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Treaty of 1842
WHEREAS a treaty was heretofore
concluded, and made between the said United States, and the chiefs, headmen,
and warriors of the several tribes of New York Indians, dated the fifteenth
day of January in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight,
which treaty having been afterwards amended, was proclaimed by the President
of the United States, on the fourth of April one thousand eight hundred
and forty, to have been duly ratified.
And whereas on the day of
making this treaty, and bearing even date herewith, a certain indenture
was made executed and concluded by and between the said Seneca nation of
Indians and Thomas L. Ogden, and Joseph Fellows, assignees under the State
of Massachusetts, in the presence, and with the approbation of a Commissioner
appointed by the United States, and in the presence and with the approbation
of Samuel Hoare, a superintendent on the part of the commonwealth of Massachusetts,
which indenture is in the words and figures following to wit:
THIS INDENTURE made and concluded
between Thomas Ludlow Ogden of the city of New York, and Joseph Fellows
of Geneva, in the county of Ontario of the one part, and the chiefs and
headmen of the Seneca nation of Indians, on the other part at a council
duly assembled and held at Buffalo Creek in the State of New York on the
twentieth day of May in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-two
in the presence of Samuel Hoare, the superintendent thereto authorized
and appointed by and on the part of the commonwealth of Massachusets, an
of Ambrose Spencer a Commissioner thereto duly appointed and authorized
on the part of the United States. “Whereas at a council held at Buffalo
Creek on the fifteenth day of January in the year one thousand eight hundred
and thirty eight, an indenture of that date was made and executed by and
between the parties to this agreement, whereby the chiefs and headmen of
the Seneca nation of Indians for the consideration of two hundred and two
thousand dollars did grant, bargain, release and confirm unto the said
Thomas Ludlow Ogden and Joseph Fellows, all those four several tracts of
land, situate within the State of New York, then and yet occupied by the
said nation, or the people thereof, severally described in the said indenture,
as the Buffalo Creek Reservation, containing by estimation forty-nine thousand
nine hundred and twenty acres of land, the Cattaraugus Reservation containing
by estimation twenty-one thousand six hundred and eighty acres of land,
the Allegany Reservation, containing by estimation thirty thousand four
hundred and sixty-nine acres of land, and the Tonnewanda Reservation containing
by estimation twelve thousand eight hundred acres of land; a duplicate
of which indenture was annexed to a treaty of the same date made between
the United States of America and the chiefs, headmen, and warriors of the
several tribes of New York Indians assembled in council; which treaty was
amended and proclaimed by the President of the United States on the fourth
of April one thousand eight hundred and forty, as having been duly ratified;
as by the said indenture, treaty and proclamation more fully appear. “And
whereas divers questions and differences having arisen between the chiefs
and headmen of the Seneca nation of Indians or some of them, and the said
Thomas Ludlow Ogden and Joseph Fellows in relation to the said indenture,
and the rights of the parties thereto, and the provisions contained in
the said indenture being still unexecuted, the said parties have mutually
agreed to settle, compromise and finally terminate all such questions and
differences on the terms and conditions hereinafter specified. “Now therefore
it is hereby mutually declared, and agreed, by and between the said parties
as follows.
ARTICLE FIRST.
The said Thomas Ludlow Ogden,
and Joseph Fellows in consideration of the release and agreements hereinafter
contained, on the part of the said Seneca nation do on their part consent.
covenant and agree that they the said nation (the said indenture not withstanding)
shall and may continue in the occupation and enjoyment of the whole of
the said two several tracts of land, called the Cattaraugus Reservation,
and the Allegany Reservation with the same right and title in all things,
as they had and possessed therein immediately before the date of the said
indenture, saving and reserving to the said Thomas Ludlow Ogden, and Joseph
Fellows the right of pre-emption, and all other the right and title which
they then had or held in or to the said tracts of land.
ARTICLE SECOND.
The chiefs and headmen of
the Seneca nation of Indians in consideration of the foregoing, and of
the agreement next hereinafter contained, do on their part grant, release
and confirm unto the said Thomas Ludlow Ogden, and Joseph Fellows, and
to their heirs and assigns, in joint tenancy, the whole of the said two
tracts of land severally called the Buffalo Creek Reservation, and the
Tonnewanda Reservation, and all the right and interest therein of the said
nation.
ARTICLE THIRD.
It is mutually agreed, between
the parties hereto that in lieu of the sum expressed in the said indenture,
as the consideration of the sale, and release of the said four tracts of
land, there shall be paid to the said nation a just consideration sum,
for the release of the two tracts, hereby confirmed to the said Ogden and
Fellows, to be estimated and ascertained as follows.
“The present value of the
Indian title to the whole of the said four tracts of land including the
improvements thereon, shall for all the purposes of this present compact,
be deemed and taken to be two hundred and two thousand dollars, of which
sum one hundred thousand dollars shall be deemed to be the value of such
title in and to all the lands within the said four tracts exclusive of
the improvements thereon, and one hundred and two thousand dollars to be
the value of all the improvements within the said four tracts, and of the
said sum of one hundred thousand dollars the said Ogden and Fellows shall
pay to the Seneca nation such proportion as the value of all the lands
within the said two tracts called the Buffalo Creek, and Tonnewanda Reservations
shall bear to the value of all the lands within all the said four tracts—
and of the said sum of one hundred and two thousand dollars, the said Ogden
and Fellows shall pay such proportion as the value of the improvements
on the same two tracts, shall bear to the value of the improvements on
all the said four tracts.
ARTICLE FOURTH.
The amount of the consideration
monies to be paid in pursuance of the last preceding article, shall be
determined by the judgment and award of arbitrators, one of whom shall
be named by the Secretary of the War Department of the United States, and
one by the said Ogden and Fellows, which arbitrators in order to such judgment
and award, and to the performance of the other duties hereby imposed on
them, may employ suitable surveyors to explore examine and report on the
value of the said lands and improvements, and also to ascertain the contents
of each of the said four tracts, which contents shall govern the arbitrators
as to quantity in determining the amount of the said consideration money.
“The same arbitrators shall
also award and determine the amount to be paid to each individual Indian
out of the sum which on the principles above stated, they shall ascertain
and award to be the proportionate value of the improvements on the said
two tracts called the Buffalo Creek Reservation and the Tonnewanda Reservation,
and in case the said arbitrators shall disagree as to any of the matters
hereby submitted to them, they may choose an umpire whose decision thereon
shall be final and conclusive, and the said arbitrators shall make a report
in writing of their proceedings in duplicate, such reports to be acknowledged
or proved according to the laws of the State of New York, in order to their
being recorded, one of such reports to be filed in the office of the Secretary
of the Department of War, and the other thereof to be delivered to the
said Thomas L. Ogden and Joseph Fellows.
ARTICLE FIFTH.
It is agreed, that the possession
of the two pass hereby confirmed, to the said Ogden and Fellows, shall
be surrendered and delivered up to them, as follows, viz: The forest or
unimproved lands on the said tracts, within one month after the report
of the said arbitrators shall be filed, in the office of the Department
of War, and he improved lands within two years after the said report shall
have been so filed; Provided always that the amount to be so ascertained
and awarded, as the proportionate value of the said improvements, shall
on the surrender thereof be paid to the President of the United States,
to be distributed among the owners of the said improvements, according
to the determination and award of the said arbitrators, in this behalf,
and provided further that the consideration for the release and conveyance
of the said lands shall at the time of the surrender thereof be paid or
secured to the satisfaction of the said Secretary of the War Department,
the income of which is to be paid to the said Seneca Indians annually.
“But any Indian having improvements
may surrender the same, and the land occupied by him and his family at
any time prior to the expiration of the said two years, upon the amount
awarded to him for such improvements being paid to the President of the
United States, or any agent designated by him for that purpose by the said
Ogden and Fellows, which amount shall be paid over to the Indian entitled
to the same, under the direction of the War Department.
ARTICLE SIXTH.
It is hereby agreed and
declared to be the understanding and intent of the parties hereto, that
such of the said Seneca nation, as shall remove from the State of New York,
under the provisions of any treaty, made or to be made, between the United
States and the said Indians, shall be entitled in proportion to their relative
numbers to the funds of the Seneca nation, and that the interest and income
of such their share and proportion of the said funds, including the consideration
money to be paid to the said nation in pursuance of this Indenture, and
of all annuities belonging to the said Nation shall be paid to the said
Indians so removing at their new homes, and whenever the said tracts called
the Allegheny and the Cattaraugus Reservations, or any part thereof shall
be sold and conveyed by the Indians remaining in the State of New York,
the Indians so removing shall be entitled to share in the proceeds of said
sales in the like proportion. And it is further agreed and declared, that
such Indians owning improvements in the Cattaraugus and Alleghany tracts
as may so remove from the State of New York, shall be entitled on such
removal, and on surrendering their improvements to the Seneca nation, for
the benefit of the nation to receive the like compensation for the same,
according to their relative values, as in the third and fourth articles
of this treaty are stipulated to be paid, to the owners of improvements
in the Buffalo Creek and Tonnewanda Tracts, on surrendering their improvements;
which compensations may be advanced by the President of the United States,
out of any funds in the hands of the Government of the United States, belonging
to the Seneca nation, and the value of these improvements shall be ascertained
and reported by the Arbitrators, to be appointed in pursuance of the fourth
article.
ARTICLE SEVENTH.
This Indenture is to be
deemed to be in lieu of, and as a substitute for the above recited Indenture
made and dated the fifteenth day of January, one thousand eight hundred
and thirty eight, so far as the provisions of the two instruments may be
inconsistent, or contradictory, and the said Indenture so far as the same
may be inconsistent with the provisions of this compact, is to be regarded
and is hereby declared to be rescinded and released.
ARTICLE EIGHTH.
All the expenses attending
the execution of this Indenture and compact including those of the arbitration
and surveys herein before referred to, and also those of holding the treaty
now in negotiation between the United States and the said Seneca Nation,
except so far as may be provided for by the United States, shall be advanced
and paid by the said Ogden and Fellows.
ARTICLE NINTH.
The parties to this compact
mutually agree to solicit the influence of the Government of the United
States to protect such of the lands of the Seneca Indians, within the State
of New York, as may from time to time remain in their possession from all
taxes, and assessments for roads, highways, or any other purpose until
such lands shall be sold and conveyed by the said Indians, and the possession
thereof shall have been relinquished by them.
“In witness whereof, the
parties to these presents have hereunto, and to three other instruments
of the same tenor and date, one to remain with the United States, one to
remain with the State of Massachusetts, one to remain with the Seneca Nation
of Indians, and one to remain with the said Thomas Ludlow Ogden and Joseph
Fellows, interchangeably set their hands and seals the day and year first
above written.”
THEREFORE taking into consideration
the premises it is agreed and stipulated by and between the United States
of America and the Seneca nation of Indians, as follows, to wit:
First, The United StatesUnited
States of America consent to the several articles and stipulations contained
in the last recited Indenture between the said nation, and the said Thomas
Ludlow Ogden and Joseph Fellows, above set forth.
Second, The United States
further consent and agree that any number of the said nation, who shall
remove from the State of New York, under the provisions of the above mentioned
Treaty proclaimed as aforesaid, on the fourth day of April one thousand
eight hundred and forty, shall be entitled in proportion to their relative
numbers to all the benefits of the said Treaty.
Third, The United States
of America further consent and agree, that the tenth article of said Treaty
proclaimed as aforesaid on the fourth day of April one thousand eight hundred
and forty, be deemed, and considered as modified, in conformity with the
provisions of the Indenture hereinabove set forth, so far as that the United
States will receive and pay the sum stipulated to be paid as the consideration
money of the improvements therein specified, and will receive hold and
apply the sum to be paid, or the securities to be given for the lands therein
mentioned, as provided for in such Indenture.
In testimony whereof the
undersigned Ambrose Spencer Commissioner on the part of the United States
of America, and the undersigned chiefs and headmen of the Seneca nation
of Indians, have to two parts of this treaty. one thereof to remain with
the United States, and the other thereof with the Seneca nation of Indians,
set their hands and affixed their seals the day and year first above mentioned. |