Barber County Kansas
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Barber County Kansas |
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Note from the previous webmaster: Be forewarned that the following article is likely to make you feel emotionally, spiritually and physically ill because of the attitudes displayed in it and the hatred, racism and ignorance obviously underlying those attitudes.
Why, then, you may wonder, in light of that, is this article even reproduced on this site? There are several reasons, the first of which is for the sake of historical accuracy: this article was published just 85 years ago and I believe that it is important to realize how recently such racist and hateful material was considered to be "acceptable" to the general public.
Secondly, though you may rightfully judge the attitude and opinions expressed in the article to reveal the mindset of the editor of the newspaper at the time, rather than the general opinion of the people living in Barber County when the article was published, and while you may correctly realize that this article has no bearing or reflection on that same newspaper or its staff today, please bear in mind it is an important historical record of an actual event which is abhorrent and shameful in light of the values we, as a society, generally hold today.
May this article provide you with the impetus to further research the history of relations between white Americans and Indian Americans in order to better understand both the time in question and our own time.
Knowledge, I believe, is the antidote to racism and other forms of ignorance. So, if you are shocked and disgusted by the following article, as I believe that most people who read this page will be, then let that be your motivation to seek a better and more accurate personal understanding of the issues than what you might form from just the information in the following article alone.
Be alert for contradictory impressions, such as how "good" American citizens could, with apparent relish, relate how they observed soldiers dancing with Indian scalps hanging from their belts in the streets of Medicine Lodge.
Reflect on the fact that it is a historical fallacy that people from the past can be judged, or should be judged, by our own current societal values, and, instead, attempt to understand them in the context of their own times and society.
Note, also, Barney O'Connor's claim to have carried "Pony Express" mail in 1874, when the Pony Express only existed, according to a reliable source, between April 3, 1860 through October 1861. Obviously, O'Connor was a self-aggrandizing liar, which is also something to be taken into account in reading the following article. Why the editor of the newspaper chose to publish such verifiably false information is something else you may also wish to consider in evaluating this article.
Finally, if you look into the history of American Indians who have served in the Armed Forces of the USA, you'll find that they have a long tradition of serving our country honorably, courageously and well despite the fact that they, as a people, have been horribly mistreated and cheated again and again during the time our nation has existed. No informed person could ever have an attitude of anything other than the utmost respect for the patriotism and service rendered to the USA by American Indians.
Recommended reading: The Osage Nation, from William G. Cutler's History of the State of Kansas. This article includes the history of various treaties with the Osage Indians, including the creation of the Osage Diminished Reserve lands.
With no apology for publishing this article on this site, therefore, but with the sincere hope that it will prompt further reading on your part, and a consequentially better understanding of the historical relations of American Indians and other citizens of the USA, the following article is presented here.
The following story is taken from the Topeka Capital, and will be of interest to many people of Medicine Lodge and Barber county:Indians and Indian fights was the subject under discussion the other day on the front porch of the O'Conner house. Barney O'Connor, one-time pony express rider, cattle man and Indian fighter was the principal talker. John Nichols, veteran Garden City newspaper man, and the writer were the others on the porch. I had heard about some of Barney's stories but never before had I had a chance to listen to him tell them.
"In 1874 I carried pony express from Wichita to Medicine Lodge," Barney started out. He is a man of 75 years, and is typical of the pioneer days. He wears a wide brimmed hat, generally gauntlets with beaded wrists, and a dark suit. "I had a week to do it in so I might start out one day or another, just as I chose. I was comin' and goin' as I pleased anytime for a week.
"One day I hadn't got out of Medicine more than 10 miles when I came to the top of a hill and seen down below me a bunch of Indians. It looked like the whole prairie was covered with Indians. Nobody didn't have to tell me to go back.
"I rode up to the militia encampment there and told the captain what I had seen. "You just saw a bunch of wild horses, kid," he says, and I couldn't make him believe different. I went down the street and met Mosley. He was first lieutenant of the militia company and a finer fellow you ever saw. He had 35 men in his company. The year before the Indians had killed his mother and father and two sisters near Kiowa, so Mosley was spending his time huntin' Indians.
"I told him my story and he believed it. "Didn't you tell the captain?" he asked, so I told him what happened. We went back to the captain together and Mosley says to the captain. "This kid says he saw some Indians out there and I believe him. I've known him a long time and when he says he seen Indians he's seen them. He's seen more Indians than lots of people that think they're Indian fighters." He was takin' a shot at the captain then. So the result was that the militia company saddled up and I took them out to where I had seen the Indians.
"There was only a bunch of horses' tracks on the ground. The captain says, "See the kid just saw a herd of wild horses." Mosley and I rode up to the next hill and there below us was a thousand fifteen hundred Indians, it looked like. We went back to the soldiers and Mosley says, "Boys, everyone for himself. Get all the Indians you can."
"We rode down on the Indians and they were so scared to see us that they just jumped on their horses and tried to make a run for it. We killed seven Indians and a squaw, we found out after we came back from chasin' the bunch of 'em. There was about a hundred head of horses we got too. Pretty soon we found another squaw runnin' around that couldn't find a horse in the shuffle. We captured her.
"Let's kill her," someone says. "She'll just raise little ones if we don't." We took a vote on it and decided to give her a horse and let her get away. It didn't take her long to get over that hill, believe me.
"Then Mosley began scalpin' the dead Indians. They was Osages and they used to shave their heads like a mule roached. You know, just a tuft of long hair down the center of heir heads. One of the Indians he scalped was still a kickin' the muscles twitchin' you know. Mosley just jerked his scalp off and kicked the Indian.
"That night there was a dance on the main street of Medicine Lodge. All the boys from over the country was there, and their girls too. Seven of the soldiers had the fresh scalps of the Indians hangin' on their belts. I remember Mrs. Frank Ryder, that lives in Ulysses now, was there. She was talkin' to me about it last summer when she was in town."
Also see:
EARLY DAYS IN BARBER COUNTY:
Mrs. Jennie Osborn Writes Most Interesting Article Concerning Experiences In Barber County
Barber County Index, September 29, 1927.Indians Killed Her Father Here In 1874
Barber County Index, September 18, 1930.Memoirs of Phoebe (Rogers) Gibson:
The Early Days of Barber County, Kansas
Barber County Index, May 16, 1929.
The United States and the Great and Little Osage Indians [206 U.S. 185, 187] entered into a treaty September 29, 1865, which was proclaimed January 21, 1867. (14 Stat. at L. 687.) In the first article it was stated that the tribe of the Great and Little Osage Indians, having more land than was necessary for their occupation, and all payments by the government to them under former treaties having ceased, leaving them greatly impoverished, and being desirous of improving their condition by disposing of their surplus land, they therefore granted and sold to the United States the lands described in that article, and, in consideration of the grant and sale to them of such lands, the United States agreed to pay the Indians the sum of $300,000, which sum was to be placed to the credit of such Indians and interest thereon paid. The lands were to be surveyed and sold, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, on the most advantageous terms, for cash, as public lands are surveyed and sold under existing laws, and, after reimbursing the United States for the cost of such survey and sale and the said sum of $300,000 advanced to the Indians, the remaining proceeds of sales were to be placed in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the 'civilization fund,' to be used under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior. The Osage Diminished Reserve Lands
By article 2 of the treaty the Indians also ceded to the United States the tract of land therein described, in trust for the Indians, to be surveyed and sold for theirbenefit by the Secretary of the Interior under such rules and regulations as he might from time to time prescribe, under the direction of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, as other lands are surveyed and sold. Provision was then made in the article for the proceeds arising from the sale. By article 16 it was provided that, if the Indians should remove from the state of Kansas and settle upon lands to be provided for them by the United States in the Indian territory on terms to be agreed upon, then the diminished reservation should be disposed of by the United States in the same manner and for the same purposes as thereinbefore provided in [206 U.S. 185, 188] relation to said trust lands, with exceptions not material to be noticed. (The Indians did subsequently remove from Kansas.)
It was also provided by the 13th article that, as the Indians had no annuities from which the expenses for carrying the treaty into effect could be taken, the United States should appropriate $20,000, or so much thereof as might be necessary, for the purpose of surveying and selling the land thereby ceded in trust, which amount so expended was to be reimbursed to the Treasury of the United States from the proceeds of the first sales of the lands.
On the 23d of November, and again on the 19th of December, 1867, the Commissioner of the General Land Office, by authority of the Secretary of the Interior, issued instructions to the registers and receivers in the state of Kansas for the rendition of services in the sale of land ceded to the United States by article 1 of the treaty above mentioned, and the lands agreed to be held in trust by the United States and surveyed and sold for the benefit of the said Indians by article 2 of that treaty. Among other instructions, under date of December 19, 1867, it was provided that the registers and receivers were to be 'allowed a commission of 1 per cent each on the proceeds of the sales of these lands, with limitations, as a matter of course, to the legal maximum of $2,500, inclusive of commissions and fees, etc., on the disposal of the public lands, the payment of which is to be made by the receiver, in his capacity of disbursing agent, and to be debited in a special account, together with such other expenses incident to the sale of the lands alluded to as may be authorized by law and instructions.' On the 28th of March, 1871, further instructions were given in regard to the performance of services, in which was the further statement that 'nothing, however, shall be herein construed as authorizing the register and receiver to receive more than the maximum of $2,500 per annum, now allowed by law, and the receiver, in adjusting his accounts, will take care to first ascertain how much short of the maximum [206 U.S. 185, 189] the receipt from public lands, including the fees received from declaratory statements on the Osage lands, will bring their fees and commissions, and will then charge to the Indian fund only so much commissions as will bring their compensation to the maximum.'
-- Excerpt from U.S. Supreme Court, STEWART v. U S, 206 U.S. 185 (1907), 206 U.S. 185, WATSON STEWART, Appt., v. UNITED STATES and the Osage Nation of Indians. No. 256. Argued April 12, 1907. Decided May 13, 1907.
Thanks to Shirley Brier for finding, transcribing and contributing the above news article to this web site!
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