﻿626 
  Y 
  HE 
  OMAHA 
  TRIBE 
  [BTH. 
  ANN. 
  27 
  

  

  saw 
  something 
  of 
  civilized 
  .modes 
  of 
  living 
  anil 
  noted 
  the 
  religious 
  

   customs 
  of 
  the 
  residents 
  of 
  the 
  town. 
  Through 
  intercourse 
  with 
  

   tribes 
  among 
  which 
  missions 
  had 
  been 
  established 
  came 
  a 
  vague 
  

   knowledge 
  concerning 
  Christianity. 
  In 
  the 
  early 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  nine- 
  

   teenth 
  century 
  a 
  few 
  Frenchmen 
  employed 
  with 
  the 
  trading 
  companies 
  

   had 
  taken 
  Omaha 
  women 
  as 
  wives 
  but 
  these 
  men 
  had 
  not 
  shown 
  a 
  

   proselyting 
  spirit 
  nor 
  had 
  they 
  made 
  any 
  change 
  in 
  the 
  mode 
  of 
  native 
  

   life 
  or 
  in 
  the 
  native 
  beliefs. 
  Sometimes 
  the 
  sons 
  of 
  these 
  men 
  were 
  

   taken 
  to 
  St. 
  Louis 
  on 
  their 
  fathers' 
  trading 
  trips; 
  here 
  they 
  acquired 
  

   some 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  French 
  language 
  and 
  of 
  business 
  methods, 
  the 
  

   possession 
  of 
  which 
  enabled 
  them 
  to 
  assist 
  their 
  fathers 
  in 
  the 
  duties 
  

   connected 
  with 
  trading. 
  In 
  some 
  instances 
  these 
  sons 
  were 
  sent 
  to 
  

   school 
  and 
  learned 
  to 
  speak 
  English 
  and 
  in 
  two 
  cases, 
  those 
  of 
  Logan 
  

   Fontenelle 
  and 
  Louis 
  Sansouci, 
  they 
  were 
  able 
  to 
  serve 
  as 
  official 
  inter- 
  

   preters. 
  It 
  was 
  not 
  until 
  the 
  third 
  decade 
  of 
  the 
  nineteenth 
  century 
  

   that 
  the 
  Omaha 
  came 
  into 
  direct 
  contact 
  , 
  with 
  missionaries 
  and 
  then 
  the 
  

   contact 
  was 
  occasional 
  rather 
  than 
  constant. 
  In 
  1S45 
  the 
  first 
  perma- 
  

   nent 
  mission 
  was 
  established 
  by 
  the 
  Presbyterian 
  denomination 
  at 
  

   Bellevue, 
  Nebraska. 
  At 
  that 
  time 
  the 
  Omaha 
  had 
  been 
  induced 
  by 
  

   the 
  Government 
  to 
  settle 
  near 
  Bellevue, 
  partly 
  for 
  the 
  sake 
  of 
  pro- 
  

   tection 
  from 
  their 
  enemies, 
  the 
  Sioux, 
  and 
  partly 
  to 
  bring 
  them 
  under 
  

   the 
  supervision 
  of 
  the 
  newly 
  established 
  Indian 
  agency. 
  A 
  school 
  

   was 
  built 
  for 
  the 
  mission 
  on 
  land 
  claimed 
  by 
  the 
  Omaha 
  tribe 
  and 
  

   several 
  Omaha 
  children 
  were 
  brought 
  under 
  the 
  influence 
  of 
  the 
  

   teachers. 
  In 
  the 
  gardens 
  and 
  fields 
  attached 
  to 
  this 
  school 
  the 
  

   ( 
  hnaha 
  had 
  their 
  first 
  opportunity 
  to 
  observe 
  the 
  practical 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  

   plow 
  and 
  other 
  agricultural 
  implements. 
  When 
  the 
  iron 
  hoe 
  intro- 
  

   duced 
  by 
  the 
  traders 
  superseded 
  the 
  shoulder 
  blade 
  of 
  the 
  elk 
  no 
  

   change 
  was 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  old 
  method 
  of 
  planting 
  and 
  cultivating 
  

   corn. 
  Until 
  the 
  Omaha 
  beheld 
  the 
  fields 
  of 
  the 
  mission 
  they 
  had 
  never 
  

   seen 
  the 
  earth 
  turned 
  over 
  in 
  furrows 
  and 
  corn 
  planted 
  in 
  long 
  

   straight 
  rows. 
  At 
  this 
  mission 
  school 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  Omaha 
  children 
  

   received 
  their 
  first 
  instruction, 
  scanty 
  as 
  it 
  was, 
  in 
  avocations 
  that 
  

   were 
  to 
  help 
  them 
  to 
  meet 
  the 
  changed 
  conditions 
  of 
  living 
  so 
  soon 
  

   to 
  come 
  upon 
  their 
  people. 
  Already 
  Missouri 
  was 
  a 
  State; 
  homes 
  

   were 
  being 
  erected 
  within 
  sight 
  of 
  the 
  Missouri 
  river; 
  the 
  Mormons 
  

   had 
  already 
  crossed 
  that 
  stream 
  and 
  had 
  passed 
  on 
  farther 
  to 
  the 
  

   westward. 
  Nebraska 
  was 
  soon 
  to 
  become 
  a 
  territory 
  and 
  the 
  new 
  

   settlers 
  were 
  casting 
  hungry 
  eyes 
  on 
  the 
  Indians' 
  land. 
  In 
  1853 
  a 
  

   United 
  States 
  commission 
  arrived 
  at 
  Bellevue 
  to 
  take 
  the 
  preliminary 
  

   steps 
  looking 
  to 
  the 
  extinguishment 
  of 
  the 
  Omaha 
  right 
  of 
  occupancy 
  

   of 
  the 
  broad 
  fertile 
  lands 
  lying 
  on 
  the 
  Missouri 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  Platte 
  

   river. 
  The 
  following 
  year 
  a 
  group 
  of 
  chiefs 
  and 
  other 
  leading 
  men 
  

   went 
  to 
  Washington, 
  passing 
  down 
  the 
  Missouri 
  and 
  tip 
  the 
  Ohio 
  

   in 
  boats, 
  crossing 
  the 
  Alleghany 
  mountains 
  by 
  slow 
  stages, 
  and 
  so 
  

  

  