HUMBOLDT — The Osage tribe served a vital role as a sort of “military buffer” during the Civil War, particularly in Kansas.
Isaiah McCaffery, a history professor at Independence Community College, told the story of “The Last Stand at Rebel Creek: The Osage as Union Allies in Civil War Kansas” for the Allen County Historical Society’s Winter Meeting Saturday afternoon. More than 40 attended the event at Humboldt’s St. Peter’s Lutheran Church.
Way before the Civil War, the U.S. government and white settlers had pushed the Osage (Wah-Zha-Zhi) from the St. Louis area into Kansas, Colorado and Oklahoma. By the time of the war, the Osage probably didn’t have a large presence in Allen County.
With the Civil War on the horizon, both the Union and Confederate forces considered how to recruit the Native Americans’ help. John Mathews, a Virginian who married into the Osage, was a pro-slavery settler and respected blacksmith who founded Oswego. He attempted to organize the Osage, Cherokee and other Native American tribes to fight on behalf of the Confederate Army.
“I would say the Osage people didn’t know what to make of the White people fighting each other,” McCaffery said. “They’re trying to decide what side to be on, as the consequences could be severe.”
On the other side was Father John Schoenmakers, a Jesuit priest stationed at the Osage Mission along the Neosho River near St. Paul. He opposed slavery. Mathews plotted to kill him, but the Osage warned Schoenmakers and he escaped to Humboldt, where the Kansas 9th Calvary was stationed. The incident turned some Osage sentiment toward the North.
At the Tahlequah Grand Council on Oct. 2, 1862, four Osage chiefs refused to side with the Confederates, while the majority of other chiefs agreed to fight for the South. The four chiefs returned to Kansas, where they became leaders of a pro-Union faction.
“It wasn’t long before events proved them to be right,” McCaffery said. Soon, all but two bands near Oklahoma would “see the winds blow.” The Osage began to operate as a sort of military buffer on behalf of the Union, intercepting Confederate scouts and spies before they could do damage.
“There’s a stereotype of the Osage being very violent, but some showed a lot of forbearance,” McCaffery said. They captured scouts disguised as the Osage or Union soldiers. Most often, they’d relieve the Confederates of their horses, supplies and weapons and send them on their way, unharmed. It might be a different story if the Confederates attempted to harm the Osage or, perhaps even worse, attempted to hunt in their territory.
THE BATTLE AT Rebel Creek started with a Confederate plan to send an expedition from Missouri to Colorado, led by a former criminal named Col. Charles Harrison.
They were soon spotted by a small group of Osage scouts near what is now the Big Hill Creek/Lake area. The men claimed to be Union soldiers. The Osage had just been to Humboldt and didn’t recognize any of the men, so they offered to take them to Humboldt to verify the story. One of the men then pulled a gun and shot at the Osage.
The Osage left and returned with a group of 200. McCaffery described the pursuit in the way the Osage would hunt buffalo, flanking the soldiers as they guided them to high cliffs near the Verdigris River, about a mile and a half north of what is now Independence. All but two of the Confederates were killed; the others survived by hiding in the river and one wrote a lengthy account of the incident.
The Osage worried they’d made a mistake. Perhaps the men were actually Union soldiers. They sent for the calvary at Humboldt and confirmed the men were Confederates. The Humboldt troops buried the bodies in a mass grave in a sandbar of the river; time and the current washed away all evidence, McCaffery said. Treasurer hunters have searched the area again and again, only to come up empty-handed. No roads lead directly to the site but it can be seen from certain places, McCaffery said.
After that, some speculated the Osage could be organized into a regiment. They were, briefly, but found themselves poorly suited to military protocol. Their skills as trackers and horsemen were squandered.
“What did the Osage get for their help?” McCaffery asked. “Not much.”
