Antique Postcards ~ Broadway Street, Parsons Kansas 1924

Be sure to visit KATY DAYS  for more area history.

Sunday Music ~ Egmont Overture

Sorry to bore my 12 regulars with classical music; scroll on over if this is not your style. I usually try to feature some type of gospel music on Sundays. To me this is gospel. When I hear Beethoven, I hear God speaking to a totally deaf man, so does my pastor. When I hear Beethoven done well, it usually brings tears of awe and joy. I believe that music is God’s universal language for man. I also want to bring up the fact that today is the day of Pentacost; the birth of christianity. If you too hear God in this music, bless you and enjoy!

“The only proof of the existance of God I needed was the music” ~ Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Savages Of North America

Remarks concerning the Savages of North America
From Benjamin Franklin’s Papers – 1782
After a quick reading of this, I’ve concluded that our nation’s dealings with others hasn’t progressed that much. When our president reaches out in friendship to other nations, he’s often chastised as being soft, or even treasonous. Since this post happens to be on a Sunday, I would implore readers to review Christ’s teachings on such relations. ~ sekanblogger

Savages we call them, because their Manners differ from ours, which we think the Perfection of Civility. They think the same of theirs.

Perhaps if we could examine the Manners of different Nations with Impartiality, we should find no People so rude as to be without Rules of Politeness, nor any so polite as not to have some Remains of Rudeness

The Indian Men when young are Hunters and Warriors; when old, Counsellors; for all their Government is by Counsel of the Sages; there is no Force there are no Prisons, no Officers to compel Obedience, or inflict Punishment.—Hence they generally study Oratory; the best Speaker having the most Influence. The Indian Women till the Ground, dress the Food, nurse and bring up the Children, & preserve & hand down to Posterity the Memory of public Transactions. These Employments of Men and Women are accounted natural & honorable, Having few artificial Wants, they have abundance of Leisure for Improvement by Conversation. Our laborious Manner of Life compar’d with theirs, they esteem slavish & base; and the Learning on which we value ourselves, they regard as frivolous & useless. An Instance of this occurr’d at the Treaty of Lancaster in Pensilvania, anno 1744, between the Government of Virginia and the Six Nations. After the principal Business was settled, the Commissioners from Virginia acquainted the Indians by a Speech, that there was at Williamsburg a College, with a Fund for Educating Indian youth; and that if the Six Nations would send down half a dozen of their young Lads to that College, the Government would take Care that they should be well provided for, and instructed in all the Learning of the White People. It is one of the Indian Rules of Politeness not to answer a public Proposition the same day that it is made; they think it would be treating it as a light matter, and that they show it Respect by taking time to consider it, as of a Matter important. They therefore deferr’d their Answer till the Day following; when their Speaker began by expressing their deep Sense of the Kindness of the Virginia Government in making them that Offer, for we know, says he, that you highly esteem the kind of Learning taught in those Colleges, and that the Maintenance of our young Men while with you, would be very expensive to you. We are convinc’d therefore that you mean to do us Good by your Proposal, and we thank you heartily. But you who are wise must know, that different Nations have different Conceptions of Things, and you will therefore not take it amiss if our Ideas of this kind of Education happen not to be the same with yours. We have had some Experience of it: Several of our young People were formerly brought up at the Colleges of the Northern Provinces; they were instructed in all your Sciences; but when they came back to us they were bad Runners ignorant of every means of living in the Woods, unable to bear either Cold or Hunger, knew neither how to build a Cabin, take a Deer or kill an Enemy, spoke our Language imperfectly, were therefore neither fit for Hunters Warriors, or Counsellors, they were totally good for nothing. We are however not the less oblig’d by your kind Offer tho’ we decline accepting it; and to show our grateful Sense of it, if the Gentlemen of Virginia will send us a Dozen of their Sons, we will take great Care of their Education, instruct them in all we know, and make Men of them.—

Saturday Soul ~ Bettye LaVette

Antique Postcards ~ The Wichita Boys

This old postcard is being posted in honor of my blogger friends from Wichita; fnord, Prariepond, and the whole bunch! Have a great day today in Wichita.

By the way, I have dozens of old postcards depicting Wichita 100 years ago. Hard to believe how beautiful the Arkansas river, and the parks along the river were back then.

HAIL from HELL!

These photos are all from the May 10th deadly storm that swept through Norman Oklahoma.

Antique Postcards ~ John Brown’s Cabin

To see more antique postcards, choose POSTCARDS from the from the SEGREGATIONS (category) on the right hand column.

To read articles related to John Brown, try these:

 https://kansasmediocrity.wordpress.com/john-browns-kansas/

https://kansasmediocrity.wordpress.com/2009/08/22/bleeding-kansas-and-murder-on-the-marais-des-cygnes/

First Kansas Colored Infantry

  We all know the story of where the Civil War supposedly started right? Well maybe we should take into account the border wars between Missouri and Kansas prior to the 1861 statehood of Kansas.

Pro and anti-slavery forces clashed regularly along the border, with cold blooded murders, armed encampments and even the repeated burning of the city of Lawrence Kansas by Quantrell’s Raiders.

John Brown’s forces had traveled to the state for the explicit reason of seeing that pro-slavery forces did not settle there.

 At the time, the United States was split equally on this issue and Kansas was to be the deciding vote. The way this was set up made all of this bloodshed inevitable. When Kansas gained Statehood, there was to be a popular vote of the residents that were already there, and that vote would determine if slavery would be legal there. The ensuing rush to the Kansas territory by both sides led to the “Bleeding Kansas” moniker.

 As a proud Kansan, I believe the Civil War started right here. I also believe that the Kansas “Buffalo Soldier” has been overlooked in most popular history. In 1989 the Oscar winning movie ‘GLORY’ captivated the public with the heroism of the 54th Massachusetts, the African American regiment depicted in the movie.

 This film incorrectly billed the story as”America’s first black soldiers during the Civil War.” In reality, that distinction should be given to the First Regiment Kansas Colored Infantry which first saw action in the fall of 1862 and, in less than a year, distinguished itself by fighting at Honey Springs, Indian Territory. They would be the first African Americans recruited in the Northern states for service in the Civil War; the first to see battle, and the first to die in action.

Their recruiter was U. S. Senator James Henry Lane, a prominent figure in Kansas since 1855, who was deeply involved in the turmoil in bringing Kansas into the Union as a free state. His effort to raise black troops was based on his interpretation of an order to recruit regiments. His counterparts in other northern states did not agree with him and insisted it was illegal!

 Most Kansans advocated the use of black troops early on, and during the fall of 1862, a portion of the regiment engaged in battle with a rebel force at Butler, Missouri, thus gaining distinction as the first “colored soldiers in the Union army” tested in battle. “The blacks behaved nobly,” reported the Lawrence Republican, “and have demonstrated that they can and will fight.” According to the Republican’s correspondent, Lieutenant W. H. Smallwood, “the battle of Toothman’s Mound [also Island Mound],” October 29, proved “that black men can fight,” and they were “now prepared to scour this country thoroughly, and not leave a place where a traitor can find refuge.” On October 28, 1862, a detachment of 225 men faced 500 Confederates at Island Mound in Bates County, Missouri. Ten were killed and 12 wounded, but the Confederates were driven off. 

 They were the fourth African American unit to be mustered into the federal army, 13 days ahead of the 54th Massachusetts and three months after Island Mound.

The First Kansas Colored was stationed at Baxter Springs, a former Osage Indian village, and during the spring of 1863 were assigned to escort duty in Indian Territory (Oklahoma). At Cabin Creek on July 2, 1863, blacks fought alongside whites for the first time and drove away Confederate troops. It is recorded that the white officers and men allowed no prejudice to interfere in their duty.

Fifteen days later, on July 17, at Honey Springs the First Kansas Colored had perhaps its best day of the war. Here the soldiers held the federal center against attack, effectively ending any doubts about the abilities of black soldiers. After an all-night march, Union troops under command of Major General James G. Blunt came upon a strong rebel force under General Douglas Cooper and after a “sharp and bloody engagement of two hours’ duration” forced Cooper’s command to flee the field. During the fight the Negro regiment, which held the Union center, moved up under fire to within 50 paces of the Confederate line and there, still under fire, halted and exchanged volley fire for some 20 minutes before the rebels broke and ran. The First Kansas captured the colors of a Texas regiment. “I never saw such fighting done as was done by the negro regiment,” Major Blunt wrote in a letter published in the Cincinnati Daily Commercial on August 12, 1863. “They fought like veterans, with a coolness and valor that is unsurpassed. They preserved their line perfect throughout the whole engagement and, although in the hottest of the fight, they never once faltered. Too much praise can not be awarded them for their gallantry.”

The following April found troops of the First Kansas Colored engaged in fierce combat at Poison Springs, Arkansas, where on April 18, 1864, they suffered heavy casualties—117 died and 65 were wounded. The death toll was aggravated by the execution of the captured and wounded men left on the field. For black soldiers in the West, “Remember Poison Springs!” became a battle cry. “This was the most important battle in the regiment’s entire history,” according to Cornish, and, along with the 54th Massachusetts’ gallantry at Fort Wagner on July 18, “set to rest a great deal of criticism of the use of Negroes as soldiers.” (for more info see the Kansas State Historical Society)

The Osage In The Neosho Valley, pre-Civil War

 When the European explorers first encountered the Osage Indians (Wa-Zha-Zhe), in the mid 1600’s the Osage were the most powerful nation in North America, and had been so for centuries. In an 1808 treaty, the Osage ceded most of their land in Missouri and all in northern Arkansas. They were subsequently moved to the new “Indian territory”, Kansas.

 Pahuska (White Hair), descendant of the old Chief Pahuska, established the Great Osage Village near the present town of Shaw in Neosho County, while the Little Osage made their village just west of Chanute, Kansas. In the early Kansas days, there was no Neosho or Labette county. These two counties were one, known as Dorn county, named after a government Indian “Agent”. The official reservation in Kansas was 50 miles wide, bordering present Oklahoma on the north, and extending west to the 100th meridian from a north-south line, 25 miles west of the Missouri line. All of their villages existed in the eastern part of this reservation, primarily along the banks of the Neosho and Verdigris rivers.

 When the Osage signed the treaty of 1825 at St. Louis, they ceded all their lands to the United States, all of Oklahoma north of the Arkasas and Canadian Rivers, northwestern Arkansas, western Missouri and nearly half of Kansas.

The Osage at this time became part of the history of Kansas. It was during this period that father John Shoemaker (Schonmaker) established the Osage Mission, at the present site of St. Paul, Kansas in Neosho County. It became one of the most influential Roman Catholic Schools in the west. It was attended by many Osage boys and girls as well as children from other Indian tribes. There were also villages at Oswego (Heart Stays), Chetopa (Four Lodges), Baxter Springs, Coffeyville and Independence, as well as all along the Big Hill creek. In fact The Big Hills are one of the traditional 12 Osage bands, or clans.

 As the “War in Kansas”, as the pre-Civil War era was characterized began, all of southeast Kansas was embroiled in the border wars. The Osage suffered greatly as intruders invaded the area in preparation for the pro or anti-slavery settlers invaded by the thousands and fought each other. When the Civil War started, both the Big Osage and Little Osage signed treaties with the Confederacy, due to the fact that the U.S. government never offered any treaty of war with the Osage. In actual practice, more of the Osage fought with, and assisted the North.

 Southeast Kansas during the Civil War was of vital importance to both sides. The Confederacy hoped to use this area as a corridor to the north, and deployed spies and other agents to that end. This fact is best illustrated by an incident from May, 1863.

 In 1863, the Claremore ‘Big Hills’ and the Little Osage Bands were all settled on the Verdigris near present day Independence Kansas, then known as Hay Town. There was an illegal settlement of 40 white settlers who lived in grass houses. This is also the area settled by a group of Quakers, as well as the original “little house on the prarie”, now immortalized by the Laura Ingalls book.

 The incident mentioned above happened on May 15, when ‘Hard Rope’ and 8 of his men had left the Big Hill village after a visit. They intended to travel to the mission of Father Schonmaker, but encountered a group of 22 white men, near Drum Creek, south of Independence. Hard Rope approached the men, inquiring who they might be. The men told the Indian group that they were a detachment of Union soldiers from Fort Humboldt, on the upper Neosho. Hard rope replied that he knew every one of the Union soldiers from that fort, and he did not recognize any of them! Hard Rope then requested that they go to Fort Humboldt (now Humboldt, Kansas) to be identified. They ignored the request, and a shooting match ensued, killing one Osage.

 Wisely, Hard Rope retreated and sent a runner to the nearby Big Hill village to request more warriors. When the reinforcements arrived, a running battle ensued. Had the white men known enough about Indian warfare to stay out on the open prarie, they may have survived this battle. Not knowing any better, they retreated to the woodlands lining the Verdigris, thus sealing their fate. Forced out onto a gravel bar, they were picked off, one at a time, while the Osage attacked from the shelter of the woods.

 Twenty bodies of the white intruders were recovered, apparently two wounded men had escaped. The twenty bodies were soon beheaded and the heads proudly displayed on wooden poles. A search of the bodies discovered their intentions. They were actually Confederates who were sent to travel to the northern Kansas tribes (Kaw, Pawnee), to incite war against the United States. Thus, the Osage had most likely saved many white settlers in the northern parts  of Kansas.  Later in the War, 5 Osage scouts tracked and killed 2 Confederate soldiers in Southeastern Colorado on the very same type of mission.

Colonel John Ritchie

 One Battalion of Osage did serve the Confederacy under Stand Watie. Far more Osage served the U.S. under Colonel John Ritchie’s Second Indian Regiment in Kansas. Ritchie was an Abolitionist, woman’s rights supporter, teetotaler and general advocate for reform, who looked “eagerly and earnestly for the ultimate redemption of mankind from all oppressions, abuses and vices, of whatever nature and kind.” He was actively engaged in the cause of the Union throughout the Civil War, holding commands in both the Fifth Kansas Cavalry and the Indian “Home Guard”.

Chief Joseph Speaks

Visions Of Leadership by Wayne Wildcat

“American Indian Leaders of the past are guiding lights for their peoples, as represented by the eagle, the supreme being of flight. Each leader has a vision. Illustrated are four noted leaders of an earlier generation: Quanah Parker, Chief Joseph, Sitting Bull and Geronimo. The second row: Ada Deer, Dennis Banks, Vine DeLore, are three current leaders of our times. A young man and a young woman, represent unknown leaders of the future.”  -Don Fixico, Director, Indigenous Nations Studies Program, University of Kansas