USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 4
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In the early history of the tribe there were two old men called Wa-kan-man- cin and Te-han-man-cin, who were the real governors of the half-tribes. They were exceedingly wisc and were reverenced almost as deities, being given valua- ble presents by the people and were the first custodians of the sacred tents. Some ethnologists have expressed a belief that the two old men were mysterious medicine men of some sort, but their history is shrouded in tradition and uncertainty.
LEGEND OF THE SACRED PIPES
An-ba-he-be, the tribal historian, tells the story of the sacred pipes of the Omaha as follows :
"The old men made seven pipes and carried them round the tribal circle. They first reached Wejincte, who sat there as a male elk and was frightful to behold, so the old men did not give him a pipe. Passing on to Inke-sabe, they gave the first pipe to the head of that gens. Next they came to Hanga, to whom they handed a firebrand, saying, 'Do thou keep the firebrand,' that is, You are to thrust it into the pipe bowls.' Therefore it is the duty of Hanga to light the pipes for the chiefs.
"When they reached the bear people (a subgens of the Catada) they feared them because they sat there with the sacred bag of black bear skin, so they did not give them a pipe. The blackbird people (another subgens) received no pipe because they sat with the sacred bag of bird skins and feathers. And the old man feared the turtle people (a third subgens of the Catada). who had made a big turtle on the ground, so they passed them by. But when they saw the eagle people (the fourth subgens), because they did not fear them, they gave them the second pipe."
There is another tradition that the eagle people did not receive a pipe at first. and when they found themselves slighted started off in anger, threatening to leave the tribal circle. The old men ran after them, offered them a bladder filled with tobacco and a buffalo skull, saying, "Keep this skull as a sacred thing," but the eagle people refused to be thus appeased and the old men then gave them a pipe to purchase their allegiance. But to continue the story of Anbahebe :
"Next the old men came to the Kanze, part of whom were good and part were bad. To the good ones they gave a pipe. The Macinkagaxe people were the next gens. They, too, were divided, being half bad. The bad ones had some stones, as well as their hair, painted orange red. They wore plumes in their
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hair and a branch of cedar around their heads, and were awful to behold. So the old men passed on to the good ones, to whom they gave the fourth pipe.
"They then reached the Tesinde, half of whom made sacred a buffalo and are known as 'those who eat not the lowest rib.' Half of these were good and they received the fifth pipe.
"All of the Tada (Anbahebe's own gens) were good, so the deer people obtained the sixth pipe. But the Ingcejide took one whole side of a buffalo and stuck it up, leaving the red body but partially buried in the ground, after making a tent of the skin. They who carried the pipes around were afraid of them, so they did not give them one.
"Last of all they came to the Ictasanda. These people were disobedient. destitute of food, and averse to staying long in one place. As the men who had the pipes wished to stop this they gave the seventh pipe to the fourth subgens of the Ictasanda and since then the members of this gens have behaved themselves."
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
The primitive dwellings of the Omaha were chiefly lodges of earth, though some lived in tents or wigwams of skins, and a few formed for themselves huts of bark or mats. Their earth lodges, similar to those of the Mandan Indians. from whom it is supposed the Omaha learned the art of building them, were intended mainly for summer use, when they were not hunting. The bark huts were usually oval or elliptical in shape and often were provided with two fire- places and two smoke holes. During the hunting season tents of buffalo skin were used, because at such times the tribe was constantly changing position to keep in touch with the game, and skin tents were more easily removed.
Prior to the beginning of the nineteenth century, and probably for a few years later. the pottery was made by the Omaha, but the art seems to have been forgotten. When the first white men came in contact with these Indians they possessed a few vessels of clay, of rude construction, and some spoons made of horn. Mortars were made by burning a depression in a block of hard wood. and in these mortars grain was reduced to a coarse meal by pounding and rubbing with a smooth stone.
A man could not marry a woman of his own gens. It is said that Two Crows, a Hanga chief, wanted to marry a Tesinde woman, but was not permitted to do so because his mother had belonged to that gens. He therefore took a wife from among the Wejincte women. Polygamy was practiced to some extent, but no man, not even the greatest chief, was permitted to have more than three wives. A man was always compelled to consult his first wife before taking a second and if she objected he could not marry during her lifetime. If she consented, the second wife must be either her sister, her aunt or her niece. In the event of a second, or even a third marriage, the first wife was never deposed, but always remained in control of the household affairs.
Their greatest feast was one adopted from the Mandan tribe. If the last guest at this feast was tardy he was given several pounds of food to eat as a penalty for his tardiness. If he could not eat the entire quantity it was necessary for him to give a present or bribe to some one outside of his own gens to help
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him. After the banquet the pipe was started on its rounds, and the first man took a puff and held it to the second one in the circle. If the second man touched the pipe before taking his puff every one present gave the "scalp yell" and the offender was required to make a present to some one of the guests not of his own gens. Each man, after taking a puff at the pipe held by another, could take the pipe in his hand and hold it for the next one, but woe to the unfortunate brave who happened to touch it before he took his puff. No one was allowed to get angry on such occasions, under penalty of being expelled from the feast. After the banquet and the smoke the festivities closed with a dance, in which each man wore upon his arms rattles made of deers' hoofs. This Mandan cere- mony and dance was observed after the death of Logan Fontenelle.
The Omaha had several dancing societies. One of their most noted dances was called the Calumet, which was invented for the adopted son of a celebrated Wa-na-ce.
OMNIA CHIEFS
Little is known of the Omaha chiefs prior to the year 1800, but tradition says it was the custom to select two principal chiefs from the Hangacenu half- tribe, though there was no law that prevented their selection from some other clan. Can-ge-ska (White Horse), was a member of the Macinkagaxe gens. He was the grandfather of Wa-jin-ga-sabe ( Blackbird), who was the first chief of which the white man's history gives any definite account.
Blackbird, a member of the Wejincte gens, was the principal chief during the closing years of the eighteenth century. He was no doubt one of the great- est chiefs the Omaha ever had to rule over them, and his name is still revered by them. In 1790 Baron Carondelet, then Spanish governor of Louisiana, pre- sented Blackbird with the curious document in the form of a parchment, on which are pen and ink drawings of the arms of Spain, trophies of war, an Indian and a white man shaking hands, and the text of the "diploma" sets forth in eloquent Spanish phrase the proofs of fidelity shown by the great chief to the Spanish Government, and that a medal was then bestowed on him by the Spanish king. This diploma is now in the collections of the Nebraska Historical Society.
Irving tells of a foray made by the Ponca into the land of the Omaha, when they carried off a number of women and a herd of horses. Blackbird collected his warriors and declared that he would "eat up the Ponca," that expression being used as a threat of extermination. The Ponca fought from behind earth- works, but Blackbird assaulted with such vigor that for a time it looked as though he would make good his declaration. In this dire strait the Ponca chief dressed his daughter in all her finery and sent her out with a calumet as a sort of flag of truce to appeal to Blackbird to stop the fight. The sight of the beautiful damsel touched Blackbird. He took the calumet from her hand and ordered his warriors to desist from further hostilities. Says Irving :
"This beautiful Ponca maiden in all probability was the favorite wife, whose fate makes so tragic an incident in the story of Blackbird. Her youth and beauty had gained an absolute sway over his rugged heart so that he distinguished her above all his other wives. The habitual gratification of his vindictive impulses, however, had taken away from him all mastery over his passions and rendered
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him liable to the most furious transports of rage. In one of these his beautiful wife had the misfortune to offend him, when, suddenly drawing his knife, he laid her dead at his feet with a single blow.
"In an instant his frenzy was at an end. He gazed for a time in mute bewilderment upon his victim; then, drawing his buffalo robe over his head, he sat down beside the lifeless body and remained brooding over his crime and his loss. Three days elapsed, yet the chief continued silent and motionless, tasting no food and apparently sleepless. It was apprehended that he intended to starve himself to death. His people approached him in trembling awe and entreated him to uncover his face and be comforted, but he remained unmoved. At length one of his warriors brought a little child and, laying it on the ground, placed the foot of the chief upon its neck. The heart of the gloomy savage was touched by this appeal. Throwing aside his robe, he made a harangue upon what he had done, and from that time forward seemed to have thrown the load of grief and remorse from his mind. It was also noticed that he maintained a better control of his temper."
There is a story to the effect that Blackbird's undisputed authority and abso- lute sway over the people of his tribe were acquired and maintained through his mysterious power to foretell the death of some one, especially one who hap- pened to oppose some of his schemes. Like all uncivilized peoples, the Indian was ignorant and superstitious. After Blackbird had predicted the time and manner of the death of some of his enemies, others of the tribe were careful not to offend him and came to regard his slightest wish as law. It is said that some fur trader, who was accustomed to visit Blackbird at his village on the Missouri River, and who was anxious to hold the chief's trade, made him acquainted with the properties of arsenic as a means of getting rid of those who stood in his way, and agreed to keep him supplied with the drug. Under such circumstances it was not a difficult matter for Blackbird to predict the death of any person, for it was only necessary to find some way to administer the arsenic and the pre- diction was fulfilled.
In a few instances, just to show that his predictions were not all based upon malice, Blackbird prophesied the death of some of his friends, and the result was the same. The individual died at the time and in the manner predicted. His people could see the effect of his prophecies, though of course they knew nothing of the manner in which the deaths were brought about, and even after Blackbird grew old and corpulent, so that he could hardly move about without assistance, they still stood in mortal fear of his supernatural power. One whose death he predicted was the Chief Little Bow, who failed to get enough arsenic. and after he recovered withdrew with his band, fearing that Blackbird would again prophesy and might be successful. After Blackbird's death Little Bow's story became known. Catlin heard this story some years after Blackbird's death, when he visited the Omaha village on the Missouri. Says he :
"This story may be true and it may not. I cannot contradict it and I am sure the world will forgive me if I say I cannot believe it. It is said to have been told by the fur traders, and although I have not always the highest confidence in their justice to the Indian, yet I cannot, for the honor of my own species, believe them to be so depraved and wicked, nor so weak as to reveal such iniquities of
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this chief, if they were true, which must directly implicate themselves as acces- sories to his most wilful and unprovoked murders."
About the beginning of the nineteenth century the Omaha were attacked by a smallpox epidemic of unusual virulence and Blackbird fell a victim to the scourge. About eighty miles above Omaha, on the west side of the Missouri River, is a bluff which rises above those on either side of it. Here Blackbird, while in the heyday of his manhood, was wont to stand and look up and down the river for the boats of the white traders. When he realized that death was near he requested his tribesmen to bury him on this eminence, so that he could still see the boats of his white friends. The Omaha village was then some sixty miles farther up the river, but as soon as he was dead his friends made prepara- tions to carry out his request. On the summit of this bluff Blackbird was placed astride his favorite white horse, with his bow in his hand, a quiver full of arrows, his pipe, medicine bag and a supply of pemmican and tobacco to supply him on his journey to the happy hunting grounds. Then every warrior present dipped his hand in red paint and left its imprint upon the sides of the horse. Turf was then placed around the feet and legs of the horse and the wall was slowly built up until the last plume of the mighty chief was covered. A mound of considerable size was then built around the turf, on the top of the mound was placed a staff from which hung the banner of the departed chief, after which the procession mournfully wended its way back to the village. For years after- ward the Indians would make pilgrimages to the bluff and place food and drink at the foot of the mound for the great warrior on his long journey.
In 1832 Catlin visited the grave of Blackbird and discovered a hole near the foot of the mound, the burrow of some animal. Enlarging this hole he soon found some bones of the horse and a further search revealed the skull of the chief, which Catlin took away with him. It is now in the National Museum at Washington, D. C.
Blackbird's successor was Mu-shin-ga (Big Rabbit), who lived but a short time. Then came Ong-pa-ton-ga (Big Elk), a good chief who kept his tribe on friendly terms with the whites until his death about 1845. He was buried at Bellevue. The next chief was Big Elk's son, who bore his father's name. Although the hereditary chief, he possessed none of the qualifications of a leader and was soon displaced by Es-ta-ma-zha (Iron Eye), the adopted son of Big Elk the first, who before his death expressed a wish that his adopted son inight be made the chief of the tribe. Iron Eye was really the son of a Frenchman and a Ponca woman. He was called Joseph La Flesche by the white traders.
One of the last and greatest chiefs of the Omaha was Logan Fontenelle. His father, Lucien Fontenelle was born at New Orleans about 1800, of parents who belonged to the French nobility. At the age of sixteen years he entered the employ of the American Fur Company, but later was transferred to the Missouri Fur Company, and in time became one of the owners of the trading post at Bellevue. He married an Omaha woman and Logan was one of the sons of this union.
Logan Fontenelle was born on May 6, 1825, at old Fort Atkinson, a few miles up the Missouri River from where the City of Omaha is now situated. He was educated at St. Louis, but upon the death of his father in 1840 he returned to Bellevue, where he was made United States interpreter. In this
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capacity he became popular with his mother's people and in September, 1853, he was chosen chief of the tribe, although at that time he was but twenty-eight years of age. His Indian name was Shon-ga-ska. In the negotiation of the treaty of March 16, 1854, he played an important part and his name appears at the head of the list of chiefs who signed the treaty. He was killed by a war party of Sioux in June, 1855, and was buried by the side of his father at Bellevue. At the time of his death he was interested in securing the establishment of a school on the Omaha Reservation.
TREATIES WITH THE OMAIIA
One of the first treaties in which the Omaha participated was that of July 15, 1830, at Prairie du Chien, Wis., when the Sac and Fox, four bands of Sioux, Iowa, Otoe, Missouri and Omaha relinquished all their claims to a large tract of land in Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri. The cession was surveyed by James Craig in 1835. By the treaty a reservation was established for the Omaha and other tribes on the Missouri River, extending from the Great to the Little Nemaha and ten miles back from the Missouri.
On October 15, 1836, at the trading post at Bellevue, a treaty was negotiated with the Otoe, Missouri, Omaha, Yankton and Santee Sioux, by which those tribes agreed to relinquish all claim to the northern half of Arkansas and a large tract of land in Southern Missouri-lands ceded to the United States by the Osage Indians by the Treaty of Fort Clark, November 10, 1808.
The Treaty of March 16, 1854, was concluded at Washington, D. C., where the Omaha chiefs were taken for that purpose. By this treaty the Omaha ceded to the United States "all their lands west of the Missouri River and south of a line drawn due west from a point in the center of the main channel of the Missouri, due east of which the Ayoway River disembogues out of the bluffs, to the western boundary of the Omaha country, reserving their territory north of said line, with the understanding that if it should prove unacceptable other lands shall be assigned them, not exceeding three hundred thousand acres."
The tract thus reserved north of the cession line proved to be "unacceptable" and the President gave them a new reservation, fronting on the Missouri River for thirty miles and extending back an average distance of twenty-eight miles. in the eastern part of Thurston County, Nebraska.
On March 6, 1865, at Washington, D. C., the Omaha chiefs and head men agreed to sell a strip off the north side of their reservation, to be used as a reservation for the Winnebago. By the act of Congress, approved on June 22, 1874, an additional tract of 12.347.55 acres was sold to the Winnebago, the deed therefor bearing date of July 31, 1874.
In the meantime an act had been passed by Congress on June 10, 1872, provid- ing for the sale of 50,000 acres off the west end of the Omaha Reservation. The Indians consented to the sale, but the act never became effective. It was super- seded by the Act of August 7, 1882, which provided for the sale of that portion of the reservation lying west of the Sioux City & Nebraska Railroad. The same act also provided for the allotment of the remainder of the reservation to indi- viduals, who should receive patents in fee simple therefor at the end of twenty-
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five years, when all unallotted lands were to be patented in fee simple to the tribe.
The original Treaty of March 16, 1854, has been carefully preserved by the Omaha Indians. On December 15, 1915, it was brought to Omaha by Silas Woods, a full-blooded Omaha, and loaned to Gen. John L. Webster to be exhib- ited by him at a banquet given by the Nebraska Semi-centennial Committee at the Fontenelle Hotel. It bears the signatures of George W. Manypenny, United States commissioner; Logan Fontenelle; Es-ta-ma-zha, or Joseph La Flesche ; Gra-tah-nah-je, or Standing Hawk; Gah-he-ga-gin-gah, or Little Chief; Tah- wah-gah-ha, or Village Maker; Wah-na-ke-ga, or Noise, and Sa-da-nah-ze, or Yellow Smoke.
By the Treaty of 1854 the lands once claimed and inhabited by the Omaha became the property of the white man. Their hunting grounds have become cultivated fields. The whistle of the locomotive has supplanted the war-whoop of the painted savage; the old Indian trail has developed into the railway; the teepee has given way to the schoolhouse; halls of legislation have taken the place of the council wigwam; Indian villages have disappeared and in their stead have come cities with all the evidences of modern progress. And all this change has been made within the memory of persons yet living. To tell the story of this progress is the province of the subsequent chapters of this history.
CHAPTER 11I
THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE
NEBRASKA AS A FRENCH AND SPANISHI POSSESSION-CONTROVERSY OVER TIIE NAVI- GATION OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER-TREATY OF MADRID-NAPOLEON AND TALLEY- RAND-RETROCESSION OF LOUISIANA TO FRANCE-FEELING IN THE UNITED STATES-JEFFERSON'S DIPLOMACY-LIVINGSTON AND MONROE'S NEGOTIATIONS -- PURCHASE OF TIIE PROVINCE-FULL TEXT OF THE TREATY OF PARIS-TRANS- FER OF LOUISIANA TO TIIE UNITED STATES-EXPEDITION OF LEWIS AND CLARK --- THEIR STOPPING PLACES IN NEBRASKA-COUNCILS WITH THE INDIANS --- RESULT OF THE EXPEDITION.
How did the region now comprising the State of Nebraska come to be the territory of the United States? In order to answer the question it is necessary to give an account of one of the greatest diplomatic transactions in modern history. Under the claim of La Salle, in 1682, all the country drained by the Mississippi River and its tributaries, which included Nebraska, became a French possession and so remained until the close of the French and Indian war in 1762. Then France lost every foot of land she possessed in the New World, Canada and that part of Louisiana east of the Mississippi going to England, and all her territory west of the Mississippi going to Spain. Nebraska thus became a part of the Spanish possessions in America.
By the Treaty of September 3, 1783, which ended the Revolutionary war, the western boundary of the United States was fixed at the Mississippi River, though the mouth of that stream passed through Spanish territory. It was not long until the new American republic became involved in a controversy with the Spanish authorities in Louisiana over the right to the free navigation of the great river. The final settlement of this question wielded a great influence upon the present State of Nebraska. The Mississippi constituted the natural outlet for the products of a large part of the United States, but the Spanish officials established posts along the river and every boat descending the stream was forced to land at these posts and submit to arbitrary revenue duties. This not only decreased profits, but it was also humiliating to the American traders. Through the influence of Don Manuel Godoy the Treaty of Madrid was concluded on October 27, 1795, one article of which stipulated that "the Mississippi River, from its source to the gulf, for its entire width, shall be free to American trade and commerce, and the people of the United States shall be permitted, for three years, to use the Port of New Orleans as a port of deposit, without payment of duty."
The French Revolution brought into prominence two of the most noted char-
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acters in European history-Napoleon and Talleyrand. These two great French- men, feeling deeply the loss of their country's American possessions, soon began planning the rebuilding of a colonial empire, one feature of which was to regain Louisiana. Don Carlos IV was at that time king of Spain, but Channing says : "The actual rulers in Spain were Dona Maria Luisa de Parma, his queen, and Don Manuel Godoy, el Principe de la Paz, which title writers of English habitu- ally translate 'Prince of Peace.'"
Godoy knew he was not liked by Napoleon and Talleyrand, and when they began negotiations for the transfer of Louisiana back to France he resigned from the Spanish ministry, leaving the king without his most efficient adviser. In exchange for Louisiana, Napoleon and Talleyrand offered "an Italian kingdom of at least 1,000,000 inhabitants for the Duke of Parma, prince presumptive, who was at once son-in-law and nephew of the ruling monarchs." The State of Tuscany was selected, and on October 1, 1800, the secret Treaty of San Ilde- fonso was concluded. So well was the secret kept that the transaction did not become known in the United States for about eight months.
The Treaty of San Ildefonso was confirmed by the Treaty of Madrid (March 21, 1801), a copy of which was sent to President Jefferson by Rufus King, the United States minister to England. It reached the White House on May 26, 1801. In August following Robert R. Livingston went to France as the United States minister to that country and immediately upon his arrival asked Talley- rand, then the French prime minister, if the Province of Louisiana had been receded to France. Talleyrand denied that such was the case, and in one sense of the word he was right, as the Treaty of Madrid was not signed by the Spanish king until in October, 1802.
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