Keokuk's Reserve was a parcel of land in the present-day

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

that was retained by the Sauk and

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

tribes in 1832 in the aftermath of the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the " British Band", cros ...

. The tribes stayed on the reservation only until 1836 when the land was ceded to the United States, and the Native Americans were moved to a new reservation.

Treaty terms

The terms of the

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pe ...

that ended the

resulted in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

' gaining a large section of present-day Iowa known as the

Black Hawk Purchase The Black Hawk Purchase, also known as the Forty-Mile Strip or Scott's Purchase, extended along the West side of the Mississippi River from the north boundary of Missouri North to the Upper Iowa River in the northeast corner of Iowa. It was fif ...

. Keokuk's Reserve was carved out of this cession. The treaty stipulated that the reserve include Keokuk's Village, about from the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

, as well as equal portions of land on either side of the

Iowa River The Iowa River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the state of Iowa in the United States. It is about longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed May 13, 2011 and ...

. The reserve was a area along either side of the Iowa River. The boundary crossed the Iowa River and extended to the southeast where it terminated beyond Keokuk's Village.Kappler, Charles. ed.
Treaty with the Sauk and Foxes, 1832
", 21 September 1832, Government Printing Office, Washington D.C.: 1904, Oklahoma State University: Digital Collections, accessed 23 April 2008. The land surrounding the reserve was ceded to the United States by Fox and Sauk tribes as part of the Black Hawk Purchase.Brigham, Johnson. ''Iowa: Its History and Its Foremost Citizens'', "Part II: The Indians",
Google Books
,

,
Map
S.J. Clarke, 1918, Iowa History Project: Book transcriptions, accessed April 23, 2008.

Life on the reservation

After the attrition of the Black Hawk War, the Sauk and Fox peoples were forced onto Keokuk's Reservation per the treaty they signed following the war. From the beginning, the reservation was depleted of game and poor in resources. Keokuk's leadership declined as he increasingly consumed alcohol. Between 1833 and 1845 the Sauk and Fox population decreased more than 50 percent, from more than 6,000 to about 1,200 from each tribe. The community continued to decline as alcohol gained a stronger hold among the peoples. Political discord also tore the groups apart. Trask, Kerry A. ''Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America'',
Google Books
, Henry Holt Publishers, New York City: 2007, pp. 303–05, ().

Cession to the United States

On September 28, 1836 a new treaty was signed which ceded all of the land within Keokuk's Reserve to the United States government. The treaty was signed near Davenport, Iowa and attended by

Henry Dodge Moses Henry Dodge (October 12, 1782 – June 19, 1867) was a Democratic member to the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, Territorial Governor of Wisconsin and a veteran of the Black Hawk War. His son, Augustus C. Dodge, served a ...

, and more than 1,000 chiefs and braves, including the aged Black Hawk, from the Sauk and Fox nations.Andreas, A.T. ''Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa, 1875'',
Google Books
, State Historical Society, 1970,
Online transcript
), accessed April 23, 2008. The treaty text states that the reasoning behind the Sauk and Foxe's decision to cede the land was to "(obtain) additional means of support, and to pay their just creditors". The result for the Sauk and Fox living within Keokuk's Reserve was that they were removed to another reservation along the

Des Moines River The Des Moines River () is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwestern United States that is approximately long from its farther headwaters.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe Na ...

. An

Indian Agency In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government. Background The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of t ...

was established on that reservation at the present-day location of

Agency, Iowa Agency is a city in Wapello County, Iowa, United States. The population was 620 at the 2020 census. It is the historic site of an Indian trading post and the grave of Chief Wapello. History An Indian agency was established here in 1838 and oper ...

.Anonymous. ''History of Western Iowa, Its Settlement and Growth'',
Google Books
, Western Publishing Company,

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County ...

: 1882, pp. 33–36. In addition, the treaty stipulated payment to Sauk and Fox of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

30,000 in June 1837 and $10,000 per year for ten succeeding years. The treaty also made other stipulations including a $1,000 payment to the widow of Felix St. Vrain and about $48,000 for the Sauk and Fox to settle their debts.Kappler, Charles. ed.
Treaty with the Sauk and Foxes, 1836
", September 28, 1836, Government Printing Office, Washington D.C.: 1904, Oklahoma State University: Digital Collections, accessed April 23, 2007. After their removal to the new reservation along the Des Moines, Joseph M. Street, agent to the Winnebago, was appointed agent to the Sauk and Fox. A farmhouse was erected as well as two mills; one of the mills was destroyed by flood but the other remained for several years. Keokuk and two other chiefs, Wapello and

Appanoose Appanoose was a 19th-century Meskwaki chief who lived in Iowa; he was son of Taimah (Chief Tama) and probably a grandson of Quashquame. Prior to European-American settlement in the 19th century, the tribe occupied territory in what became Michiga ...

, tended farm fields on the reservation. According to the 1882 ''History of Western Iowa, Its Settlement and Growth'', much of the community began to suffer from "dissipation" (drunkenness), including Keokuk.

References

{{authority control Black Hawk War Former American Indian reservations Native American history of Iowa Former populated places in Iowa Aboriginal title in the United States 1832 establishments in the United States Sac and Fox