People of the Middle Waters: the Osage
One of the more formidable tribes with whom early explorers had to contend in what is now Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma were the Osage. The Osage are a Midwestern tribe, a Dhegihan-Siouan-speaking people. Their name in English comes from a French word meaning war-like. Their name for themselves refers to People of the Middle Waters. Their home range extended between the Missouri and Red Rivers, the Ozarks to the Wichita Mountains. They were both buffalo hunters and did practice agriculture.
Like many tribes who later migrated to the Plains, the Osage, along with the Kansa, Quapaw, Omaha and Ponca, who also speak Dhegihan languages, came from the lower Ohio Valley. Pressure from the Iroquois caused their early ancestors to migrate during the 17th century Beaver Wars, at which point the various Dhegihan-speaking people spread out and split up. They were encountered in their present homelands by the French in 1673 near the Omaha River in present-day Missouri. By 1690, they had acquired and mastered the arts of hunting and fighting on horseback. They allied with, though at times also fought with, the Kiowa, Apache and Comanche for dominance in what would later be Oklahoma. The Osage allied with the French in the fur trade and remained allied with them against the Spanish during wars over rights on the Mississippi River. In 1725, an Osage delegation traveled to Paris for an audience with Louis XV.
In 1804, Lewis and Clark encountered the Osage along the Arkansas River. By that time, the Osage had incurred heavy losses due to the smallpox epidemic in 1802. In addition to the wars with the Comanche, the Osage also crossed paths with the Choctaw from time to time. They would also clash with Cherokee settlers who moved to Oklahoma in the 1820's, seeking relief from encroaching White settlement in the east. After the United States acquired the Louisiana Purchas in 1803, one of the earliest treaties was with the Osage Nation in 1807. They were among the first Native groups to be pressured to remove entirely to Kansas, long before the Indian Removal of the 1830's. They would eventually be placed on a reservation in Kansas. Another smallpox epidemic in 1837 caused a great deal of deaths among Native populations from Canada into Mexico, including the Osage.
White settlers came into Osage territory in Kansas after the Kansas-Nebraska act of 1850. The area allotted to the Osage in Kansas grew smaller and smaller. During the Civil War, the Osage attempted to stay neutral, and were raided by pro-Union and pro-Confederate forces. Osage scouts would later participate in an 1867 campaign against Chief Black Kettle's Cheyenne and Arapaho, which culminated in the Battle of the Washita in 1868. Following this war, the Osage were forced to give up their land in Kansas and relocate to Oklahoma. Their reservation made up what is now Osage County. As with all the Native tribes in Oklahoma, poor rations and other resources led to further illness and death among the people. In 1879, an Osage delegation went to Washington, D.C. to seek redress for these concerns, but with little success. Like other tribes, they were subject to allotment and forced assimilation, which made their lives even harder. Today, they are a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.
Like many tribes who later migrated to the Plains, the Osage, along with the Kansa, Quapaw, Omaha and Ponca, who also speak Dhegihan languages, came from the lower Ohio Valley. Pressure from the Iroquois caused their early ancestors to migrate during the 17th century Beaver Wars, at which point the various Dhegihan-speaking people spread out and split up. They were encountered in their present homelands by the French in 1673 near the Omaha River in present-day Missouri. By 1690, they had acquired and mastered the arts of hunting and fighting on horseback. They allied with, though at times also fought with, the Kiowa, Apache and Comanche for dominance in what would later be Oklahoma. The Osage allied with the French in the fur trade and remained allied with them against the Spanish during wars over rights on the Mississippi River. In 1725, an Osage delegation traveled to Paris for an audience with Louis XV.
In 1804, Lewis and Clark encountered the Osage along the Arkansas River. By that time, the Osage had incurred heavy losses due to the smallpox epidemic in 1802. In addition to the wars with the Comanche, the Osage also crossed paths with the Choctaw from time to time. They would also clash with Cherokee settlers who moved to Oklahoma in the 1820's, seeking relief from encroaching White settlement in the east. After the United States acquired the Louisiana Purchas in 1803, one of the earliest treaties was with the Osage Nation in 1807. They were among the first Native groups to be pressured to remove entirely to Kansas, long before the Indian Removal of the 1830's. They would eventually be placed on a reservation in Kansas. Another smallpox epidemic in 1837 caused a great deal of deaths among Native populations from Canada into Mexico, including the Osage.
White settlers came into Osage territory in Kansas after the Kansas-Nebraska act of 1850. The area allotted to the Osage in Kansas grew smaller and smaller. During the Civil War, the Osage attempted to stay neutral, and were raided by pro-Union and pro-Confederate forces. Osage scouts would later participate in an 1867 campaign against Chief Black Kettle's Cheyenne and Arapaho, which culminated in the Battle of the Washita in 1868. Following this war, the Osage were forced to give up their land in Kansas and relocate to Oklahoma. Their reservation made up what is now Osage County. As with all the Native tribes in Oklahoma, poor rations and other resources led to further illness and death among the people. In 1879, an Osage delegation went to Washington, D.C. to seek redress for these concerns, but with little success. Like other tribes, they were subject to allotment and forced assimilation, which made their lives even harder. Today, they are a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.
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