:3 \^ .. -^ ""'^^ V "^■' .V^ O. -^.o'- ,0^ '=^. . . s ' A ■^j. r\^ " o , '^ ^^..^^ ^0 -^ <• v\ ^t. ^ .= ,^*^°- \t <^ " » « ' ^-^"^ % *^i^-v .0 ^^-^^^ \ '^^ '"''\^''' ^-. \^ '> ' V ,-7 'J* J ''''% G^ .^ - ^' °o .-^ • A '"S^^^^/ /"^^ '^^^^ .^^ ^^>^^i^y /^^ ^;^^.^ The Kansa or Kaw Indians AND Their History, AND The Story of Padilla. By GEORGE P. MOREHOUSE. STATE PRINTING OFFICE, TOPEKA, 1908. u-n .\\2V\% WAH-MOH-O-E-KE. the second signer of the last treaty. WAH-SHUN-GAH, the last chief of the Kansa. Gift HISTORY OF THE KANSA OR KAW INDIANS. Address by George P. Morehouse, ' of Topeka, before the Kansas State Historical Society , at its thirty-first annual meeting, December 4, 1906. VNYTHING pertaining to the Indian tribe that gave a name to our com- monwealth and to the largest river and city within its borders will always have a pecuhar interest to all true Kansans and to .those who are ever eager to know more about the early history of the "Sunflower " state. The majority of the tribes resident in Kansas during the past century were immigrants, brought here from Eastern states within the memory of those now living— the remnants of nations whose important history took place on the other side of the Mississippi river. These immigrant tribes never had that strong attachment for their new home they would have pos- sessed had they been to the manor born. Not so with the Kansa nation. Its earliest recorded accounts represent the tribe as owner of most of that imperial pasture now called Kansas. Here the Kansa were born, had lived, acted and passed on for many gene- rations ; here they had hunted, fished and fought ; here was their home, with all the sacred associations of home ; and though an Indian home, what an empire to these first native sons of Kansas! Within this wonderful prairie domain they had experienced the high fervor of victorious conquest, and anon the bitterness of disastrous defeat. Its ample sustaining re- sources were on every hand— the secrets of nature, from the wooded streams and rich bottom lands of the Missouri border to the vast treeless areas of the great plains, all teeming with game of every character, were to them revealed as an inspiration and an open book. "Look now abroad— another race has filled These populous borders. Wide the wood recedes, And towns shoot up and fertile realms are tilled— The land is full of harvests and green meads." The first recorded mention of the Kansa nation is found in the account of the explorations of Juan de Ohate, who met them on our plains in 1601, in his attempt to reach, as Coronado did in 1541, the land of the Quiviras. Onate had first colonized New Mexico and settled many valleys of that Spanish province with the 130 families and 400 soldiers accompanying him, and the many immigrants that followed. Farms were cultivated, towns builded, convents established, and civilization was thus brought to New Mexico, where with little change it exists to-day. After gaining the friend- ship of the native Indians, Ohate became fired with other ambitions, other fields to conquer. Remembering that Coronado had penetrated far to the northeast only sixty years before, and had crossed the plains to the noted Quivira— what more daring and inviting field could be presented? With a picked company of eighty soldiers, a large number of armed In- dians, with their bows, arrows and spears, several guides and two friars, and a full equipment for either peace or war, this pioneer pageant marched eastward and was soon in the heart of the buffalo country. Here, as it has Note 1.— Biography in Kansas Historical Collections, vol. 8, p. 137. (3) 4 Kansas State Historical Society. been said, "They marched, as Coronado had marched more than a half-cen- tury before, over the great plains toward the east, finding the same clear atmosphere, the same unvarying prairie, the same grapes and plums, the same enormous herds of buffalo, the same wandering tribes of Indians, which had no doubt been here from time immemorial." Finally they came to hills and bluffs, and passed along creeks, rivers and valleys where grew the mulberry, grape and plum; and, having traveled over 200 leagues, they were doubtless in the heart of what is now the eastern half of the state of Kansas. Here they met the tribe of Indians they called the Escansaques^ ( Kansa) , a wild and powerful tribe, who were out on their annual raid to plunder the cultivated country of the Quivirans. It seems that there was great enmity between these tribes at that period, and may it not be that this answers the question, "What became of the Quivirans?"— that the more peacefully inclined Quivirans were finally crushed between the upper and nether millstones— the Escansaques on the east and the Apaches and Paducahs on the west. Onate found these marauding ancestors of the Kansa bent upon destroy- ing the Quivirans, who at that time lived along a valley close to their culti- vated fields. According to Professor Brower and others, their home was on the Smoky Hill and Kansas rivers, in the neighborhood of the present Junction City, though some locate Quivira on the Missouri river, farther to the northeast. There arose some difficulty between the sons of Spain and their new ac- quaintances, and it seems that the Franciscan friars with Onate were deter- mined to teach the Escansaques a lesson, not to make further raids upon the more docile Quivirans. It was surely heroic treatment, for it is said that 1000 Escansaques were slain. This seems incredible, and it must be remembered that the old Spanish writers used the term "thousand" in rather a careless manner, when describing their conquests. However, this friendly act established a strong attachment between the dwellers of Quivira and the Spanish, for in a few years an army of 800 Quivirans appeared at the gates of old Santa Fe to solicit further aid in fighting their enemies. After this first recorded battle with the Kansa, Oiiate continued on and ap- proached the city or villages of the Quivirans, situated on the bank of a large river, and soon entered into a perpetual treaty of peace and friend- ship with them. To us the most interesting feature of this early expedition is that it came in contact with the Kansa Indians. What an awe-inspiring sight this spectacular pageant must have been to them, as it moved across their favorite hunting-grounds! What a scene of thrilling beauty greeted these adventurers, as they passed over these limit- less plains and along the margins of the wooded streams on that memorable trip 300 years ago! While there is some doubt as to the exact location of Quivira— whether it was in the Kaw valley or on the Missouri— in either event it must have been in the region of the hunting-grounds and habitat of the Kansa nation, when first visited a hundred years later by French explorers. Onate says that the Escansaques and the Quivirans were hereditary ene- NOTB 2. — "If the ■ Escansaques' or "Excanjaques ' are identical with the Kansa, and there is every reason for believing them to be the same, then the first mention of the tribe was made in 1599, by Juan de Onate, who encountered them on an expedition to find the 'Quivira' of Coro- nado in the region of the great plains." — F. W. Hodge, in Brower's Missouri River, 1897, p. 165. History of the Kansa or Kaw Indians. 5 mies. Professor Dunbar presents convincing proof that the Quivirans were the early Pawnees. This would seem to add more evidence to prove the old and well-known saying that the Kansa and Pawnees were enemies from time immemorial. One of the old traditional questions handed down in the Kansa nation to modern times, and a question that was first asked of a re- turning hunting or war party, was "Pah-ne-its-es-skah?" "Did you kill a Pawnee ? ' ' According to their language and traditions,^ many hundreds of years ago the five tribes, Kansa, Osage, Omaha, Ponka and Kwapa, were one people, and lived along the Wabash and far up the Ohio. There was even a tradi- tion that their home at one time was near the shores of "the sea of the rising sun," from whence came the mysterious sacred shells of the tribe. For some reason they worked westward, probably pressed by the encroach- ment of superior forces. Coming to the mouth of the Ohio, there was a separation. Those going down the Mississippi took the name Kwapa, or down-stream people, while those going up the river were called Omaha, or up-stream people. As De Soto found the Kwapa, also known as "Akansa," in 1541 as a distinct tribe, this division took place prior to that date, and probably prior to the year 1500, The up-stream people, of which the Kansa formed a part, reaching the Missouri, followed up that stream. Another division then took place, the Omaha and Ponka passing far to the north and northwest— the Omaha gathering south of the Missouri near the mouth of the Platte, and the Ponka locating toward the Black Hills. The Osage and Kansa being left behind, the former passed up the stream which took their name, and the Kansa, coming to the junction of the Mis- souri and the Kansas rivers, established themselves probably at a permanent settlement within the forks, and claimed the Kansas valley as their heritage. At least, the stream very early acquired their name. It is supposed that subsequently the tribe continued to move up the Missouri, and had reached its most northern settlement at the mouth of Independence creek, now Doni- phan county, Kansas, prior to 1724, when visited by Bourgmont. In 1757, though still residing in part on the Missouri, they had established themselves in at least one village upon the Kaw. About the time of the Revolution they had entirely abandoned the Missouri. Their life upon the historic Kan- sas river extended until 1847, when they were moved to a reservation in the Neosho valley near Council Grove. Here they lived until the year 1873, when they went to their present home in the Indian Territory (now Okla- homa). During their early history the Kansa were a powerful tribe, both in numbers and in influence. At present (1907) they number only 193 allotted members, of whom but 70 are full-bloods. MONCACHTAPE, THE INTERPRETER." Moncachtape (one who destroys obstacles and overcomes fatigues) was a strange but capable character, and was one of the first to visit and tell any- thing about the Kansa Indians to the outside world. Moncacht was a Yazoo Indian, with possibly French blood in his veins. Some time about 1700, he traversed the continent from ocean to ocean, visiting Note 3. -Fifteenth annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology, page 191. Note 4.— Dumont's Memoires surla Louisiane, Paris, 1753. vol. 2, p. 246; Histoire de la Louis- iane, Paris, 1758, Le Page du Pratz; Proceedings of Literary and Hist. Soc. of Quebec, 1829; Revue d'Anthropologie, 1881; Windsor's Mississippi Basin, pp. 210-213. 6 Kansas State Historical Society. numerous Indian tribes and learning their languages. It seems that he de- sired information regarding the origin of his race, and went from tribe to tribe in his search. At first, he passed to the east, thinking the cradle of the race was toward the rising sun. He traveled until he came to the lower lake regions and learned of the falls of Niagara and the wonderful high tides of the Bay of Fundy. Afterward he traversed the far West, passing along the Ohio and Mississippi to the mouth of the Missouri, which streams he minutely described. Following the Missouri river, he came to the Missouri Indian nation, and, staying with them all of one winter, learned their lan- guage. When spring opened he went further up that stream till he came to the great village of the Canzes, near the present site of Doniphan, Atchison county, Kansas, and stopped for some time. From these Indians he first learned of the great divide, beyond which was a river that flowed toward the west, supposed to be the Columbia. Continuing his journey, Moncacht passed down that stream to the sea, where he saw a strange ship manned by strange people, which had come to those shores for cargoes. After wandering for five years, he returned to the Mississippi valley and his home near the Gulf of Mexico. He was known as "The Interpreter," from his ability to acquire different Indian languages, learning from one tribe some- thing of the language of the next one to be visited. THE FRENCH AND THE KANSA. The French association with the Kansa nation, while not as early and spectacular as that of the Spanish, was altogether more peaceful and far- reaching. It seems that Frenchmen, whether explorers, traders, trappers or mis- sionaries, have been more fortunate in their intercourse with the American Indian than have the other nations. It would have been much better for the general welfare of both races had the entire management of Indian affairs from the first been in the hands of Frenchmen. There seems to be some- thing in the general composition of the French nature, whether trader or priest— some capacity— which always reaches the Indian and secures his highest confidence. The brightest spots through three centuries of dishonor in our country's dealing with the Indian have been the successful and honorable social and business relations of the French with these dusky children of the forest and plain, and especially the self-sacrificing services in their behalf of the French missionaries of the Cross. The French authorities made early attempts to spread missions among the Western Indians with whom they came in contact. It is supposed that the French first visited the Kansa, in 1705, as Maj. Amos Stoddard says that, failing in attempted settlements on the upper Missis- sippi, they turned their attention to the Missouri river, which they ascended to its mouth by 1705, where they met with a welcome reception from the Indians.'' As an instance of the great influence the French had over the Indians, the following is interesting: Chtoka, alias Wet Stone, a Little Osage, told Pike, during his visit to that tribe in 1806, that he was at Braddock's defeat in 1755, with all the warriors who could be spared from both villages. It seems that the Indians were engaged by Mr. McCartie, who commanded at Fort Chartres, and he furnished them with powder and ball. The place of Note 5.— Sketches of Louisiana, page 28. History of the Kansa or Kaw Indians. 7 rendezvous was near a lake and a large fall (Niagara). It seems that the Kansa Indians were also on the ground with a select band of warriors to assist the French, but arrived just at the close of the fight. These Indians from beyond the Mississippi had many hardships in returning to their dis- tant homes, and were gone seven months, or till the inclemency of the fol- lowing winter, and were driven to eat their horses upon the return trip. ^ LIEUTENANT PIKE AND THE KANSA. FIRST TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THIS TRIBE. After the Louisiana purchase of 1803, the United States desired to open up at once friendly relations with the numerous Indian nations which occu- pied that new possession. It was the desire of the government to win and hold the favor of these children of the plains to the same degree of influence held by the French. One of the leading objects of the Pike expedition of 1806 was to meet these tribes and bring about peace between certain warring nations. This would more fully strengthen the sway of the United States in the interior and lessen the danger of Spanish encroachments upon the newly acquired and unprotected frontier. When Pike visited the Osage villages on his outward trip he found them at war with the "jKans," and it was with difl[iculty that he induced some of them to go with him to guide the expedition to the Pawnee republic in northern Kansas. A number consented, but they took him in a roundabout way, fully 100 miles further than necessary, because, as Pike says, of their fear of their enemies, the Kans. After the command reached the Pawnee village a dozen "Kans" came into the camp, and Pike induced two of them to accompany the expedition. Pike learned that the Spanish military force, which had visited the Paw- nees a few weeks prior to his arrival, had instructions to treat with the Kansa nation, as well as other tribes, and was provided with medals, com- missions and mules for each one; but it seems that they treated only with the Pawnees. It was fortunate that Lieutenant Malgares did not visit the Kansa, for notwithstanding their great loyalty to the French, they might have been moved by the gifts and overtures of these explorers from the far Southwest and forgotten the disastrous meeting with Onate. The Kansa were always true to the French, never liking the Spanish, and for the most part were loyal to American interests. On the 28th day of September, 1806, Pike induced his new-found Kansa friends tp go into a treaty council with him and with the Osages of his party, and to enter into an agreement of peace and friendship .between the tribes and with the United States. Pike says (September 28, 1806): "I effected a meeting at this place [ Pawnee republic] between a few Kans and Osages, who smoked the pipe of peace and buried the hatchet, agree- ably to the wishes of their great father; in consequence of which a Kans has marched for the Osage nation, and some of the latter propose to accom- pany the former to their village. Whether this good understanding will be permanent I will not take on me to determine, but at least a temporary good effect has succeeded." It may be stated now, after 100 years, that Pike's mediation did succeed. Note 6.-Coues' Pike, p. 531. 8 Kansas State Historical Society, ■ for it made friends between these two tribes, which has continued to the present. Prior to 1806 the Kansa and Osages had been at war for many years— possibly since their separation from each other generations before, when they differed and became two distinct nations. The next day was Pike's memorable council day with the Pawnees, when he required them to pull down the Spanish colors and raise the stars and stripes. The Kansa representatives were there and helped along the cere- monies, and were highly pleased when the American banner went up. The Kansa friends openly professed to be under American protection, which doubtless encouraged the Pawnees in their change, and in many other ways assisted Pike by advice as to the intentions of the Pawnees. During Pike's time, and for many years, the Kansa nation had a high reputation for the skill and bravery of its warriors, and it seems remarkable that they were able to hold their own, surrounded as they were by so many powerful tribes greater in point of number, if not in prowess, when com- pared with the smaller Kansa nation. Pike bears deserved tribute to their traits of bravery when he says: "In war they are yet more courageous than their Osage brethren; being, al- though not more than one-third of their number, their most dreaded ene- mies, and frequently making the Pawnees tremble." I notice that Pike and other writers, in enumerating Indian tribes, where mention is made of the Kansa nation, often places it at the head of the list. Being rather a small nation as compared with the Sioux and Pawnees, who pressed them on the north, and the great plains tribes, continually beating them back from the best buffalo-hunting grounds, it is remarkable that they held their own for so long a time. The Kansa seldom initiated war just for the love of fighting. During the last century of their active tribal life they usually fought on the defensive. They were not slow to defend themselves when attacked, and on their annual unting trips, when small parties of their braves were often assailed by much larger forces, it was frequently said that "a handful of the Kansa on the plains, by their skilful defensive maneuvres, could put to flight several times their number of enemies." Their custom of fearlessly going far out on the plains in small hunting par- ties, where they often encountered larger bands of the fiercest plains In- dians, often excited surprise and wonder from both white man and Indian. Some Indians wantonly killed game to deprive others of its use. This the Kansa never did, killing only enough for their own use and a moderate amount to sell, when there was a market. THE NAME OF THE TRIBE, THE KANSA — ITS SOURCE. During the past 300 years, since the name was first written, there have been numerous methods of spelling the designation of this tribe— the Kansa. To follow the many changes through which the word has passed to its pres- ent form would, within itself, be an interesting study. Probably no historic name in America has gone through so many changes, with so frequent va- riation, on maps and in books. In the ninth volume of the Kansas Histor- ical Collections, Professor Hay's article on the name Kansas, prepared in 1882, gives twenty-four ways of spelling the word. The editors of volume 9, in a foot-note, add some twenty additional forms, and for several years past I have been gathering similar data coupled with the authority for the same. At present, 1907, I have all of the forty-four forms above mentioned History of the Kansa or Kaiv Indians. 9 and twice as many beside, or, in all, over 125 ways used in the past to spell the name designating this tribe of Indians, the verbal forerunners of the word Kansas. At some future time I will prepare an article on this subject, giving these names and the authorities using them, but at present will only note some of the more important and marked features. For the initial, we find C and K and Qu; using a or o for the first vowel, and with or without the final s in the singular. The following curious double plurals are noticed: ces, cez, ses, sez, and sais. There are several adjective forms, like Kanzan, Canzan, Kanzon, Canzon, etc. Among the simplest forms of the word are Kan, Kaw, Can, Caw, and then the longer forms, Kantha, Kansies, Kancez, Ka-anzou, Kanissi, and many others be- ginning with K; then we note the many odd forms beginning with (7, as Canceze, Canchez, Canceas, Canceys, Canses, etc. Among the most pecu- liar forms are Quans, Kensier, Caugh, while the most complicated are Es- cansaques, Excanjaques, Escanxaques and Excansaquex. But seeing that I have reached the stage of having to spell Kansas with j, q, u, X, and z, I will stop, fearing it might hinder President Roosevelt, who is interested in simplified spelling. While he has been trying to decide the preferable of two ways of spelling certain words, a Kansan is exploit- ing over 125 ways of spelling the name of one of his favorite Western states. In this article I will refer to the tribe as the "Kansa." Although they were often and are still called the Kaw, Kansa is preferable, and has been adopted by the Bureau of American Ethnology. It seems to harmonize more in sound with a majority of the forms of the word used by the early writers in mentioning the nation. From whence comes this word Kan^a and what is its signification ? Most historians have stated that it was an Indian word of doubtful meting ; others have attributed to the word meanings which are clearly erroneous. Richardson, in Beyond the Mississippi, 1857, says that it signifies smoky, and several historians, like Holloway, have followed this manifest error. The Kansa word for smoke and smoky is shu-jeh, and I know of no Indian word regarding smoke that resembles in the slightest the word Kansa. Dorsey, an authority on Siouan languages, says the word "refers to winds," or wind people, but that its exact meaning is not known. ^ For several years I have given this question considerable attention, and after examining numerous sources of information, believe that I have dis- covered the true source of the word Kansa and arrived at its real meaning. The trouble has been that the writers regarding this tribe and its name have only gone back to the records of the French explorers, traders and trappers who visited them, and have tried to translate the word Kansa as if if it was either an Indian or a French word. While it is true that the French traders used the name Kaw or Kah for designating this tribe, they had nothing to do with originating the word Note 7. — "So far as can be determined the name of Kansa refers to 'winds,' but the full definition is unknown." — F. W. Hodge, in Brower's Missouri River, 1897, p. 165. "The name of the Kansas river is doubtless derived from the Kansas Indians who lived on that stream. They were often called ' Kaws,' and the river in an early day was called Kaw river. The lowas called the Indians Kantha, which means swift. Their own (the Kansas Indians) mode of pronouncing that word would be Ka-za, and this they called themselves, but whether they had another name I am unable to say. Most Indians speak of themselves by a different name from that by which they are known by the surrounding tribes." — Wm. Hamilton, in Transactions of Nebraska State Historical Society, vol. 1, p. 73. 10 Kansas State Historical Society. Cansa or Kansa. Kaw or Kah are nicknames or abbreviations of Kawsa, Kahsah, Kauzau, Gauzes, and a dozen other forms with similar first syllables. An old Osage Indian once said that the name Kaw or Kah-sah was a term of ridicule once given by the Osages to the Kansa because they would not join the former tribe in a war against the Cherokees, the term meaning coward. ^ This explanation of the word is not deserving of serious considera- tion, for the time that the Osages and the Kansa had some differences over the question of going to war with the Cherokees was long subsequent to the time when the Kansa were known to history by this well-known name. In the early part of the nineteenth century, when the Cherokees first migrated into Arkansas, the Osages disliked them and wished the Kansa to join in a general war against the Cherokees. This the Kansa refused, and the Cher- kees came into eastern Oklahoma, which deprived the Osages of certain territory, and the Osages laid it up against the Kansa nation; but it had nothing to do with the giving of the latter name. Even if this term Kah- sah was applied to them by Osages, and even if it did mean coward, of which there is no evidence, it does not explain the older and more general word Kansa, which was used by Marquette in 1673 or over 100 years before this alleged trouble between the Osages and Kansa over the Cherokees. I find that the dates of the authorities using Kah, Kaw or Kau for first syllable, such as Kah-sah, Kaw-sa, Kau sas, etc., are all during the past 100 years, or since 1804, and that the first instance is found in the Lewis and Clark reports of their expedition of that year. The names used to designate this tribe for 200 years prior to that date have the Kan or Can forms as the first part, which expresses the sound in the more ancient forms as well as the form in popular use to-day. This form, Cansa or Kansa, same in sound, was first used by the Spanish, to which I will refer later on, then by Father Marquette, and finally by French explorers and writers for 125 years after his time. This would seem to establish beyond any doubt, even from French sources, that this form of the name was by far the older, and their original and proper appellation, that by which they were first designated by the whites. The Kah-sah, Kaw-sa and Kau-zau types are corruptions of the far older and expressive name Kan-sa. In pronouncing Kan-sa, the hasty French would fail to nasalize the n, which would disappear, and the first syllable of the word, with a broad a, would become Kah or Kaw, and thus Kan-sa would become Kah-sa or Kaw sa, Afterward, by abbreviation, these names became Kaw, the nickname of the French trader. Kausus was used by Lewis and Clark, 1804; Kauzau by McCoy, 1840; Kaw is found in Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, 1850, as used while the tribe lived at Council Grove, 1847-1873, and by plainsmen during the border days, and is still in common use in Kansas, and at the present home of the tribe in Oklahoma. It may be wise to preserve this French-Canadian name Kaw, in referring to the Kansas river; but it is a nickname, a misnomer, means nothing, has no good foundation, and it should not be applied to the tribe, for it was not its name. Instead, the form Kansa should be used, it being the ancient and expressive word, the name of our state, and is supported by the weight of scores of authorities during the past 300 years. Note 8.— Dickerson's Osage Nation, p. 2. History of the Kansa or Raw Indians. n This famous historic word Cansa or Kansa is neither of Indian nor French origin, and it is useless to look to those languages for some strained and vague signification. The word is plain Spanish, and as such has a well- defined and expressive meaning when applied to an Indian tribe, and espe- cially when used to designate that Indian tribe from which our state takes its noted name. Cansa or Kansa means "a troublesome people, those who continually dis- turb and harass others." It comes from the Spanish verb cansar which means "to molest, to stir up, to harass," and from the Spanish noun can- sado, "a troublesome fellow, a disturber." So when the Spanish explorer Onate, on his trip of 1601, met this tribe and learned that they annually pillaged and made war upon the Quivirans and were always ready for a fight, he called them Escansaques, "the disturb- ers, the troublesome." From this it is easy to see how the name "wind people" might have been used in referring to the tribe, and suggested as it has to some, that the meaning of the word was, "those who come like the winds sweeping across the prairies," the wind being a disturbing element of old plains days. In the body of the name Escansaques we have the exact form used by many early writers. The sound of the letter c being hard like k, it is easy to see how early historians used either as the first letter of the name Many early French writers follow closely the Spanish name Cansa. In my list of over 125 ways of spelling there are about thirty authorities with the letter c and having Can for the first syllable; e. g., Cansa, Canse, Canceys Canceze, Canzas, Canceas, etc. ' Some have thought that the Escansaques were the Utes, but the greater weight of evidence, as I have shown, seems to establish the fact that they were none other than the Kansa- now so considered by the United States authorities and the Bureau of American Ethnology at Washington. The 200 leagues or more, 500 or 600 miles, traveled by the Spanish before they met the tribe they name "Escansaques." brought them to the lower Kansas river, or to the Missouri river, in the neighborhood where the French explorer found the Kansa in 1724. In all the many ways the word has been written, with Can, Kan, Kon or Quans as part of the name, the sound attempted to be conveyed is the same. Is it strange that the Spanish name Cansaques, the Es being a mere prefix, should turn to Quans, Cans. Canzan, Canses, Canceas, Canze, Canceys' Kansa, Kances, Kanse, Kanses, Konsa, Konzo, as used by different French explorers and writers in speaking of the nation? The Spanish really gave the name Kansa to the world when they called this tribe the Escawsaques- for Cansa or Kansa would be the same in sound. They first met the tribe, and the French who followed them applied the same name used by the Spanish in designating this people. It was probably first written "Kansa " by Marquette, on his famous autograph map of the Mississippi, about 1673; but many succeeding French explorers and writers clung to the Spanish custom of using "Can " as the first part of the name. Yes, the Spanish called this Indian nation Escansaques, an expressive term, which speaks volumes regarding the character of the tribe in those early days. Those aboriginal inhabitants of our state were called "those who harass," "those who stir up," "disturbers"; and it seems that the latter-day Kansans-those who now occupy the former homes of the de- 12 Kansas State Historical Society. parted red brothers— are keeping up the record by continually working at the same old game. Possibly they have absorbed from the atmosphere or from the soil some of the elements which give them the same characteris- tics of the nation of aboriginees which, during the dawn of Kansas history, was so noted for getting into the lime-light as disturbers and agitators. Kansas will be Kansas no more when she lapses into a stupid pace and ceases to stir public sentiment along lines of activity. Let Kansans ever remember the source and signification of that name, a name which has not only been used as a slogan of unrest and agitation for 300 years, but also has been and now is the stirring war-cry of advancement along many lines which make our state and nation both interesting and great. KANSA VILLAGES ON THE MISSOURI RIVER. "KANSES" — "GRAND VILLAGE DES CANSEZ." Many localities in this state will contend for the honor of being the first capital of Kansas, but all will have to yield to the claim of the ancient In- dian city and government center of the Kansa nation which occupied the present site of Doniphan, in Atchison county, Kansas. As has been said, this once great nation had villages along the Missouri, Kansas, Neosho and their branches during the period in which they were the masters of a great part of the present state of Kansas, but to their ancient capital, at the mouth of Independence creek, was the distinction given of being called, "Grand village des Cansez, " or "Grand village des Quans. " It was so known even before the French explorer visited it in 1724, at the time a compact of friendship was formed which ever afterward existed between this tribe and the French people." Mr. Geo. J. Remsburg, of Oak Mills, who has made a life study of north- eastern Kansas, and written much on the subject, corroborates Lewis and Clark's statement that Doniphan is the site of the Grand village of the Kansa, also known as "the Village of the Twenty- four, " according to Major Long, who made note of its ruins in 1819. The first description we have of this famous spot, and the Indian nation gathered there, comes from the account of the visit of M. Etienne Venyard de Bourgmont, in the summer of 1724. This gentleman had been commis- sioned military commandant on the Missouri, in 1720, by the French govern- ment, which was alarmed at the attempted Spanish invasion of the Missouri river region, and desired to establish a friendship with certain border tribes, which might assist in preventing any further advancement of the Spanish from the Santa Fe region toward the Missouri valley. The French had reason to be alarmed, for they knew that the Spanish were attempting to colonize the Missouri valley, drawn thereto by their own explorations and the reports of valuable mines,'" and intending to open up Note 9.— Margry, vol. 6, p. 393. Note 10.— The following letter to the secretary of the Historical Society will serve as a sequel to the note on page 17 of the Ninth Volume of Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society: "Council Grove, Kan., April 15. 1908. "In answer to yours of the llth instant, I would say that at the time I came to this territory, back in the '40's, there was talk about a tin-mine somewhere in the Smoky Hill valley, and that the Kaw Indians held z key to the location. This was the talk in western Missouri and in this territory. The Kaws had in their possession specimens of the ore. We procured from them a part of it. had it tested, and sent it to Washington, to the commissioner of Indian affairs. I talked with the head men of the tribe about the matter and they said to me that the samples exhibited by some of their tribe had been obtained by their people from the whites who were passing over the Santa Fe trail, or from the border settlements of western Missouri. Various parties during: History of the Kansa or Kaw Indians. 13 trade with the Indian tribes on French territory. ^ Bourgmont started over- land for the Kanza village in 1724, from Fort Orleans, a French stronghold established by himself on the Missouri river the previous year, not far from the present Malta Bend, Mo. With him were M. Bellerive Sieur Renau- diere, two soldiers, and five other Frenchmen, besides 177 Missouri and Osage Indians, under command of their own chiefs, included in that number Several boat-loads of presents, consisting of useful and ornamental articles had been sent on ahead in charge of Lieutenant Saint-Ange and an escort of eleven soldiers. On July 7, 1724. the overland party arrived on the east side of the Missouri, opposite the Kansa village. They crossed the next day in a pirogue and on rafts, swimming the horses, and camped near the village. Then began a two-weeks celebration, councils, pow-wows. trading horses for merchandise, and making presents to the Indians. On July 24, they were ready to proceed on their journey to the land of the Padoucas (Comanches) upon their mission of peace and friendship It was surely an imposing procession, this grand departure, and Bourgmont says: "We put ourselves in battle array on the village height, the drum began to beat, and we marched away. " Besides Bourgmont's forces, the Kansa furnished the following escort to this remarkable procession: "Three hundred warriors, commanded by two grand chiefs and fourteen war chiefs, three hundred Indian women five hundred Indian children, and five hundred dogs loaded down with baigaee and provisions. " Unfortunately, the summer was unusually sultry, a prevalent fever at- tacked Bourgmont and obliged him on the 31st of July to return to Fort Orleans, after sending GaiUard as messenger to the Padoucas with some slaves which had been purchased from the Kansa to insure a welcome recep- tion for the French, and to bear tidings of his intention to visit them later By October 8, his health being restored, the commander again set out from the Kansa village, but took in his retinue only a few chiefs and head men of the Kansa and neighboring tribes. Bourgmont reached the Padoucas Octo- ber 18, and effected a peace treaty with them (heretofore they had been friendly with the Spanish), and also induced them to enter into a treaty of peace and alliance with the Kansa, Missouris . Osages and other tribes. the early '50' s from the borders of Missouri went in search of the mine In 1852 one outfit fr ,m Jackson county, Missouri, had a caravan of thirty teams and wacrnn= Tt,i„^- ? u ! j * """" about twenty years this talk was kept up, and various reports sent nntTn ti,^ locate it. tor Washington, and the department finally, during the latter Ws sent Colonel BoatT^^.lT''^ f mvestigate the matter. He came with some blankets and othir presents and d^strihnln'V'K *° I have not heard the tin-mine spoken of. Respectfully. T S HuffIker '^^ r yed at the Kansas river where they encountered the Octotata and Panis Indians wh^massaorli all except a priest, who had made his escape on honseback "-StatiitPs nnp,,^,;.^^ j d Bearing on the Boundaries of the Province of Ontario. 1878 p. 100 Another accrnrofthi^^s^m' expedition says that in 1720 a Spanish expedition led bv bS^n Pedro Clazuf reached thppl^^ river, and that the party was ambuscaded by the Pawnee IndianVandpraShydestrm^ -R.n" deher, in Papers of the Archaological Institute of America vol 5 ^P[f9^"''a"y''e''tro>ed. Ban- 14 Kansas State Historical Society. This Grand village seems also to have been a Jesuit missionary station as early as 1727, for lately I have found in some old French-Canadian records of the province of Ontario, an interesting fact not before recognized in Kansas history, that the name *'Kanzas" was a well-known geographical term to designate a place on the Missouri river, within the present borders of our state, where the French government and its official church, nearly 200 years ago, had an important missionary center. These early French records, preserved in the "Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York," contain this statement: "For the support of a missionary at Kanzas, 600 livres. " It is significant as to the standing of this mission station of the Jesuits at Kanzas, away out in the heart of the continent, that in this document it was classed along with their other important Indian missions, such as the Iroquois, Abenaquis and Tadoussac, and that the same amount per mission- ary was expended. It was "Kanzas," a mission charge on the rolls of the Jesuit Fathers, for which annual appropriations of money were made as early as 1727. Here some of those saintly, self-sacrificing missionary pioneers of the Cross must have come from distant Quebec and Montreal, or from the far-away cloisters of sunny France. What zeal and sacrifice for others ! Is it any wonder that the Kansa Indians always spoke reverently of the "black robes," who were the first to labor for their welfare in that long- ago period in the wilderness. Our next authoritative record as to this village [is given by Lewis and Clark, under date of July 4, 1804: "We came to and camped on the lower edge of the plain, where the 2d old Kanzas village formerly stood, above the mouth of a creek, 30 yards wide; this creek we call Creek Independence. As we approached this place the prairie had a most beautiful appearance. Hills and valleys inter- spersed with copses of timber gave a pleasing diversity to the scenery, the right fork of the Creek Independence meandering through the middle of the plain. A point of high land near the river gives an elevated situation. At this place the Kanzas Indians formerly lived. This town appears to have covered a large space. The nation must have been numerous at the time they lived here. The cause of their moving to the Kanzas river I have never heard nor can I learn. War with their neighbors must have reduced this nation and compelled them to retire to a situation in the plains better calculated for their defense, and one where they may make use of their horses with good effect in pursuing their enemies. We closed the day by a discharge of uur bow piece, [and] an extra gill of whisky." "July 5th, 1804. Set out very early; proceeded on near the bank where the old village stood for two miles. The origin of this old village is uncer- tain. M. de Bourgmont. a French officer, who commanded a fort near the town of the Missouris [Fort Orleans] in about the year 1724, and in July of the same year he visited this village. At that time the nation was numerous and well disposed towards the French. Mr. Du Pratz must have been badly informed as to the cane opposite this place. We have not seen one stalk of reed or cane on the Missouris He states that the ' Indians that accompanied M de Bourgmont crossed to the Canzes village on floats of cane.' These people mut-t have been very numerous at that time, as M. de Bourgmont was accompanied by 300 warriors. 500 young people and 300 dogs of burthen out of this village The cause of these Indians moving over to the Kanzis river I have never learned." Sergeant Charles Floyd, 'who accompanied Lewis and Clark, wrote the following in his journal, July 5, 1804 : "Pressed on for two miles under the bank of [where] the Old Kansas History of the Kansa or Kaw Indians. 15 village formerly stood in 1724. The cause of the Indians moving from this place I can't learn, but naturally concluded that war has reduced their na- tion and compelled them to retire further into the plains with a view of de- fending themselves, and to observe their enemy, and to defend themselves on horse-back. " ^'^ "July 4th. After 15 miles' sail, we came-to on the north, a little above a creek on the south side, about 30 yards wide, which we called Independence creek, in honor of the day, which we could celebrate only by an evening gun, and an additional gill of whisky to the men. "July 5th. We crossed over to the south and came along the bank of an extensive and beautiful prairie, interspersed with copses of timber and watered by Independence creek. On this bank formerly stood the second village of the Kansas; from the remains it must have been once a large town. "13 The remains of another old Kansa town, have been found about twenty miles down the Missouri from the Grand village, a short distance below Cow island (Isle au Vache) and the present Oak Mills, in Atchison county. It was evidently not as large a town as the Grand village, yet for certain reasons was quite as important a point, and should not be forgotten in re- cording the early history of Kansas. It was probably the first governmental center in our state where white men hved in a permanent community, erected buildings, and transacted business. Here was the old French fort or trading-post, the ruins of which were seen and noted by Lewis and Clark. But we do not have to entirely depend upon relics and ruins of this famous spot for there are records preserved in French-Canadian archives telling of its importance. Bougainville on French Forts, in 1757, says: "Kanses.— In ascending this stream [the Missouri river] we meet the village of the Kanses. We have there a garrison with a commandant, ap- pointed, as is the case with Pimiteoui and Fort Chartres, by New Orleans. This post produces one hundred bundles of furs." i* Perrin du Lac, in 1802, says that thirty-five miles above the mouth of the Kansas was found the site of one of the Kansa villages. , According to Mr. Remsburg these two quotations refer to the village he has described in the Salt creek valley, on the farm of Mr. Thomas Daniels, and I have no doubt that he will yet determine the exact position of the old fort and trading- post, about which clusters so much that would be of interest in Kansas history. Lewis and Clark mention it as follows: "July 2, 1804. Opposite our camp is a valley, in which was situated an old village of the Kansas, between two high points of land, on the bank of the river. About a mile in the rear of the village was a small fort, built by the French on an elevation. There are now no traces of the village, but the situation of the fort may be recognized by some remains of chimneys, and the general outlines of the fortification, as well as by the fine spring which supplied it with water. The party who were stationed here were probably cut off by the Indians, as there are no accounts of them." '* The following extracts are also made from the same author :!" "July 2. We camped after dark on the s. s. [starboard side] above the island [Kickapoo island], and opposite the first old village of the Kanzes, Note 12.— Thwaites' Lewis and Clark, vol. 7, pp. 15, 16. Note 13.— Coues' Lewis and Clark, pp. 38, 39. Note 14.— Statutes, Documents and Papers Bearing on the Boundaries of the Province of Ontario, 1878. page 81. Note 15.— Coues' Lewis and Clark, page 37. Note 16.- Thwaites' Lewis and Clark, vol. 1. p. 64 ; vol. 6, pp. 57, 36. 16 Kansas State Historical Society. which was situated in a valley between two points of high land and immedi- ately on the river bank. Back of the village and on rising ground at about one mile the French had a garrison for some time and made use of water out of a spring running into Turkey creek." " ' First Old Kansa Village,' thirty-five miles up from the mouth of the Kansas." "Twenty-five miles further Turkey creek falls in on south side. This creek is but small, passes through open bottoms nearly parallel with the Missouri and in rear of an old Kanzas village. This creek once furnished water to an old French garrison situated near its mouth." Floyd's Journal says, under dat<} of July 3 : "Camped on the north side, on the south side was an old French fort who had settled here to protect the trade of this nation in the valley. The Kansas had a village between two points of high prairie land, a handsome situation for a town."'" Some have thought that this village, which I will term the Fort village, was older than the Grand village, but the fact that the fort in its vicinity was in existence in 1757 would tend to disprove this. Bourgmont, who vis- ited the Grand village in 1724, makes no mention of this one near Isle au Vache, which he certainly would have done had it been there at the time. The trading-post or fort was probably established soon after his visit, as Fort Orleans was destroyed during Bienville's government, which ended in 1726, and the interests of the French would have required one on this remote frontier for the double purpose of trade and as a guard against Spanish in- vasion, which had been attempted only a few years before. As was often the case, the trading-post and fort were not located at the main Indian vil- lage, but at some commanding position near by. The post once established here, the Indians who came to trade would erect a village, which, although at first of a temporary character, would finally become permanent. While this Fort village was the Frenchman's headquarters, a military and trading center, the Indian village, located within a mile, was doubtless tributary to the Grand village at the mouth of Independence creek, the capital of the tribe. At these early French forts or posts like Kanses. the officer in charge was called the commandant. There was a garrison or strong-house built for his use and quarters for the soldiers. Then there was the storehouse, where the trading took place with the Indians. Here the furs and peltries were received and stored, which the Indians brought and exchanged for the goods they wanted, such as powder, lead, beads, bright-colored cloth arrow- points and trinkets of various kinds. All the buildings were surrounded by a line of palisades, and, if possible, the means of obtaining water were within or very near at hand. At these posts there was usually a licensed trader, who had bought the privilege for a certain price. Some traders were appointed by the governor-general with the approbation of the court. It is needless to state that the privileges went to the favorites of the appointing power, and the practice became an extensive system of patronage. Certain posts re- served the fur trade for the benefit of the king, but the record says that the traffic at these posts was not profitable for the king, who always lost money in this way, and only retained them to preserve an alliance with the Indians; the storekeepers and the commandant knowing how to enrich them- NoTE 17.— Thwaites' Lewis and Clark, vol. 7, p. 15. History of the Kansa or Kaw Indians. 17 selves. The trading-post at Fort Kanses was of the conge or license char- acter, and the trader was some favorite of the governor-general of Canada. Whoever he was, he filled the first civil official appointment, and with his associates, founded the first permanent white settlement in what is now the state of Kansas. ^8 As a military point, this post and fort named "Kanses" must have been of considerable importance, for its garrison was sent from New Orleans, and it had the honor of having a commandant in charge and was placed on the same basis as Detroit, Vincennnes, Fort Chartres and the other noted French forts of that day. This name " Kanzas" or "Kanses" had a place in French military, com- mercial and religious circles soon after Bourgmont's visit to the capital of the Kansa nation in 1724. In general it referred to the region where the permanent abodes of the tribe were located, to wit, the Grand village, now known to be the present site of Doniphan, and the Fort village, some twenty miles down the river— a little below Oak Mills and Cow island. Bourgmont, in his account of his visit, fairly well described the Grand village, and the sites and ruins of both were observed by Lewis and Clark when they passed up the Missouri in 1804, and they have often been men- tioned as old villages of the Kansa nation. However, I do not think Kansas historians have fully realized the importance of the latter locality, for it was evidently the first permanent white settlement in Kansas— the first center of activity in war and commerce established within the borders of our state. It was Kanses, an outpost of the progressive French, and one of their frontier towns, where white men lived in houses and carried on business almost 200 years ago. Here was a depot for all the commercial supplies of that day, the merchandise from distant France and the valuable skins and furs which were here stored for sale and exchange. It seems that the an- nual output of this first mart of trade in Kansas was 100 bales or bundles of furs. When we realize that a bundle or bale of furs represented 100 otter skins, 100 wolf skins, or 100 badger skins, or it might be made up of 40 deer skins, or 500 muskrat or mink skins, we can see that the trade at Kanses was considerable. It was Kanses, an important French military post and fort, with its strong garrison of brave soldiers, one of that wonderful chain of French defenses established from Quebec to New Orleans and along the Missouri river. It was here that the stirring morning drum-beat and the solemn echo of the evening gun marked the first permanent establishment of white man's au- thority, protection and enterprise within the borders of our state. No one knows just when the Kansa established the Grand village, or the Fort village. The former was an old place in 1724. One of these sites doubtless was occupied by the tribe when Marquette marked the Kansa to the northwest of the Osages, in his map of 1673. Other maps of that pe- riod, like Franquelin's Map of Louisiana, 1679, show the Cansa on the Mis- souri above the mouth of the Kansas river. More than likely this locality was a stronghold of the tribe in 1602, when the Spanish explorer Onate met the Escansaques on the plains and punished them for harrassing the Qui- NOTE 18. -Bougainville on French Posts. 1757, in Boundaries of the Province of Ontario, 1878, pp. 81-85. 18 Kansas State Historical Society. One of the great battles in which the Kansa were defeated by the allied forces of the Iowa, Sac and Fox tribes took place, according to Mr. Geo. J. Remsburg, near the present site of Oak Mills, in Atchison county. Vast quantities of Indian bones and implements of war have been found on this famous old battle ground. It was this and many other conflicts that deci- mated this tribe and made them retire to the interior. VILLAGES ON THE KANSAS RIVER. It will never be exactly known when the Kansa Indians first lived on the river which bears their name. Their villages along that stream were occu- pied at different times, and their sites are found from its junction with the Missouri to as far west as the mouth of the Blue river. One of them at least is prehistoric, and can only be pointed out by archeologists, while the others were occupied by the tribe since its movements were known to the historian. The Kansa were one branch of the up-stream people, and when, probably about 1500, they separated from the Omaha, Ponka and Osage, with whom they had come from the East, they took possession of the valley of the Kansas river, and became a distinct Indian nation. Probably their most ancient village site in Kansas is that found in Wy- andotte county, a little east of White Church, on the old William Malotte farm. The many relics recovered there by the late Geo. U. S. Hovey, and the extensive outlines of this village, prove it to have long been an impor- tant center, and it was probably while living here that the stream received from this people its name of Kansas. A full history of this once great Indian nation, in its original conquest for the mastery of the Kansas river and its tributaries, its hundreds of years of occupancy, with all the thrilling incidents of victory and defeat, legends and lore, and then the final decadence of the nation and the cruel and unfair treatment on the part of the United States, which at last led to its complete abandonment of the Kansas valley, would make a thrilling and in- teresting chapter in the annals of American Indian life. What point upon the Kansas river was first occupied by the Kansa? Where did they establish their first village upon this stream at the time they began to draw away from the Missouri? This question is partially answered by Lewis and Clark in the following quotations, though in a contradictory manner: "This river [Kansas] receives its name from a nation which dwells at this time on its banks, and has two villages, one about twenty leagues, and the other forty leagues up. Those Indians are not very numerous at this time, reduced by war with their neighbors. They formerly lived on the south banks of the Missouri, twenty- four leagues above this river [the Kan- sas] in an open and beautiful plain and were very numerous at the time the French first settled the Illinois. I am told they are a fierce and warlike people, being badly supplied with firearms, became easily conquered by the I'lwas and Sacs, who are better furnished with those materials of war. This nation is now out on the plains hunting the buffalo. They consist of about 300 men."i» Their information was secured largely from the trappers and boatmen who accompanied them, and was of necessity inaccurate. The first extract would imply that the eastern village was still occupied in 1804, while the more Note 19.— Thwaites' Lewis and Clark, vol. 1, page 60. History of the Kansa or Kaw Indians. 19 exact table speaks of the same village as "the old Kanzas village," and in the case of the v^^estern village identifies it as "present village of the Kan- zas," at the mouth of the Blue. We are thus led to infer that the "old Kanzas village," situated on the north side of the Kansas, between Heart creek (Soldier) and Black Paint (Red Vermillion), was their first Kansas river village after 1724, abandoned in favor of the Blue village. It is singu- lar that the site should not have been identified by our early settlers. It was possibly near or on the site of that of Fool Chief, in 1830, near Menoken. Names of Creeks. Rivers, and Remarkable Places. °" d : S :i . V . n ; ET O N a 3 1 5' < S. n , their language is guttural, and remarkable for the length and strong accentation of the final syllables. Their style of singing is monotonous, whence it may be inferred that the enchanting music heard on the rivers of Paraguay never cheers the voyageur on the otherwise beautiful streams of the country of the Kanzas. "With regard to the qualities which distinguish man from the brute, they are far from being deficient. To bodily strength and courage they unite a ^hrewdness and address superior to other savages, and in their wars and on i he chase they make a dextrous use of firearms, which gives them a decided advantage over their enemies." In another place, in speaking of the valor of the Kansa Indians, Father De Smet bears this testimony: "The Pawnees are divided into four tribes, scattered over the fertile borders of the Platte river. Though six times more numerous than the Kanzas, they have almost on every occasion been conquered by the latter, because they are far inferior to them in the use of firearms, and in strength and courage." Father De Smet closes his interesting account as follows: "However cruel they may be to their foes, the Kanzas are no strangers to the tenderest sentiments of piety, friendship and compassion. They are often inconsolable for the death of relations, and leave nothing undone to give proof of their sorrow. Then only do they suffer their hair to grow- long hair being the sign of long mourning. The principal chief apologized for the length of his hair, informing us . . . that he had lost his son. I wish that I could represent . . . the countenances of three others when they visited our little chapel for the first time. When we showed them an Ecce Homo and a statute of our Lady of the seven Dolours, and the interpreter explained to them, that that head crowned with thorns, and that countenance defiled with insults, were the true and real image of God, who had died tor the love of us. and that the heart they saw pierced with seven swords was the heart of his mother, we beheld an affecting illustration of the beautiful thought of Tertullian, that the soul of man is naturally Chris- tian ! On such occasions it is suiely not difficult, after a short instruction on true faith and love of God, to excite feelings of pity for their fellow creatures in the most ferocious bosoms. . . . May the God of Mercies, in whom we alone place all our trust, bless our undertaking and enable us to no other tribe that I know of. ... I found these people cutting off the hair with small scissors, which they purchase of the fur traders; and they told me that previous to getting scissors they cut it away with their knives ; and before they got knives they were in the habit of burning it off with red-hot stones, which was a very slow and painful operation." — George Catlin, Illus- trations of the Manners, Customs and Conditions of the North American Indians, London, 1876, vol. 2, pp. 23, 24. 28 Kansas State Historical Society. Ah-ke-dah-shin-gah, Little Soldier, a typical Indian brave. History of the Kansa or Kaw Indians. 29 to predict that our sweat, mixed with the fertilizing dew of heaven, will fall auspiciously on this long barren earth, and make it produce somethmg else besides briars and thorns !" 24 It seems from the following that there was something noble and com- mendable in the character of the early Kansa nation, which was of such re- pute that it also received a tribute from an English writer who had visited America, and was discussing forms of government, etc. In a history of Connecticut, by Samuel A. Peters, printed in 1781 in London, on page 103, we find this complimentary observation regarding the tribe: "The American Cansez, near Lake Superior, enjoy liberty complete without jealousy. Among them the conscious independence of each indi- vidual warms his thoughts and guides his actions. He enters the sachemic dome with the same simple freedom as he enters the wigwam of his brother, neither dazzled at the splendor nor awed by the power of the possessor! Here is liberty in perfection." This writer only erred in the location of the tribe, but gives the name the same spelling as other French writers of that period. NEOSHO VALLEY VILLAGES AT COUNCIL GROVE. The Kansa made their home from 1847 to 1873 on the diminished reserve, surrounding that well-known spot in the Neosho valley. Council Grove. Here they established three villages, each governed by a chief, Cahola Creek village was on a creek of that name south of the present town of Dunlap. For a long time Al-le-ga-wa-ho, the head chief, presided at this village, having succeeded the old Hard Chief, Kah-he-ga-wah-che-ha. This village was the largest of the three, and Hard Chief ruled here from the time the tribe came from the Kaw valley, in 1847, until some time in the '60's, when he died, a very old man. He was of ordinary intellect, but not a great warrior. Kah-he-gah means chief and wah-che-ha hard or severe, and this chief was said to be of that type. Al-le-ga-wa-ho, his successor, was a remarkable character, long trusted as the wisest leader of the tribe. He was elected head chief when Kah-he- gah-wah-ti-an-gah the Second, Fool Chief the Younger, lost his position for having killed a noted brave without cause. Al-le-ga-wa-ho was tall and stately, about six feet six, and was long noted as the most eloquent orator of the tribe. He was considered safe and honest in his dealings, and one of the few noted Indians of his day who could not be bribed. He had three wives, one of whom was his special favorite, as will be seen by the follow- ing incident: It was always a disputed question whether she or the wife of his cousin. Fool Chief the Younger, was the finest looking. At one time she had been sick for weeks and at last was convalescent, but was very par- ticular and dainty about her diet. She turned away from all kinds of fixed- up dishes for the sick, and longed for that prized Indian dish of dog meat. To gratify her appetite Al-le-ga-wa-ho came to Council Grove and bagged for a fat dog, stating that it was the only thing that would satisfy and cure his wife. He found that one could be bought for two dollars, but having spent all of his annuity money, had to borrow the price from a friend, and hastened back rejoicing to his village with the doomed canine. Around Council Grove, when a fat dog disappeared, it was always known where it Note 24.— De Smet's Letters and Sketches. 1843, p. 64. 30 Kansas State Historical Society. Stone house built for Kaw Indians. went. Al-le-ga-wa-ho lived to be a very old man, and died in the Indian Territory years ago. Fool Chief's village was near the present town of Dunlap, in the valley. Kah-he-ga-wah-ti-an-ga Second, governed this village for a long time, having succeeded Ish-tah-le-sah (Speckled Eye), his uncle. Speckled Eye was a brother of Hard Chief and second in rank as a ruler. He was a man of strong and positive personality and was sober and alert. He was the fa- mous orator of the old triumvirate, and was always put forward on important occasions when government officers visited the tribe, because of his ability to make a great speech. He died from eating too much "store trash" the same day he received his annuity money. He had been living on short ra- tions and the change was too sudden. He was tall, spare of flesh and very dignified, and had a prominent Roman nose between very high cheek-bones. He had far more influence in tribal matters than his elder brother. Hard Chief. At his death, his nephew, Fool Chief the Younger, took his place and became head chief of the tribe, but lost the position by an unworthy act— killing a brave without cause, and came very near to suffering the death penalty. He was tried by the tribe and only saved himself by paying as a fine a large number of ponies, blankets, robes and other valuables, and assigning his annuity for a time; all of which went to the mourning widow, who at last was appeased and went away rejoicing with the abundance of her possessions. This incident took much from the former prestige of this chief and soured his later years. While most of the Kansa chiefs had sev- eral wives, he had but two. His second wife was his by custom, being his deceased brother's wife. His real wife was long con.sidered the beauty of the tribe, which did not have many handsome squaws. She was noted for her intelligent countenance, was tall, of fine physique and a rich dresser. History of the Kansa or Kaw Indians. 31 Her family did not belong to that village, but he stole her by a shrewd and sensational elopement from the neighboring village nearer Council Grove. Fool Chief went to the Territory with the tribe, and was the last of the "Fool" chiefs, as the name died with him. The third, or Big John, village was located near Big John creek, south- east of Council Grove, and was not far from the agency. At one time this village was situated within a mile of Council Grove, and the high ground where the old Allen farmhouse now stands was about the center of the vil- lage. This village used to make use of the lake on the Stenger farm in which to wash their ponies. Peg-gah-hosh-she was the first chief to rule at this village. He was a brother of Hard Chief and Speckled Eye, and one of the three big chiefs who came with the tribe from their home on the Kaw. He belonged to the old dynasty, the old crowd, and was a man of much force, stubborn and set in his ruling. Of the three old chiefs he was con- sidered the most skilled and trusted warrior of the three brothers. He died about 1870, and was succeeded by his nephew, Wah-ti-an-ga, a son of Speckled Eye. Wah-ti-an-ga was a cunning and rather tricky fellow, and was given to the use of liquor, much to his disgrace and the safety of those around him. Under one of these spells caused by pie-ge-ne (whisky) he followed Mr. Huffaker around all one afternoon, seeming to want to keep right at his side. Mr. Huffaker suspicioned nothing, but a friend by the name of Ching- gah-was-see (Handsome Bird) did a handsome thing by watching his chance and telling Mr. Huffaker that the drunken chief had made his boasts that he would not leave town till he had taken the life of Tah-poo-skah, that be- ing the Indian name of Mr. Huffaker, meaning teacher. Wah-ti-an-ga claimed that it would be a great deed to kill so important a personage. It was fortunate that Handsome Bird informed him, for it is never safe to trust an Indian crazed or foolish with liquor, for sometimes they will kill their best friend. Wah-ti-an-ga was still a chief when the tribe went to the Territory, where he lived for a long time. Ching-gah-was-see was a good Indian and noted brave, and had the honor of having a spring named for him. This spring is a few miles north of the city of Marion and is noted for its medicinal qualities. Three or four different schemes for improving the condition of the tribe were undertaken during the twenty-six years of its sojourn at Council Grove, such as the Methodist Indian mission ; building houses for those who would live in them ; instruction in farming and stock-raising ; and the Quaker educational effort. For the most part these efforts were not of sufficient duration and energy to fully test them While there were indi- vidual cases of improvement, the general condition of the tribe was influ- enced very little. The Indian mission school was erected in 1850 by the Methodist Episcopal Church South, from funds furnished by the United States government. The teachers were T. S. Huffaker and wife and H. W. Webster and wife— Mr. Huffaker having charge of the school and Mr. Webster of the farming and stock-raising. This school was closed in 1854, the reason alleged being its large expense, amounting to fifty dollars per capita annually, and the gov- ernment refused to increase the appropriation. The pupils were generally orphans and dependents of the tribe and were all boys, for the Indians ab- solutely refused to send any of their girls. The custom was to give away 32 Kansas State Historical Society. the girls in marriage a long time before the ceremony. In fact, the mar- riage of the young Indian girls was nothing more than a consummation of a bargain and sale, and the bargain was made with their parents when the girls were quite young— usually before they were in their teens. Mr. Huffaker says that he never knew but one Kansa Indian whom he considered converted to the Christian faith. His name was Sho-me-kos-se (a wolf). There was an interpreter at this school to assist the teachers, by the name of William Johnson, who was named after the first missionary to the tribe. This interpreter was fine-looking, intelligent, alert and withal a good man, although a full-blooded Indian. This old Kaw Indian mission building is one of the most historic struc- tures in Kansas, and at this date is in a perfect state of preservation. It is full two stories high, constructed of stone from the near-by quarry and native lumber from the original Council Grove. It has eight rooms, and in each gable are two large projecting stone fireplace chimneys; the walls are very thick; the general appearance of the structure is solid and quaint, and the surroundings are very romantic. It is still used as a residence, and, strange to relate, only a few months ago Judge Huffaker and his wife moved back to live again within its walls, which sheltered them over a half- century ago, when they taught the Indians before Kansas was even a terri- tory. It has been used for many purposes— as schoolhouse, council-house, court-house, meeting-house, and a fortress during the Indian raids and scares of frontier days, when it was a coveted stronghold to which the early settler often fled for safety. Governors and officers of the state and the army have been entertained in this building. Often it has been the retreat and welcome resting-place for explorers, travelers and tired missionaries on their way to Mexico and the far Southwest, when homes and places of entertainment were few and far between. Once Governor Reeder and party stopped here for two days on an expedition to select a site for the territorial capital, and probably Council Grove would have been chosen had it not been for the uncertainty of title to the Kansa Indian lands. This old structure stands on the bank of the Neosho river, in the north part of the present city, and is close by the ancient river ford. Years ago, at a near-by spot, an old foot-bridge was constructed for use during high water, and all the surroundings of this old Indian mission are both attractive and romantic. It was unfortunate that the United States government did not spend more money in this educational effort with this tribe. This school should not have been closed simply because the cost per pupil reached fifty dollars annually, especially when we consider the rich domain along the Kansas val- ley and elsewhere which the tribe surrendered to the government for a mere trifle of its real worth. Many of the pupils were fairly quick to learn and succeeded along certain lines of literary work, but they did not represent the children of the best element of the tribe. The full-blooded, aristocratic type of Indian considered it degrading in the extreme to be taught the white man's education. They were honest in this, for they believed it would weaken them in all the elements which preserved the true Indian character. Few white men of their acquaintance were worthy of example. In this they were different from the emigrant Indians, some of whom advocated and encouraged educational and religious movements. Strange as it may seem, from 1854 to 1873 there was practically no missionary or religious ef- History of the Kansa or Kaw Indians. 33 In a wheat-field — " A Cabin of the Kaws." fort made with this tribe. They were left to grow up in their old-time ig- norance and superstition. During the summer of 1855 over 400 of the tribe were the victims of smallpox.-"' Their burying-grounds are scattered along the Neosho valley and on the neighboring slopes. Cultivation has obliterated many graves, except where the lands have been used for pasture. There the scars on the earth are still visible, where the piles of stones or flat slabs are mute re- minders of that dreadful scourge which has so often decimated the tribes of the West. One peculiarity about the type of smallpox among the Kaws was that it did not seem to spread from the Indians to the whites. Mr. Huffaker and other whites who were with the Indians in all stages of the contagion never took it, and their observation was that it could not be transmitted from an Indian to a white man. The only white man in Council Grove who had the disease got it from a negro slave who took it from the Indians. This white man took rare of the negro in his sickness and died, while the negro re- covered. The negro was returned to his owner at Independence. Note 25. — Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Report, 1885, p. 434. 34 Kansas State HistoHcal Society. After the treaty of 1859, when the Kaw reservation was reduced fn size to what was known as the diminished reserve, the agency of the tribe was moved from Council Grove to a point about four miles southeast of the city, near the mouth of the Big John, where some of the buildings remain to-day. The government constructed substantial buildings, consisting of the agency house and stables, storehouse, council-house, and two large frame school buildings. They were principally constructed from native oak and black walnut lumber sawed out of the forests along the river. The large school buildings were the most interesting, one of which was for the families of the people connected with the school and for training the young Indians in cooking and other domestic ways. The other building, a long, two-story structure, was for classes and school purposes. At about the same time that these agency buildings were put up the government also built some 150 small stone cottages or cabins along the valley on the reservation for the individual use of Indian families; the plan being to educate and civilize the tribe as much as possible, and to teach them to farm and care for them- selves, as the best foundation and really the only means of improving them in a moral and religious way. The government erected these buildings from Indian funds, and the educational efforts were put in charge of the Quakers, with Mathon Stubbs as manager. -« School was opened on the 1st of May, 1863, and continued until Septem- ber, 1866, when the agent, Maj. Henry W. Farnsworth, reported that the effort had been a failure because of the lack of missionary work among both children and adults ; that to have good results it was necessary that the children should be "better fed, better clothed and better cared for in every respect than the children at home." The school was resumed in 1869, and continued until June, 1873, when the tribe removed to the Territory. This last effort was more suscessful, the parents influencing the children to at- tend, and sending a larger proportion of girls.-" Mr. Stubbs was the agent of the Kansa until they went to their present location in the Territory in 1873. Very few of the tribe would ever consent to live in the comfortable stone houses provided for their use, claiming that houses would breed disease, and were not as healthy as wigwams and lodges. Prior to their going to the Territory very few learned to farm, and those few in an indifferent and careless manner, and so the Quaker effort with the tribe was as unsuccessful as that of the Methodist nearly twenty years before. The Kaws never took kindly to the religion of the whites. They said: "It may be all right for you, we don't know, but ours is better for us." They were not as much given even to Indian religious ceremonies as many other tribes, and what they had and their beliefs they carefully guarded, and they were very reticent to express themselves. They believed in a Great Spirit they called Wau-con-dah, the Manitou of the other tribes, but had many grotesque superstitions bordering on polytheism, for there were in- NOTE 26. -Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Reports, 1863-'66, 1869-'73. Note 27. — United States Senator Curtis was a pupil at this school at one time. His parents lived in North Topeka. but his mother being a member of the Kansa nation (one-quarter blood) he was sent over to attend the tribal school. Senator Curtis and his three children are recognized allotment members of the tribe, and have been given their due proportion of the tribal lands at the Oklahoma reservation. Our senator's lineage runs thus: Charles Curtis, son of Capt. Orren A. Curtis and his wife Ellen Pappan; Ellen Pappan. daughter of Louis Pappan and his wife Julie Gonville; Julie Gonville, daughter of Louis Gonville and his wife, who was a daughter of the Kansa Chief White Plume or Wom-pa-wa-ra (He who scares all men). History of the Kansa or Kaw Indians. 35 Group of Kaw Indians, about 1870. in full dress. Wa-mun-ka-wa-sha. with shield: Sha-ga- in-ka. with horns: Margaret Ma-hun-gah. with papoose, belle of the Kaws ferior gods or spirits everywhere — in the seasons, in light, in darkness, in heat and cold, over the rivers, plains, woods, hunting, war. etc. ; but they were all inferior to Wau-con-dah, the "Great Ghost of Heaven." Some thought that his home was in the sun. some in the moon. The sun- dance was originally a religious ceremony. Probably no tribe in the United States so close to the border of civilization was as little influenced by re- ligious and educational efforts. During the years they occupied the Council Grove reservation they jeal- ously preserved many of their ancient customs— their religion and supersti- tions, and it is sad to relate that their contact with their white brothers was more of a curse than a blessing. The early traveler who visited them one or two hundred years ago found a far better, healthier and happier people than the insignificant remnant of a once great tribe that was hustled off to the Indian Territory in 1873. During these later years of contact with the, whites the vices acquired far exceeded the benefits or virtues received. Teachers and agents might be ever so able and zealous for their welfare, but drunkenness and its kindred vices, which they learned from the mercen- ary white man and Greaser who cared nothing for them but the robes and pelts they traded, destroyed completely the influence of the missionary and teacher, and left the last estate of the tribe far more abject and deplorable than the first. THE CHEYENNE RAID. On the morning of June 2. 1868, there appeared on the hills west of Council Grove several hundred well-armed and mounted Cheyenne and Arapahoe warriors. Their coming, which had been heralded, was looked S6 Kansas State Historical Society. for with much apprehension -^ until it was known that they only desired to fight the Kaws, against whom they had a grudge of long standing, intensi- fied by a late encounter.'-'' The Kaws had gone the previous October to hunt on the Arkansas, and were overtaken by a party of Arapahoes, who, while feigning friendship, stole thirty-four Kaw ponies, leaving the latter tribe so unhorsed that they could not recover their property. While in this condition, near Fort Zarah in December, they were attacked by a party of Cheyennes, whom they charged, and after a spirited fight of four hours, drove them from the field, leaving fourteen Cheyennes killed and many others wounded, losing themselves but two killed and several wounded. The Cheyennes were led by their noted war-chief, Little Robe, and made -an imposing display as they filed through the old town of Council Grove on their way to battle. The scattering white settlers along the Neosho, Cot- tonwood, Diamond creek and other streams hastened to the various frontier towns and ranches, and organized provisional companies of rangers for gen- eral protection. The Indian battle, the last one this far east in Kansas, took place near the agency, a few miles southeast of town. The Kansa warriors, assisted by several experienced whites, secreted themselves along the banks of Big John creek above the agency, and following the advice of their white friends refused to engage in battle out in the open bottoms. A number of Kansa Indians had seen service in the Union army and had learned the ad- vantage of protected positions. The experience of the Kaws in the rebellion may have added to thtir prowess as fighters. Major Farnsworth, in 1864, reported that "nearly a full company of the young men are in the second year of their service in the Union army in the rebel states." This turn of affairs discomfited the Cheyennes, who had come prepared for fighting on horseback in plains fashion, and after several ineffectual charges and failures to dislodge' their enemies, they made a hasty retreat Note 28.— Senator Charles Curtis, one of the United States senators from Kansas, was at- tending school at the Kaw agency at the time of the Cheyenne raid, and made a record-breaking race on foot from Council Grove to North Topeka, the home of his parents. The following, re- garding this exploit, appeared in the Topeka Capital during his candidacy for the senate: " Thirty-five years ago." continued Senator Morehouse in a reminiscent vein, "a little North Topeka boy of about seven summers was making his home with some relatives at the old Kaw Indian agency adjoining Council Grove, in Morris county. He was a lad of fine features, some- what shy and reserved, and of delicate and diminutive physique. " It was the day before the roted Cheyenne raid, when the hordes of picked and paini;ed war- riors of that noted tribe suddenly appeared from the pathless plains and filed down into the beautiful Neosho valley and through the streets of Council Grove to fight their old enemies, the Kaws. The plainsman. David Lucas, had just arrived after a daring ride of forty-five miles across country from Marion with the startling tidings that Chief Little Robe and his braves were coming. Great excitement prevailed, and the few settlers scattered along the creeks, warned by the outriders and the clanging peals of the old bell swinging from its high tower on Belfry hill, hastily gathered at Council Grove, the nearest 'city of refuge.' *■ "A council of war was being held by the chief braves of the Kaws and a number of their white friends, who were going to help them in their defense against the Cheyennes. now ex- pected at any hour. This quiet little boy stood by. and, listening to the war talk of the elders and plans of defense, resolved that he would be the first to carry the news of the impending dan- ger across the country to his folks at Topeka. On foot and alone, with that fearlessness and in- ■dependence characteristic of the coming man, he took a short cut over the hills and prairies in the direction of his native city. Guided by instinct and "night's candles." the shining stars, he covered the fifty miles in a space of time that would do credit to a horseman. He demonstrated running abilities that have never known defeat. "Years passed by. and that little boy worked up the ladder of success, round after round, with a pluck, energy and ability worthy of the highest praise and emulation. As newsboy, hack-driver, ofiice-boy, student, lawyer, county attorney, step by step he developed qualities of the highest character and the serene self-reliance that have given him a national reputation during the ten years he has so ably represented the interests of his native state in the halls of Congress. From the time of that exciting frontier episode to the present our people have watched the expanding career of their little friend, and our old soldiers, old settlers, young men, and •everybody — almost regardless of party — have taken pride in his success." Note 29.— Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 1868, p. 260. History of the Kansa or Kaw Indians. 37 back to their home on the plains. On their way back they committed a number of depredations, such as kilHng stock and robbing houses. While this raid was exciting, none were killed on either side, and the number of wounded was very light. Fought under other conditions, in the open, with both forces on horseback, it would probably have been a bloody affair, with the chances against the Kansa ; for they never were as well mounted as the Cheyennes— the well-known "Bedouins of the plains." As long as the buffalo lasted the tribe sent annual hunting parties out to the buffalo country, and this going back and forth wore a well-defined trail. -^0 This trail, still visible in places, passed through the counties of Morris, Marion, McPheison, and into Rice county, where this tribe for a long time had been accustomed to establish their camp at the forks of Cow creek. This was right in the heart of the finest hunting country, and was a handy place to pitch their teepees, dry their meat, and cure their furs and robes. They went out in the fall and often stayed all winter, sending back, however, supplies of meat to those who had to stay at home. This finally became a well-worn road and was known as the Kaw trail. THE KANSA ADMITTED INTO THE NORTHWESTERN CONFEDERACY. The treaties under which the W>andot, Shawnee, Delaware, Pottawat- omie, Ottawa, Chippewa, Peoria and Miami Indians came to Kansas or the West provided that their lands should never come under the jurisdiction of any territory or state. When bills were introduced into Congress as early as 1844, looking to the formation of Nebraska territory, ^i these emigrant tribes became much exercised, for they could see that their treaty rights were sooner or later to be violated. This led to a peaceful demonstration on their part— the reorganization of the northwestern confederacy of tribes and the calling of an Indian congress, which met near Fort Leavenworth in October, 1848. This confederacy consisted of the above-named tribes, which had been in league for a hundred years in their eastern home. Two other tribes were admitted into this confederacy, the Kansa and Kickapoo. This was a prominent recognition of the Kansa, for all the other nine tribes forming this confederacy were emigrants from Eastern states, the Kansa Indians alone being natives. ■'^ In several ways the Kansa manifested enterprise in attempting to adapt Note 30.— For a full description of this Indian highway, and numerous customs of the tribe -while at Council Grove, see the author's article, "Along the Kaw Trail," in Kansas Historical Collections, vol. 8, p. 206. Note 31.— In 1835. Rev. Isaac McCoy, in his Annual Register of Indian Affairs, refers to the establishment of a government for the Indian Territory in these words: "Most of the tribes within the Territory have expressed a desire to become united in one civil compact, and be governed by laws similar to those of the United States. Should the United States provide for them a form of civil government, suited to their circumstances, a few among each of the emigrant tribes, and many among some of those tribes, would be found capable of filling responsible offices in the transaction of the affairs of their government." In the third number of the same publication, 1837, Mr. McCoy enlarges upon this theme, and copies from a report made by Horace Everett. May 20, 1834, on a bill for the establishment of a general government for the Indian Territory and its representation by a delegate at Washington. In April, 1837, Mr. McCoy, under instructions, selected a tract of land near the Ottawa mission fOr the seat of government of this anticipated territory, which was never organized. In the An- nual Register of 1835, page 3, is the following description of the bounds of the Indian Territory: "By the Indian Territory is meant the country within the following limits, viz.: Beginning on Red river, east of the Mexican boundary, and as far west of Arkansas territory as the coun- try is habitable : thence down Red river eastwardly to Arkansas territory ; thence northwardly along the line of Arkansas territory to the state of Missouri ; thence north along its western line to Missouri river ; thence up Missouri river to Puncah river ; thence westwardly as far as the country is habitable : thence southwardly to the beginning." Note 32. — W. E. Connelley, in Kansas Historical Collections, vol. 6, p. 99. 38 Kansas State Historical Society. themselves to the advancing civilization of the whites, and it is a pity that they did not receive that degree of assistance from both state and church they would receive to-day could the scroll of history be turned back. Our present United States senator, Charles Curtis, has informed me that this tribe was the first to ask for a division of tribal funds and lands among in- dividual Indians, and that it prepared and presented a bill in Congress to that effect. THE KANSA NOT INCLINED TO AGRICULTURE. Some have unfairly criticised the Kansa Indians because they did not take to agriculture and adopt other ways of the whites as readily as some other tribes. In such matters we should not hastily draw conclusions, but remember that the Kansa had fewer opportunities and more hindrances than most tribes. Generally speaking, the squaws alone were the tillers of the soil, where any was tilled, and the bearers of all menial burdens. This was custom, handed down for ages, and was not considered any indignity heaped upon the women. They did not want the braves to work, never made complaints, and would scorn to object to their tasks. The duty of the braves was to hunt and to fight, and to consider those things which were for the general good of the tribe as a nation. According to their ideals of true Indian char- acter, servile duties about the camp or village, or any labor of the white man's kind, were to them degrading in the extreme. While this was not in harmony with the standards of the civilization the whites would thurst upon them, it was not improper from a wise economy in true Indian life. In a pure state of Indian society, where skill and prowess in hunting and on the war path were at the very foundation of success, and even of tribal existence itself, it was necessary that the braves be as free as possible from the small details and toils of camp life, that they might be- come proficient along those lines which brought strength and renown to their tribe. For years the Kansa, though few in numbers compared with the hostile tribes which beset them, maintained a proud standing as a nation of fight- ers. This could not be done with the braves following the cultivation of the fields. It was no idle excuse they once made for not devoting more time to agricultural pursuits, when they said they were afraid to work for fear the Pawnees would come upon them and kill them all off.-*^ At different times the government appointed a farmer to instruct them along lines of agriculture. The Indians called this official Wah-gos-see, the farmer. The first one appointed was Daniel Morgan Boone, son of the Kentucky pioneer, who opened a farm at the first Kaw agency in Jefferson county, in the fall of 1827, on the north bank of the Kansas, about seven miles north- west of Lawrence.''^ In 1835, when the tribe had become established in western Shawnee county, he cultivated two farms of 300 acres each in the Kansas valley, one of which was on north side of the river, about fifteen miles above Topeka, and the other near the Mission creek villages. John T. Peery was farmer during the years 1845-'46. At Council Grove some 300 acres of the richest Neosho valley bottom-land was prepared and some little success Note 33.— Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Report, 1842, p. 63. Note 34.— Kansas Historical Collections, vol. 9, p. 195. A full description of the agency and farm are here given. History of the Kansa or Kaw Indians. 39 made in raising corn ; but very few of the braves would consent to work steadily in the fields, it being the work of the squaws. In 1863 T. S. Huf- faker was the official farmer. After the tribe moved to Oklahoma, in 1873, greater progress along the line of farming and stock-raising was made, and a number of them have done fairly well. The following report of the farmer is worthy of notice, among other items stating that over eighty braves had enlisted in the United States army during that year : •'Kansas Agency, September 15, 1863. "Sir— I submit this as my report for the past year as farmer for the Kansas Indians. The Indians are still laboring under the same disadvantages mentioned in my last annual report, the same insufficient number of oxen, plows and other agricultural implements; but they have, notwithstanding these difficulties, been able to plant more than 300 acres of ground, from which they will gather some eight or nine thousand bushels of corn They have devoted most of their time to the raising of corn, being better ac- quainted with the culture of corn than of other products. Many families have been unable to cultivate their farms as they should, owing to the fact that many of their able-bodied men have gone into the army, of whom more than eighty have enlisted in the United States service during the last year. The Indians are well pleased with their new mode of life, and say they do not desire to exchange their present mode for the former. They, to com- mence another year favorably, should be furnished with an additional num- ber of oxen, plows, etc., say twice the number they now have T. S. HUFFAKER. Farmer for Kansas Indiana." NEGLECT OF THE KANSA IN EDUCATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS HELP. One of the most pitiful failures of the whites in the educational and re- ligious betterment of an Indian tribe is to be found in the illy directed efforts followed with the Kansa nation. It was so marked and far-reaching in its influences that I would not feel like leaving this subject without calling at- tention to it. If the same wise and persistent energy had been used with this tribe by the United States and by church organizations as was used with the Osages, the result would have been far different. The United States commenced to take an interest in both these tribes about the same time, and began to treat with them regarding their lands, etc., but in some way the poor Kansa were cheated at every turn in the road; robbed of their richest lands without just recompense, and at last became beggars, when they should have been as wealthy as the Osage. In 1825, the Kansa were induced to sell their right to about one-half of the richest part of the great state of Kansas for a mere pittance, that a lot of immigrant tribes might be provided with homes. -^^ They surrendered their happy home and far-reaching hunting-grounds, the region occupiea by their tribe for ages and which supplied all their wants, were driven from one diminished reserve to another, till they had to depend entirely upon the charity of Uncle Sam for daily sustenance, and at last accept as a refuge an inferior corner of the Osage lands in Oklahoma. The government, after taking away its mighty domain, made only spas- modic efforts toward civilizing the tribe. From the date of the St. Louis treaty of June 3, 1825, when the tribe was despoiled of an empire, down to Note 35. — Miss Abel's "Indian Reservations in Kansas, " in Kansas Historical Collections, vol. S, pp. 75, 76, 98. 40 Kansas State HistoricaZ Society. Wa-mun-ka-wa-sha. a brave. Ma-ja-ho-ja, an Indian boy, about 1870. its removal to the Indian Territory in 1873, nearly half a century, not to ex- ceed a total of twelve years of educational advantages w^as provided for them, and that of a very ordinary and half-hearted character. At Mission creek, Shawnee county, Rev. J. T. Peery kept a few Indian children at the mission house and taught them one year. Prior to this, a few Kansa children attended the manual-labor school at Shawnee Mission, in Johnson county. In 1847 the tribe was removed to their diminished reserve at Council Grove. Four years passed and nothing was done for them in an educational way. In 1851 the Kaw Indian mission school was started, but ran for only four years, closing in 1854. Nineteen years elapsed from the close of this school to the removal of the tribe to the Territory, and yet, during this long period, not a thing was done for the tribe in a religious way, and in education only eight years, at most, when there was school at the agency near Council Grove, supported by the government and conducted by the Quakers. The tribe lived at Coun- cil Grove about twenty-five years in all, and during that time for only about twelve years was there any school opened for the training of their children, and that of such limited character that it reached but few. But what seems strangest, during that entire quarter of a century no resident missionary or priest of the Gospel was maintained by the govern- ment or any church denomination to live with and labor for this tribe. In all this time, the only thing of an uplifting character was the mission and the Quaker school referred to, and it must be remembered that these were educational efforts and not religious. During this period Council Grove grew to be a smart business town and. one of the early centers of Kansas civilization, noted for its good schools, good society and good churches, but nothing of a religious character was History of the Kansa or Kaiv Indians. 41 undertaken with this tribe. Two branches of the Methodist church were organized, besides Presbyterian, Congregational and other churches, all for the whites. These took an active interest in the heathen on the other side of the world, and collections for the support of missions among them, but nothing was done to carry the religion of the Cross to these benighted wards at our very doors. It was not only a blunder on the part of the government, but it was criminal after cheating them out of their Kansas valley homes to remove them to Council Grove. Here they were placed near a trading center on the Santa Fe trail, where their contact with piejene (fire-water), the whisky of the whites, and other vices, proved far more injurious than any knowl- edge of civilization received could overcome. Here they were totally neg- lected in a religious way, and only experiments of a brief and ineffectual nature undertaken for their education. Some have been inclmed to make critical comparisons between the Kansa and Osage Indian tribes, and tried to explain the differences between them on the unfair assumption that these two tribes were of different types, dif- ferent capacities, different languages. This is all erroneous and very un- fair; the only difference to the credit of the Osages has been brought about because they were treated in a better manner by both state and church. In language, there is no greater difference than exists between Northern and Southern state dialects. Originally they were the same people, and when the government first assumed to shape their future they were of the same class of Indians— having the same customs, habits and attire, and were the same physically, mentally and morally. No, the difference came from the neglect of one tribe and favoritism for the other. Is it any wonder that their Osage brothers, who were always the recipi- ents of patient and persistent educational and religious attention by devoted missionaries of the Catholic church, far outstripped the Kansa Indians in wealth, energy, business capacity in preserving their rights, and advanced further along educational and religious lines? The Kansa, neglected by state and church, fell before an unfair contest with the white man's civilization, while the Osages, who since 1827 have been the favored ones in busmess bargains with the government, and the special charge of a devoted and continued missionary effort on the part of such devoted teachers as Fathers Charles Van Quickenborne, Shoenmakers, Ponziglione, Mother Superior Bridget Hayden, and others, are now among the most prosperous of western tribes. What a different tale to relate regarding the Kansa had they been treated honestly, their imperial home ground from Manhattan to Topeka and east- ward been preserved for their use, and had they been given the same wise and continuous educational and moral advantages as were given the Osages. Instead of being the sorry remnant, destined to obliteration, they might have been filling the same important part in Kansas affairs now occupied by the Osages in Oklahoma. No one should point the finger of scorn at the Kansa Indians and make unfair comparisons without considering these facts. 42 Kansas State Historical Society. THE KANSA LANGUAGE NEVER REDUCED TO WRITING. While there have been numerous publications in the Siouan tongue, cov- ering as wide a scope as in any other linguistic group of North-American Indians, it is strange that nothing of consequence was ever attempted in the Kansa dialect. Other tribes of the Siouan family, such as the Omaha, Ponka, Iowa, Oto, Missouri and Osage, have had many school-bouks published, and several of them have had prayer-books and portions of the Bible printed in their dialects. If anything of this kind was ever done for the Kansa na- tion, it is not now to be found. When we realize the fact that while ex- tensive scholastic and religious efforts were made among most other tribes the Kansa Indians were often entirely neglected for periods of from ten to twenty-five years, it is no wonder that they made such slow progress along these lines. Apparently the Kansa language was never reduced to an exact system of writing; that tribe had but little, if any, help from text-books, dictionaries, parts of the Bible, etc., as did the other tribes, and so very little has ever been done to preserve the features of the language of this once im- portant nation, the early history of which is so interesting and important as a part of the annals of our state. While it has been generally understood that nothing was ever printed in this language, and the writer has always been so informed by old members of the tribe, their later agents and teach- ers, and the government authorities at Washington, I was very much sur- prised to run across recently the evidence that a small book was once printed in the Kansa language, although, as yet, a copy has not been found for placing in the collections of the Historical Society. The clew to the fact that there was such a publication was a mere mention on page 567 of McCoy's History of Baptist Indian Missions, 1840. Among the books given as being printed on the Meeker press at the Shawnee Baptist mission, it states: "In Osage, one; in Kauzau, one for the Methodists." Afterward I found, in the Baptist Missionary Magazine of June, 1839, in a report of the work of their mission printing-press at " Shawanoe, Ind. Territory (Shawnee Mission, Johnson county), considerable mention of this lost Kansa book. Report for 1839: "The following works have been printed at the Shawanoe press, exclu- sive of the shawanoe Sun, in addition to those printed last year: "Harmony in Delaware 80pp. Addit., 16mo., 40,000 " Hymns in Delaware 48pp. " 24mo., 19,200 "*Kauzas Book in Kanzas 24pp. " 12mo., 7,200" Another mention is made of the Kansa book in the report of 1840, viz. : "Mr. Pratt had printed, besides completing the Delaware harmony and hymn book, a continuation of Matthew in Shawanoe, 32 pp., 16mci. ; 500 copies the Epistle of John in Delaware; for the Methodist mission, 32pp., 12mo., 500 copies and 600 sheet tracts. "The amount of printing executed from February, 1838, to November, 1839, (exclusive of the Shawanoe Sun, in Shawanoe,) in Shawanoe, Dela- ware, and Kauzas, was 2500 copies, or 58,600 8vo. pp." James C. Pilling, in his Bibliography of the Algonquian Languages, lists the books issued from the Meeker press, and says, "In the Kansas (Kan- zan) or Kaw language, one book was printed for Rev. William Johnson, the Methodist missionary, probably in 1836 or 1837." It was probably printed for the use of William Johnson, who at that time was missionary to the " * For the Methodist Episcopal Mission. The Indians manifest an increasing interest in the operations of the press." History of the Kansa or Kaw Indians. 4a tribe; whether it was ever used or not is not known. As will be seen by reference to note 8, page 102 of this volume, such books were short-lived. From the above account of the book, it appears that an edition of only 300 copies of a 24-page book was printed, or 7200 pages in all. 36 Rev. Wm. Johnson, who was with the tribe for seven years, never had a competent interpreter, and was thus much hindered in reaching the tribe through their own language, although before his death, in 1842, he became proficient in it. It is said that on his death-bed he advised against a further attempt to teach them through their own language, as he considered that it was deficient in words to properly present religious truth, and to try to teach by sign language was unsatisfactory. His idea was that they should first be taught the English language and instructed through that. Notwithstanding this gloomy view which Mr. Johnson took regarding the Kansa language, it must be remembered that our good Catholic brothers, under Fathers Van Quickenborne, Shoenmaker, Ponziglione, Mother Bridget Haydenand others, made considerable success along scholastic and religious lines in the use of the native tongue of the Osages during their forty years' steady labor with Note 36.-The following statements regarding this matter have been received from Rev Joabbpencer sole survivmg missionary to the Shawnees. and from Judge T. S. Huffaker who was a teacher to the Kansa Indians and lived with them in various official capacities from 1850 to 187d. Both of these parties were well acquainted with missionaries and those working with the Kansa tribe prior to their time. "Geo. P. Morehouse, Topeka. Kan. : "Slater, Mo., July 16, 1907. y^r^C^^ °^^'*.?''V7-^°"'' letter received. The publication you mention was only a small text- „ o ivi "w '" T u M'ssion school, as I understand. I was well acquainted with Mrs. Peery. who was Mrs. Wm. Johnson, and had charge of the school for the seven years they were in control of the Kansas mission, then located west of Topeka. Mr. Johnson had no competent interpreter I am sure, at any time. In fact, his wife became interpreter for the mission, and also on different hf^^f,'.°I!! %i^ f government. You can rest assured that there never was a publication in their language. That printing office was a small affair. When I was with the Shawnees I found a ^ew,copies of the Shawnee New Testament printed by the Baptist brothers. K 1 u°\ u J u°" *°'°- ^^ ]\ ^^^ ^ ^°°^ translation. The Shawnees were using a small hymn- book which had been printed by the Baptists. I think, but translated by our missionaries. I have wf/i,? . rf/i°'"u """■ J "f^.** '\ '" ?'• '"y services. Our missionaries to the Delawares also brought out a little hymn-book in that language. Rev. Mr. Meeker had charge of the printing business Some time ago I had one of our pastors call on a daughter of Reverend Meeker in W^T li< '^ for the purpose of obtaining anything that had been printed by her father, but she had nothing. The Johnsons have nothing, and Miss Gore (granddaughter of Blue Jacket, Shaw- nee chief,) made a search among the Shawnees in the Indian Territory, but found nothing but one hymn-book, the one I now have. As I am not well, you will excuse my rough letter. Yours cordially, JoAB Spencer." Judge Huffaker, who was visiting in Oklahoma, wrote as follows: "Geo. P. Morehouse, Topeka, Kan.: "Fairfax, Okla., July 20, 1907. A= Z^^^^ George:- Yours of the 12th instant received, and unanswered on account of sickness w^.,o tne publication of a book in the Kaw or Kansas language by the Methodist Publishing Wouse, I firmly believe to be without any foundation in fact. William Johnson was among them lor seven years, learned their language thoroughly, and attempted to translate a religious song- intending to translate the New Testament if practicable. When I took charge of the United btates government schoo in 1849. at the old manual-labor school, now in Johnson county, Kansas iT