This 1829 treaty formalized the cession of Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) lands in northwestern Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin to the United States.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- August 1, 1829
- Date proclaimed
- January 2, 1830
- Tribal party
- Winnebago (Ho-Chunk)
- Lead U.S. negotiators
- General John McNeil, Colonel Pierre Menard, Caleb Atwater
- Lands ceded
- Northwestern Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following the War of 1812 and increasing American expansion into the upper Mississippi Valley, the United States sought to secure land cessions from Native nations in the region. Tensions over settler encroachment and the U.S. government's desire to open territory prompted treaty negotiations at Prairie du Chien, where multiple tribal nations were engaged simultaneously in the summer of 1829.
On August 1, 1829, U.S. commissioners General John McNeil, Colonel Pierre Menard, and Caleb Atwater concluded the third Treaty of Prairie du Chien with representatives of the Winnebago tribe. The agreement was one of two treaties negotiated simultaneously at Prairie du Chien that summer, and was officially proclaimed on January 2, 1830.
The treaty resulted in the Winnebago ceding territory in northwestern Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin to the United States, accelerating the dispossession of Ho-Chunk lands and furthering American settlement of the upper Midwest. This cession contributed to the broader pattern of tribal land loss in the region during the antebellum period.
Political Outcome
Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) ceded lands in northwestern Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin to the United States.
Winnebago held territorial claims in northwestern Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin
United States acquired ceded Winnebago lands in those regions