The Cherokee Strip of

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

, 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 ...

, was a disputed strip of land on the southern border of the state.

Description

In 1825 the Osage Nation was given a reservation in eastern

Indian territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...

in what is now Kansas. In the

Treaty of New Echota The Treaty of New Echota was a treaty signed on December 29, 1835, in New Echota, Georgia, by officials of the United States government and representatives of a minority Cherokee political faction, the Treaty Party. The treaty established ter ...

, May 23, 1836, the northern border of the Cherokee Nation's land was set as the southern border of the Osage lands. When Congress passed the

Kansas–Nebraska Act The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 () was a territorial organic act that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. It was drafted by Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas, passed by the 33rd United States Congress, and signed into law by ...

on May 30, 1854, it set the southern border of the Kansas Territory as the

37th parallel north The 37th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 37 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Africa, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. At this latitude the ...

. It was thought at the time that the Osage northern border was also the 37th parallel. The

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

s immediately complained, saying that it was not the true boundary and that the border of Kansas should be moved north to accommodate the actual border of the Cherokee land. The situation languished during the troubles in Kansas leading up to the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. In the 1866 Cherokee Reconstruction treaty, the Cherokee agreed to cede, in trust to the

, such portion of their land that is in present-day Kansas. A commission was set up to survey the disputed land. The survey, approved December 11, 1871, found that the border was "off by 2.46 miles" (3.96 km). The strip in question ran from the

Neosho River The Neosho River is a tributary of the Arkansas River in eastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma in the United States. Its tributaries also drain portions of Missouri and Arkansas. The river is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National ...

to the 100th meridian and amounted to . Under terms of Article 17 of the Treaty of 1866, the land was to be sold "at not less than $1.25 an acre" ($3.09/ha) for the first year and then offered for sale at local land offices. The first year were sold, and the balance of was turned over to land offices during the summer of 1879. As required, the proceeds were placed in the

United States Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

subject to order of the Cherokee national council.

References

Former regions and territories of the United States Native American history of Kansas Regions of Kansas Osage Nation Cherokee Nation (1794–1907) Border irregularities of the United States {{Kansas-geo-stub