348 Expedition to the 



originally contemplated at Fort Clark, they are at present 

 of very little use. 



" These facts concerning the Osage treaty, are stated mere- 

 ly to show that we have not dealt justly with the Osages, 

 and to infer from them, that unless immediate steps are 

 taken, to recover that confidence and respect which those 

 Indians once had in the United States, the inevitable conse- 

 quence will be their decided and active hostility againstthe set- 

 tlements of the Missouri, and those back of the Lead Mines. 

 British emissaries had repeatedly attempted to engage the 

 Osages in their service, previous to the evacuation of Fort 

 Clark, but without effect. The leading men have often de- 

 clared to me their determination " never to desert their 

 American father, as long as he was faithful to them." At 

 a time when we were under serious apprehensions of an at- 

 tack on Fort Clark, the warriors of the Little Osages offered 

 their services to me to defend the post. In less than two 

 months after these declarations and offers of services, Fort 

 Clark was evacuated, and the Osage establishment abandon- 

 ed, without any notice or apology for so very extraordinary 

 and unnecessary an act. Thus were the Osages left, I may 

 truly say, in the arms of the British agents. How far those 

 agents have succeeded in weaning them from their growing 

 attachment to the United States, I am unable to say; they 

 have had full scope for their arts, and it would be idle to 

 suppose they have not made some progress. 



" Of all the Missouri Indians, the Osages were the least 

 accessible to British influence; from their strong attachment 

 to the French, they had acquired a French prejudice against 

 the English, which since my acquaintance with them has 

 rather increased than diminished. Such are the Osages and 

 such our relations and political standing with them. 



" The Osages of the Oaks, or Clermont's band were sepa- 

 rated from the other bands and fixed in their present situa- 

 tion chiefly, it is said, through the influence of Mr. Chou- 



