Lot #43

President Andrew Johnson Approves an 1865 Land 'Treaty with the Osage'

Description

President Johnson proclaims a treaty "between the United States and the Tribe of Great and Little Osage Indians"

Partly-printed DS as president, one page, 8 x 10, January 21, 1867. President Johnson directs the Secretary of State to affix the Seal of the United States to “the Proclamation of a Treaty between the United States and the Tribe of Great and Little Osage Indians, concluded on the 29th of September, 1865.” Signed neatly at the conclusion by Andrew Johnson. In fine condition, with light toning to the edges and folds. Accompanied by a printed copy of the 'Treaty with the Osage, 1865.'

Following the collapse of a similar treaty from two years prior, the 1865 Treaty with the Osage, also known as the Canville Treaty (having been signed at A. B. Canville’s trading post east of the Neosho River), was signed on September 29, 1865, was an agreement between the United States government and the Osage tribe pertaining to the cession and sale of Osage lands in the state of Kansas. The agreement was slated to pay the Osages $300,000, as the Osage understood it, for 1,500 square miles of their land. The profit from the land sale was to be placed in, what was later termed, the ‘civilization fund’ for the purpose of educating and civilizing the Indians. However, the treaty never specifically stated that the Osage were to be the beneficiaries of this money. Instead, the document states that ‘no part of such ceded lands shall be appropriated to Indians not on friendly relations with the party making the cession.’ The Osages were not considered to be on ‘friendly terms’ with the ones responsible for the cession. In total, the Osages ceded nearly 900,000 acres of their land in Kansas which meant that nearly $800,000 were to be placed in the civilization fund. Ultimately, however, the Osages received less than 1% of the money, while the rest was divided between both friends and enemies of the tribe.

Auction Info

• Auction Title: Fine Autograph and Artifacts Featuring JFK 60th / Presidents
• Dates: #678 - Ended November 08, 2023

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