Treaty with The Osage
September 29, 1865
Articles of treaty and convention, made and concluded
at Canville Trading Post, Osage Nation, within the boundary
of the State of Kansas, on the twenty-ninth day of September,
eighteen hundred and sixty-five, by and between D. N. Cooley,
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and Elijah Sells, superintendent
of Indian Affairs for the southern superintendency, commissioners
on the part of the United States, and the chiefs of the tribe
of Great and Little Osage Indians, the said chiefs being duly
authorized to negotiate and treat by said tribes.
Article 1.
The tribe of the Great and Little Osage Indians, having now
more lands than are necessary for their occupation, and all
payments from 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 lands, do hereby grant and sell to the United States
the lands contained within the following boundaries, that
is to say: Beginning at the southeast corner of their present
reservation, and running thence north with the eastern boundary
thereof fifty miles to the northeast corner; thence west with
the northern line thirty miles; thence south fifty miles,
to the southern boundary of said reservation; and thence east
with said southern boundary to the place of beginning: Provided,
That the western boundary of said land herein ceded shall
not extend further westward than upon a line commencing at
a point on the southern boundary of said Osage country one
mile east of the place where the Verdigris River crosses the
southern boundary of the State of Kansas. And, in consideration
of the grant and sale to them of the above-described lands,
the United States agree to pay the sum of three hundred thousand
dollars, which sum shall be placed to the credit of said tribe
of Indians in the Treasury of the United States, and interest
thereon at the rate of five per centum per annum shall be
paid to said tribes semi-annually, in money, clothing, provisions,
or such articles of utility as the Secretary of the Interior
may, from time to time, direct. Said lands shall 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, including any act
granting lands to the State of Kansas in aid of the construction
of a railroad through said lands; but no preemption claim
or homestead settlement shall be recognized: and after re-imbursing
the United States the cost of said survey and sale, and the
said sum of three hundred thousand dollars placed to the credit
of said Indians, the remaining proceeds of sales shall 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, for the education
and civilization of Indian tribes residing within the limits
of the United States.
Article 2.
The said tribe of Indians also hereby cede to the United
States a tract of land twenty miles in width from north to
south, off the north side of the remainder of their present
reservation, and extending its entire length from east to
west; which land is to be held in trust for said Indians,
and to be surveyed and sold for their benefit under the direction
of the Commissioner of the General Land-Office, at a price
not less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, as
other lands are surveyed and sold, under such rules and regulations
as the Secretary of the Interior shall from time to time prescribe.
The proceeds of such sales, as they accrue, after deducting
all expenses incident to the proper execution of the trust,
shall be placed in the Treasury of the United States to the
credit of said tribe of Indians; and the interest thereon,
at the rate of five per centum per annum, shall be expended
annually for building houses, purchasing agricultural implements
and stock animals, and for the employment of a physician and
mechanics, and for providing such other necessary aid as will
enable said Indians to commence agricultural pursuits under
favorable circumstances: Provided, That twenty-five per centum
of the net proceeds arising from the sale of said trust lands,
until said percentage shall amount to the sum of eighty thousand
dollars, shall be placed to the credit of the school fund
of said Indians; and the interest thereon, at the rate of
five per centum per annum, shall be expended semi-annually
for the boarding, clothing, and education of the children
of said tribe.
Article 3.
The Osage Indians, being sensible of the great benefits they
have received from the Catholic mission, situate in that portion
of their reservation herein granted and sold to the United
States, do hereby stipulate that one section of said land,
to be selected by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs so as
to include the improvements of said mission, shall be granted
in fee-simple to John Shoenmaker, in trust, for the use and
benefit of the society sustaining said mission, with the privilege
to said Shoenmaker, on the payment of one dollar and twenty-five
cents per acre, of selecting and purchasing two sections of
land adjoining the section above granted; the said selection
to be held in trust for said society, and to be selected in
legal subdivisions of surveys, and subject to the approval
of the Secretary of the Interior.
Article 4.
All loyal persons, being heads of families and citizens of
the United States, or members of any tribe at peace with the
United States, having made settlements and improvements as
provided by the pre-emption laws of the United States, and
now residing on the lands provided to be sold by the United
States, in trust for said tribe, as well as upon the said
lands herein granted and sold to the United States, shall
have the privilege, at any time within one year after the
ratification of this treaty, of buying a quarter section each,
at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre; such quarter
section to be selected according to the legal subdivisions
of surveys, and to include, as far as practicable, the improvements
of the settler.
Article 5.
The Osages being desirous of paying their just debts to James
N. Coffey and A. B. Canville, for advances in provisions,
clothing, and other necessaries of life, hereby agree that
the superintendent of Indian affairs for the southern superintendency
and the agent of the tribe shall examine all claims against
said tribe, and submit the same to the tribe for approval
or disapproval, and report the same to the Secretary of the
Interior, with the proofs in each case, for his concurrence
or rejection; and the Secretary may issue to the claimants
scrip for the claims thus allowed, which shall be receivable
as cash in payment for any of the lands sold in trust for
said tribe: Provided, The aggregate amount thus allowed by
the Secretary of the Interior shall not exceed five thousand
dollars.
Article 6.
In consideration of the long and faithful services rendered
by Charles Mograin, one of the principal chiefs of the Great
Osages, to the people, and in consideration of improvements
made and owned by him on the land by this treaty sold to the
United States, and in lieu of the provision made in article
fourteen for the half-breed Indians, the heirs of the said
Charles Mograin, dec[ease]d, may select one section of land,
including his improvements, from the north half of said land,
subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior,
and upon his approval of such selection it shall be patented
to the heirs of the said Mograin, dec[ease]d, in fee-simple.
Article 7.
It is agreed between the parties hereto that the sum of five
hundred dollars shall be set apart each year from the moneys
of said tribe, and paid by the agent to the chiefs.
Article 8.
The Osage Indians being anxious that a school should be established
in their new home, at their request it is agreed and provided
that John Shoenmaker may select one section of land within
their diminished reservation, and upon the approval of such
selection by the Secretary of the Interior, such section of
land shall be set apart to the said Shoenmaker and his successors,
upon condition that the same shall be used, improved, and
occupied for the support and education of the children of
said Indians during the occupancy of said reservation by said
tribe: Provided, That said lands shall not be patented, and
upon the discontinuance of said school shall revert to said
tribe and to the United States as other Indian lands.
Article 9.
It is further agreed that, in consideration of the services
of Darius Rogers to the Osage Indians, a patent shall be issued
to him for one hundred and sixty acres of land, to include
his mill and improvements, on paying one dollar and twenty-five
cents per acre; and said Rogers shall also have the privilege
of purchasing, at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents
per acre, one quarter section of land adjoining the tract
above mentioned, which shall be patented to him in like manner;
said lands to be selected subject to the approval of the Secretary
of the Interior.
Article 10.
The Osages acknowledge their dependence on the Government
of the United States, and invoke its protection and care;
they desire peace, and promise to abstain from war, and commit
no depredations on either citizens or Indians; and they further
agree to use their best efforts to suppress the introduction
and use of ardent spirits in their country.
Article 11.
It is agreed that all roads and highways laid out by the
State or General Government shall have right of way through
the remaining lands of said Indians, on the same terms as
are provided by law, when made through lands of citizens of
the United States; and railroad companies, when the lines
of their roads necessarily pass through the lands of said
Indians, shall have right of way upon the payment of fair
compensation therefor.
Article 12.
Within six months after the ratification of this treaty the
Osage Indians shall remove from the lands sold and ceded in
trust, and settle upon their diminished reservation.
Article 13.
The Osage Indians having no annuities from which it is possible
for them to pay any of the expenses of carrying this treaty
into effect, it is agreed that the United States shall appropriate
twenty thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary,
for the purpose of defraying the expense of survey and sale
of the lands hereby ceded in trust, which amount so expended
shall be re-imbursed to the Treasury of the United States
from the proceeds of the first sales of said lands.
Article 14.
The half-breeds of the Osage tribe of Indians, not to exceed
twenty-five in number, who have improvements on the north
half of the lands sold to the United States, shall have a
patent issued to them, in fee-simple, for eighty acres each,
to include, as far as practicable, their improvements, said
half-breeds to be designated by the chiefs and head-men of
the tribe; and the heirs of Joseph Swiss, a half-breed, and
a former interpreter of said tribe, shall, in lieu of the
above provision, receive a title, in fee-simple, to a half
section of land, including his house and improvements, if
practicable, and also to a half section of the trust lands;
all of said lands to be selected by the parties, subject to
the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.
Article 15.
It is also agreed by the United States that said Osage Indians
may unite with any tribe of Indians at peace with the United
States, residing in said Indian Territory, and thence afterwards
receive an equitable proportion, according to their numbers,
of all moneys, annuities, or property payable by the United
States to said Indian tribe with which the agreement may be
made; and in turn granting to said Indians, in proportion
to their numbers, an equitable proportion of all moneys, annuities,
and property payable by the United States to said Osages.
Article 16.
It is also agreed by said contracting parties, that if said
Indians should agree to remove from the State of Kansas, and
settle on lands to be provided for them by the United States
in the Indian Territory on such terms as may be agreed on
between the United States and the Indian tribes now residing
in said Territory or any of them, then the diminished reservation
shall be disposed of by the United States in the same manner
and for the same purposes as hereinbefore provided in relation
to said trust lands, except that 50 per cent. of the proceeds
of the sale of said diminished reserve may be used by the
United States in the purchase of lands for a suitable home
for said Indians in said Indian Territory.
Article 17.
Should the Senate reject or amend any of the above articles,
such rejection or amendment shall not affect the other provisions
of this treaty, but the same shall go into effect when ratified
by the Senate and approved by the President.
- D. N. Cooley, Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
-
- Elijah Sells, Superintendent Indian Affairs Southern Superintendency, and Commissioner.
- Me-tso-shin-ca, (Little Bear.) his x mark, Chief Little Osages.
- No-pa-wah-la, his x mark, Second Chief to Little Bear.
- Pa-tha-hun-kah, his x mark, Little Chief L. B. Band.
- White Hair, his x mark, Principal Chief Osage Nation.
- Ta-wah-she-he, his x mark, Chief Big Hill Band.
- Beaver, his x mark, Second Chief White Hair's Band.
- Clermont, his x mark, Chief Clermont Band.
- O-po-ton-koh, his x mark.
- Wa-she-pe-she, his x mark, Little Chief W. H. Band.
Witnesses:
- Ma-sho-hun-ca, counsellor Little Bear Band, his x mark.
- Wa-sha-pa-wa-ta-ne-ca, his x mark.
- Wa-du-ha-ka, his x mark.
- Shin-ka-wa-ta-ne-kah, his x mark.
- She-weh-teh, his x mark.
- Gra-ma, his x mark.
- Hu-la-wah-sho-sha, his x mark.
- Na-ta-ton-ca-wa-ki, his x mark.
- Num-pa-wah-cu, his x mark.
- Ha-ska-mon-ne, his x mark.
Attest:
- G. C. Snow, U. S. Neosho Indian agent.
- Milton W. Reynolds, acting clerk.
- Theodore C. Wilson, phonographic reporter.
- Alexander Beyett, interpreter Osage Nation.
Witnesses, Little Bear's Band:
- Ka-wah-ho-tza, his x mark.
- O-ke-pa-hola, his x mark.
- Me-he-tha, his x mark.
White Hair's band of witnesses:
- Shin-ka-wa-sha, councillor of White Hair's, his x mark.
- Wa-sha-wa, his x mark.
- Ka-he-ka-stza-jeh, his x mark.
- Ka-he-ka-wa-shin-pe-she, his x mark.
- Saw-pe-ka-la, his x mark.
- Wa-tza-shim-ka, his x mark.
- Wa-no-pa-she, his x mark.
- Shin-be-ka-shi, his x mark.
- Ne-koo-le-blo, his x mark.
- O-ke-pa-ka-loh, his x mark.
- Ke-nu-in-ca, his x mark.
- Pa-su-mo-na, his x mark.
We the undersigned, chiefs and headmen of the Clermont and
Black Dog Band of the Great Osage nation, in council at Fort
Smith, Ark., have had the foregoing treaty read and explained
in full by our interpreter, L. P. Chouteau, and fully approve
the provisions of said treaty made by our brothers the Osages,
and by this signing make it our act and deed.
- Clermont, chief of Clermont Band, his x mark.
- Palley, second chief of Clermont Band, his x mark.
- Hah-ti-in-gah, (Dry Feather,) counsellor, his x mark.
- Kah-ha-che-la-ton, brave, his x mark.
- Do-tah-cah-she, brave, his x mark.
- Black Dog, chief Black Dog Band, his x mark.
- William Penn, second chief Black Dog Band, his x mark.
- Broke Arm, counsellor, his x mark.
- Ne-kah-ke-pon-nah, brave, his x mark.
- Ne-kah-gah-hee, brave, his x mark.
Witnesses:
- Wah-skon-mon-ney, his x mark.
- Wah-kon-che-la, his x mark.
- Wah-sha-sha-wah-ti-in-gah, his x mark.
- Pah-cha-hun-gah, his x mark.
- Long Bow, his x mark.
-
- Wah-she-wah-la, his x mark.
- War Eagle, his x mark.
- Pon-hon-gle-gah-ton, his x mark.
- Sun Down, his x mark.
- Ton-won-ge-hi, his x mark.
- Wah-cha-o-nau-she, his x mark.
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