Use your location, a zip code, name of a state, or simply browse the map to find documents related to treaties in your area from the US National Archives, the Smithsonian, and the Library of Congress. You can explore historic maps as a starting point for exploring the treaty documents.
Click on a Cession or State to view historic information.
Boundaries on the present day map are drawn from GIS data
maintained by the US Forest Service. The land boundaries are mainly from the work of government clerks in the 1890-1900s to research the history of land transfer treaties or other agreements, in the absence of an official list of all the ratified treaties the US entered into with Native nations.
They referred to these as “cessions.” Their maps can be viewed above. These boundaries have been transferred to a modern GIS map with some updates by Claudio Saunt, and further updated by the US Forest Service. The government’s compilations of cessions did not include much of the Eastern Seaboard, West Virginia, or Kentucky, but treaties related to those areas can still be searched by name of Native nation or title.
Further information can be found in resources.
