The BLACK BOB tribe (near Olathe, KS)
In 1854, a Shawnee Indian band refused to “adopt the settled farming lifestyle” of the white man, and traditionally left their reservation “uncultivated and moved from place to place.” Apparently this method of obtaining food and necessary resources proved so much less time consuming that they were accused of “loafing.”
And the beat goes on:
The Shawnee and Christian Missionaries, introduction exhibit sign, Johnson County (Kansas) Museum of History, 6305 Lackman Road, Shawnee, KS (images reversed from negative to positive):
Thomas Johnson (the man Johnson County was named after), exhibit plaque, (same museum):
Chief Blackhoof: Shawnee Leader, exhibit plaque, (same museum):
Many of the exhibits tell about the “Methodist Manual Labor School” that taught Indians how to farm. Sounds kind of like gathering God’s free food was not so much “manual labor.” (Visit it today at 3403 W 53rd St., Fairway, KS.) Then there was the Black Bob tribe:
Black Bob: Traditional Shawnee Tribe, exhibit plaque, (same museum):
(http://www.answers.com/uncultivated, “uncultivated”:
Not cultivated by standard agricultural methods … In a primitive state; not domesticated or cultivated; produced by nature: native, natural, rough, undomesticated, untamed, wild. See wild/tame.)
http://www.jocohistory.org/docs/pdf/indians2packet1.pdf, James Abbott: Land Speculator, “The Shawnee Black Bob and James Abbott from Johnson County, Kansas: A Pictorial History, 1825-2005”:
The Black Bob Band of the Shawnee resisted the changes brought by the missionaries and allotment treaties. Refusing to accept individual parcels of land offered in the 1854 treaty, the Black Bob jointly held 33,000 acres in the southeastern part of the county. The Black Bob did not adopt the settled farming lifestyle; they preferred instead to leave the land uncultivated and move from place to place as needed. The border conflicts and the Civil War forced many members of the band to leave the area, and white settles, seeing the land “unused,” illegally purchased or claimed portions of the Black Bob tract. After the war, some of the Black Bob returned to find speculators and settlers illegally claiming ownership to their land.
Government land agents appointed to protect the Native Americans’ rights often overlooked questionable sales and illegal land claims made by white settlers. Among those land agents was James Abbott, who supervised the selection of the 200-acre allotments outlined in the 1854 treaty. Following his term as Indian Agent, Abbott teamed with land speculator H.L. Taylor to acquire some of the Black Bob land holdings. The two then illegally sold portions of their land to new settlers.
In 1879, after years of struggle, the federal government broke the 1854 treaty and removed the Black Bob to Oklahoma. The settlers were forced to pay for the illegally acquired land, but the Black Bob band received little of the money.
http://www.jocohistory.net/docs/indiansfull.doc (or, http://www.jocohistory.net/docs/pdf/indiansfull.pdf), Background Information on the Shawnee Indians in Johnson County, “Excerpt from History of Johnson County, Kansas by Ed. Blair. Lawrence, Kansas: Standard Publishing Co, 1915”:
Stanley, Kan., is located in the Black Bob district, and the settlers, after years of suspense in getting titles to their land, at last were permitted to buy their homes at an average price of $10 per acre. If Black Bob, a real Indian in name and nature, could come back and to the place of his wanderings and see the beautiful fields of waving grain under the soft rays of the June sun he might be convinced that agriculture is better than loafing, but he was not an agriculturalist and didn’t like any one very much that was.
So, living on God’s free food is “loafing.”
(http://www.answers.com/loaf, “loaf”:
To pass time without working or in avoiding work: bum1 (around), idle, laze, loiter, lounge, shirk. Slang diddle2, goldbrick, goof (off). See industrious/lazy.)
http://www.jocohistory.net/docs/indiansfull.doc (or, http://www.jocohistory.net/docs/pdf/indiansfull.pdf), Background Information on the Shawnee Indians in Johnson County, “From 1874 Atlas Map of Johnson County, Kansas by E. F. Heisler and D. M. Smith/History of Johnson County, Kansas by Oliver H. Gregg | Black Bob” (image of document on page 28 of http://search.jocohistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/1874&CISOPTR=90&REC=1):
The Black Bob reservation embracing a part of Oxford, Aubry and Olathe townships and containing 33,400 acres, is that part of Shawnee lands, “assigned and set apart in a compact body to be held in common” by the Shawnee treaty of 1854. The treaty recognized that part of the lands could be held in common and part in severalty (not shared). If held in common they were to be assigned in a compact body; if in severalty the privilege was conceded of selecting anywhere in the tract outside of the common lands. The Indians holding separate lands were to have patents issued to them, under such guards and restrictions as congress might deem advisable for their protections. The Indians who did not chose to hold separate lands were to signify to the United States agent their election to join Black Bob’s settlement, and live with that branch of the tribe in common. A census was ordered to be taken of all those electing to live common, and of the minor orphan children of their kindred, in order that a quantity of land equal to two hundred acres for each individual might “be assigned and set apart to them in a compact body to hold in common.”
From the above statement it will be seen that that the treaty organized and established two distinct communities of people. The individuals of one community – embracing the more enlightened and intelligent members of the tribe, others living upon separate estates of their own selection; and the others living according to old tribal custom in a body together upon a compact tract, under the chieftainship of Black Bob. This latter community was organized with the greatest particularity of detail; the exact number of its population ascertained by a census; the limits, quantity and character of its territorial possessions definitely described, and Black Bob recognized as chief.
These Indians were the least civilized members of the tribe and were opposed to all innovations; clinging in a great measure to old time habits and superstitions. Some few opened good farms and built comfortable houses, but the majority were content with rough cabins or huts, and spent their time in rambles down to the Indian Nation, or in visiting acquaintances and friends from the tribe.
(http://www.answers.com/ramble, “ramble”:
“1. To move about aimlessly. See synonyms at wander. 2. To walk about casually or for pleasure. 3. To follow an irregularly winding course of motion or growth. … Thesaurus: 1. To move about at random, especially over a wide area: drift, gad, gallivant, meander, peregrinate, range, roam, rove, stray, traipse, wander. See move/halt. 2. To walk at a leisurely pace: amble, meander, perambulate, promenade, saunter, stroll, wander. Informal mosey. See move/halt.”)
Sounds like they had a lot of “time” on their hands. Sounds like food was easy to come by, and somehow without farming. And, land being used “in common” had to be land full of enough free food and resources. Even if you take away the fences, I think anyone would have a hard time living off the former farmland, with all the natural varieties of food being gone.
On the other hand:
http://www.jocohistory.net/docs/indiansfull.doc (or, http://www.jocohistory.net/docs/pdf/indiansfull.pdf), Background Information on the Shawnee Indians in Johnson County, “Charles Bluejacket, Shawnee Landowner from Johnson County, Kansas: A Pictorial History, 1825-2005”:
Charles Bluejacket, like most of the Shawnee people, accepted the 200-acre land allotment provided in the 1854 treaty. He became a successful farmer, raising livestock and crops, including a successful fruit orchard. An 1858 newspaper account praised Bluejacket’s adoption of the American way of life: “[Mr. Bluejacket] has a beautiful farm of several hundred acres under improvement, subdivided into fields. His dwelling is a frame house 20x40, two stories high, plastered and painted, furnished in a style that would do credit to many of our wealthy people in the old states. Mr. Bluejacket is a quite a gentleman in his manners…”
… “From 1874 Atlas Map of Johnson County, Kansas by E. F. Heisler and D. M. Smith/History of Johnson County, Kansas by Oliver H. Gregg | Rev. Charles Blujacket [sic]” (image of document on page 71 of http://search.jocohistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/1874&CISOPTR=90&REC=1):
He has a fine farm in a high state of cultivation; his fine orchard yields bountifully of many choice varieties of fruits.
Of course, he has to labor many, many hours, so to sell at the market, so others can optimize their time in working other jobs. Sure, that’s the best method. All I’m saying is that it’s “fair” if someone doesn’t want to work and would rather “loaf” all their life, where they’d have the time to “move about aimlessly,” and today’s government should allow it. I’m just trying to establish that “welfare” is not a “hand out,” it is owed to everyone, and should be dispensed in Godly fairness.
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/johnson/history/1915/historyo/chapterx96gms.txt, Johnson County KS Archives History – Books …..Chapter XII 1915, “Morse”:
It was then a vast prairie, and some of the Black Bob Indians were living along the creeks.
Because that’s where the majority of free food was.
http://search.jocohistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/1874&CISOPTR=90&REC=1, 1874 Atlas of Johnson County, Kansas, p. 30, “History of Johnson County | Aubry Township”:
http://www.answers.com/topic/nomad, “nomad”:
A member of a group of people who have no fixed home and move according to the seasons from place to place in search of food, water, and grazing land.
…
Many groups of 'nomadic' hunter-gatherers (also known as foragers) moved from campsite to campsite, following game and wild fruits and vegetables.
Apparently, once an area of fruits and vegetables had been eaten up, they’d move on to another area. By the time they circled back to a once consumed area, regrowth would have taken place. Even today, the procurement of meat is much more expensive than the procurement of fruits and vegetables; since Indians had so much time on their hands, the pursuit of hunting gave some added diversity to their diet.
By the way, corn doesn’t grow in the wild any more:
http://www.plantgenomesecrets.org/story-corn, The Story of Corn:
Corn is now completely human-dependent and cannot survive on its own in the wild. This sort of evolution is not unique. Humans have been domesticating and changing the genetic makeup of plants since the beginning of civilization.
“Green corn” is sweet corn.
http://search.jocohistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/1874&CISOPTR=90&REC=1&CISOSHOW=12; Atlas Map of Johnson County, Kansas; Heisler and Smith; 1874, p. 8, “Sectional Map of Johnson County, Kansas“:
The map also shows the “timber” areas of the day.
Another showing ownership of land:
The Story of this 1886 Map of Johnson County, Kansas: Edwards’ Map of Johnson Co. Kansas, John P. Edwards, Publishers; 1886:
Here’s my original scan (large file).
http://www.jocohistory.net/images/curriculum/blackBob21Feb1867.jpg (via http://www.jocohistory.net/teachers/6-8/indians/additional/packet2.asp), Shawnee Indians, “Packet #2: Black Bob Band”:
Olathe Mirror articles: February 21, 1867 / Article in the Olathe Mirror, February 21, 1867 - available as a JPEG image
That’s because it had been covered with free food.
http://www.kancoll.org/books/blair/blchapter12.htm, The History of Johnson County, by Ed Blair: CHAPTER XII.: OTHER TOWNS AND VILLAGES, “MORSE (155th & Quivira)”:
Population, 61. The little town of Morse, Kan., situated on the Clinton Branch railroad, six miles southeast of Olathe, is in the most fertile part of Johnson county's rich prairies. It has a population of 61. Smith Brothers have a general store here and the Morse Grain Company operates an elevator, and handles a large amount of grain, mostly wheat and corn. The Modern Woodmen of America have a strong organization here, and meet in the hall over Smith Brothers' store. George McCaughey is the oldest settler, having located here in 1866. It was then a vast prairie, and some of the Black Bob Indians were living along the creeks.
The Black Bob Titles, exhibit plaque, Johnson County (Kansas) Museum of History, 6305 Lackman Road, Shawnee, KS:
http://www.archive.org/stream/1878annualreport00unitrich/1878annualreport00unitrich_djvu.txt, ANNUAL REPORT, Library, Kansas City, Mo. OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS TO THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR FOR THE YEAR 1878, “66 REPORTS OF AGENTS IN INDIAN TERRITORY | OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, Quapaw Agency, Indian Territory, August 30, 1878” (apparently an OCR):
The Eastern Shawnees, numbering 86, have 13,088 acres of land. They have some
rery(very) fine improvements, which they enlarge and extend each year. The progress
made by some of their leading men is very commendable. Twenty-four children be-
longing to this tribe and the Black Bobs among them, have attended school this year.
The Wyandotts number 260, and have a reservation of 21,706 acres.
…
“154 REPORT OF AGENT IN WYOMING | INDIAN HOUSES”: The tent or lodge
should give way to the house. No more tent-cloth should be furnished by the govern-
ment than to keep the Indians from suffering, until they can build houses for them-
selves. I think they can soon be taught to build log huts for themselves, which are
good enough, such as are occupied by thousands of white families. This will break up
the habit of moving about from place to place whenever the notion takes possession of
them. By persistent and continued effort in this direction, this can surely be accom-
plished.
http://www.archive.org/stream/annualreportofco188700unitrich/annualreportofco188700unitrich_djvu.txt, ANNUAL REPORT Public Library Kansas City, Mo. OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS TO THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR THE THE YEA^R 1887, “ANNUAL INDIAN CENSUS”:
The returns, as far as received at this writing for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1887
…
When it is considered that many reservations cover large tracts of country 5 that the Indians, especially those engaged in farming, are often located at great distances, say from 30 to 50 miles in different directions from the agency, and that those who are not farming roam from place to place [making it hard to take a census].
Land Hunger, exhibit plaque, Johnson County (Kansas) Museum of History, 6305 Lackman Road, Shawnee, KS (images reversed from negative to positive):
Land Hungry, 1874 Alas Map of Johnson County exhibit, Johnson County (Kansas) Museum of History, 6305 Lackman Road, Shawnee, KS:
What is that? Artifact and Photograph Identification (notebook adjoining exhibits), “Settling the Land: 1820 – 1880 | Land Hunger | Black Bob”, Johnson County (Kansas) Museum of History, 6305 Lackman Road, Shawnee, KS:
Puzzle exhibit, Johnson County (Kansas) Museum of History, 6305 Lackman Road, Shawnee, KS:
The “Black Bob Shawnee” piece doesn’t fit the puzzle.
Enlargement:
“We didn’t have money for food or rent – to say the least we were hard pressed. Then Mama spent every last penny we had to buy me a dancin’ dress. … She looked at a pitiful shack and then she looked at me and took a ragged breath. She said your Pa’s runned off and I’m real sick, and the baby’s gonna starve to death” –Fancy, Reba McEntire, 1991.
Sounds like they were not living on the Black Bob Reservation prior to 1861. They were part of a “better” system.
http://www.genuinekansas.com/county_johnson_county_kansas.htm, The Early History of Johnson County by William G. Cutler (1883), “The Shawnee Indians”:
Under this treaty the "Black Bob band" of the Shawnees, a distinct organization within the tribe, received, as was their choice, and had "assigned and set apart in a compact body to be held in common" by them, such a portion of this 200,000 acres as was equivalent to 200 acres for each member of the band; or more accurately, according to the survey, 33,392.87 acres. Black Bob was their recognized Chief. Being of limited intelligence, they preferred to maintain their tribal organization and customs, and to hold their lands in common. An article however was incorporated into the treaty under which they might at any time "make separate selections from the tract assigned to them in common."
It makes sense that if you’re going to do a bunch of agricultural work to get food, even gardening, then you’re not going to want to “just” let others come and grab it. Therefore, wanting their land to stay “in common” tells that the free food was not hard to procure, and was plentiful to share. Enough to get a reputation of “loafing.” You see, agriculture is better, but it causes the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. I don’t have anything against the rich getting richer, I just want people to realize that the organized system we have today makes it easy for those who fail in today’s system to have nothing. They “should” still be provided for, to equal not only what the Black Bob had, but were also satisfied with; as the government apparently needed to devise many methods to get the Indian to accept the more laborious option (settled farming). Sounds like, if one prefers, all that time for “loafing” could be used to make beads or something to trade for “more” (beyond basic needs).
This privilege they did not avail themselves of until 1866, but continued to live as had been their wont, making but little progress, and spending most of their time in visiting other tribes and hunting, until the breaking out of the war, when on account of the losses and suffering to which they were subjected from bushwhackers on the one hand and Kansas thieves and jayhawkers on the other, they left their homes, went to the Indian Territory in a body, where they remained until peace was proclaimed, when about one hundred returned for the purpose of disposing of their lands.
The other community of Shawnees remained on the reservation as they were until the survey of their lands into head rights of their own selection was completed, as contemplated and provided for by the treaty of May 10, 1854. By this treaty they each received 200 acres in severalty in any part of the reservation they might choose, surrendering all claim to the rest, which was thus thrown open to settlement by white people. The Indians very naturally made their selections where there was timber, along the creeks, and when their selections had all been made there was but little land left for the white man but open prairie. As a consequence of this state of affairs numerous conflicts arose between the two races over the timber question; and as so often before and since, the civilized man conquered, and it was not long before he was allowed to help himself to the Indian's timber unmolested.
…
“The ‘Black Bob’ Reservation”:
This reservation is situated in the southeastern part of the county, at the sources
of the Blue and Tomahawk creeks, consisting of 33,392.87 acres, lying in
Oxford, Aubry, Spring Hill and Olathe townships. The
Indians to whom the reservation belonged abandoned it near the beginning of the
war. As it was most excellent land--fertile soil, well watered and
timbered--settlers rushed in at the close of the war and soon every quarter-section of it was occupied by a
claimant. This was in the years of 1865 and 1866.
http://www.kshs.org/resource/national_register/nominationsNRDB/Johnson_BlackfeatherFarmNR.pdf (very slow page), United States Department of the Interior: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, “Historic name: BLACKFEATHER FARM | other names/site number: NELSON STUDEBAKER RILEY FARM | 8140 WEST 183rd STREET | SIGNIFICANCE”, p. 13 (pdf) (aka: “Section number 8, Page 4”):
Many years before the Nelson S. Riley house was constructed, the land itself was associated with the local history of the Shawnee Indians in Kansas. The original land patent (Shawnee #155) dated March 13, 1885 was awarded to To wah pea and her heirs. She selected the SE1/4 NW1/4 and SW1/4 of section 30, township 14, range 25 as her individual allotment.
Individual allotments were the final result of the gradual reduction of the Shawnee Indian reservation in Kansas established in 1825. A treaty negotiated in 1854 opened the territory to white settlement. When Johnson County was organized, most of the Shawnee agreed to select individual tracts of 200 acres, but the Black Bob band preferred to hold their land in common. The Black Bob tract included the land in Oxford Township that was eventually allocated to To wah pea and later was purchased by Nelson Riley. During the Civil War, this border area was threatened by raiders from both sides and most of the Shawnee moved away.
White settlers moved onto the land as soon as the war ended and disputes over ownership continued for the next twenty years. In October, 1868, Joseph and Johnson Blackfeather along with others in the Black Bob band signed a letter of protest to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. They said, "we seek protection for our families and for our lands." By 1869, the assessor of Aubry Township, William Brady, reported that there was not a single quarter section of the Indian lands lying in Oxford Township not settled and improved. In 1886 the Kansas legislature settled the claims on terms that favored the white settlers, but the Blackfeather family name continued to be associated with the property.
Apparently the Blackfeather family still wanted their land left uncultivated.
One of the Shawnee religious leaders was considered a prophet: Tenskwatawa (The Prophet). He told that God said the Shawnee should reject American culture and retain their traditional lifestyle. I believe he was a prophet because his high influence caused the Black Bob to heed his enlightenment giving me more vital support, right here in my own backyard.
I’m really lucky to come up with anything telling that Indians who lived off free food, were sexually promiscuous:
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/h/a/r/G-E-HARRISON/GENE2-0005.html, Descendants of SAMUEL HARRISON:
Children of JOHN HARRISON and SARAH ROBINS are:
i. JAMES FRANK5 HARRISON, b. March 23, 1867, WESTON, PLATTE, MO; d. April 11, 1885, AUBRY (199th & Metcalf), JOHNSON, KS
Notes for JAMES FRANK HARRISON:
IN THE SPRING OF 1885 IN THE VILLAGE OF AUBRY, KS. PHILLIP CONBOY DECIDED TO
HAVE A BARN DANCE. IT WAS SCHEDULED FOR A WEDNESDAY NIGHT. BERT HARRISON,
BROTHER TO FRANK, ESCORTED A GIRL, BY THE NAME OF JONES, TO THE PARTY. DURING
THE EVENING THERE WERE INSINUATIONS, SUPPOSEDLY MADE BY JOHN KERNER, THAT "GIRLS FROM THE BLACK BOB WERE NOT NICE
GIRLS." FRANK TALKED TO KERNER AND WORDS WERE EXCHANGED. THEY
AGREED TO MEET IN AUBRY SAT. EVENING TO SETTLE IT.
AT SIX O'CLOCK JOHN CAME TO FRANK, WHO WAS PLAYING MARBLES, AND WANTED TO
SETTLE THE DISPUTE. FRANK TOOK A PISTOL FROM HIS COAT AND PLACED IT IN HIS HIP
POCKET. BOTH OF THEM WERE CARRYING SMALL 32 CALIBER PISTOLS. DURING THE ARGUMENT
AND SCUFFLE A SHOT RANG OUT. FRANK WAS HIT IN THE CHEST BUT FIRED TWO TIMES
BEFORE HE EXPIRED. JOHN MOUNTED HIS HORSE AND FLED, FIRST TO HOME AND THEN TO OLATHE,
WHERE THE SHERIFF CAPTURED HIM THE NEXT MORNING. JOHN WAS FOUND GUILTY OF
ASSAULT ONLY, FINED $10., & COURT COST OF $1200. FRANK'S PISTOL WAS BURIED
IN THE ORCHARD BY HIS MOTHER & WAS NEVER FOUND. SEE OLATHE MIRROR &
GAZETTE & KANSAS CITY JOURNAL. OF 16tH & 13th APRIL RESPECTIVELY.
“Were not nice girls” back then surely didn’t refer to “mean,” because a “mean” or “unkind” woman is very society accepted (someone who can handle themselves against aggression. An accepted pride, especially for women). So, “nice” had to mean “sexually promiscuous,” as such would dishonor both the girl and the cowboy.
http://historickansascity.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=81&Itemid=89 (Historic Kansas City Foundation), Regional History 1860-1864, “1864”:
In the spring, death of Black Bob, chief of the traditionalist Shawnee, probably in Indian Territory.
http://www.tolatsga.org/shaw.html, Shawnee History, “History”:
When they settled on the south side of the Kansas River the following year, the Shawnee became the first of the eastern Algonquin tribes to settle in Kansas. Problems arose, however, when the very traditional Black Bob's band balked at uniting with the Ohio Shawnee.
…
Only the traditionalist Black Bob Band continued to hold its land in common, and a portion of unallotted land was set aside for the Absentee Shawnee if they decided to relocate to Kansas.
http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Cove/8286/history3.html, SHAWNEE HISTORY, “NOWHERE LEFT TO GO”:
The Missouri Shawnee, called the Black Bob band, lost their Missouri land in 1825, when the U. S. government established a reservation for them in Kansas. They were joined in Kansas in 1832 by a number of Ohio Shawnee who had been allowed to remain east of the Mississippi until Black Hoof's death--the nucleus of the Loyal Shawnees. Relations between the Loyal Shawnees and the Black Bob band were troubled, in part because the Black Bob band had wanted to move to Oklahoma, and a large group of Black Bob Shawnees joined the Absentee tribe there in 1846. In 1854, the Kansas Shawnees were forced to sign a treaty with the U. S. government in which they were granted allotments of 200 acres of land to each individual tribe member-- a policy in flagrant and deliberate opposition to traditional Shawnee group ownership of land. While some members of the tribe accepted the idea of individual allotments, the majority determined to act as communal owners of the reserve.
…
Today 2,800 Absentee Shawnees live in Oklahoma, and they are one of the most culturally conservative Native American tribes in existence.
When the Kansas Shawnees who were originally a part of Black Hoof's tribe were forced to move to Oklahoma in 1869, they did not choose to join the Absentee Shawnees, as did the Black Bob band.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9501E6DB103AE533A25756C2A9659C94649ED7CF (via http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9501E6DB103AE533A25756C2A9659C94649ED7CF), The New York Times, published: March 25, 1895, “MONEY FOR INDIANS’ LAND”:
Sounds like they’re pretty cocky up there in New York.
Some earlier history:
http://search.jocohistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/1874&CISOPTR=90&REC=1, 1874 Atlas of Johnson County, Kansas, p. 9 (in “page description” view), “History of Johnson County”:
In 1724, July 3d, some five years later, another party of French under command of M. DeBourgmont, started out from Fort Orleans, to effect a treaty of peace between the Padoucas, or Pawnees, and the Missouries, Kanzas, Osages, and some other tribes who were waging a deadly war. He crossed the Missouri river and met the Kanzas Indians, but does not say where. It appears however to have been below the mouth of Kansas river, as no mention of this stream is made in the narrative, and from the description of the woods, thickets, grapes, small prairies, &c., we infer he met the Indians in western Missouri, east of the Kansas line. Soon after meeting them and before proceeding to their villages, M. DeBourgmont became seriously ill, and was compelled to return to Fort Orleans, the nearest French settlement or post. This Fort Orleans was situated on an island in the Missouri river near the mouth of the Osage (near Jefferson City), and at that time was the extreme frontier French settlement in this direction.
…
In pursuing their journey to the Pawnee country they were astonished with the vast herds of wild animals that pastured on the grassy prairies. The chronicler often mentions the abundance of game, something after this style: "The 13th on their march they saw the meadows covered almost entirely with buffaloes, elks, and deer; so that one could scarce distinguish the herds, so numerous, and so intermixed they were." This was just one hundred and fifty years ago, and we are sorry to say the gentlemen would not find such an abundance of game if they were now to traverse the same prairies.
The free food is even gone for all you meat eaters out there.
Interesting:
http://search.jocohistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/1874&CISOPTR=90&REC=1, 1874 Atlas of Johnson County, Kansas, p. 10 (in “page description” view), “History of Johnson County | Advent of the Shawnees”:
In 1831, the year previous to the arrival of the second band of Shawnees, a deputation of Mormons, among whom was Jo. Smith, the prophet and founder of the society, visited this county, and after a careful survey, selected Shawnee Township as the future abode of Mormondom. In the month of June of that year Jo. had been vouchsafed a revelation that western Missouri was to be the gathering place of the saints, and accordingly he started west and arrived in Jackson county about the middle of July. In company with a few Elders he laid the first log of the future city in that county, some twelve miles east of Independence. But the locality did not prove desirable, and soon after Jo. And his elders came over here. The charming nook of prairie where Shawnee now stands, with its magnificent groves surrounding, the fertility of soil, the bubbling springs of pure water, and general beauty of the locality delighted the saints, and they were not long in deciding that here was the Promised Land in truth. But on instituting the proper inquiries it was found an impossibility to gain the coveted spot. Government had given the country to the Shawnees, and part were here and rest preparing to move, and the ruling powers of that day had some old time scruples about breaking contracts. Hence all efforts were vain, and the saints were compelled to fall back to Missouri, here Jo. soon after had a revelation that Independence was the chosen place, and there they accordingly settled. As previously stated, the Shawnees during the first years of their residence here led to a great extent their old original nomadic life.
http://search.jocohistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/1874&CISOPTR=90&REC=1&CISOSHOW=12; Atlas Map of Johnson County, Kansas; Heisler and Smith; 1874, p. 8, “Sectional Map of Johnson County, Kansas” (NE quadrant of same map above):
There’s a Shawnee township (shaded blue), and a Shawnee town (I highlighted in yellow). Later, these “townships” (shaded areas, which are just arbitrary political divisions of the county; roughly based from, but not conforming to land survey “townships”) have changed. And, Shawnee (town) is now a fair sized suburb of Greater Kansas City.
Another map I found showing it as one of the few Indian Reservations in the area:
http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/56840/Topographical+State+Map/Kansas+State+Atlas+1887/Kansas/, Historic Atlas: Kansas State Atlas 1887, “Topographical State Map”:
http://www.jocohistory.org/teachers/6-8/indians/activities/2.asp; Shawnee Indians: Activity #2: Who Gets the Land?: Competing Visions of Abbott, Bluejacket and Black Bob; “Instructions”:
6. Additional Activity: Have the students write a one-page paper from the point of view of Abbott, Bluejacket or Black Bob defending their vision of how to use the land.
Hopefully I have passed that assignment.