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Show KANSAS REVISITED. 439 the mouth of the Mississippi, so that grain could be shipped that way direct to Europe, and opening the Indian Territory so the railroad could continue on to the gulf and afford an outlet. [ Loud and pro-longed cheers.] Several were emphatic that we should have " more greenbacks ;" for, said one speaker, " we have millions of corn and no hogs to feed it to we need more money to buy stock!" This region is part of the Osage Diminished Reserve, so- called ; and the unreasonable savages persisted in holding on to it long after the white man wanted it. Unlike all other Kansas Indians the Osages are indigenous, from the Osage River in Missouri to the Arkansas: this is their original seat, and they stubbornly resisted all offers of sale. As soon as it was known that Government was pressing them to sell, the whites poured in, and in four years had taken all the good land in Montgomery County, before the Indian title was extinguished. This cut out the railroad companies, and gave rise to no end of quarrels and lawsuits. The Osages persist in all their aboriginal habits. The example of their civilized kinsmen in Oklahoma, the teaching of Catholic priests at the mission long before the whites settled here, the persuasions of agents and the gifts of the Government were alike unavailing. Now and then a chief wanders through the settlements, half- clad in the grotesque finery received as annuity goods, and with a medal on his breast to show that he has signed a treaty or done some other service to the Government, and perhaps a dirty scrap of paper to back up his assertion that he is " Good Osage heap good Injun." His errand generally is for old clothes and " cold grub;" and if a little whisky be added, the donor can have a war dance im-provised for his special benefit. Occasionally a begging Indian re-ceives a " certificate " from some wag, which is not so favorable. One such, which the bearer proudly presented me, ran thus: " To whom it may concern: " The name of this noble red man is Hunkydori. He is of poor but pious parents. What he would n't steal a hound pup would n't pull out of a tan- yard. Red- hot stoves are supposed to be safe in his presence. Give him some cold grub, or a three cent drink, if you have any about you. " Rev. Robert Collyer. " Gen. O. O. Howard." From Independence I took horse northward, across the sluggish Elk River, and into Wilson County. This stream looks sluggish enough now, but it often gets up in a destructive fashion. Already eleven persons have been drowned in this vicinity. A few rods be-low the ford is a deep pool, visible enough now when the water on the |
