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{{Short description|1838 treaty between the United States and Native Americans}}
The Treaty of Buffalo Creek was a 1788 treaty between the ] of western ] and certain purchasers of rights to the Indian's land, in which the Indian title to the lands was extinguished, in exchange for a payment plus an annuity.
{{For|other treaties with this name|Treaties of Buffalo Creek}}


There are four '''treaties of Buffalo Creek''', named for the ] in New York. The '''Second Treaty of Buffalo Creek''', also known as the '''Treaty with the New York Indians, 1838''', was signed on January 15, 1838 (proclaimed on April 4, 1840) between the ], ], ], ], ], ] and the ]. It covered land sales of ] under the U.S. ] program, by which they planned to move most eastern tribes to ] west of the ].
Under the 1786 ], New York and ] settled their competing claims to the lands of western New York, which comprised about 6 million acres, all west of the ]. Under this treaty, they agreed that the lands would be part of New York but Massachusetts would have ownership of the lands, subject to New York and to any Indian title. This was known as a "right of preemption." That is, a right to preempt all other purchasers of Indian title and purchase that title itself.


]-January 15, 1838-Article I-The New York Indians also agreed to "cede and relinquish to the United States all their right, title, and interest to the lands secured to them at Green Bay by the Menominee Treaty of 1831, excepting the following tract, on which a part of the New York Indians now reside." The tract was eight by twelve miles consisting of 65, 436 acres or equal to 100 acres for each of the 654 ] that were presently living there. This established the original boundaries of the Oneida Reservation of Wisconsin.
On April 1, 1788, Massachusetts sold its right of preemption of Indian lands in western New York to Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham. The sale involved all six million acres of the generally uninhabited lands. The sales price was $1 million, payable in three equal annual installments. Under the agreement, the buyers could pay in certain Massachusetts securities, then worth about 20 cents on the dollar. The sale was conditioned upon Phelps and Gorham extinguishing any and all Indian title.


== History ==
On June 1, 1788, Mr. Phelps, the Rev. Samuel Kirkland as Commissioner for Massachusetts, and others arrived at Seneca Lake, which was the eastern boundry of the land. The expedition sought a meeting with the various Indian tribes to negotiate cession of all Indian title to the full 6 million acres. Phelps sent word to the Indians to parley and and on June 21, 1788, Red Jacket, Little Billy, Heap-of-Dogs, and three others invited Mr. Phelps to meet at Buffalo Creek, located in the western portion of the lands, approximately where the City of Buffalo, New York is presently located.
In August 1826, a land company led by former ] attorney ] had negotiated the purchase of six of the ten reservations allocated to the ] in the 1797 ], all of them along the ]: ], Geneseo, ], Deyuitgaoh, Caneadea and Gardeau. To the present day, the ] does not recognize the 1826 sale as valid, alleging the sale was made under duress<ref name="Sagoyewatha2006">{{cite book|last1=Red Jacket (Seneca chief)|title=The Collected Speeches of Sagoyewatha, Or Red Jacket|date=2006|publisher=]|isbn=9780815630968|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JP27XEqTNycC&pg=PA285|accessdate=May 8, 2017|language=en}}</ref> and does not have to be honored because it was not accompanied by a treaty ratified by the United States government.<ref name=canawaugus-repurchase>{{Cite web |last=Quigley |first=Kellen |date=December 31, 2022 |title=Seneca Nation purchases ancestral Genesee Valley land |url=https://www.salamancapress.com/news/seneca-nation-purchases-ancestral-genesee-valley-land/article_7fcb785a-885b-11ed-9c26-87556795cadf.html |access-date=2022-12-31 |website=The ] |language=en}}</ref> After the sale, four reservations remained: ], ], ], and ].


In the 1838 Treaty of Buffalo Creek, the Seneca, represented by certain chiefs including ], ], ], and ], agreed to sell the four remaining Seneca reservations, in exchange for the United States providing for the Seneca to relocate to a tract of land in present-day ] (then territory), west of ]. A section of the treaty acknowledged that the Ogden Land Company (still in operations after Ogden had died in 1829) would buy the five reservations then occupied by the Seneca Nation, after which the Ogden Land Company would sell the land to settlers for development.
On July 4, 1788, the meeting was held at Buffalo Creek. After a few days of negotiation, Phelps bought for $5,000 and and a perpetual annuity of $500, a tract of about 2.6 million acres lying mainly between Seneca Lake and Genesee river. When the meeting was concluded, Phelps also asked for a gift of a lot west of the Genesee upon which a grist mill and saw mill could be erected for the Indians. They objected, but finally agreed to give him land sufficient for a mill lot. Phelps selected a 200,000 acre tract extending south from Lake Ontario twenty-five miles and twelve miles west of the course of the Genesee River. This became known as ]. Within the Mill Yard Tract, Phelps and Gorham gifted 100 acres (0.4 km²) to Ebenezer "Indian" Allen at the high falls of the Genesee River so he could build that grist mill and sawmill. Allen's 100 acre (0.4 km²) tract became the nucleus of ].


The treaty was met with some controversy and resistance by Quakers residing in New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. These groups filed charges of fraud against the Ogden Company. Seneca young chief ] served as a lawyer representing four of the territories.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Littlefield, Jr. |first=Daniel F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A7OlZPtIMy4C |title=Encyclopedia of American Indian Removal |last2=Parins |first2=James W. |date=2011-01-19 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-36042-8 |pages=173 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Johansen |first=Bruce Elliott |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zibNDBchPkMC |title=Encyclopedia of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) |last2=Mann |first2=Barbara Alice |date=2000 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-30880-2 |page=249 |language=en}}</ref> Some Seneca groups, particularly among those in the Tonawanda reservation, also claimed that most Iroquois did not support the treaty and that only a minority actually signed it. Some of these grievances helped lead to another meeting between these two parties and the creation of the further treaties.
The remaining lands west of the Genesee River were eventually lost by Phelps and Gorham and were resold to a syndicate of Dutch investors known as ] and to Robert Morris (]). About the same time, the unsold lands of Phelps and Gorham east of the Genesee River were acquired by Robert Morris, who resold them to a group of British investors, known as the ].

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Ultimately, the Ogden Land Company abandoned its attempts to purchase the Allegany and Cattaraugus reservations, leading to the ] in 1842. A ] was later established and reclaimed the Tonawanda Reservation in the ] in 1857, declaring independence from the Seneca Nation of Indians. In 1861, the ] ruled that the ] was also Seneca territory despite not being included in any of the treaties, as Seneca witness ] argued that its omission was a mistake.<ref name=Hauptman>{{cite book|last1=Hauptman|first1=Laurence|title=Seven Generations of Iroquois Leadership: The Six Nations Since 1800|date=2008|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=978-0-8156-3165-1}}</ref>

==See also==
*]
*]
*]
*] (1788)
*] (1842)
*] (1857)
*]
*'']'' (1857)
*'']'' (1858)

==References==
{{reflist}}
*Laurence M. Hauptman, ''Conspiracy of Interests: Iroquois Dispossession and the Rise of New York State'' (2001).
*''Encyclopedia of American Indian Removal''. Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood. 2011. pp. 241–243. {{ISBN|978-0-313-36041-1}}.

==External links ==
*
*
*,

]
]
]
]
]

Latest revision as of 15:27, 11 September 2024

1838 treaty between the United States and Native Americans For other treaties with this name, see Treaties of Buffalo Creek.

There are four treaties of Buffalo Creek, named for the Buffalo River in New York. The Second Treaty of Buffalo Creek, also known as the Treaty with the New York Indians, 1838, was signed on January 15, 1838 (proclaimed on April 4, 1840) between the Seneca Nation, Mohawk nation, Cayuga nation, Oneida Indian Nation, Onondaga (tribe), Tuscarora (tribe) and the United States. It covered land sales of tribal reservations under the U.S. Indian Removal program, by which they planned to move most eastern tribes to Kansas Territory west of the Mississippi River.

Treaty of Buffalo Creek-January 15, 1838-Article I-The New York Indians also agreed to "cede and relinquish to the United States all their right, title, and interest to the lands secured to them at Green Bay by the Menominee Treaty of 1831, excepting the following tract, on which a part of the New York Indians now reside." The tract was eight by twelve miles consisting of 65, 436 acres or equal to 100 acres for each of the 654 Oneida that were presently living there. This established the original boundaries of the Oneida Reservation of Wisconsin.

History

In August 1826, a land company led by former Holland Land Company attorney David A. Ogden had negotiated the purchase of six of the ten reservations allocated to the Seneca tribe in the 1797 Treaty of Big Tree, all of them along the Genesee River: Canawaugus, Geneseo, Do'onondaga'a, Deyuitgaoh, Caneadea and Gardeau. To the present day, the Seneca Nation of Indians does not recognize the 1826 sale as valid, alleging the sale was made under duress and does not have to be honored because it was not accompanied by a treaty ratified by the United States government. After the sale, four reservations remained: Buffalo Creek Reservation, Tonawanda Reservation, Cattaraugus Reservation, and Allegany Reservation.

In the 1838 Treaty of Buffalo Creek, the Seneca, represented by certain chiefs including Red Jacket, Cornplanter, Handsome Lake, and Governor Blacksnake, agreed to sell the four remaining Seneca reservations, in exchange for the United States providing for the Seneca to relocate to a tract of land in present-day Kansas (then territory), west of Missouri. A section of the treaty acknowledged that the Ogden Land Company (still in operations after Ogden had died in 1829) would buy the five reservations then occupied by the Seneca Nation, after which the Ogden Land Company would sell the land to settlers for development.

The treaty was met with some controversy and resistance by Quakers residing in New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. These groups filed charges of fraud against the Ogden Company. Seneca young chief Maris Bryant Pierce served as a lawyer representing four of the territories. Some Seneca groups, particularly among those in the Tonawanda reservation, also claimed that most Iroquois did not support the treaty and that only a minority actually signed it. Some of these grievances helped lead to another meeting between these two parties and the creation of the further treaties.

Ultimately, the Ogden Land Company abandoned its attempts to purchase the Allegany and Cattaraugus reservations, leading to the Third Treaty of Buffalo Creek in 1842. A Tonawanda Band of Seneca was later established and reclaimed the Tonawanda Reservation in the Fourth Treaty of Buffalo Creek in 1857, declaring independence from the Seneca Nation of Indians. In 1861, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled that the Oil Springs Reservation was also Seneca territory despite not being included in any of the treaties, as Seneca witness Governor Blacksnake argued that its omission was a mistake.

See also

References

  1. Red Jacket (Seneca chief) (2006). The Collected Speeches of Sagoyewatha, Or Red Jacket. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9780815630968. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  2. Quigley, Kellen (December 31, 2022). "Seneca Nation purchases ancestral Genesee Valley land". The Salamanca Press. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  3. Littlefield, Jr., Daniel F.; Parins, James W. (2011-01-19). Encyclopedia of American Indian Removal [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-313-36042-8.
  4. Johansen, Bruce Elliott; Mann, Barbara Alice (2000). Encyclopedia of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy). Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 249. ISBN 978-0-313-30880-2.
  5. Hauptman, Laurence (2008). Seven Generations of Iroquois Leadership: The Six Nations Since 1800. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-3165-1.
  • Laurence M. Hauptman, Conspiracy of Interests: Iroquois Dispossession and the Rise of New York State (2001).
  • Encyclopedia of American Indian Removal. Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood. 2011. pp. 241–243. ISBN 978-0-313-36041-1.

External links

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