The Honey War was a bloodless

territorial dispute A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the possession of natural resources s ...

in 1839 between

Iowa Territory The Territory of Iowa was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Iowa. The remain ...

and

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

over their border. The dispute over a strip running the entire length of the border, caused by unclear wording in the Missouri Constitution on boundaries, misunderstandings over the survey of the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or ap ...

, and a misreading of Native American treaties, was ultimately decided by the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

in Iowa's favor. The decision was to affirm a nearly jog in the nearly straight line border between extreme southeast Iowa and northeast Missouri at

Keokuk, Iowa Keokuk is a city in and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States, along with Fort Madison. It is Iowa's southernmost city. The population was 9,900 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is named after the Sauk chief Keokuk, who is ...

that is now Iowa's southernmost point. Before the issue was settled, militias from both sides faced each other at the border, a Missouri sheriff collecting taxes in Iowa was incarcerated, and three trees containing

beehive A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus '' Apis'' live and raise their young. Though the word ''beehive'' is commonly used to describe the nest of any bee colony, scientific and professional literature ...

s were cut down.

Timeline

*1803:

*1804: Treaty of St. Louis – Sac and Fox tribes cede Missouri from the mouth of the

Gasconade River The Gasconade River is about longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 31, 2011 and is located in central and south-central Missouri. The Gasconade River begins in the Oz ...

through

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

and Wisconsin *1808:

Treaty of Fort Clark The Treaty of Fort Clark (also known as the Treaty with the Osage or the Osage Treaty) was signed at Fort Osage (then called Fort Clark) on November 10, 1808, (ratified on April 28, 1810) in which the Osage Nation ceded all the land east of the ...

–

Osage Nation The Osage Nation ( ) ( Osage: 𐓁𐒻 𐓂𐒼𐒰𐓇𐒼𐒰͘ ('), "People of the Middle Waters") is a Midwestern Native American tribe of the Great Plains. The tribe developed in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 700 BC along ...

cedes Missouri and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

east of

Fort Osage Fort Osage (also known as Fort Clark or Fort Sibley) was an early 19th-century factory trading post run by the United States Government in western Missouri on the American frontier; it was located in present-day Sibley, Missouri. The Treaty o ...

*1812–1815:

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...

– Tribes protesting the treaties side with the British in Missouri and Mississippi Valley skirmishes *1814: Treaty of Ghent ends the war and requires tribes to be treated as before the war *1815:

Treaties of Portage des Sioux The Treaties of Portage des Sioux were a series of treaties at Portage des Sioux, Missouri in 1815 that officially were supposed to mark the end of conflicts between the United States and Native Americans at the conclusion of the War of 1812. ...

includes wording that the Osage, Sac and Fox agree to their earlier treaties *1816: John C. Sullivan surveys the

Indian Boundary Line (1816) Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asi ...

from the mouth of the

Kansas River The Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, is a river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is the southwesternmost part of the Missouri River drainage, which is in turn the northwesternmost portion of the extensive Mississippi River dr ...

in modern-day

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the List of United States cities by populat ...

to approximately

Sheridan, Missouri Sheridan is a city in northwest Worth County, Missouri, United States, near the Platte River. The population was 195 at the 2010 census. History A post office called Sheridan has been in operation since 1887. Sheridan was the name of a local f ...

and then east to the Des Moines River near

Farmington, Iowa Farmington is a city in Van Buren County, Iowa, United States. The population was 579 at the time of the 2020 census. History Farmington was laid out in 1839. It was named after Farmington, Connecticut. The town was incorporated on January 11 ...

*1818: Missouri considers various boundary options for statehood. *1820: Missouri enters the Union with its western boundary being the Indian Boundary Line and its northern boundary being the Sullivan Line. Wording in the Constitution refers to the rapids on the river Des Moines which some perceive as ambiguous since the Des Moines has no rapids but the Mississippi nearby has rapids called the

Des Moines Rapids The Des Moines Rapids between Nauvoo, Illinois and Keokuk, Iowa-Hamilton, Illinois is one of two major rapids on the Mississippi River that limited Steamboat traffic on the river through the early 19th century. The rapids just above the conf ...

. *1824: Sac and Fox cede all remaining land in Missouri and ceded the land south of the Sullivan Line between the Des Moines and Mississippi as

Half Breed Tract A Half-Breed Tract was a segment of land designated in the western states by the United States government in the 19th century specifically for Métis of American Indian and European or European-American ancestry, at the time commonly known as hal ...

. Missouri makes no effort to extend its claim to Half Breed Tract. *1830:

Indian Removal Act The Indian Removal Act was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for ...

– Efforts begin to remove all tribes to west of the Indian Boundary Line *1832:

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", cross ...

as tribes resist the removal order *1834: Congress opens up Half Breed Tract to settlement but Missouri again makes no claim on the territory. *1836: Iowa is removed from

Michigan Territory The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit ...

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belmont was ...

*1836: The federal government in the

Platte Purchase The Platte Purchase was a land acquisition in 1836 by the United States government from American Indian tribes of the region. It comprised lands along the east bank of the Missouri River and added to the northwest corner of the state of Miss ...

buys the land west of the Indian Boundary line and it is annexed to Missouri with its northern border being the Sullivan Line. *1838:

is organized *1839: According to legend a Missouri tax collector in Iowa cuts down three hollow trees containing honey bee hives to collect the

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

in lieu of taxes. *1839:

Clark County, Missouri Clark County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, its population was 6,634. Its county seat is Kahoka. The county was organized December 16, 1836 and named for William Clark, leader of the Lewis and ...

sheriff Uriah S. ("Sandy") Gregory is arrested by

Van Buren County, Iowa Van Buren County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census the population was 7,203, making it the state's tenth-least populous county. The county seat is Keosauqua, which contains the oldest continuously operat ...

sheriff while attempting to collect Missouri taxes in the disputed territory. *1839:

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

s from both sides assemble at the border *1839: Matter is referred to the U.S. Supreme Court *1846: Iowa enters the Union *1849: Supreme Court issues an opinion that since Missouri never challenged its straight-line border ending at the Des Moines River for more than 10 years, the border was valid. The court further upholds the Sullivan Line as the correct border but orders it resurveyed to correct quirks in Sullivan's Line which had jogs. *2005: Following various disputes, the State of Missouri contracts to have the border resurveyed, which finds many of the markers from the Supreme Court survey of 1850.

Background

Native American treaties

The first major Native American treaties following the

in 1803 were the Treaty of St. Louis in 1804 in which the Sac and Fox ceded much of northeast Missouri as well as southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois and the

in 1808 in which the

ceded most of Missouri and Arkansas. The United States made no formal efforts to survey the land. During the

Native Americans sided with the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

. When the war turned out to be a stalemate, the Treaty of Ghent in 1815 required that the tribes be returned to the same status they had before the war. Various tribes met with United States representatives at Portage Des Sioux, Missouri, in 1815 to formally end the war. While most of the

were innocuous treaties with wording about lasting friendship, the treaties with the Sac, Fox and Osage also included a paragraph indicating agreement to abide by the earlier treaties. With that in place, the United States began plans to survey its territory. In the Treaty of Fort Clark, the Osage had ceded all land east of Fort Clark near

Sibley, Missouri Sibley is a village in Jackson County, Missouri, United States. The population was 357 at the 2010 census. It is known as the home of Fort Osage National Historic Landmark. It is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. History Sibley was plat ...

. The treaty permitted the United States to survey the new land and they were to "adjust" the boundaries for a starting point west to the mouth of the

with the Missouri River in

on the far bank opposite

Kaw Point Kaw Point is the point where the Kansas River (Kaw River) terminates at the Missouri River in the West Bottoms area of Kansas City, Kansas. It is also where the Missouri River ceases its southerly course and turns to flow generally east throug ...

Sullivan Survey

In 1816 United States

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ...

John C. Sullivan was instructed to survey a line north from the mouth for and then proceed east to 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 ...

. In addition to being a round number, the line

also lined up in the east with the deep

on the Mississippi River just south of

Fort Madison, Iowa Fort Madison is a city and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States along with Keokuk. Of Iowa's 99 counties, Lee County is the only one with two county seats. The population was 10,270 at the time of the 2020 census. Located along the ...

, that was the northern end of navigation on the Mississippi and it also lined up with the westward adjusted boundary from the mouth of the

the Sac had ceded in 1808. The land on the east side of the Des Moines River was the site of a Sac village which had not been ceded. Sullivan erected

survey marker Survey markers, also called survey marks, survey monuments, or geodetic marks, are objects placed to mark key survey points on the Earth's surface. They are used in geodetic and land surveying. A '' benchmark'' is a type of survey marker tha ...

s along the line. The northwest corner of Missouri was established in a marker near

. From there he continued east establishing the

Sullivan Line The Sullivan Line originally marked in 1816 forms three quarters of the border between Missouri and Iowa and an extension of it forms the remainder. The line was initially created to establish the limits of Native Americans in the United States ...

to the Des Moines River just south of

, where he made no note of rapids and called it a "small river with shallow gentle water." He did continue his survey another to the Mississippi. Confusion over the terms of the Des Moines Rapids on the Mississippi and the phrase rapids on the Des Moines River was to contribute to the border skirmish.

Missouri boundaries

When Missouri applied for statehood first in 1818 various proposals for boundaries were put forth including a western boundary at the mouth of the

Nodaway River The Nodaway River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 30, 2011 river in southwest Iowa and northwest Missouri. Etymology The river's name (as "Nodawa") first ap ...

about west and the mouth of the

Rock River (Illinois) The Rock River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 in the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Illinois. Th ...

opposite

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in and the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The original Rock Island, from which the city name is derived, is now called Arsenal Island. The population was 37,108 at the 2020 census. Located on t ...

. Missouri was already going to be the largest state in area when it entered the Union and there was concern about making it even bigger. Sullivan was a delegate to the convention that was to ultimately declare the boundaries to be the two lines he had drawn. The constitution defined the boundary as: :Beginning in the middle of the Mississippi River, on the parallel of thirty-six degrees of north latitude; thence west along the said parallel of latitude to the St. Francois River; thence up and following the course of that river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the parallel of latitude of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes; thence west along the same to a point where the said parallel is intersected by a meridian line passing through the middle of the mouth of the Kansas River, where the same empties into the Missouri River; thence, from the point aforesaid, north along the said meridian line, to the intersection of the parallel of latitude which passes through the rapids of the River Des Moines, making said line correspond with the Indian boundary-line; thence east from the point of intersection last aforesaid, along the said parallel of latitude, to the middle of the channel of the main fork of the said River Des Moines; thence down along the middle of the main channel of the said River Des Moines to the mouth of the same, where it empties into the Mississippi River; thence due east to the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi River; thence down and following the course of the Mississippi River, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the place of beginning. The wording of the boundary "extending westward of the rapids of the river Des Moines" was to cause confusion. In the Treaty of Washington (1824), the Sac and Fox ceded their land in Missouri. The land below the Sullivan Line between the Des Moines and Mississippi was set aside as

. In the

of 1830, all tribes were moved west and south of the line, Sullivan had drawn. In 1834 Half Breed Tract was opened to public settlement. This, along with the transfer of the territory of modern-day Iowa to the

, was to spur Missouri to reconsider its northern border, first by extending its border west to the Missouri River in the

in northwest Missouri and then by reconsidering the northeast corner.

The "War"

In 1837 the

Missouri General Assembly The Missouri General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bicameral General Assembly is composed of a 34-member Senate and a 163-member House of Representatives. Members of both houses of the General Assembly are ...

ordered the line to be resurveyed. When Wisconsin Territory refused to participate in the survey, J.C. Brown began a survey in which he ignored the traditional definition of the rapids below Fort Madison on the Mississippi and instead looked for rapids on the Des Moines River itself and identified the rapids as being at

Keosauqua, Iowa Keosauqua ( ) is a city in Van Buren County, Iowa, United States. The population was 936 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Van Buren County. History Keosauqua was laid out in 1839. The word Keosauqua derives from the Me ...

, about into modern Iowa. As the dispute heated up, Missouri was to note there were rapids on the Des Moines all the way to

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moine ...

. Meanwhile, Iowa was to maintain its ownership extended to a line about into modern Missouri at the mouth of the Des Moines. Tax agents from

Kahoka, Missouri Kahoka is a city in and the county seat of Clark County, in the northeast tip of Missouri, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,961. History Kahoka was platted in 1858. The city is named for the historic Cahokia tribe of ...

, tried to collect taxes in what is now

, and

Davis County, Iowa Davis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,110. The county seat is Bloomfield. Davis County is included in the Ottumwa, IA Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Davis County was ...

. The Iowa residents, allegedly carrying

pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

s, chased away the tax collectors who, legend has it, chopped down three

honey bee A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosm ...

trees in what is now

Lacey-Keosauqua State Park Lacey-Keosauqua State Park is located southwest of Keosauqua, Iowa, United States. The park is located along the Des Moines River in Van Buren County. First dedicated in 1921, it is the largest state park in size in Iowa. In 1990, three areas we ...

to collect the honey for partial payment. Missouri governor

Lilburn Boggs Lilburn Williams Boggs (December 14, 1796March 14, 1860) was the sixth Governor of Missouri from 1836 to 1840. He is now most widely remembered for his interactions with Joseph Smith and Porter Rockwell, and Missouri Executive Order 44, known ...

sent 11 mounted members of the 14th Division of the Missouri State Militia under Major General David Willock, from Palmyra, Missouri, to the disputed border to protect the tax collector. General Willock was unwilling to shed blood over an issue that should have been resolved peacefully by the governors or by Congress, and an Iowa mob succeeded in capturing the sheriff of

, and incarcerated him in the

Muscatine, Iowa Muscatine ( ) is a city in Muscatine County, Iowa, United States. The population was 23,797 at the time of the 2020 census, an increase from 22,697 in 2000. The county seat of Muscatine County, it is located along the Mississippi River. The lo ...

, jail. The Iowa militia was also called out by Iowa Territory governor Robert Lucas. Authorization for a total payment of $46 to the Missouri Militia was for 7 days in active service. According to one description about the Iowans: :in the ranks were to be found men armed with

blunderbuss The blunderbuss is a firearm with a short, large caliber barrel which is flared at the muzzle and frequently throughout the entire bore, and used with shot and other projectiles of relevant quantity or caliber. The blunderbuss is commonly cons ...

es,

flintlocks Flintlock is a general term for any firearm that uses a flint-striking ignition mechanism, the first of which appeared in Western Europe in the early 16th century. The term may also apply to a particular form of the mechanism itself, also known ...

, and quaint old ancestral swords that had probably adorned the walls for many generations. One private carried a plow coulter over his shoulder by means of a log chain, another had an old-fashioned sausage stuffer for a weapon, while a third shouldered a sheet iron sword about six feet long. The two governors agreed to allow Congress to resolve the issue. An arbitrary line was drawn between the two positions. When Iowa entered the Union in 1846, Congress ruled that the border was in fact at the Mississippi confluence, a position that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in '' State of Missouri v. State of Iowa'', 48 U.S. 660 (1849).Country Facts and Folklore By Andy Reddick (republished on rootsweb)
/ref>

Timeline

Background

Native American treaties

Sullivan Survey

Missouri boundaries

The "War"

See also

References

Further reading