Source: https://www.kshs.org/p/removal-of-the-osages-from-kansas-1/12753
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 10:50:19+00:00

Document:
WHEN the Great and Little Osage tribes, by the treaty of June 2, 1825,  ceded and relinquished to the United States all their claim to lands south of the Kansas river, and lying west of the state of Missouri and the territory of Arkansas, they reserved so long as they might choose to occupy the same, a rectangular tract of land in what is now southern Kansas, just west of the Cherokee neutral lands.  The tract was fifty miles wide and about one hundred and twenty-five miles long. By the treaty of September 29, 1865,  the Osages agreed to sell the eastern part of this tract of land to the United States. They ceded the northern part of the tract, or a strip twenty miles wide, to the United States to be held in trust and sold for their benefit at a price not less than one dollar and a quarter an acre; and the Osages agreed to settle upon their "diminished reservation." According to the treaty the Osages might unite with any tribe of Indians at peace with the United States, residing in the Indian territory.
The treaty provided that if the Osages should agree to remove from Kansas and settle on lands to be provided for them by the United States in the Indian territory on such terms as might be agreed on between the United States and the Indian tribes then residing in said territory or any of them, then the diminished reservation should be disposed of by the United States in the same manner and for the same purpose as provided in the treaty in relation to said trust lands, except that fifty percent of the proceeds of the sale of the diminished reservation might be used by the United States in the purchase of lands for a suitable home for the Osages in the Indian territory.
The United States may settle friendly Indians in any part of the Cherokee country west of 96°, to be taken in a compact form in quantity not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres for each member of each of said tribes thus to be settled; the boundaries of each of said districts to be distinctly marked, and the land conveyed in fee simple to each of said tribes to be held in common or by their members in severalty as the United States may decide. Said lands thus disposed of to be paid for to the Cherokee nation at such price as may be agreed on between the said parties in interest, subject to the approval of the President; and if they should not agree, then the price to be fixed by the President. The Cherokee nation to retain the right of possession of and jurisdiction over all of said country west of 96° of longitude until thus sold and occupied, after which their jurisdiction and right of possession to terminate forever as to each of said districts thus sold and occupied.
1866, which they appear to have had," the title remained in them until conveyed by them as provided for in the treaty, or otherwise. By the treaty the United States was made the agent of the Cherokees for the sale and disposition of the lands. It seems to have been a condition generally accepted that the Cherokees were occupying the lands of the Outlet; the patent of 1838 had specified that lands granted to the Cherokees should revert to the United States if the Cherokee nation abandoned the same.
An unratified treaty of May 27, 1868  set forth terms on which the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston Railroad Company might purchase the lands of the Osages in Kansas. Article one stated that the Osages were desirous of removing to a new and permanent home in the Indian territory. By article fourteen the United States agreed to sell to them, for their future home, at a price not to exceed twenty-five cents per acre, the district of Cherokee country lying between the ninety-sixth meridian and the middle of the main channel of the Arkansas river. It was agreed that the United States should, at its own expense, cause the boundary lines of said country to be surveyed and marked by permanent and conspicuous monuments. It was also stipulated and agreed that when the United States had secured a title to the said district of country, the Osages should be required to remove and reside thereon; but that nothing in the treaty should be so construed as to compel them to remove from their reservation in Kansas until the government had secured said title, and notice thereof had been given by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the agent of the Osages.
At a certain payment made to the Osages on May 4, Hoag took the opportunity in general council to urge them, for their welfare, to visit the Commissioner of Indian Affairs through a judicious delegation, and with the approval of the President, arrange for the disposition of their lands in Kansas, and the securing of a new home in the Indian territory at the earliest period possible  Although the Osages appeared fully to realize the advantages as set forth by Hoag, and to appreciate the interest of the government in the premises, they failed to elect a delegation, and scattered to the plains. There was so much feeling in the tribe on the subject of treaties that Hoag considered it difficult for them to select a delegation with authority to sell their lands, in view of the responsibility and displeasure of the tribe that might follow.
in such manner as the President should prescribe, it should be his duty to remove them from Kansas to lands provided or to be provided for them for a permanent home in the Indian territory, to consist of a tract of land in compact form equal in quantity to one hundred and sixty acres for each member of the tribe, or such part thereof as said Indians might desire, to be paid for out of the proceeds of the sales of their lands in Kansas, the price per acre for such lands to be procured in the Indian territory not to exceed the price paid or to be paid by the United States for the same. And to defray the expenses of said removal, and to aid in the subsistence of the Osages during the first year, the sum named by Commissioner Parker in his letter of March 3 was appropriated, to be reimbursed to the United States from the proceeds of the sale of the lands of the Osages in Kansas. These lands, including the trust lands north of the diminished reservation, excepting sixteen and thirty-six sections, which should be reserved to Kansas for school purposes, should be sold to actual settlers at the price of one dollar and a quarter an acre; payment to be made in cash within one year from the date of settlement or of the passage of this act.
It was agreed that the United States should pay interest annually on the amount of money received as proceeds of the sale of the lands at the rate of five percent, to be expended by the President for the benefit of the Osages, in such manner as he might deem proper. The proceeds should be carried to the credit of the Osages on the books of the Treasury. There were to be erected at their new home in the Indian territory, agency buildings, a warehouse, a dwelling and shop for a blacksmith, a saw and grist mill, a schoolhouse and church.
However, Cady said that the matter was left to the discretion and sound judgment of the commission, and it was expected that the object would be accomplished to the satisfaction of all parties interested.
temporarily eliminated, the way for an agreement with the Osages was open.
The commission met the Osages on the old council ground on the banks of Drum creek, at the agency. There was considerable discussion about the price the Osages were to pay for their new reservation. The commission fully explained to them the instructions of the government, that they were not to pay more than fifty cents per acre, in case they could not agree with the Cherokees, and referred the matter of price to the President.
Clement N. Vann, representing the Cherokees,  was early on the ground, looking after the interest of his people, and was zealous in endeavoring to get one dollar and a quarter an acre for the lands to be occupied by the Osages. The commission said: "So earnestly did he press this that the Osages seemed at one time to be fully persuaded that they must pay that price for the new land, and it hindered our progress considerably."  However the commission stated that they succeeded in satisfying the Osages that the President would not make them pay more than fifty cents an acre for the lands.
After the commission had had repeated conferences with the chiefs, a full council of the Osages assembled under a large elm tree in the afternoon of September 10 to determine whether they would accept or reject sections twelve and thirteen of the recent Indian appropriation act. All the tribes and bands of the Osages, except Young Claymore's band, were represented by their chiefs or headmen. A vast assembly of white settlers also came to witness the results of the day. In council the Osages observed that the land was as good as the money offered to them, and in fact could be longer retained by them. Gov. Joseph Pah-ne-no-posh stated that the government should pay the Osages about $300,000 for damages inflicted upon them by white intruders.  He presented to the commission a petition addressed to the President, signed by twenty-three chiefs, head men and councilors of the Osages.
The council was adjourned until after supper, was reconvened at 8:30 in the evening, and the necessary signatures of the Osages were appended to the act signifying their acceptance of the same.  On September 12 Watanka, head councilor of the Claymore band, arrived at the council grounds, and after having fully asserted his dignity and right to be consulted, signed the act.
Since the Osages agreed to part with their lands in Kansas, it became necessary to determine what Cherokee lands they should occupy, and also the area and price of the same. They gave their number to the commission as 3,500 souls, which number according to the Cherokee treaty of 1866 would allow them a tract of 560,000 acres. A delegation appointed by the Osage national council in September proceeded on the duty of selecting a new home for the tribe in the Indian territory. In a regular council called for that purpose, the principal chiefs on October 26 formally selected a tract of country which the Osages had frequently occupied temporarily, and had for years regarded as their future home.  The tract was considered to be 60 miles long, 16 2/3 miles wide and to comprise 640,000 acres. The ninety-sixth meridian, as determined by the special survey in the fall of 1870, severed the tract in twain.
The situation of the Osages was further complicated because soon after they officially made their selection of land, a delegation of Kaws, with their agent, selected a tract of land for that tribe in the northern part of the Osage tract, and buttressed against the ninety-sixth meridian as determined by the special survey.  Most of the white settlers whom the military removed in the fall of 1870 from the lands of Indian territory bordering on Kansas, returned promptly when the soldiers left.
thin and after two weeks of fruitless effort to bring about a council with the Cherokees, they left Tahlequah.
He recommended that the matter of securing a reservation for the Osages be submitted to the President, and that the selection they had made be confirmed to them. He did not fail to say that they had been assured by the President's commissioners that they would not have to pay more than fifty cents per acre for the lands selected west of ninety-six degrees; and that it was with this understanding that they had agreed on September 10 to remove to the Indian territory.
A sketch map which he enclosed with the statement showed the rectangular tract of land selected by the Osages to be equally divided by the ninety-sixth meridian as determined by the special survey, so that it included a strip eight and one third miles wide, extending from Kansas to the Creek country, east of said meridian as then determined.
The surface East of 96, is a beautiful plain, rising gradually, from the Cana River to the dividing line between that river and the Verdigris; nearly every acre is plough-land and productive, small creeks, for stock water, occur at regular intervals, . . . with narrow belts of timber, though not enough for building and fencing purposes; this supply properly comes from the heavy timber, on the Cana, which . . . lies mostly west of 96; hence the natural appearance of the country, strikes the observer, at once, that the land lying contiguous to 96, should belong to the same people.
On January 12, 1871, Gibson wrote that the Osages must have one half of their reservation east of the ninety-sixth meridian, if money could buy it.
as possible such objections, if any, as they might deem proper to present to the selection of reservations for the Osages and Kaws, a. portion of the lands embraced in the same to be east of ninety-six degrees, in the Cherokee country.  In a reply on February 2 the delegation quoted from their instructions, given by the Cherokee national council under date of December 14, 1870, stating that they were without authority to limit, cede or dispose of, any part of the domain of the Cherokee nation east of ninety-six degrees, or to admit or incorporate any Indians therein, without the approval of the national council. They called attention to the fact that they were instructed to provide for the extension of the western boundary of the Cherokee reserved lands, so as to include east of said boundary all Cherokees, and recognized citizens of the Cherokee nation. Article fifteen of the Cherokee treaty of 1866 provided for the settlement of "civilized" Indians on Cherokee lands east of ninety-six degrees. The delegation stated that it was well known that neither the Osages nor Kaws were "civilized" but were known as "blanket Indians" who lived by the chase, and hence did not come within the class of Indians designated in the article. They endeavored to show that the article provided that settlement should be made as whole tribes or as individuals and not as fractions of tribes.
The Cherokees have reluctantly yielded to a painful necessity in assenting to sell their lands as far east as 96°, and are strongly opposed to making any further cessions. They would en mass sharply oppose any such location of the Osage and Kansas Tribes as you have suggested, and the enforcement upon them of any such arrangement, at once so impalatable and so unexpected would almost unavoidably result in a ruption of the present friendly relations between the C/herokees and these Tribes.
An article succeeding this one will explain how the location of the ninety-sixth meridian caused commotion among the Osages and Cherokees, how President Grant settled the disputed price of lands, and how the Osages secured a reservation on the southern border of Kansas.
1. 7 Statutes, 240; Kappler, Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties, v. II, pp. 217-221. There were three bands consisting of the Great Osage, Little Osage, and the Arkansas band. This division is comparatively modern.-Hodge, Handbook of American Indians, Pt. II, p. 156.
2. Annie H. Abel, "Indian Reservations in Kansas and the Extinguishment of Their Title," Kansas Historical Collections, v. VIII (1904), pp. 76-77, and map opposite p. 88.
3. 14 Statutes, 687. Royce, Indian Land Cessions, pp. 836-837; map 26.
"The United States may settle any civilized Indians, friendly with the Cherokees and adjacent tribes, within the Cherokee country, on unoccupied lands east of 96°, on such terms as may be agreed upon by any such tribe and the Cherokees, subject to the approval of the President of the United States, which shall be consistent with the following provisions, viz.: Should any such tribe or band of Indians settling in said country abandon their tribal organization, there being first paid into the Cherokee national fund a sum of money which shall sustain the same proportion to the then existing national fund that the number of Indians sustain to the whole number of Cherokees then residing in the Cherokee country, they shall be incorporated into and ever after remain a part of the Cherokee nation, on equal terms in every respect with native citizens. And should any such tribe, thus settling in said country, decide to preserve their tribal organizations, and to maintain their tribal laws, customs, and usages, not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the Cherokee nation, they shall have a district of country set off for their use by metes and bounds equal to one hundred and sixty acres, if they should so decide, for each man, woman, and child of said tribe, and shall pay for the same into the national fund such price as may be agreed on by them and the Cherokee nation, subject to the approval of the President of the United States, and in cases of disagreement the price to be fixed by the President.
"And the said tribe thus settled shall also pay into the national fund a sum of money, to be agreed on by the respective parties, not greater in proportion to the whole existing national fund and the probable proceeds of the lands herein ceded or authorized to be ceded or sold than their numbers bear to the whole number of Cherokees then residing in said country, and thence afterwards they shall enjoy all the rights of native Cherokees. But no Indians who have no tribal organizations, or who shall determine to abandon their tribal organizations, shall be permitted to settle east of the 96 degrees of longitude without the consent of the Cherokee national council, or of a delegation duly appointed by it, being first obtained. And no Indians who have and determine to preserve their tribal organizations shall be permitted to settle, as herein provided, east of the 96 degrees of longitude without such consent being first obtained, unless the President of the United States, after a full hearing of the objections offered by said council or delegation to such settlement, shall determine that the objections are insufficient, in which case he may authorize the settlement of such tribe east of the 96° of longitude."
6. ibid., 51 Cong., I Sess., v. IX (2686), No. 78, p. 11; Mayes to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, July 23, 1889, OIA (Office of Indian Affairs), 6227 Ind. Div. 1889.
6. B. B. Chapman, How the Cherokees Acquired the Outlet," Chronicles of Oklahoma, v. XV (1937), pp. 30-49. r 7. The treaty is in House Reports, 40 Cong., 2 Sess., v. II (1358), No. 63, pp. 14-23.
8. Agent G. C. Snow to Com. E. S. Parker, July 24, 1869, Indian Affairs, 1869, p. 381. The treaty of September 29, 1865, referred to the Osages as "greatly impoverished." Three years later they were on the verge of starvation. Capt. M. V. Sheridan to Maj. Gen. P. H. Sheridan, December 1, 1868, Senate Executive Documents, 40 Cong., 3 Sess., (1360) No. 41. In 1869 Vincent Colyer, a special Indian commissioner, found them "in a state of almost complete destitution." Report for 1869, House Executive Documents, 41 Cong., 2 Sess., v. III (1414), p. 513.
Conditions in Kansas were apparently becoming intolerable for the Osages. Their crops were destroyed by herds of cattle and other stock belonging to white settlers; and lawless white men stole their horses and robbed their corn cribs. Agent I.T. Gibson to Enoch Hoag, October 1, 1870; the letter is in Indian Affairs, 1871, pp. 483-489. Hoag to Commissioner Parker, October 8, 1870, ibid., 1870, pp. 258-259.
9. Same to same, October 11, 1869, OIA, Neosho, H. 538-1869.
10. The letters are in H. Ex. Docs., 41 Cong., 2 Sess., v. VII (1418), No. 179, pp. 3-5. On February 2, 1870, Gibson urged 'that the government make some provision for the protection of the Osages, or remove them to a new home.-Gibson to Hoag, ibid., p. 6.
11. The recommendation is in OIA, Cent. Supt., H. 771-1870.
12. Parker to Sec. J. D. Cox, March 3, 1870, H. Ex. Docs., loc. cit., pp. 1-2.
13. Gibson to Hoag, March 8, 1870, OIA, Neosho, I. 1133-1870.
14. Parker to Cox, March 29, 1870, OIA,. "Report Book 19," p. 276.
15. Cox to Com. Ind. Aff., April 2, 1870, OIA, "Letters Indian Affairs," v. 17, Pt. I, pp. 95-96.
16. Parker to Hoag, April 5, 1870, OIA, "Finance and Misc. Letter Book 95," p. 87. 17. Hoag to Parker, June 7, 1870, OIA, Neosho, H. 1171-1870.
18. Joseph Pah-ne-no-posh to Gibson, May 20, 1870, ibid.
19. Act. Com. W. F. Cady to Sec. Int., June 20, 1870, OIA, "Rept. Book 19," pp. 407-408.
21. Parker to Secretary of the Interior, July 19, 1870, Report of Board of Indian Commissioners, 1870, p. 72. The report of the board for 1870 is also in S. Ex. Docs., 41 Cong., 8 Sess., v. 1 (1440), No. 39.
22. Cox to Colyer, July 22, 1870, Rpt. of Bd. of Indian Commissioners, 1870, p. 72.
23. Cady to Farwell et al., August 2, 1870, ibid., p. 73.
24. Cady to Hoag, July 22, 1870, ibid., p. 73. Hoag was directed to instruct Agent Gibson to proceed to the Cherokee country as soon as practicable and there select and mark out the country to which it was intended to remove the Osages, and to make such preparations as might be requisite for the establishment of these Indians comfortably in their new homes.
25. Cady to Hoag, August 6, 1870, OIA, "Land and Civilization Letter Book 96," pp. 466-467.
26. Parker to Colyer and Lang, August 11, 1870, Rpt. of Bd. of Indian Commissioners, 1870, p. 73.
27. Parker to Hoag, August 11, 1870, ibid., p. 74.
28. Report of the commission, ibid., p. 18.
29. Act. Com. H. R. Clum to A. H. Perry, January 7, 1871, OIA, "Finance and Misc. Letter Book 99," pp. 21-22.
30. After the commission left the reservation the attitude of the "community" is explained by the following remark: "The Osages have signed the bill, and we have got the land; let the half-breeds go to h--1."-Gibson to Colyer, December 24, 1870, Rpt. of Bd. of Indian Commissioners, 1870, pp. 83-84. See, also, the protest of the commission made about the same time, ibid., pp. 27-29.
31. From "various causes beyond the control" of the Cherokee commissioners named in Acting Commissioner Cady's letter of August 6, only Vann was at the Osage agency at this time; and no council between the Osage chiefs and the Cherokee commissioners took place. See the extract from the message of Prin. Chief Lewis Downing, November 19, 1870, OIA, Cent. Supt., H. 47-1871.
32. Report of the commission, loc. cit., p. 20.
33. The proceedings of the councils held on September 10 and 12, 1870, are in ibid., pp. 77-82.
34. The petition is in ibid., pp. 85-86.
35. The act as accepted and signed is in ibid., pp. 76-77.
37. Gibson to Hoag, October 1, 1871, Indian Affairs, 1871, pp. 489-490.
38. Hoag to H. R. Clum, October 5, 1871, ibid., pp. 464-465.
39. Gibson to Com. E. S. Parker, December 20, 1870, OIA, Cent. Supt., H. 47-1871. The Kaws were about seven hundred in number. In the vicinity of Council Grove they had a diminished reserve of some 80,000 acres, while their "trust lands" adjoining the reserve totaled more than 137,000 acres. The Kaws were well pleased with the selection of land in the northern part of the Osage tract. Agent Mahlon Stubbs thought it would be difficult to obtain their consent to remove farther into Indian territory.-Stubbs to Hoag, September 14, 1871, Indian Affairs, 1871, p. 495; Hoag to Com. F. A. Walker, December 23, 1871, OIA, Kan., H. 963-1871.
40. Vann to Gibson, August 12, 1870; there is a copy of the letter in OIA, Cent. Supt., H. 47-1871.
41. Downing to Vann, October 22, 1870; there is a copy of the letter in ibid.
42. Mr. David Parsons found in Agent Gibson's papers the "Minutes of Osage Council appointing Del. to Cherokee Nation," dated October 26, 1870. The minutes were written on the unused parts of a letter. A photostat copy is in the Osage museum at Pawhuska, Okla. Mr. Parsons is preparing an exhaustive history of the Osages during the period of their removal from Kansas.
43. Gibson et al. to Cherokee national council, November 18, 1870; there is a copy of the letter in OIA, Cent. Supt., H. 47-1871.
44. Gibson to W. P. Adair et al., November 30, 1870; there is a copy of the letter in ibid.
45. Adair and Vann to Gibson, November 30, 1870; there is a copy of the letter in ibid., 46. Downing to Gibson, November 30, 1870; there is a copy of the letter in ibid.
47. There is a copy of the act, approved December 1, 1870, in ibid..
48. Gibson to Downing, December 16, 1870; there is a copy of the letter in ibid.
On December 5, the day after he returned to Montgomery from Tahlequah, Gibson wrote to Hoag as follows: "The Osage delegation is sorely disgusted with the heartless avarice and duplicity of the Cherokees and I am ready to make war on their Government in a peaceable manner. They are desperately civilized, know how to raise corn and other feed about as well as the Osages do, but they are utterly unfit to carry on a Government and the sooner the U. S. Government takes the starch out of them the better it will be for their civilization and for affiliated and neighboring tribes of Indians. It is their meanness that has prevented me having Mills, Agency Buildings and other necessary work completed or in a fair state of progress before winter.
--Letter of December 5, 1870, OIA, Neosho, H. 16681870.
49. The statement is in OIA, Cent. Supt., H. 47-1871. Gibson also enclosed a copy of the correspondence between the Cherokees and Osages in regard to entering into negotiations for lands selected by the Osages.
50. A more favorable description of the lands between the ninety-sixth meridian and the Arkansas was given in the report by Agt. L. J. Miles to Com. Ind. Aff., August 11, 1883, Indian Affairs, 188.3, p. 73. The Osage allotting commission found the Osage reservation to be about forty percent "prairie and river bottom agricultural land," forty percent "very fine pasture land" and twenty percent "rough waste land."-C. E. McChesney to Com. Ind. Aff., March 31, 1909, OIA, 25231-1909-313 Osage.
51. Gibson to Vincent Colyer, Rpt. of. Bd. of Ind. Commissioners, 1870, pp. 84-85. Gibson said that the Cherokees had dodged around in a most aggravating way and had annoyed the Osages and him "about this land beyond ordinary endurance."
52. 4 Statutes, 729; 11 Statutes, 332.
Sess., v. MI (1460), No. 131, pp. 2-4.
54. Parker to W. P. Adair, January 28, 1871, OIA, (Large) "Letter Book 100," pp. 151-152.
55. Lewis Downing et al., to Parker, February 2, 1871, OIA, Cent. Supt., D. 35-1871.
56. Parker to Sec. Int., February 16, 1871, OIA, "Report Book 20," pp. 206-213.
57. Delano to Sen. James Harlan, February 24, 1871, OIA, Ind. Div., "Letters Indian Affairs," v. 18, Pt. I, pp. 119-126. Delano to Coin. Ind. Aff., February 24, 1871, OIA, Cherokee, I. 158-1871. The Osages at that time were "tribal Indians and not highly civilized." Sue M. Rogers v. The Osage Nation, 45 Ct. Cls. 388 (1010).
58. Telegram from Parker to Hoag, February 25, 1871, OIA, (Large) "Letter Book 100," p. 272.

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 V. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.