The Osage Indians

The Osage people, a prominent Native American tribe, once held dominion over vast territories north of the Arkansas River and west of the Mississippi. Their interactions with French explorers and traders during the early years of Louisiana’s settlement profoundly shaped their history. This narrative, drawing from historical accounts, particularly William G. Cutler’s History of the State of Kansas (1883), aims to illuminate the rich and complex story of the Osage Indians.

During the early French occupancy of Louisiana, the Osage Indians were among the best-known tribes residing north of the Arkansas River and west of the Mississippi River. The Osage Indians claimed lands stretching eastward to the Mississippi’s banks and maintained friendly relations with the Illinois tribe, which inhabited the opposite shore. This proximity led to frequent encounters with French adventurers from Kaskaskia, Natchez, and New Orleans.

Rumors of silver and lead mines west of the Mississippi River spurred early exploration. Sieur de Lichens’ discovery of the "Mine of the Marameg" in 1719 and the subsequent arrival of King’s miners under M. Renandiere heightened expectations regarding Louisiana’s mineral wealth. The Osage Indians, at this time, had villages along the Missouri and Osage Rivers, the latter near the famed mine. Explorers seeking silver and lead thoroughly traversed their lands, leaving behind "diggings" on the old Osage Trail near the Le Mine River, a testament to early French activity.

In the same year that silver was discovered on the Marameg, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, Governor of Louisiana, dispatched Du Tissenet to explore the western regions of the province. Du Tissenet’s journey led him across southeastern Kansas, where he encountered an Osage Indian village five miles from the Osage River, approximately eighty leagues from its mouth. He described the inhabitants as robust, well-built warriors and noted the presence of lead mines in their territory.

In 1724, sixty-four Osage Indians formed part of Etienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont’s escort on his Pacific Mission to the Padoucas. However, subsequent organized French expeditions to the region remain undocumented. The destruction of Fort Orleans, commanded by De Bourgmont, and the massacre of its garrison effectively halted further French exploration westward for a considerable period. Apart from knowledge of ongoing conflicts between the Osage, Kanza, and Pawnee tribes, along with other western tribes, information about them remained scarce until the explorations of Lewis and Clark and Lieutenant Zebulon Pike, which offered more detailed insights into their locations, homes, and way of life.

As early as 1796, a significant division occurred within the Osage Nation. The Chaneers, or Arkansas band, led by Chief Cashesegra (Clermont), relocated to the Verdigris River, establishing several villages along its banks. Clermont’s village was situated approximately 60 miles upriver. This division was largely influenced by Pierre Choteau, a St. Louis fur trader who had previously monopolized trade with the Osage via the Osage River. After being replaced by Manuel de Lisa, another enterprising St. Louis trader, Choteau sought to establish a colony of young, vigorous Osage along a tributary of the Arkansas River. His aim was to divert trade away from his rival and towards the more southern river, a strategy that proved successful, as the new settlement soon overshadowed the older one.

Around 1803, the Little Osage separated from the Grand Osage, establishing a village on the Missouri River near the site of Fort Clark, later known as Fort Osage. However, they were soon attacked by northern and eastern tribes, forcing them to seek refuge with the more numerous Grand Osage, who lived near the headwaters of the Osage River, about 15 miles east of the present Kansas border.

One of Lieutenant Zebulon Pike’s expedition’s objectives in 1806 and 1807 was to return Osage captives, recently held prisoner by the Pottawatomie, to the Grand Osage village. He also aimed to establish lasting peace between the Osage and Kanza and to mediate peace between the Comanche and Osage.

During his expedition, Pike observed the customs and unique traits of the Osage. Upon his arrival at the Grand Osage village, he learned that the Little Osage had already launched a war party against the Kanza, while the Grand Osage had sent a party against the Arkansas band. Despite Chief White Hair’s opposition, he was unable to prevent these actions. Schemers in St. Louis frequently incited conflict between the tribes for their own gain. Pike’s efforts resulted in a peace treaty, which was faithfully observed by both the Osage and Kanza.

At the time of Pike’s visit, the Grand Osage village on the Osage River comprised 502 men, 341 boys, 851 women and girls, and 214 lodges. Cheveau Blanc, or White Hair, was the chief. The Little Osage numbered 824, and Clermont’s band consisted of 1,500 individuals. Governance was nominally vested in a small number of chiefs, but their authority was limited, with all proposed measures subject to a council of warriors and decided by a majority vote.

The tribe was divided into two classes: warriors and hunters, and cooks and doctors. Doctors, who also served as priests or magicians, held significant influence and were believed to possess deep knowledge of mysteries and medicinal skills. Cooks were also important, encompassing warriors who were unable to participate in war parties due to age or other factors.

Upon arriving at an Osage village, a guest would first visit the chief’s lodge, where they were expected to partake in a meal. Afterward, they would be invited to a feast hosted by prominent warriors and leaders. Cooks would announce the feast by loudly proclaiming, "Come and eat; such a one gives a feast." These feasts continued until all important tribe members had the opportunity to extend their hospitality.

Osage lodges were typically constructed using upright posts, approximately 20 feet high, with crotched tops to support the ridge pole. Smaller poles were bent over the ridge pole and fastened to stakes about four feet high. Broad slabs formed the ends of the lodge, and rush matting covered the entire structure. Each lodge usually had a door on each side, with a central fire and a hole in the roof for smoke to escape. A raised platform covered with skins at one end served as a display for the host’s possessions and a place of honor for guests. Lodges varied in length from thirty-six to one hundred feet.

The Osage were physically impressive, standing tall, erect, and dignified. The average height of the men exceeded six feet.

On November 10, 1808, a few years after the United States acquired Louisiana, a treaty was signed at Fort Clark between the United States and the Osage Nation.

Article 1 of the treaty stated the United States’ desire to promote peace, friendship, and interaction with the Osage tribes, offering assistance and protection from other tribes near white settlements. To this end, the United States built a fort on the Missouri River’s right bank and agreed to garrison it with troops to protect orderly, friendly Osage Indians.

The United States also committed to establishing and maintaining a well-stocked store at Fort Clark for bartering with the Osage for furs and peltries. Additionally, they agreed to provide a blacksmith and tools to repair arms and farming implements, construct a horse-mill or water-mill, furnish plows, and build blockhouses for the Great and Little Osage chiefs near the fort.

The treaty also stipulated that the Great Osage Nation would receive merchandise worth $1,000 annually, while the Little Osage Nation would receive $500. Furthermore, the Great Osage Nation would receive $800, and the Little Osage Nation would receive $400 upon signing the treaty.

Article 6 defined the boundary line between the Osage nations and the United States, ceding all lands east of the line and north of the Arkansas River’s southern bank, as well as all lands north of the Missouri River, to the United States. The Osage also ceded a two-league square tract encompassing Fort Clark.

President Thomas Jefferson, in 1804, reportedly promised the Osage chiefs a trading post for their benefit. This promise was reiterated in 1806. Fort Clark was constructed in October 1808, and Pierre Chouteau, the United States Agent for the Osage, arrived the following month to execute the treaty offered by Governor Lewis of Missouri. The Osage chiefs and warriors reluctantly signed the treaty on November 10, upon learning that the trading post was part of the price for their lands and that refusal to accept the treaty would result in being declared enemies of the United States.

The Senate did not ratify this treaty until 1810, and the Indians did not receive their first annuity until September 1811, three years after the treaty was made. The promised blockhouse for the Osage towns on the Osage River was only useful to traders, while a mill was built, and a blacksmith was sent to the Great Osage town.

The 1808 treaty extinguished the Osage title to all land in Missouri, except for a 24-mile wide strip extending from the western boundary of the state southward into Arkansas Territory. The eastern line ran a few miles east of Fort Clark, located on a bluff on the Missouri River near present-day Sibley. The main Osage village was due south of the fort on the Osage River, the village visited and described by Captain Zebulon Pike in 1806.

George Sibley, former commandant at Fort Clark, commended the Osage for their unwavering loyalty to the French and Americans. He noted their offer of service when British emissaries attempted to enlist them, and their declaration to "never desert their American father as long as he was faithful to them." He stated that the Osage were the least susceptible to British influence among the Missouri Indians.

Around this time, a portion of the Osage Nation relocated from the forks of the Osage River and settled on the Neosho River’s bank in present-day Labette County.

In 1817, the Cherokee attacked the Osage village on the Verdigris River during Clermont’s absence, setting fire to the town, destroying crops, and taking prisoners, including elderly men, women, and children. This led to retaliatory actions between the hostile tribes, resulting in a war that lasted several years, with the Delaware joining the Cherokee as allies. A peace treaty between the warring nations was concluded at Belle Point in 1822.

In 1818, the Osage Nation paid for property taken from United States citizens and ceded to the United States a tract of land beginning at the Arkansas River at Frog Bayou, then up the Arkansas River and Verdigris River to the falls of Verdigris River, eastward to the Osage boundary line, and with that line to the beginning point.

In return, the United States agreed to compensate citizens for losses caused by the Osage, up to $4,000.

In 1820, their agent at Fort Osage reported that the Great Osage of the Osage River lived in one village 78 miles south of Fort Osage, hunting over a vast area including the Osage, Gasconade, and Neosho Rivers. He estimated their population at 1,200, with 350 warriors and hunters. The Great Osage of the Neosho River lived about 130-140 miles southwest of Fort Osage in one village, numbering about 400 people. The Little Osage had three villages on the Neosho River, estimated at 1,000 people. The Chaneers, or Arkansas tribes of Osage, did not trade in the area and numbered about half the total Osage population.

George Sibley, the Indian agent, noted the difficulty in obtaining precise population figures due to constant movement and intermarriage. He described their subsistence as primarily dependent on hunting, supplemented by small crops of corn, beans, and pumpkins. They planted in April before leaving for the summer hunt, returning in August to harvest their crops. They would feast on these crops and dried meat until September, when they embarked on the fall hunt, returning around Christmas. The Osage Indians then stayed in their villages until February or March, when the spring hunt began.

On June 2, 1825, the Osage Nation relinquished its title to all remaining lands in Missouri and Arkansas, as well as lands west of Missouri and Arkansas, north and west of the Red River, south of the Kansas River, and east of a line drawn southward from the Kansas River’s headwaters through the Rock Saline.

Article 2 of the treaty reserved a tract of land for the Great and Little Osage tribes, beginning east of White Hair’s village, 25 miles west of the Missouri border, and extending west, 50 miles wide, to the western boundary of the ceded lands.

In addition to this reservation, various smaller reservations were established for half-breeds and others along the Neosho, Marais des Cygnes, and Mine Rivers.

The United States agreed to pay the Osage Nation annual annuities of $7,000 for 20 years, provide stock, farming utensils, an agricultural teacher, a blacksmith, build comfortable houses for the four principal chiefs, and pay debts owed to United States citizens, Delaware tribe members, and certain traders.

Trading interests among the Osage were primarily controlled by a few individuals representing large companies in St. Louis. Traders such as Pierre Choteau, Manuel De Lisa, Pierre Menard, and Hugh Glen exerted significant influence over the tribe, hindering efforts by Protestant missionaries and teachers to encourage a sedentary, agricultural lifestyle. Traders who profited from the fur trade discouraged any attempts at improvement.

The perception that the Osage were an exceptionally savage, warlike people further discouraged educators from working among them. This, coupled with their own apathy, disheartened early attempts at advancement, leading to the abandonment of early Protestant missions.

Over a decade or so, the Osage population declined, and they became degraded and servile, neglected by the government and exploited by traders and agents. Agricultural teachers and blacksmiths left the country. Annuities were paid in articles of little value, leading to poverty and raids on neighboring white settlements in Missouri. In 1837, these raids became so severe that Missouri’s frontier citizens requested assistance from the state militia, which sent 500 men to quell the disturbances. The Osage’s plight was reported to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1837, resulting in an act allowing them to receive their next annuity in food, aiding farming operations, and providing two millers and two blacksmith establishments.

In 1842, Fort Scott was established as a military post, and Hiero T. Wilson became Post Sutler the following year. This post became a trading center for the Osage. Catholic missionary institutions proved more successful than early Presbyterian efforts, with many Osage children benefiting from the Catholic Osage Mission. Chief White Hair converted to Catholicism, and his successor was also baptized into the same church. The Indian Agency was moved to Quapaw country, but the Osage continued to live in their old villages, spending much of their time hunting or wandering.

During the Civil War’s first year, the Osage Agency was moved to Fort Scott. One regiment of the Indian Brigade was composed of Osage, and the tribe remained loyal to the Union throughout the conflict.

On September 19, 1865, the Great and Little Osage Indians sold a defined area of their country to the United States at Canville Trading Post.

For this tract, known as the "Osage Ceded Lands," the United States was to pay $300,000, placed in the Treasury with 5% interest paid semi-annually. Pre-emption claims or homestead settlements were prohibited. After reimbursing the United States, the remaining proceeds were placed in the "Indian Civilization Fund."

The Osage also ceded a 20-mile wide tract off the north side of their reservation, to be held in trust and sold for their benefit, known as the "Osage Trust Lands."

The remaining strip, 30 miles wide, was the "Osage Diminished Reserve." After the 1865 treaty, the tribe moved onto this reservation, settling on Pumpkin Creek and at the junction of Fall River with the Verdigris. In 1877, the Osage contracted with attorney Charles Ewing to obtain payments due under the 1865 treaty. In 1880, a law directed that the Osage be paid for the losses incurred due to the treaty’s non-observance, resulting in a credit of $1,028,785.15.

In 1877, the tribe consisted of eight bands, numbering about 4,000 people. Big Hill, the largest town, had 100 lodges and about 950 people. White Hair’s band numbered 300-400, and the Little Osage 700. By 1882, their population had grown to almost 2,000.

In 1907, the Osage, led by Principal Chief James Bigheart, negotiated to retain mineral rights to their new reservation lands, which contained significant crude oil reserves. They delayed Oklahoma’s statehood until an Allotment Act was signed.

Today, the Osage are the only tribe since the early 20th Century to maintain a federally recognized reservation within Oklahoma. They have nearly 10,000 enrolled tribal members, with about half living in Oklahoma. The tribe is headquartered in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, and has jurisdiction in Osage County. They operate various businesses and maintain the Osage Tribal Museum, the oldest tribally-owned museum in the country.