USA > Kansas > Wyandotte County > History of Wyandotte County, Kansas, and its people, Vol. I > Part 5
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PHYSICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES.
The Indians had occupied the lands as their hunting grounds for ages and little could these explorers tell of the nature of the soil and of what lay hidden beneath the surface. Could they have waited to witness the development of this country to its present state, however, they would have been rewarded amply for their time. The soil of Wyandotte county, as we now find it, is that fine black loam that is common to the western states, with predominating limestone enriching by disintegration its fertility. On the uplands the soil is one to three feet in thickness, while in the valleys its depth often has been found to measure twenty feet. Hidden beneath the soil and cropping out of the sides of the hills along the rivers are many kinds of limestone suit- able for building, paving, for the construction of heavy bridge piers, for making lime, and for many other purposes, more particularly along the valley of the Kansas river-eiglit to fifteen feet in thiekness-in quantities sufficient to keep our great eement manufacturing plants in operation for a hundred years. Veins of coal also are to be found. but not of such thickness as to justify an attempt to mine then on a large scale. And, deep down under the soil and stone, gas is found in extensive fields along the north of the Kansas river, the flow from many wells sufficient to supply gas for domestie uses in the small cities and towns in that section and a limited supply left over for manufacturing.
The portion of the "Indian Country" discovered by the early ex- plorers from which the old trails ran that, many years after, became Wyandotte county, contains an area of 153 square miles. It is the smallest county in the state of Kansas, but only in area. It has a larger population than any other county, with a density of 717 2-3 persons
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to the square mile-and that means 11/s person for every one of its 97,920 acres. Also does Wyandotte county rank first among the eoun- ties of Kansas in material wealth, the assessed valuation of property taxable being seven times as large as the $15,000,000 the United States paid France for the entire Louisiana territory of 1,160,577 square miles.
Leavenworth county, of which Wyandotte county was onee a part, now forms the western and a part of the northern boundary of Wyan- dotte county. The Missouri river, flowing southeasterly, from the greater portion of the northern boundary, and the same river, together with the state of Missouri, supply the eastern boundary. The northern line of Johnson county and the Kansas river for a distance of seven miles supply the southern boundary of Wyandotte county. Tech- nically, or legally, the boundary lines of Wyandotte county are thus described : "Commeneing at a point on the west line of the state of Missouri, opposite the month of the Kansas river thence south on the west line of the state of Missouri to the south line of township 11 south, being the northeast corner of Johnson county : thence up the said river ; in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the intersection with the east line of range 22, east; thence north on said range line to the old Delaware reservation line, the same being the dividing line between the original Delaware reservation and Delaware trust lands; thence east on said line to the west boundary line of the state of Missouri; thenee southeasterly with the said western boundary line of the state to the place of beginning."
Lying in the southern part of the fortieth degree of north latitude. and the western part of the ninety-fifth degree of longitude west from Greenwich, England, Wyandotte county is fortunately situated as to climatic conditions, having neither tropic heat nor artic cold. The records of the United States weather service for Kansas, covering a period of seventeen years, show the following :
Average temperature during the three winter months-December, January and February-30.9 degrees.
Average temperature during the three summer months-June, July and August-76.9 degrees.
Average annual temperature for the state, 54.2 degrees.
The average annual rainfall in the eastern third of the state for seventeen years approximates 35 inches. gradually decreasing further west. For the whole state, the annual precipitation has averaged 27.12 inches; for the three winter months-December, January and February -0.91 inch per month ; for the three summer months-June, July and August-3.55 inches per month.
CHAPTER II.
THE KANSAS INDIANS.
WHENCE CAME THE NAME ?- HERE THREE CENTURIES AGO-KAN- SAS, THE DOMINANT TRIBE-MONCACHTAPE, THE INTERPRETER-EARLY KANSAS VILLAGES-KANSAS INDIAN LODGE-THE KANSAS HOME LIFE- OLD FOOL CHIEF-AN HONEST INDIAN-THE FAMOUS KANSAS ORATOR- A CHIEF WHO WAS A WARRIOR-AT WAR WITH THEIR BROTHERS- DEPREDATIONS OF THE KANSAS-THE KANSAS TREATIES-ABANDONED THE KANSAS RIVER-BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA.
The first dwellers in the wilderness whose identity is established and whose right of occupancy is recognized were the Kansas Indians. The early explorers, the Spanish and French, found them here at the place where the waters of these two great rivers meet. It is from this ancient tribe, therefore, that recorded the history of Kansas and of Wyandotte county had a beginning. Back of them, even to the begin- ning of time, no book, or parchment, no thing of any kind, has been left accurately to tell what manner or man, or beast, once roamed these beautiful hills and valleys and the plains of our Kansas. And it matters little that we are in ignorance. The world that we know has little feeling of concern for the people of a past so remote that the record of their achievements is of no practical valne to mankind.
It never will be known exactly when the Kansas Indians first came to live on the banks of the river that bears their name. According to their language and traditions many hundreds of years ago the Five Tribes, the Kansas, Osage, Omaha, Ponka and Kwapa, were one people and lived along the Wabash and far up the Ohio. There even was a tradition that their home at one time was near the shores of "the sea of the rising sun," whence came the mysterious sacred shells of the tribe. For some reason they worked westward, probably pressed by the encroachments of tribes of superior forces. Coming to the month of the Ohio there was a separation. The Osage and the Kansas tribes were left behind, probably in the year 1500. The Osages passed up the river that took their name. The Kansas, coming to the junction of the Missouri and Kansas rivers, established themselves in a permanent settlement within the forks and took possession of the valley of the Kan- sas river as their heritage and became a distinct Indian nation.
Vol. I-2
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HISTORY OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY
WHENCE CAME THE NAME?
During the past three hundred years since the name was first written there have been numerous methods of spelling the designation of this tribe, originally called the "Kansa." To follow the many changes through which the word has passed to its present form, "Kan- sas," would within itself be an interesting study. Probably no historic name in America has gone through so many changes, with so frequent variation on maps and in books. In the ninth volume of the Kansas Historical Collections, Professor Hay's article on the name Kansas, prepared in 1882, gives twenty-four ways of spelling the word. And other ways of spelling it have been suggested. Whence comes the word and what is its meaning ? Most historians have stated that it was an Indian word of doubtful meaning. Others have attributed to the word meanings which are clearly erroneous. Richardson, in "Beyond the Mississippi." 1857, says that it signifies smoky. Several histor-
ians. like Holloway, have accepted this definition. Dorsey, an author-
ity on Siouan language, says the word refers to winds, or wind-people, but that its exact meaning is not known. In recent years many persons have thought it wise to preserve the 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. "Kansa" is the ancient and expres- sive word, according to the leading anthorities of the past three hundred years. But, officially, it now is "Kansas." the name that is borne by our state, the principal river within its borders, and its largest city.
HERE THREE CENTURIES AGO.
The earliest accounts of explorers represent the Kansas Indians as owners of that vast territory now called Kansas. Here they were born. Here they lived, acted and passed on for many generations. Here they hunted, fished and fought. IIere was their home with all the sacred associations of home; and though an Indian home, what an em- pire to these first native sons of Kansas!
The first recorded mention of the Kansas nation is found in the account of the exploration of Juan de Onate, who met them on our plains in 1601, in his attempt to reach, as Coronado did in 1541, the land of Quivira. Onate had first colonized New Mexico and settled many valleys of that Spanish province with the one hundred and thirty families and four hundred soldiers accompanying him, and the many immigrants that followed. Farms were cultivated, towns builded, con- vents 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, Onate became fired with other ambitions-
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HISTORY OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY
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 ?
While there is some doubt as to the exact location of Quivira- whether it was in the Kansas valley or on the Missouri-in either event it must have been in the region of the hunting-grounds and habitant of the Kansas nation, when first visited many years later by French ex- plorers.
KANSAS, THE DOMINANT TRIBE.
Father Jacques Marquette, that greatest of French explorers and missionaries, in the most important of all his Indian expeditions, made in 1673, shortly before his death, found the country now called Kansas occupied principally by four great tribes of Indians: Osages, Kansas, Pawnees, and a nomadic tribe called the Padoucas, that in the eighteenth century completely lost itself as if it had vanished from the face of the earth. But greatest of these, "the leading prodigious nation," the good Father Marquette would have us know, was the Kansas tribe.
In their wild and free state the Kansas Indians are described as being independent. They enjoyed their liberty without being jealous, or bothering themselves about the affairs of the neighboring tribes. They were not distinguished as among the great warring tribes of North American Indians. They preferred to be let alone. But onee roused they were as brave as the bravest, and they could fight. Their wigwams were made of poles stuck in the ground and tied together with straps of bark, and covered with earth. They raised some eorn, but lived principally on game, fish, fruits and nuts. The men were good hunters, likewise good fishers, and spent much of their time in the woods, on the plains, or on the rivers in their wooden canoes.
MONCACHTAPE, THE INTERPRETER.
Little was known to the outside world of the Kansas Indians until Moncachtape, the Indian interpreter, visited them. He was a Yazoo Indian, his name indicating "one who destroys obstacles and overcomes fatigue," and a very odd character. According to the memories of Dumont, the French traveler and historian, Moneachtape, about 1700, traversed the continent from ocean to ocean visiting numerous Indian tribes and learning their languages. It seems that he desired informa- tion regarding the origin of his race, and went from tribe to tribe in his search. At first, he passed to the east, thinking the eradle of the race was toward the rising sun. Ile 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
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HISTORY OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY
west, passing along the Ohio and Mississippi to the mouth of the Missouri, which stream he minutely described. Following the Missouri river, he came to the Missouri Indian nation, and, staying with them all of one winter, learned their language. When spring opened he went further up that stream till he came to the great village of the Kansas, near the present site of Doniphan, Atehison county, 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, Moneaehtape passed down that stream to the sea, where he saw a strange ship manned by strange people, which had come to shore 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 Intrepreter," from his ability to acquire different Indian languages, learning from one tribe something of the language of the next one to be visited.
EARLY KANSAS VILLAGES.
While the Kansas Indians, occupying the banks of the river that bears their name, hunted on the hills and in the valleys of the now Wyandotte county, their conneil fires did not blaze here. Captain Meriwether Lewis, in 1804, found two of their villages, one of about twenty. the other forty leagues from the mouth, and numbering about three hundred men. Captain Lewis adds: "They once lived twenty- four leagues higher than the river Kanzas (he spelled the name with a "z") on the south bank of the Missouri and were then more numerous, but they have been reduced and banished by the Sauks and Avauways. who, being better supplied with arms, have an advantage over the Kanzas, though the latter are not less fierce or warlike themselves. This nation is now hunting on the plains for buffalo which our hunters have seen for the first time." Their villages along the Kansas river were occupied at different times, and their sites are found from its junction with the Missouri as far west as the month of the Bhie river at Manhattan. One of them at least is prehistoric, and can only be pointed out by archaeologists, while the others were occupied by the tribe sinee its movements were known to the historian. Probably the most ancient site in Kansas is that found in Wyandotte eonnty, a little east of White Church on the old William Malotte farm. The many relies recovered there by the late George U. S. Ilovey. and the extensive outlines of this village, prove it to have long been an important center, and it probably was while living there that the stream received from this people the name Kansas.
Professor Thomas Say, of Major Long's expedition, visited the vil- lage of the Kansas on the Kansas river in 1819. It is from him we learn much of the Indians, the general appearance of their village, their
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HISTORY OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY
government and their customs. The report of Major Long says: "As they approached the village they perceived the tops of the lodges red with the crowds of natives. The chiefs and warriors came rushing down on horseback, painted and decorated, and followed by a great number on foot. Mr. Say and his party were received with the utmost cordiality and conducted into the village by the chiefs, who went before one on each side to protect them from the encroachments of the crowd. On entering the village the crowd readily gave way before the party, but followed them into the lodge assigned to them, and com- pletely and most densely filled the spacious apartment, with the exeep- tion only of a small space opposite the entrance where the party seated themselves on the beds, still protected from the pressure of the crowd by the chiefs, who took their seats on the ground immediately before them. After the ceremony of smoking with the latter, the object which the party had in view in passing through the territories was ex- plained to them and seemed to be perfectly satisfactory. At the lodge of the principal chief they were regaled with jerked bison meat and boiled eorn, and were afterwards invited to six feasts in immediate succession."
THE KANSAS INDIAN LODGE.
Mr. Say, gifted as a descriptive writer, tells of the Kansas lodges. IIe says: "The village consists of about one hundred and twenty lodges placed as elosely together as convenient and destitute of any regularity of arrangement. The ground area of each lodge is eircular, and is excavated to the depth of from one to three feet and the general form of the exterior may be denominated hemispheric. The lodge in which we reside is larger than any other in the town, and being that of the grand chief, it serves as the council house of the nation. The roof is supported by two series of pillars, or rough vertical posts, forked at the top for the reception of the transverse connecting pieces of each series; twelve of these pillars form the outer series, placed in a cirele, and eight longer ones, the inner series, also describing a cirele; the outer wall, or rude framework, placed at a proper distance from the exterior series of pillars, is five or six feet high. Poles, as thiek as the leg at the base, rest with their butts upon the wall, extending on the cross pieces, which are upheld by the pillars of the two series, and are of sufficient length to reach nearly to the summit. These poles are very numerons, and agreeable to the position which we have indicated, they are placed all around in a radiating manner and support the roof like rafters. Across these are laid long and slender sticks or twigs attached parallel to each other by means of bark cord; these are covered by mats made of long grass or reeds, or with the bark of trees; the whole is then covered completely with earth, which, near the ground, is banked up to the eaves. A hole is permitted to remain in the middle of the roof to give exit to
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IHISTORY OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY
the smoke. Around the walls of the interior a continuous series of mats are suspended ; these are of neat workmanship, composed of a soft reed, united by bark cord, in straight or undulated lines, between which lines of black paint sometimes occur. The bedsteads are elevated to the height of a common seat from the ground and are about six feet wide ; they extend in an uninterrupted line around three-fourths of the circumference of the apartment, and are formed in the simplest man- ner of numerous sticks or slender pieces of wood, resting at their ends on cross pieces, which are supported by short notched or forked posts driven into the ground. Bison skins supply them with a comfortable bedding. Several medicine or mystie bags are carefully attached to the mats on the wall; these are cylindrical, and neatly bound up. Several reeds are usually placed upon them, and a human scalp serves for their fringe and tassels. Of their contents we know nothing. The fireplace is a simple, shallow cavity in the center of the apartment, with an upright and a projecting arm for the support of the culinary apparatus. The latter is very simple in kind and limited in quantity, consisting of a brass kettle. an iron pot and wooden bowls and spoons. Each person, male as well as female, carries a large knife in the girdle of the breech-cloth behind, which is used at their meals, and sometimes in self defense. During our stay with these Indians, they ate four or five times each day, invariably supplying us with the best pieces. or choice parts, before they attempted to taste the food themselves."
THE KANSAS HOME LIFE.
The food of the Kansas Indians is described as of bison meat and varions preparations of Indian corn or maize. One of the favorite "dishes" was called "lyed corn," known among white people as home- made hominy. They also grew pumpkins, muskmelons and water- melons, which they cooked after their own style. A soup of boiled sweet corn and beans seasoned with buffalo meat was a substantial food.
Like other Indian tribes the Kansas believed in a Great Spirit, and they had vague ideas of the future life. Their family relations were more honorable than those of many of the eastern tribes. Marriage was celebrated with such ceremony as served to render the tie more binding. Chastity was one of the requisites to fit a woman for the wife of a chief, a brave warrior and a good hunter. Men and women of the tribe were tanght from infaney to suffer pain without com- plaining. They were faithful to their ties of friendship. One of their fine traits was their eare of the sick and disabled. The women managed the domestic affairs without the interference of the men.
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HISTORY OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY
OLD FOOL CHIEF.
Kah-he-gah-wa-ti-an-gah, who was the hereditary chief of the Kan- sas Indians, also bore the proud distinction of being Old Fool Chief. For a long time he was the head chief. He ruled over the village near North Topeka which bore his name. When sober he was peaceable, but always felt his authority and coveted the attention of younger braves, who brought him choice portions of game. The Methodists, who had a mission near the mouth of Mission creek near the other two villages of the tribe, once took him to the general conference at Balti- more, where he embarrassed them by appearing, as was customary at home, stark naked on the streets one hot, sultry morning. Afterward he fell further from grace, and when under the influence of drink always became crazy. In one of these spells, while on his way over to Mis- souri with a band of warriors, he was killed by one of his own braves, Wa-ho-ba-ke, whose life he was attempting to take.
Al-le-ga-wa-ho was the head chief who presided at the Cahalu Creek village in the Neosho valley near Council Grove, the last to be occupied by the Kansas Indians while in Kansas. Ile had sueceeded old IIard Chief, the great warrior of the tribe whose name was Kah- he-ga-wah-che-ha, meaning a chief who was hard or severe. Al-1e- ga-wa-ho, was a remarkable eharacter, 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.
AN HONEST INDIAN.
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 following 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 particular and dainty about her diet. She turned away from all kinds of fixed-np 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 beg- ged for a fat dog, stating that it was the only thing that would satisfy and eure his wife. Hle 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 went. Al-le-ga-wa-ho lived to be a very old man, and died in the Indian Territory years ago.
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HISTORY OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY
THE FAMOUS KANSAS ORATOR.
Ish-tah-le-sah (Speekled Eye). was a brother of Hard Chief and second in rank as a ruler. He was a man of strong and positive per- sonality and was sober and alert. He was the famous 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 rations 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. Ile 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 canlie very near to suffering the death penalty. He was tried by the tribe and only saved himself by paying as a fine a unmber 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 Kansas chiefs had several wives, he had but two. His second wife was his by custom, being his deceased brother's wife. Ilis real wife was long considered 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. Iler 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.
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