The Treaty of Vincennes, 1803/1804

The Treaty of Vincennes refers to two separate treaties. The first was signed in 1803 between the U.S. government and the Miami, Wea, and Shawnee nations.

The second was in 1804 between the U.S. government and the Delaware and Piankeshaw nations. The first of the two treaties, signed in 1803, sought approval from Native nations for a U.S. land claim around the capital of the Indiana Territory, the town of Vincennes. Called “The Vincennes Tract” it already had a bloody history. It was originally surrendered to Great Britian as part of the agreement that ended the French and Indian war in 1763. The U.S. captured the land during the Revolutionary War, claiming ownership by conquest. The second of the two Treaties of Vincennes, signed in 1804, bought further land in southern Indiana below and southeast of the Vincennes Tract. There were disagreements with some Native nations as to the tract’s exact boundaries. Government land surveyor Thomas Freeman was responsible for the work of setting boundaries. Freeman left very detailed records of his survey, the path he took, and the lands he looked over. However, this record and his survey were hardly precise considering the methods of the time. They involved Freeman walking and marking the territories while doing his best to ensure such markings were accurate. As these kinds of surveys were rarely precise it was common for arguments and even conflict to break out because of the U.S. government and Native nations not agreeing as to where the treaty lines sat. Assorted tricks and clever wording were used by both Native and U.S. representatives to get the treaty lines they wanted.