Treaty of St. Louis (1804)

The Treaty of St. Louis is the name of a series of treaties signed between the United States and various Native American tribes from 1804 through 1824. The fourteen treaties were all signed in the St. Louis, Missouri area.

The Treaty of St. Louis of 1804 was treaty signed by William Henry Harrison for the United States and representatives of the Sauk and Meskwaki tribes led by Quashquame, signed on November 3, 1804, and proclaimed on February 21, 1805. Despite the name, the treaty was conducted at Portage des Sioux, Missouri, located immediately north of St. Louis, Missouri. In exchange for an annual payment of $1,000 in goods to be delivered to the tribe in St. Louis ($600 for the Sacs and $400 for the Fox), the tribes gave up a swath of land stretching from northeast Missouri through almost all of Illinois north of the Illinois River as well as a large section of southern Wisconsin. This treaty was deeply resented by the Sauk, especially Black Hawk, who felt that Quashquame was not authorized to sign treaties. This treaty led to many Sauk siding with the British during the War of 1812.

The specific terms for the boundary were:

Included in this cessation were the historic villages along the Rock River (Illinois), particularly Saukenuk. William Henry Harrison, the representative for the United States, was governor of the Indiana territory and of the District of Louisiana, superintendent of Indian Affairs for the said territory and district. The party of Sauk who signed the treaty, led by Quashquame, were not expecting to negotiate land and did not include important tribal leaders who would ordinarily have been in such negotiations. Black Hawk never recognized the treaty as valid and this led him to side with the British against settlers in the area during the War of 1812. The treaty was upheld again in the Treaties of Portage des Sioux in 1815 at the end of the war. Black Hawk eventually led the Black Hawk War to fight its terms.

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