At the City of Detroit
in the State of Michigan,
Treaty with the Chippewa of Saginaw, etc.
Articles of agreement and convention, made
and concluded at the city of Detroit, in the State of Michigan, this
second day of August, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, between
George W. Manypenny and Henry C. Gilbert, commissioners on the part of
the United States, and the Chippewa Indians of Saginaw, parties to the
treaty of January 14, 1837, and that portion of the band of Chippewa
Indians of Swan Creek and Black River, parties to the treaty of May 9,
1836, and now remaining in the State of Michigan.
In view of the existing conditions of the
Indians aforesaid, and of their legal and equitable claims against the
United States, it is agreed between the contracting parties as follows,
viz:
ARTICLE 1. The United States will withdraw from
sale, for the benefit of said Indians, as herein provided, all the
unsold public lands within the State of Michigan embraced in the
following description, to wit:
First. Six adjoining townships of land in the
county of Isabella, to be selected by said Indians within three months
from this date, and notice thereof given to their agent.
Second. Townships Nos. 17 and 18 north, ranges 3, 4, and 5 east.
The United States will give to each of the said
Indians, being a head of a family, eighty acres of land; and to each
single person over twenty- one years of age, forty acres of land; and to
each family of orphan children under twenty-one years of age,
containing two or more persons, eighty acres of land; and to each single
orphan child under twenty-one years of age, forty acres of land; to be
selected and located within the several tracts of land hereinbefore
described, under the same rules and regulations, in every respect, as
are provided by the agreement concluded on the 31st day of July, A.D. 1855, with the Ottawas and Chippewas of Michigan, for the selection of their lands.
And the said Chippewas of Saginaw and of Swan
Creek and Black River, shall have the same exclusive fight to enter
lands within the tracts withdrawn from sale for them for five years
after the time limited for selecting the lands to which they are
individually entitled, and the same right to sell and dispose of land
entered by them, under the provisions of the Act of Congress known as
the Graduation Act, as is extended to the Ottawas and Chippewas by the
terms of said agreement.
And the Provisions therein contained relative to
the purchase and sale of land for school-houses, churches, and
educational purposes, shall also apply to this agreement.
ARTICLE 2. The United States shall also pay to
the said Indians the sum of two hundred and twenty thousand dollars, in
manner following, to wit:
First. Thirty thousand dollars for educational
purposes, to be paid in five equal annual instalments of four thousand
dollars each, and in five subsequent equal annual instalments of two
thousand dollars each, to be expended under the direction of the
President of the United States.
Second. Forty thousand dollars, in five equal
annual instalments of five thousand dollars each, and in five subsequent
equal annual instalments of three thousand dollars each, in
agricultural implements and carpeters' tools, household furniture and
building materials, cattle, labor, and all such articles as may be
necessary and useful for them in removing to the homes herein provided,
and getting permanently settled thereon.
Third. One hundred and thirty-seven thousand and
six hundred dollars in coin, in ten equal instalments of ten thousand
dollars each, and in two subsequent equal annual instalments of eighteen
thousand and eight hundred dollars each, to be distributed per capita
in the usual manner for paying annuities.
Fourth. Twelve thousand and four hundred dollars
for the support of one blacksmith-shop for ten years. The United States
will also build a grist and saw mill for said Indians at some point in
the territory, to be selected by them in said county of Isabella,
provided, a suitable water-power can be found, and will furnish and
equip the same with all necessary fixtures and machinery, and will
construct such dam, race, and other appurtenances as may be necessary to
render the water-power available: Provided, That the whole
amount for which the United States shall be liable under this provision,
shall not exceed the sum of eight thousand dollars.
The United States will also pay the further sum
of four thousand dollars for the purpose of purchasing a saw-mill, and
in repair of the same, and in adding thereto the necessary machinery and
fixtures for a run of stone for grinding grain--the same to be located
on the tract described in clause "second," Article 1.
The United States will also pay the further sum
of twenty thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to
be applied in liquidation of the present just indebtedness of the said
Indians; Provided, That all claims presented shall be
investigated under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior within
six months, who shall prescribe such rules and regulations for
conducting such investigation, and for testing the validity and justice
of the claims as he shall deem suitable an proper. And no claim shall be
paid except on the certificate of the said Secretary that, in his
opinion, the same is justly and equitably due; and all claimants, who
shall not present their claims within such time as may be limited by
said Secretary, or, whose claims having been presented, shall be
disallowed by him, shall be forever precluded from collecting the same,
or maintaining an action thereon in any court whatever; And, provided, also,
That no portion of the money due said Indians for annuities, as herein
provided, shall ever be appropriated to pay their debts under any
pretence whatever; Provided, That the balance of the amount
herein allowed as a just increase for the cessions and relinquishments
aforesaid, after satisfaction of the awards of the Secretary of the
Interior, shall be paid to the said Indians, or expended for their
benefit in such a manner as the Secretary shall prescribe, in aid of any
of the objects specified in this treaty.
ARTICLE 3. The said Chippewas of Saginaw, and of
Swan Creek and Black River, hereby cede to the United States all the
lands within the State of Michigan heretofore owned by them as
reservations, and whether held for them in trust by the United States or
otherwise; and they do hereby, jointly and severally, release and
discharge the United States from all liability to them, and to their, or
either of their said tribes, for the price and value of all such lands,
heretofore sold, and the proceeds of which remain unpaid.
And they also hereby surrender all their, and
each of their permanent annuities, secured to them, or either of them by
former treaty stipulations, including that portion of the annuity of
eight hundred dollars payable to "the Chippewas," by the treaty of
November 17, 1807, to which they are entitled, it being distinctly
understood and agreed, that the grants and payments hereinbefore
provided for, are in lieu and satisfaction of all claims, legal and
equitable on the part of said Indians, jointly and severally, aainst the
United States for land, money, or other thing guaranteed to said
tribes, or either of diem, by the stipulations of any former treaty or
treaties.
ARTICLE 4. The entries of land heretofore made
by Indians and by the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal
Church for the benefit of the Indians, on lands withdrawn from sale in
townships 14 north, range 4 east, and 10 north, range 5 east, in the
State of Michigan, are hereby confirmed, and patents shall be issued
therefor as in other cases.
ARTICLE 5. The United States will provide an
interpreter for said Indians for five years, and as much longer as the
President may deem necessary.
ARTICLE 6. The tribal organization of said
Indians, except so far as may be necessary for the purpose of carrying
into effect the provisions of this agreement, is hereby dissolved.
ARTICLE 7. This agreement shall be obligatory
and binding on the contracting parties as soon as the same shall be
ratified by the President and Senate of the United States. In testimony
whereof, the said George W. Manypenny and the said Henry C. Gilbert
commissioners as aforesaid, and the undersigned, chiefs and headmen of
the Chippewas of Saginaw and of Swan Creek and Black River, have hereto
set their hands and seals at the city of the day and year first above
written.