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Treaty Documents: Introduction
The Eastern Shoshones of the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming have
a long legal history in terms of the tribe’s relationship to
the federal government. The treaties and agreements listed on this
site are some of the most important documents in Shoshone history
and clearly establish the tribe as a sovereign entity. The first
treaty of Fort Bridger, in 1863, created this legal status in terms
of United States law, while the second, in 1868, clarified the terms.
But in 1878, the federal government violated Shoshone sovereignty
when officials placed the Northern Arapahos on the Wind River Reservation
without compensating the Shoshones under the terms of the 1868 treaty.
In two subsequent land cession agreements, in 1896 and again in
1904, the government illegally included the Arapahos in the negotiations.
Finally, in 1937, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government
owed compensation to the Shoshones for the lands occupied by the
Arapahos and thus re-established the sovereignty of the Eastern
Shoshones.
 These
documents are available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. If you do not
already have it, you will need to download the most recent version
of Free
Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these files.
-
Treaty with the Eastern Shoshoni, 1863 GO>>
View/Download
the Treaty of 1863 in PDF format (14K)
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Treaty with the Shoshonee and Bannacks, 1868 GO>>
View/Download
the Treaty of 1868 in PDF Format (18K)
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The Brunot Cession Agreement, 1874 GO>>
View/Download
the Brunot Cession Agreement in PDF Format (12K)
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1896 Big Horn Hot Springs Land Cession GO>>
View/Download
the Land Cession of 1896 Agreement in PDF Format (12K)
-
Land Cession of 1904 GO>>
View/Download
the Land Cession of 1904 Agreement in PDF Format (22K)
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