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The Treaty of Peace and Friendship
ULYSSES S. GRANT, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. TO ALL AND SINGULAR TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, GREETINGS:
(The above paragraph appears on the Amended Treaty of 1866).
Treaty of Peace and Friendship made at Ruby Valley, in the Territory of Nevada, this first day of October, A.D. one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, between the United States of America, represented by the undersigned commissioners, and the Western Bands of the Shoshone Nation of Indians, represented by their Chiefs and Principal Men and Warriors, as follows:
ARTICLE 1
Peace and friendship shall be hereafter established and maintained between the Western Bands of the Shoshone Nation and the People and Government of the United States; and the said bands stipulate and agree that hostilities and all depredations upon the emigrant trains, the mail and telegraph lines, and upon the citizens of the United States within their country, shall cease.
ARTICLE 2
The several routes of travel through the Shoshone Country, now or hereafter used by white men, shall be forever free, and unobstructed by the said bands, for the use of the government of the United States, and of all emigrants and travelers under its authority and protection, without molestation or injury from them. And if depredations are at any time committed by bad men of their nation, the offenders shall be immediately taken and delivered up to the proper officers of the United States, to be punished as their offenses shall deserve; and the safety of all travelers passing peaceably over either of said routes is hereby guarantied by said bands.
Military posts may be established by the President of the United States along said routes or elsewhere in their country; and station houses may be erected and occupied at such points as may be necessary for the comfort and convenience of travelers or for mail or telegraph companies.
ARTICLE 3
The telegraph and overland stage lines having been established and operated by companies under the authority of the United States through a part of the Shoshone country, it is expressly agreed that the same may be continued without hindrance, molestation, or injury from the people of said bands, and that their property and the lives and property of passengers in the stages and of the employees of the respective companies, shall be protected by them. And further, it being understood that provision has been made by the government of the United States for the construction of a railway from the plains west to the Pacific ocean, it is stipulated by the said bands that the said railway or its branches may be located, constructed, and operated, and without molestation from them, through any portion of country claimed or occupied by them.
ARTICLE 4
It is further agreed by the parties hereto, that the Shoshone Country may be explored and prospected for gold and silver, or other minerals; and when mines are discovered, they may be worked, and mining and agricultural settlements formed, and ranches established whenever they may be required. Mills may be erected and timber taken for their use, as also for building and other purposes in any part of the country claimed by said bands.
ARTICLE 5
It is understood that the boundaries of the country claimed and occupied by said bands are defined and described by them as follows:
On the North by Wong-goga-da Mountains and Shoshone River Valley; on the West by Su-non-to-yah Mountains or Smith Creek Mountains; on the South by Wi-co-bah and the Colorado Desert; on the East by Po-ho-no-be Valley or Steptoe Valley and Great Salt Lake Valley.
The said bands agree that whenever the President of the United States shall deem it expedient for them to abandon the roaming life, which, they now lead, and become herdsmen or agriculturalists, he is hereby authorized to make such reservations for their use as he may deem necessary within the country above described; and they do also hereby agree to remove their camps to such reservations as he may indicate, and to reside and remain therein.
ARTICLE 7
The United States, being aware of the inconvenience resulting to the Indians in consequence of the driving away and destruction of game along the routes traveled by white men, and by the formation of agricultural and mining settlements, are willing to fairly compensate them for the same; therefore, and in consideration of the preceding stipulations, and of their faithful observance by the said bands, the United States promise and agree to pay to the said bands of the Shoshonee nation parties hereto, annually for the term of twenty years,the sum of five thousand dollars in such articles, including cattle for herding or other purposes, as the President of the United States shall deem suitable for their wants and condition, either as hunters or herdsmen. And the said bands hereby acknowledge the reception of the said stipulated annuities as a full compensation and equivalent for the loss of game and the rights and privileges hereby conceded.
ARTICLE 8
The said bands hereby acknowledge that they have received from said commissioners provisions and clothing amounting to five thousand dollars as presents at the conclusion of this treaty.
Done at Ruby Valley the day and year above written.
James W. Nye
James Duane Doty
Te-moak, his x mark
Mo-ho-a
Kirk-weedgwa, his x mark
To-nag, his x mark
To-so-wee-so-op, his x mark
Sow-er-e-gah, his x mark
Po-on-go-sah, his x mark
Par-a-woat-ze, his x mark
Ga-ha-dier, his x mark
Ko-ro-kout-ze, his x mark
Pon-ge-mah, his x mark
Buck, his x mark
Witnesses:
J. B. Moore, Lieutenant-Colonel Third Infantry California Volunteers
Jacob T. Lockhart, Indian Agent Nevada Territory
Henry Butterfield, Interpreter
Ratified June 26, 1866
Proclaimed Oct. 21, 1869
NOTES:
To view a copy of this treaty in its entirety as published in government archives and documents please Click Here. It is presented on two (2) pages.
In Addition:
We have taken the liberty to correct misspellings and typos where necessary - being those of words jammed or run together only to make the reading of this treaty easier as presented above. We have not changed the wording or structure of the above document in any way, shape or form other than that described here.
Readers should understand that there are four ways of saying and spelling Shoshone. That of the native tongue and that of the white mans understanding of it. The point here is that the differences are based on those Shoshone who are horse people and those who are not. We will go into more of these things on our Shoshone History Page which is still under development.
Important Points:
It is of great historical and legal importance to understand that the 1863 Ruby Valley Treaty was signed on October 1, 1863 and this was over one (1) year previous to the Nevada Territory being made into the State of Nevada on October 31, 1864. The process of statehood began in 1861 and the Western Shoshone lands and/or Nation was never included nor mentioned in any government documentation to become any part of the State of Nevada.
This treaty has never been ratified or amended aside from that entry by President Grant in 1866, three years after its original signing.
Many government agencies try every avenue to defend their positions when confronted with multiple violation of the law and the U.S. Constitution. They have stated endlessly that these lands were "lost" by way of "encroachment".
We would have to consider first the use of language when trying to understand what the U.S.Govt., the Department of Interior and the Bureau of Land Management are attempting to say.
We know they were not by way of as these two words conflict with each other.
Taking only the latter word, it simply means: 'the illegal possession of anothers property'. Therefore, these lands cannot be described as lost. This point cannot be stressed enough. In considering their use of these words we are left to conclude that they have spoken and signed their confessions to violating the Laws of the Land, the 1863 Treaty, the Constitution of the United States along with their oath of office, not to mention numerous other violations of law that any other criminals would be arrested for and imprisoned.
The Ruby Valley Treaty of 1863, (The Treaty of Peace and Friendship), when read carefully, does not include any language whatsoever that the Western Shoshone ceded any of their lands to the United States or to the future State of Nevada. What it does state is that the Shoshone would allow the United States the privilege to use their lands with conditions. There is no mention of how long this treaty must stand. In view of this, where the Western Shoshone claim and have proof of violations of this treaty by the United States and/or it's sub-agencies, they could call an end to it and thus retrieve their entire nation under default. There are no provisions made in the United States Constitution wherein it states that when it enters into a treaty with a foreign nation that such treaty becomes the Supreme Law of the Land can be eliminated by way of 'encroachment'. If this were the case then no nation would ever sign any treaty with the United States.
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