USA > Kansas > Kansas; a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. with a supplementary volume devoted to selected personal history and reminiscence, Voilume I > Part 110
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114
For nearly two centuries the Comanches were at war with the Span- iards of the southwest and made frequent raids as far south as Durango. They were generally friendly with the Americans, but did not like the Texans. The Comanche was probably never a large tribe, as they did not settle down in villages, but lived as nomadic buffalo hunters, follow- ing the herds as they grazed from place to place. They were fine horse- men, the best riders on the plains, full of courage, had a high sense of honor, and considered themselves superior to the tribes with which they associated. In 1867 they were given a reservation in southwestern Okla- homa, but they did not go to it until after the outbreak of the plains tribes in 1874-75. (See Indian Wars.)
The Cheyennes (people of strange language) belonged to the Algon- quian group. They are first mentioned in history by the name of "Chaa," some of them visiting La Salle's fort on the Illinois river to invite the French to their country where beaver and other fur-bearing animals were plentiful. At that time they inhabited the region bounded by the Mississippi, Minnesota and upper Red rivers. According to a Sioux tradition, the Cheyenne occupied the upper Mississippi country before the Sioux. When the latter appeared in that locality there was some friction between the two tribes, which resulted in the Cheyenne cross- ing the Missouri river and locating about the Black-hills, where they were found by Lewis and Clark in 1804. From there they drifted west- ward and southward, first occupying the region about the headwaters of the Platte and next along the Arkansas river in the vicinity of Bent's fort. A portion of the tribe remained on the Platte and the Yellowstone and became known as the northern Cheyennes.
The Cheyenne have a tradition that when they lived in Minnesota, before the coming of the Sioux, they lived in fixed villages, practiced agriculture, made pottery, etc., but everything was changed when the tribe was driven out and they became roving hunters. About the only institution of the old life that remained with them was the great tribal ceremony of the Sun dance.
908
CYCLOPEDIA OF
In 1838 the Cheyenne and Arapaho attacked the Kiowas on Wolf creek, Okla., but two years later peace was established between the tribes, after which the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Comanche and Apache were frequently allied in wars against the whites. The northern Cheyennes joined the Sioux in the Sitting Bull war of 1876. In the win- ter of 1878-79 a band of the northern Cheyenne was taken as prisoners to- Fort Reno to be colonized with the southern Cheyenne in Oklahoma. The chiefs Dull Knife, Wild Hog and Little Wolf, with about 200 fol- lowers, escaped and were pursued to the Dakota border, where most of the warriors were killed.
In Feb., 1861, the Cheyennes and Arapahoes relinquished their title to lands in Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado and northwest Kansas, and in 1867 the southern Cheyenne were given a reservation in western Okla- homa. They refused to occupy it, however, until after the surrender of 1875, when some of their leaders were sent to Florida as a final means of quelling the insurrection. In 1902 the southern Cheyenne were alloted lands in severalty. Two years later the Bureau of Ethnology reported 3,300 members of the tribe-1,900 southern and 1,400 northern.
The Arapaho (our people), a plains tribe of the Algonquian group, was closely allied with the Cheyenne for almost or quite a century. They were called by the Sioux and Cheyenne "Blue sky men" or "Cloud men." An Arapaho tradition tells how the tribe was once an agricultural peo- ple in northwestern Minnesota, but were forced across the Missouri river, where they met the Cheyenne, with whom they moved southward. Like the Cheyenne, they became divided, the northern Arapaho remain- ing about the mountains near the head of the Platte and the southern branch drifting to the Arkansas. In 1867 the southern portion of the tribe was given a reservation with the southern Cheyenne in Oklahoma. By 1892 they had made sufficient progress to justify the government in allotting them lands in severalty, the rest of the reservation being thrown open to white settlement. The northern branch was established in 1876 on a reservation in Wyoming.
Between the years 1825 and 1830, the Kansa and Osage tribes with- drew from a large part of their lands, which were turned over to the United States. This gave the national government the opportunity of establishing the long talked of Indian territory west of the Mississippi. Congress therefore passed a bill providing that the country west of the Mississippi, and not included in any state or organized territory of the United States, should be set apart as a home for the Indians. This In- dian territory joined Missouri and Arkansas on the west and was annexed to those states for judicial purposes. During the decade following the passage of the bill, a number of eastern tribes found what they thought were permanent homes within the present State of Kansas. Among them were the Shawnees, Delawares, Ottawas, Miamis, Chippewas, Kick- apoos, Sauks and Foxes, Wyandots, and a few others of less importance.
The Shawnees (southerners) were the first to seek a home in the new territory. The early history of the Shawnee tribe is somewhat obscure,
909
KANSAS HISTORY
though it was known to be an important tribe in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee, South Carolina, and along the Savannah river in Georgia, which stream Adair says was named for the tribe. Some writers claim that the Shawnees were identical with the Eries of the early Jesuits, and attempts have been made to show that they were allied to the Andaste or Conestoga of the Iroquois family. Their language was that of the central Algonquian dialects-similar to that of the Sauks and Foxes- and the Delawares had a tradition that made the Shawnee and Nanti- coke one people.
The recorded history of the Shawnee or Shawano begins about 1670, when there were two bodies, some distance apart, with the friendly Cher- okee nation between. In 1672 the western Shawnee were allied with the Andaste in a war against the Iroquois. Twelve years later the Iro- quois made war on the Miamis because they were trying to form an alliance with the Shawnees for the purpose of invading the Iroquois country. About the middle of the 18th century the eastern and western Shawnees were united in Ohio, and from that time to the treaty of Greeneville in 1795 were almost constantly at war with the English. They were driven from the head of the Scioto river to the head of the Miami, and after the Revolutionary war some of them went south and formed an alliance with the Creeks, with which tribe Bartram says they were closely connected, their language being almost identical. Others joined with a portion of the Delaware tribe and accepted a Spanish invi- tation to occupy a tract of land near Cape Girardeau, Mo.
In the early part of the 19th century the Shawnees in Indiana and Ohio, with some of the Delawares, joined the movement of the Shawnee chief Tecumseh and his brother, Tenskawata (the Prophet), to unite the tribes of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys in a general uprising against the whites. The conspiracy was effectually crushed by Gen. Harrison at the battle of Tippecanoe, Nov. 4, 1811. In the war of 1812 some of the Shawnees fought with the British until Tecumseh was killed at the battle of the Thames. The fall of their great war chief broke the warlike spirit of the tribe and the Shawnees sued for peace. In 1825 the Missouri Shawnees sold their lands and received a reservation in Kansas south of the Kansas river and bordering on the Missouri. The Ohio Shawnees sold their lands near Wapakoneta in 1831 and joined their brethren in Kansas, the mixed band of Shawnee and Seneca com- ing in about the same time. Some of the tribe in 1845 withdrew from the Kansas reservation and went to the Canadian river in Oklahoma. They became known as the "absentee Shawnee." In 1867 those with the Senecas removed to the Indian Territory, and in 1869 the main body was incorporated with the Cherokee nation.
The Shawnee tribe consisted of five divisions, which were further divided into 13 clans, the English names of which were the wolf, loon, bear, buzzard, panther, owl, turkey, deer, raccoon, turtle, snake, horse and rabbit. Of these the clan of the turtle was the most important, espe- cially in their mythological traditions. About all that is left of this once
910
CYCLOPEDIA OF
great tribe are the names of rivers and towns that have been adopted by the white race, such as Chillicothe, Tippecanoe, Shawneetown, Wapa- koneta, etc.
The Delawares, formerly the most important confederacy of the Algonquian stock, occupied the entire valley of the Delaware river. They called themselve the Lenape or Leni-lenape (real men). The English gave them the name of Delawares, and the French called them Loups (wolves). Morgan divides the Lenape into three phratries-the Mun- see, Unami and the Unalachtigo-though it is probable that some of the bands in New Jersey may have formed a fourth phratry. The Tammany society in New York, the best known political society in the country, takes its name from Tamenend, the great chief of the Delawares.
About 1720 the Iroquois assumed authority over the Delawares and forbade them to sell their lands. This condition lasted until after the French and Indian war. Then they were gradually crowded westward by the white men and began to form settlements in Ohio, along the Muskingum river with the Hurons. Here they were supported by the French and became independent of the Iroquois. They opposed the English with determination until the treaty of Greeneville in 1795. Six years before that treaty was consummated the Spanish government of Louisiana gave the Delawares permission to settle in that province, near Cape Girardeau, Mo., with some of the Shawnee tribe. In 1820 there were two bands-numbering about 700-in Texas, but by 1835 most of the Delawares were settled upon their Kansas reservation between the Kansas and Missouri rivers. Their title to this reservation was finally extinguished in 1866, and on April 11, 1867, President Johnson approved an agreement by which the Delawares merged their tribal existence with the Cherokee nation.
In 1820 there was found an ancient hieroglyphic bark record giving the traditions of the Delaware tribe. This old record was translated and published by Brinton in 1885. It gives an account of the creation of the world by great Manito; and of the flood, in which Nanabush, the Strong White one, grandfather of men, created the turtle, on which some were saved. This book is known as the "Walam Olum."
ยท The Munsees (where stones are gathered together), one of the three principal divisions of the Delawares, originally occupied the country about the headwaters of the Delaware river. By what was known as the "walking purchase," about 1740, they were defrauded out of the greater portion of their lands and forced to remove. They obtained lands from the Iroquois on the Susquehanna, where they lived until the Indian coun- try was established by the act of 1830, when they removed to what is now Franklin county, Kan., with some of the Chippewa. The report of the Bureau of Ethnology for 1885 says the only Munsees then recognized officially by the United States were 72, living in Franklin county, Kan., all the others having been incorporated with the Cherokee nation.
The Ottawas (traders), according to one of their traditions, were once part of a tribe to which belonged also the Chippewa and Pottawatomi,
911
KANSAS HISTORY
all of the great Algonquian family. They moved as one tribe from their original habitat north of the great lakes, and separated about the straits of Mackinaw. Another account says that when the Iroquois destroyed the Hurons in 1648-49, the remnant of the Hurons found refuge with the Ottawa, which caused the Iroquois to turn on that tribe. The Ottawas and the Hurons then fled to Green bay, where they were wel- comed by the Pottawatomi, who had preceded them to that locality.
The tribe is mentioned in the Jesuit Relations as early as 1670, when Father Dablon, superior of the mission at Mackinaw, said: "We call these people Upper Algonkin to distinguish them from the Lower Alkonkin, who are lower down in the vicinity of Tadousac and Quebec. People commonly give them the name of Ottawa, because, of more than 30 different tribes which are found in these countries, the first that descended to the French settlements were the Ottawa, whose name after- ward attached to all the others."
After a time the Ottawas and Hurons went to the Mississippi and established themselves on an island in Lake Pepin. They were soon driven out by the Sioux and went to the Black river in Wisconsin, where the Hurons built a fort, but the Ottawas continued east to Chaquamegon bay. In 1700 the Hurons were located near Detroit and the Ottawas were between that post and the Saginaw bay. The Ohio Ottawas were removed west of the Mississippi in 1832. The following year, by the treaty of Chicago, those living along the west shore of Lake Michigan ceded their lands there and were given a reservation in Franklin county, Kan., the county seat of which bears the name of the tribe. In 1906 there were about 1,500 Ottawas living in Manitoulin and Cockburn islands, Canada ; 197 under the Seneca school in Oklahoma ; and nearly 4,000 in the State of Michigan.
The Chippewa or Ojibway (to roast till puckered up) formerly ranged along the shores of Lake Superior and Lake Huron, extending across Minnesota to the Turtle mountains in North Dakota. Warren says that at the time America was discovered the Chippewa lived at La Pointe, Ashland county, Wis., on the south shore of Lake Superior, where they had a village called Shangawaumikong. Early in the 18th century the Chippewa drove the Foxes from northern Wisconsin, and also drove the Sioux west of the Mississippi. Other Chippewa overran the peninsula lying between Lake Huron and Lake Erie and forced the Iroquois to withdraw from that section. Warren says there were ten principal divisions of the tribe scattered through Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota, and Morgan gives a list of 23 gentes. Prior to 1815 the Chippewa were frequently engaged in war with the whites, but after the treaty of that year they remained peaceful. In 1836 what were known as the Swan Creek and Black River Chippewa sold their lands in southern Michigan and removed to the Munsee reservation in Franklin county, Kan. In 1905 the Bureau of Ethnology estimated the number of Chippewa in the United States and Canada at 30,000, about one-half of which were in the United States.
912
CYCLOPEDIA OF
The Miamis (peninsular people), one of the most important of the Algonquian tribes, was called by some of the early chroniclers the "Twightwees." The region over which they roamed was once outlined in a speech by their famous chief, Little Turtle, who said: "My fathers kindled the first fire at Detroit; thence they extended their lines to the headwaters of the Scioto; thence to its mouth; thence down the Ohio to the mouth of the Wabash, and thence to Chicago over Lake Michigan."
The men of the Miami tribe have been described as "of medium height, well built, heads rather round than oblong, countenances agree- able rather than sedate or morose, swift on foot and excessively fond of racing." The women spun thread of buffalo hair, of which they made bags in which to carry provisions when on a march. Their deities were the sun and the thunder, and they had but few minor gods. Six bands of the Miami were known to the French, the principal ones being the Piankeshaw, Wea and Pepicokia. The Piankeshaw was first mentioned by La Salle in 1682 as one of the tribes that gathered about his fort in the Illinois country. Chauvignerie classed the Piankeshaw, Wea and Pepicokia as one tribe, but inhabiting different villages. Tlie Miami were divided into ten gentes-wolf, loon, eagle, buzzard, panther, tur- key, raccoon, snow, sun and water-and the elk and crane were their principal totems. Early in the 19th century the Piankeshaw and Wea were located in Missouri, and in 1832 they agreed to remove to Kansas as one tribe. About 1854 they were consolidated with the Peorias and Kaskaskias, and in 1868 the consolidated tribe was removed to a reser- vation on the Neosho river in northeastern Oklahoma. Numerous treaties were made between the main body of the Miamis and the United States, and in Nov., 1840, the last of the tribe was removed west of the Mississippi. Six years later some of them were in Linn county, Kan., and others had been confederated with the Peorias and other tribes. In 1873 they were removed to the Indian Territory.
The Sauks and Foxes, usually spoken of as one tribe, were originally two separate and distinct tribes, but both of Algonquian stock. The Sauks, when first met by white men, inhabited the lower peninsula of Michigan and were known as "yellow earth people." At that time the Foxes lived along the southern shore of Lake Superior and were called the "red earth people." There is a tribal tradition that before the Sauks became an independent people they belonged to an Algonquian group composed of the Pottawatomies, Foxes and Mascoutens. After the sepa- ration the Sauks and Foxes moved northwest, and in 1720 were located near Green bay, but as two separate tribes. Trouble with the Foxes led to a division of the Sauks, one faction going to the Foxes and the other to the Pottawatomies. In 1733 some Foxes pursued by the French took refuge at the Sauk village near the present city of Green Bay, Wis. Sieur de Villiers made a demand for the surrender of the refugees, but it was refused, and in trying to take them by force several of the French were killed. Gov. Beauharnois, of Canada, then gave orders to make
913
KANSAS HISTORY
war on the Sauks and Foxes. This led to a close confederation of the two tribes, and since then they have been known as the Sauks and Foxes.
In the early days of the confederacy there were numerous gentes, but in time these were reduced to 14, viz: trout, sturgeon, bass, great lynx or fire dragon, sea, fox, wolf, bear, potato, elk, swan, grouse, eagle and thunder. Black Hawk, the Sauk chief, was a member of the thunder clan. After several treaties with the United States, the Sauks and Foxes in 1837 ceded their lands in Iowa and were given a reservation in Franklin and Osage counties, Kan. In 1859 the Foxes returned from a buffalo hunt to find that in their absence the Sauks had made a treaty ceding the Kansas reservation to the United States. The Fox chief refused to ratify the cession and with some of his trusty followers set out for Iowa, whither a few of the Foxes had previously returned. They purchased a small tract of land near Tama City, adding to it by subse- quent purchases, until the tribe owned some 3,000 acres. From that time this faction of the Foxes had no further political connection with the Sauks. In 1867 the Kansas reservation passed into the hands of the United States government, the Indians accepting a reservation in the Indian Territory, and in 1889 they were allotted lands in severalty.
The Iowas (sleepy ones), according to Dorsey, were a southwestern Siouan tribe belonging to the Chiwere group, composed of the Iowas, Otoes and Missouris, all of which sprang from Winnebago stock, to which they were closely allied by language and tradition. Old Iowa chiefs told Dorsey that the tribe separated from the Winnebago on the shores of Lake Michigan, and at the time of the separation received the name of "gray snow." After the separation they lived successively on the Des Moines river, near the pipestone quarry in Minnesota, at the mouth of the Platte, and on the headwaters of the Little Platte in Mis- souri. In 1824 they ceded their lands in Missouri, and in 1836 removed to a reservation in the northeast corner of Kansas. When this reserva- tion was ceded to the United States the tribe removed to central Okla- homa, where in 1890 they were alloted lands in severalty.
The Kickapoos, a tribe of the central Algonquian group, is first men- tioned in history about 1670, when Father Allouez found them living near the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers. Ethnologically the Kickapoos were closely related to the Sauks and Foxes, with whom they entered into a scheme for the destruction of Detroit in 1712. When the Illinois confederacy was broken up in 1765, the Kickapoos had their headquarters for a time at Peoria. They were allied with Tecumseh in his conspiracy early in the 19th century, and in 1832 took part in the Black Hawk war. Five years later they aided the government in the war with the Seminoles. 'After ceding their lands in central Illinois, they removed to Missouri and still later to Kansas, settling on a reser- vation near Fort Leavenworth. About 1852 a number of Kickapoos joined a party of Pottawatomies and went to Texas. Later they went to Mexico and became known as "Mexican Kickapoo." In 1905 the (I-58)
914
CYCLOPEDIA OF
Bureau of Ethnology reported 434 Kickapoo-247 in Oklahoma and 167 in Kansas.
Among the Kickapoos the gentile system prevailed and marriage was. outside of the gens. The principal gentes were water, tree, berry, thun- der, man, bear, elk, turkey, bald eagle, wolf and fox. In summer they lived in houses of bark, and in winter in oval lodges constructed of reeds. They practiced agriculture in a primitive way. Their mythology was characterized by many fables of animals, the dog being especially venerated and regarded as an object of offering always acceptable to. the great Manitou.
The Pottawatomies belonged to the Algonquian group and were first encountered by white men in the vicinity of Green Bay, Wis. They were- originally associated with the Ottawa and Chippewa as one tribe, the separation taking place about the head of Lake Huron. Subsequently the three tribes at time formed a confederacy for offense or defense, and' when removed west of the Mississippi asked to be united again. They sided with the French until about 1760, took part in the Pontiac con- spiracy, and fought against the United States in the Revolution. The- treaty of Greeneville put an end to hostilities, but in the war of 1812. they again allied themselves with the British. Between the years 1836. and 1841 they were removed west of the Mississippi, those in Indiana having to be removed by force. Some escaped to Canada and this band or their descendants still live on Walpole island in the St. Clair river .. In 1846 all those in the United States were united on a reservation in Miami county, Kan. In Nov., 1861, this tract was ceded to the United States and the tribe accepted a reservation of 30 miles square near Holton, Jackson county, Kan., where some of the tribe still live. From government reports in 1908, it is ascertained that there were then about 2,500 Pottawatomies in the United States, 676 of whom were in Kansas ..
The 15 gentes of the tribe were the wolf, bear, beaver, elk, loon, eagle,. sturgeon, carp, bald eagle, thunder, rabbit, crow, fox, turkey and black hawk. Their most popular totems were the frog, tortoise, crab and crane. In early days they were sun-worshipers. Dog flesh was highly prized, especially in the "feast of dreams," when their special manitou was. selected.
The Kiowas (principal people) once inhabited the region on the upper Missouri and the Yellowstone rivers. Next they formed an alliance with the Crows, but were driven southward by the Cheyenne and Arapaho to the country about the upper Arkansas and Canadian rivers. in Colorado and Oklahoma. They are first mentioned in history by Spanish explorers about 1732, and in 1805 Lewis and Clark found them living on the North Platte. About 1840 they formed an alliance with. the Comanches, with whom they were afterward frequently associated in raids on the frontier settlements of Texas and Mexico. In 1865 they joined with the Comanche in a treaty which ceded to the United States a large tract of land in Colorado, Texas and southwest Kansas, and three years later they were put on a reservation in northwest Texas and. the western part of the Indian Territory.
915
KANSAS HISTORY
The Quapaws, or Kwapa, a southwestern tribe of the Siouan group, is frequently mentioned by early writers, such as Joutel, Tonti, Du Pratz, etc. Mention has previously been made of their separation from other tribes at the mouth of the Ohio river. In 1833 they ceded their lands in Arkansas, the map of the session showing a small strip in southeastern Kansas, extending from the Missouri line to the Neosho river.
The Otoes, one of the three Siouan tribes forming the Chiwere group, were originally part of the Winnebago, from whom they separated near Green Bay. Moving southwest in quest of buffalo, the Otoes went up the Missouri, crossed the Big Platte, and Marquette's map of 1673 shows them on the upper Des Moines or upper Iowa river. Lewis and Clark in 1804 found them on the south side of the Platte, 30 miles from its mouth, where, having become decimated by war and small-pox, they lived under the protection of the Pawnees. The Otoes were never an important tribe in Kansas history, though in March, 1881, they ceded to the United States a tract of land, a small portion of which lies north of Marysville, Marshall county.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.