The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1895-07-05
MOI WRITTEN IN HISTORY.
MASSACRE of Twenty Confederate Oaacsr
by Indians In Kansas.

contains all that is mortal of 20 or
Confederate officers. THOR dealt
was tragic in tho extreme, accompa
MED as it was by all the horrors an,
barbarities of Indian warfare.
Early in the conflict between tn,
north and south Confcderates wer,
, dominant in the Indian Territor,
and well nigh succeeded in suppress
ing every spark of loyalty among
the Indians there and in Kansa.
along the southern border Several
bands of the Usage tribe however,
remained loyal They were hunted
out by the rangers from Texas and
the guerrillas from Arkansas and
finally sought refuge within Union
territory. On the march to the north
many of them travelled on foot a dis
lance of 800 miles. A great number
froze to death on the route, and their
bodies, with only n shroud of snow,
were left where they fell to feed the
hungry wolves.
Finally the bands, under White
Wing and Little Bear, arrived on the
Verdigris river and established their
camp on the spot where the town Of
Neodesha now stands Indeed "Neo.
desha" is an Usage word and means
meeting of the waters. (" The 10y
atty OF White Wing and Little Bear
had been accomplished largely
through the teachings of Father
Shoemaker, the venerable priest in
charge of the Usage mission, who
has long since been gathered to his
fathers Driven into the Union bv
the persecution of the southerners,
ii is not difficult to understand that
the Osages were vindictlvc 10 an ex
traordinary extent toward Confeder.
ates and lost no opportunity to
wreak q barbarous vengeance. :
The Confederates constantly had G
emissaries out among the western i
tribes seeking to lead them into re. /
volt against the Federal government. n
The Osages assumed it as their part
II the great conflict to intercept r,
'hese emissaries and hold the II
lians Of Kansas, Colorado and New Il
Mexico loyal to the north. :,
Some time in 1862 a party of Con. II
officers, none of whom he'll !,
ess rank than that of lieutenant. i;
we're commissioned by the Confeder
to government to proceed west h,
through Kansas to New Mexico and !,
rganize the wild plains Indians into :.
larauding parties, whose business ii
should be to intercept government i,
aims and harass the movement of n
ederal troops from the west over j,
nd. A part of these officers were ~
so commissioned to organize and -
lroll the southern sympathizers
nong the whites in Colorado and j,
ew Mexico and If possible march V
1t few regiments to the seat of -
ar. ~
This party of Confederate officers 49,
tempted to pass through the Usage -
along the Verdigris riv-
but were met near the mouth of 49,.
-um creek by small band of the -
dams, who demanded their sur -;
nder. Instead of surrendering the IT.,
opened fire and killed ~
% of the Osages and put the re- -
linder to flight Fitting along u.
It out Of rifle shot, the Indians
adually lured their victims into :,
main camp Of White Wing and III,
tie Bear, where they were sur ten
lnded by an overwhelming force Of {
put to death with all the afro. Ma
10 crro,t;oa +ha ;re,,.;..-, -, Fiji
lid conjure Not man escaped. nj !
complete was the ambush that VIII,
an Indian was killed in the en-. tair
inter. Such as were not killed /,
right were put to torture after =
custom Of the tribe, and after
It'll the bodies were mutilated be.
Id recognition. 4
II that time the government was
amilitary post at Hum
DIT, and when the news of the
ssacre came an officer with de-
hment of troops was sent out to
the ARRAY The officer
Of that detachment was
utcnant W. A. johnson, now
siding judge of the appellate
TT for the southern department. Of
isas
hen Lieutenant johnson arrived II
he scene, a shocking sight met ~
vision. The dead Confederatcs (fs
all been beheadcd and their ~,
Is were piled up in an indiscrim.
mass, so that 1t was impossi.
20 discover to which body a head 3
nged The bodies were buried
by side by the troops. The pa ~
found on them clearly explained
mission in the west, and it is
able that the bloody work of tho =