KANSAS AS AN INDIAN COUNTRY
=Kansas Belonged to the Indians.= During the years when the white men
were traveling back and forth across Kansas they were not making
settlements here. The country remained in the undisputed possession of
the Indians. The white men did not want it as yet. They looked upon
these vast prairies, not as a resource, but as so much land to be
crossed in reaching places farther west. But changing conditions in
the states east of the Mississippi River made people begin to look
upon Kansas in a different light. The country there was becoming
thickly settled and the people wanted the lands of the eastern
Indians.
=Removal of Eastern Indians to Kansas.= Soon after the Louisiana
purchase was made people began to talk of an Indian reserve, of a
state set aside for the Indians, and it was believed that these
western prairies would be useful for such a purpose. Nothing definite
was done, however, until 1825, when the National Government began the
“removal policy.” The eastern part of Kansas was occupied by two
tribes of Indians, the Kanzas, or Kaws as they are often called, north
of the Kansas River, and the Osages south of it. In 1825 the National
Government made treaties with these two tribes. Under the provisions
of these treaties each tribe retained only a small part of its
territory, the rest being ceded to the Government. In return, the
Indians were to receive certain annual payments and were to be
supplied with cattle, hogs, and farming implements. The Government was
also to provide them with blacksmiths and with teachers of
agriculture. With these two tribes restricted to their reservations, a
large part of eastern Kansas was left to be apportioned into
reservations for Indians from the East. In 1830 Congress passed an act
setting aside an Indian country, which included eastern Kansas. Then
the removal policy was carried out. Under this arrangement the
Government made treaties with the various eastern tribes by which they
gave up their lands in exchange for certain tracts in the Indian
country. The Shawnees had come in 1825, and during the ten or twelve
years following 1830 about seventeen tribes were located on
reservations in Kansas. Among these were the Iowas, Sacs and Foxes,
Kickapoos, Delawares, Chippewas, Pottawatomies, Wyandottes, and
Miamis. By 1850 there was not a tribe left east of the Mississippi
River. The Indians had all been moved to these western plains, and no
white man could settle on any of the reservations without the consent
of the Indians.
[Illustration: AN INDIAN IN WAR DRESS.]
=Indians Removed from Kansas.= According to the treaties the Indians
were promised their land “so long as grass should grow or water run.”
But it soon developed that the white men wanted Kansas also. In 1854
we find the tribes being again transferred, this time to the Indian
Territory, now Oklahoma, where the remnants of the various tribes
still remain.[7]
Although Kansas was not used during those early years to make homes
for white settlers, a few hundred people came here. They were of three
different classes; fur traders, missionaries, and soldiers.
[Illustration: INDIAN RESERVATIONS IN KANSAS.]
=The Fur Traders.= It is impossible to say when the first hunters and
trappers came to these western plains, for they were generally obscure
men and little was known of their comings and goings, but they were
the real pathfinders of the West. There are records of fur traders
here in the very early years of the nineteenth century, and they
gradually went farther and farther into the vast wilderness. The
streams of travel across Kansas in the ’40’s followed paths that had
been pointed out by the fur traders.
The fur companies established many trading posts, which served as
forts for protection against the Indians and as places to which
hunters and trappers could bring their furs. Some of the hunters and
trappers were employed by the fur companies, and others worked
independently.
Many Indians also engaged in this trade, and often they were given
tobacco, whisky, and weapons in exchange for their furs. In this way
much of the work of the missionaries was undone. In the earlier years
the hunters and trappers found many kinds of wild animals in Kansas:
the buffalo, the wolf, the fox, the deer, the elk, and the antelope,
and along the streams the beaver, the otter, the mink, and the
muskrat. Later the main supply of furs came from the mountains, and
the whole fur trade gradually moved west of what is now Kansas.
[Illustration: THE INDIAN TEPEE,
Made of poles and buffalo hides, was the only home of the
wandering tribes, and was used by the other tribes when on
hunting trips.]
=Father Padilla, the First Missionary in Kansas.= The attempt to
civilize the Indian began in the days of the early explorers, and it
was on Kansas soil that the first missionary’s life was lost in the
cause. This man was Father Padilla, a Jesuit, who came with Coronado
on his journey to Quivira. Father Padilla became much interested in
the Quivira Indians and remained to do missionary work among them. His
preaching was of short duration, however, for he was soon killed,
whether by the Quiviras or some other tribe is not known.
=Kansas Missionaries of the Nineteenth Century.= Centuries later, when
Kansas became a part of the United States and was explored and
traversed by white men, missionaries were among the first to arrive.
They came to instruct the Indians in the Christian religion and to
persuade them to adopt the customs of civilization.
Of the many who came, Rev. Isaac McCoy probably deserves first
mention. He had spent many years in work among the Indians and
strongly urged the removal policy. He believed that if they could live
in a separate state, free from contact with the white race, the
Indians could be civilized, and he gave his life to this work.
Jotham Meeker and his wife were among the most devoted of the
missionaries, but there were many others, both men and women, who
placed the welfare of human beings above mere gain and who endured the
hardships of life among the savages for the sake of the good they
might do.
=Missions Established.= As soon as the eastern Indians were removed to
Kansas a number of missions were established by Baptist, Methodist,
Presbyterian, Friends, and Catholic churches. The work of the
missionaries was not confined to religious instruction. Schools were
established,[8] books were printed, the Indian girls were taught
cooking and sewing, and the boys were taught farming and such trades
as blacksmithing and carpentry.
[Illustration: SHAWNEE MISSION AS FIRST BUILT IN 1830.
In 1839 a new location was selected and fine new buildings
constructed.]
The most noted mission in Kansas was the one established by the
Methodist Church for the Shawnee Indians near the present site of
Kansas City. This mission was opened in 1830 and continued its work
for more than a quarter of a century. It had a large tract of land and
good buildings, and maintained a successful school. Rev. Thomas
Johnson, who took a prominent part in early Kansas affairs, was in
charge of the mission.
[Illustration: PAWNEE FLATS AT FORT RILEY.
Near the center of the view is the old Pawnee Capitol.]
[Illustration: PONTOON BRIDGE AT FORT RILEY.]
=The Soldiers.= The third class of people who came to early Kansas was
the soldiers. Their presence was necessary for the protection of the
few white people against the Indians. Fort Leavenworth was established
by the National Government in 1827, as headquarters for the troops.
This was shortly after the beginning of the Santa Fe trade. During the
’40’s this fort was used as a base of supplies for the soldiers of the
Mexican War, and as an outfitting point for many of the California
gold seekers and Mormon emigrants. Fort Leavenworth is to-day one of
the most important of the national forts. A number of other forts were
established, among them Fort Riley, Fort Dodge, Fort Scott, and Fort
Hays, but all of these have been abandoned except Fort Riley.
[Illustration:
Above is the Old Wall at Fort Leavenworth. This wall is all that
remains of the original Fort. The lower picture is of the Main
Parade at Fort Leavenworth at the present time.]
=Population of Pre-territorial Kansas.= Kansas remained in possession
of the Indians until 1854, when it was organized into a territory.
With this date a new era began. At this time the white population
consisted of about twelve hundred people, one half of them soldiers
and the other half connected with the trading posts and the missions.
SUMMARY
When the country that is now Kansas became a part of the
United States it was occupied by four tribes of Indians. In
1825 the Kanza and Osage tribes ceded a large part of their
lands to the Government and the eastern quarter of the State
was made a part of the Indian country by the Act of 1830.
Following this a number of eastern tribes were removed to
reservations in Kansas, where they remained until Kansas was
organized as a territory, in 1854, when they were moved to
Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. During these years there was
much travel through the State, but up to 1854 the white
population numbered only about twelve hundred. These people
were of three classes; traders, missionaries, and soldiers.
REFERENCES
Prentis, History of Kansas, pp. 50-64.
Andreas, History of Kansas, pp. 58-74.
Gihon, Geary and Kansas, chap. II.
Inman, The Old Santa Fe Trail.
Elson, History of the United States, chap. II.
Kansas Historical Collections, vol. VIII, pp. 72, 171, 206, 250;
vol. IX, p. 565; vol. X, p. 327; vol. XI, p. 333; vol. XII, pp.
65, 183.
Holloway, History of Kansas, chap. VIII.
Blackmar, Kansas, vol. I, pp. 655-703; vol. II, p. 291.
QUESTIONS
1. What use did the white people make of Kansas during the first
half of the nineteenth century?
2. How did the condition of the Indians here differ from that of
the Indians in the East?
3. What was the removal policy? Name some of the Indian tribes
brought here. What promise was made them?
4. Name the three classes of white people who came to Kansas
during this period.
5. Who was Father Padilla? Name some of the missionaries. What
work did they do?
6. Tell of the fur traders and their relations with the Indians.
7. Why were the soldiers here?
8. When did Kansas cease to be an Indian country?