Iowa Almanac
Iowa Almanac -- Friday, October 11, 2024
A Final Treaty. More from the Iowa Almanac in a Moment. Election Day is Tuesday, November 5th. Now is the time to make a plan. Whether you plan to vote absentee by mail in person at your county auditor's office before election day or at your polling place on November 5th, it's important you take steps now to make your plan at voterready.iowa.gov. Remember, Election Day is Tuesday, November 5th. Find more information at voterready.iowa.gov. This message presented by the Iowa Secretary of State. The Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa owned and held about three-quarters of the land making up the current state of Iowa in 1842. As part of continued U.S. government intervention, on October 11th of that year, a treaty was signed between tribal leaders and the government, whereby the Native Americans would give up all that land west of the Mississippi and move to a 34 by 20 mile band of land in Kansas. It would take three years for the migration to take place. The government agreed on paper to pay for the land some $800,000. That would be close to $18 million today. Each principal chief of the tribe was to receive $500 annually as well. But as was often the case in the time those who sold the land had a difficult time getting payment from the U.S. government. Some well-known names signed off on the treaty, names that would become known today as county or city names, Kiakuk, Powishik, Appenuse, and others. The land in Kansas was hardly as bountiful as that in Iowa, so less than a generation later in 1857, a group of sack and fox moved back to Iowa, buying 80 acres of land in Tama County and establishing a settlement free from regulation, as opposed to reservations on land provided by government. But the treaty that led to the sack and fox giving up their land, some three quarters of the state of Iowa, was signed on this date in 1842. And that's Iowa Almanac for October 11th. Follow us on Twitter @IowaAlmanac. Until Monday, I'm Jeff Stein.