Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Western Wednesday And Osage Revenge...!

Sometimes the muses have a sense of humor and issue their own form of payback!

I think that it's ironic that the Indians were literally forced onto land that ended up making them extremely rich! For sure the government didn't see that one coming!

Nov 10, 1808:
Osage Indians cede Missouri and Arkansas lands

In a decision that would eventually make them one of the wealthiest surviving Indian nations, the Osage Indians agree to abandon their lands in Missouri and Arkansas in exchange for a reservation in Oklahoma.

The Osage were the largest tribe of the Southern Sioux Indians occupying what would later become the states of Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. When the first Anglo explorers and settlers moved into this region, they encountered a sophisticated society of Native Americans who lived in more or less permanent villages made of sturdy earthen and log lodges. The Osage-like the related Quapaw, Ponca, Omaha, and Kansa peoples-hunted buffalo and wild game like the Plains Indians, but they also raised crops to supplement their diets.

Although the Southern Sioux warred among themselves almost constantly, Americans found it much easier to understand and negotiate with these more sedentary tribes than with the nomadic Northern Sioux. American negotiators convinced the Osage to abandon their traditional lands and peacefully move to a reservation in southern Kansas in 1810. When American settlers began to covet the Osage reservation in Kansas, the tribe agreed to yet another move, relocating to what is now Osage County, Oklahoma, in 1872.

Such constant pressure from American settlers to push Native Americans off valuable lands and onto marginal reservations was all too common throughout the history of western settlement. Most Indian tribes were devastated by these relocations, including some of the Southern Sioux tribes like the Kansa, whose population of 1,700 was reduced to only 194 following their disastrous relocation to a 250,000-acre reservation in Kansas. The Osage, though, proved unusually successful in adapting to the demands of living in a world dominated by Anglo-Americans, thanks in part to the fortunate presence of large reserves of oil and gas on their Oklahoma reservation. In concert with their effective management of grazing contracts to Anglos, the Osage amassed enormous wealth during the twentieth century from their oil and gas deposits, eventually becoming the wealthiest tribe in North America.

Suddenly that barren and desolate land in Oklahoma didn't look too bad! Appears that the Indians finally hit the government where it hurt the most...in the pocketbook!

Let's have our coffee on the patio this morning, if that's OK! Looks like it's going to be a nice day!

5 comments:

Phyllis (N/W Jersey) said...

Sweet, sweet revenge!
Coffee on the patio with a good bunch of friends sounds wonderful!
I'll bring a couple of pumpkin pies. We are getting ready for another storm here - rain, sleet and snow. The wind is howling already. I am so sick of this weather and it's not even Winter yet!

linda m said...

Yes, sweet, sweet revenge! I sure could use a cup of coffee on the patio and share it with some good friends. It is cold and rainy here again today.

JO said...

What a wonderful story. It is nice to know some of the real Americans made it through the land grabbers greed and broken promises.

I would love some coffee with you all.

MamaHen said...

Well, it wasn't too sweet in some respects. In the 20's, I think, many parasitic white men, hearing of the tribe's wealth, began marrying and then murdering the women of the tribe. Due to the moving etc. there were few men left in the tribe. The white men murdered A LOT of women and took a great deal of their money. The tribespeople finally wised up and I think some of the men were prosecuted but many got away with murder, literally.

HermitJim said...

Hey Phyllis...
Pumpkin pie is always good with coffee, or anything else!

Sorry you can't share some of this sunshine from here in Texas! I wouldn't mind some cooler weather, but it's hanging in the 80s here.

Thanks for coming by today, my friend!


Hey Linda...
Sharing a cup with some friends always seems to take the edge off the bad weather, doesn't it?

I reckon we will have another couple of days of Winter sometimes next month, but here you just never know.

Thanks so much for dropping by today!


Hey Jo...
A few did make it through, but far too many suffered getting there.

It's a wonder that any of them trust the white men at all!

Thanks, sweetie, for dropping in today!


Hey Anne...
I guess there will always be that element of parasites around. It's a shame, but I reckon it's a fact of life.

Always those around to try and take advantage of anyone they can.

Thanks for taking time out from the honeymoon to come over!