(pg. 55-58)
This treaty resulted in the cession of two distinct tracts of land. One, (Royce 147), included land that extended in the present states of Wisconsin and Illinois. the second, (Royce 148), was confined to the state of Illinois. this latter tract will be considered first. It consisted of a relatively narrow strip of land extending from Rock river eastward to Lake Michigan.
In making the cession of tract #148, a series of reservations were made. These included the following tracts: (1) For Wan-pon-eh-see, 5 sections of land at the Gran Bois on Fox river of the Illinois, where Shaytee's village stands; (2) for Shab-eh-nay, 2 sections at his village near the Paw-Paw grove; and (3) for Awn-kote, 4 sections at the village of Saw-me-naug, on the Fox river of the Illinois. These particular tracts, representing lands immediately surrounding Potawatomi villages in the area, were purchased by the government as part of the treaty of September 26, 1833.
Smaller tracts were also reserved in the original treaty at what in all probability are Potawatomi villages. These included (1) one section at the village of the As-sim-in-eh-Kon, or Psw-paw Grove; (2) 960 acres at Nayonsay's village-ceded at Waishkeshaw, a Potawatomi woman, and her child; and (3) at the village of Sawmehnaug.
The western border of this tract formed by Rock River, of course represents a region of more diverse occupation. The area to the north of Rock River has, by 1829, become an important center of Winnebago occupation. At least o e large Winnebago village was located on the south side of Rock river within the area embraced by this tract. The village is indicated on Royce's map and can be documented for the 1829 period by a contemporary map published in the Wisconsin Historical Collections. (Map of the united States Lead Mines on the Upper Mississippi River. Drawn and Published by R.W. Chandler of Galena, 1829 Wis. Hist. Colls., XI, 1888, p. 400.)
The tract numbered by Royce #148 would therefore appear to have been primarily occupied by the Potawatomi though the western limits also contained some Winnebago settlements. The western region had also, of course, been partly dominated by the Kickapoo during the War of 1812 but contemporary maps do not indicate a persistence of Kickapoo settlement in 1829.
The second land tract (Royce #147) to be considered in connection with the Treaty of July 29, 1829 consists of a narrow strip of land adjacent to the Mississippi river and extending from Rock river on the south, northward to the Wisconsin river at Prairie du Chien, the tract of land immediately adjacent to the post being excluded since it had been previously ceded to the United States.
Though they were not the earliest inhabitants of the region, in the beginning of the nineteenth century, this entire area was occupied by the Fox (see statement of Zebulon M. Pike, previously quoted). This region was ceded to the United States, however, by the Treaty concluded with the Sauk and Fox at St. Louis on November 3, 1804. Subsequently in a treaty concluded on August 24, 1816 at St. Louis with the Ottawa, Chippewa and Potawatomi, the United States relinquished to these tribes all lands in the cession of November 3, 1804, lying North of a due West line from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan. A tract of land three leagues square at the mouth of the Wisconsin river was retained by the United States.
The map of this area previously cited (Map of the United States' Lead Mines on the Upper Mississippi River, Drawn and Published by R.W. Chandler of Galena) which was issued in 1829 is particularly useful in indicating Indian settlement at the time the treaty was made. Two Winnebago villages are indicated immediately adjacent to the tract under consideration and several appear in the territory to the east of that ceded in the treaty. A survey of references to village locations in this region yielded only Winnebago villages and camps, or at an early time period, Fox villages.
It would appear that although the treaty of August 24, 1816 relinquished this tract to the Ottawa, Chippewa and Potawatomi, none of these tribes had established themselves in the area in the period before it was again ceded to the United States.