There had grown up in the administration of Indian affairs a way of passing Indian lands to the whites without subjecting them to the land laws of the United States. The proper legal procedure of land disposal was for the Indians to cede land to the United States, whereupon it became subject to the administration of the General Land Office. The land would then be surveyed and sold at auction to the highest bidder. The remaining land was sold for $1.25 an acre. This method was fair and democratic. The nonstatutory method of land disposal worked in this way; trader and Indian agents, who generally cooperated closely with one another, would include in the Indian treaties provisions authorizing the patenting of certain lands to the chiefs, half-breeds, or ordinary members of the tribes. In turn these individuals conveyed their rights to traders in payment of real or imaginary debts before the treaty was signed or shortly thereafter. Although presidential approval for such conveyances was necessary, in most cases the approval could be secured easily, provided the agents would report that the Indians had received a fair price for their land. As the agents were either under obligation to the traders for support in treaty negotiations or were personally interested in some of the reserves, they could usually be induced to send in a favorable report even though the Indians might have bartered their land away for some trinkets or a few drinks. The Ewings, Hanna, Coquillard, Hamilton, Taber, Tipton, and Vermilya, all acquired interests in individual reserves to the amount of thousands of acres. All of these men were involved in the promotion of certain projects (towns, roads, canals) for which their land was valuable. Thus we see the traders were in full force at the treaty grounds in 1826, fighting for their interests. They worked through the chiefs and headmen of the tribes to whom they gave gifts and loans. To take care of the traders claims, present and prospective, it was necessary to increase the annuities and agree to pay the Indian debts. In addition, goods to the value of $41,259 were to be distributed to the Miamis for two years following the treaty. For these stipulations the Indians surrendered 976,000 acres, the main part of which was along the Wabash and Maumee rivers. From this cession, the Miamis were permitted to retain 81,800 acres for special groups and 13,920 for individual reserves.[3]