history. Despite this, there were some issues that concerned Americans of the day. First, many wondered how or if the United States could defend this massive addition to its land holdings. Many New Englanders worried about the effect the new addition might have on the balance of power in the nation. Further, Jefferson and Monroe struggled with the theoretical implications of the manner in which they carried out the purchase, particularly in light of Jefferson's previous heated battles with Alexander Hamilton concerning the interpretation of limits of constitutional and presidential powers. In the end, however, the desire to purchase the territory outweighed all of these practical and theoretical objections.The increases in population, commerce, mining, and agriculture the Louisiana Purchase allowed worked to strengthen the nation as a whole. The opportunity for individuals and families to strike out into unsettled territory and create lives for themselves helped to foster the frontier spirit of independence, curiosity, and cooperation that have come to be associated with the American character.Thomas Jefferson and the Lewis and Clark ExpeditionLouisiana Purchase - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.comLOUISIANA PURCHASE: BACKGROUNDBeginning in the 17th century, France explored the Mississippi River valley and established scattered settlements in the region. By the middle of the 18th century, France controlled more of the present-day United States than any other European power: from New Orleans northeast to the Great Lakes and northwest to modern-day Montana. In 1762, during the French and Indian War (1754-63), France ceded French Louisiana west of the Mississippi River to Spain and in 1763 transferred nearly all of its remaining North American holdings to Great Britain. Spain, no longer a dominant European power, did little to develop Louisiana during the next three decades. In 1796, Spain allied itself with France, leading Britain to use its powerful navy to cut off Spain from America.Did You Know?President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the Corps of Discovery Expedition (1804-06), led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, to explore the territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase, among other objectives.In 1801, Spain signed a secret treaty with France to return Louisiana Territory to France. Reports of the retrocession caused considerable uneasiness in the United States. Since the late 1780s, Americans had been moving westward into the Ohio River and Tennessee River valleys, and these settlers were highly dependent on free access to the Mississippi River and the strategic port of New Orleans. U.S. officials feared that France, resurgent under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), would soon seek to dominate the Mississippi River and access to the Gulf of Mexico. In a letter to U.S. minister to France Robert Livingston (1746-1813), America’s third president, Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), stated, “The day that France takes possession of New Orleans…we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation.”Livingston was ordered to negotiate with French minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand (1754-1838) for the purchase of New OrleansLOUISIANA PURCHASE: U.S.-FRANCE NEGOTIATIONSFrance was slow in taking control of Louisiana, but in 1802 Spanish authorities, apparently acting under French orders, revoked a U.S.-Spanish treaty that granted Americans the right to store goods in New Orleans. In response, Jefferson sent future U.S. president James Monroe (1758-1831) to Paris to aid Livingston in the New Orleans purchase talks. In mid-April 1803, shortly before Monroe’s arrival, the French asked a surprised Livingston if the United States was interested in purchasing all of Louisiana Territory. It is believed that the failure of France to put down a slave revolution in Haiti, the impending war with Great Britain and probable British naval blockade of France, and financial difficulties may all have prompted Napoleon to offer Louisiana for sale to the United States.Negotiations moved swiftly, and at the end of April the U.S. envoys agreed to pay $11,250,000 and assume claims of American citizens against France in the amount of $3,750,000. In exchange, the United States acquired the vast domain of Louisiana Territory, some 828,000 square miles of land. The treaty was dated April 30 and signed on May 2. In October, the U.S. Senate ratified the purchase, and in December 1803 France transferred authority over the region to the United States.LOUISIANA PURCHASE: AFTERMATHThe acquisition of the Louisiana Territory for the bargain price of less than three cents an acre was among Jefferson’s most notable achievements as president. American expansion westward into the new lands began immediately, and in 1804 a territorial government was established. On April 30, 1812, exactly nine years after the Louisiana Purchase agreement was made, the first state to be carved from the territory–Louisiana–was admitted into the Union as the 18th U.S. state.Louisiana Purchase - WikipediaThe Louisiana Purchase (French: Vente de la Louisiane "Sale of Louisiana") was the acquisition of the Louisiana territory (828,000 square miles or 2.14 million km²) by the United States from France in 1803. The U.S. paid fifty million francs ($11,250,000) and a cancellation of debts worth eighteen million francs ($3,750,000) for a total of sixty-eight million francs ($15 million, equivalent to $300 million in 2016). The Louisiana territory included land from fifteen present U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. The territory contained land that forms Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska; the portion of Minnesota west of the Mississippi River; a large portion of North Dakota; a large portion of South Dakota; the northeastern section of New Mexico; the northern portion of Texas; the area of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of the Continental Divide; Louisiana west of the Mississippi River (plus New Orleans); and small portions of land within the present Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Its non-native population was around 60,000 inhabitants, of whom half were African slaves.The Kingdom of France controlled the Louisiana territory from 1699 until it was ceded to Spain in 1762. In 1800, Napoleon, then the First Consul of the French Republic, hoping to re-establish an empire in North America, regained ownership of Louisiana. However, France's failure to put down the revolt in Saint-Domingue, coupled with the prospect of renewed warfare with the United Kingdom, prompted Napoleon to sell Louisiana to the United States to fund his military. The Americans originally sought to purchase only the port city of New Orleans and its adjacent coastal lands, but quickly accepted the bargain. The Louisiana Purchase occurred during the term of the third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. Before the purchase was finalized, the decision faced Federalist Party opposition; they argued that it was unconstitutional to acquire any territory. Jefferson agreed that the U.S. Constitution did not contain explicit provisions for acquiring territory, but he asserted that his constitutional power to negotiate treaties was sufficient.The original treaty of the Louisiana PurchaseIssue of 1953, commemorating the 150th Anniversary of signingFlag raising in the Place d'Armes of New Orleans, marking the transfer of sovereignty over French Louisiana to the United States, December 20, 1803, as depicted by Thure de ThulstrupThe Purchase was one of several territorial additions to the U.S.

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