44 THE OSAGE TRIBE [eth. ann. 30 



organization that was interwoven with the religious rites of the 

 people — and thus gradually the authority of the real chiefs was 

 weakened. 



Visit of Captain Pike 



In 1806 Capt. Zebulon M. Pike visited the Osages in their villages 

 on the Little Osage River, where he stayed about a fortnight and 

 became personally acquainted with the people and their condition. 



The year of this visit (1806) is epochal in the history of the Osage. 

 It marks the beginning of a gradual process by which this pco])lc 

 relinquished from time to time to the United States their territorial 

 possessions. By the treaties of 1808 .and 1818 they ceded large por- 

 tions of their land. The treaty of 1825 followed, by which they were 

 obliged to give up their ancient home along the Little Osage River and 

 take a reservation in Kansas. The treaties of 1834 and 1865 followed, 

 and then, by an act of Congress passed in 1870, they gave up their 

 homes in Kansas to remove to what was then the Indian Territory. 



The ancient home of the Osage is now a part of Vernon County, 

 Missouri.* (PI. 1.) The sites of the two villages may be located as 

 follows : 



The Great Osage village was on the east side of the Little Osage 

 River near the confluence of the Marmaton; the Little Osage village 

 was 6 miles farther up on the west side of the Little Osage River. 



In letters written by missionaries in 1821, while these villages were 

 still in existence, the following statements appear: 



Harmony (the name of the mission) is situated upon the Marias de Cein (Marais des 

 Cygnes) River about 6 miles above its junction with the Osage. We (the mission) are 

 within 15 miles of the Great Osage village.* 



Present Home and Condition of the Osage 



The present home of the Osage tribe is in Osage County, Oklahoma, 

 to which the people moved from their old reservation in Kansas in 

 1872 and took possession of the land. The Commissioner of Indian 

 Affairs, in his report for the year 1872, speaking of the Osage and their 

 new home, says: 



Their reservation is bounded on the north by the south line of Kansas, east by the 

 ninety -sixth degree of west longitude, and south and west by the Arkansas River, and 

 contains approximately 1,760,000 acres. * * * By the act of July 15, 1870, pro- 

 vision was made for sale of all the lands belonging to the Osages within the limits of 

 Kansas and for their removal across the line into the Indian Territory. * * * They 

 still follow the chase, the buffalo being their main dependence for food.* * * They 

 have since their removal begun farming to some extent, having already about 2,000 

 acres under cultivation. Their agent reports the reservation "poorly adapted for 

 civilizing purposes," there being only one small valley of fertile soil, barely affording 

 enough good farming land for 4,000 Indians. Having just located, they have at pres- 

 ent but one school in operation, with an attendance of 38 scholars. 



I " E.xpeditions of Zebulon M. Pike," Coues's edition, pp. 385, 389, notes 41, 42, 45. 

 •Morse's Report on Indian Affairs, pp. 222, 223. 



