The Osages possess all the vices peculiar to Indians who have been long in contact with the whites; they are deceitful in the extreme, much addicted to stealing, lying, and gaming, and are very great beggars. They believe their own nation superior to all the rest of the world, the Americans they think next to themselves, and the Spaniards the most contemptible of all.

The Osages are armed with fuzees and rifles for hunting and war. In hunting the buffaloe, which they do mounted, they prefer using bows and arrows; they have also tomahawks, spears, and lances; they are subject to but few disorders; fevers, dysenteries, cough, itch, meazles, and sore eyes are the principal, consumptions are rare. Indian children suffer from dentition, and hydrophobia is a disorder not unknown.

There are probably forty or fifty white men living among the Osages, they are of the worst class, lazy, vicious, and every way degraded, they have intermarried with their women, and although looked upon as a species of public servants, they have considerable influence, and are a great evil to the tribes.

The Osages are considered by the nations south of them as a brave and warlike people; they have by no means the same character with the northern Indians, and those on the Missouri, who are armed with guns, consider themselves their superiors; the Ottoes say, if the Osages were their only enemies, they would lose but little sleep.

The Osages, like all other Indians, are hospitable; when received into their village you present yourself to the chief, who receives you as his guest, and spreads.before you the best things to eat that he has in his possession, you are then invited to a feast by all the considerable men in the village.

In 1808 a treaty was made with the Osages, by which they surrendered a large tract of country to the United States; when the commissioners of the United States arrived with the treaty at fort Osage, it was laid before the chiefs assem

bled at that post, with no other explanation than that it was a treaty that they must sign, the Indians, at first, objected to signing it, they were, however, told that they must either sign it or be considered as enemies of the United States. The United States were very tardy in fulfilling their part of the contract, and the Indians supposed it had been forgotten; they were, however, called to St. Louis to finish the treaty by receiving the stipulated purchase money. The Osages objected to receiving it, and at a council held on the occasion, the principal speaker, Le Sonneur, addressed governor Howard in these words, 'He was much surprised to hear of this purchase, that had been forgotten by his nation; and, he supposed, had also been forgotten by his great father; the sale was made by those who had no authority to make it; and his great father not having complied with his part of the bargain, by delaying two years the stipulated payment, and not performing other parts of the treaty, his nation ought not to be held to their part of it, even if fairly entered into. But,' said he, the Osage nation have no right to sell its country, much less have a few chiefs, who have taken upon themselves to do so; our country belongs to our posterity as well as ourselves; it is not absolutely ours, we receive it only for our life time, and then to transmit it to our descendants; our great father is good and just, will he permit his children to sell the bones of their fathers? or fathers to sell the inheritance of their children? No, my father, keep your goods and let us keep our lands.'

The pathos or justice of this appeal was unavailing; they were told they might take the goods or not, as they thought proper, but that the lands should be considered as belonging to the United States.

There are many incitements to war among these people. Glory and distinction appear to be the idols of their hearts. If a young Indian, who has not distinguished himself, wishes to marry a squaw, and there is no objection to the match as

he is a good hunter, and able to support his wife; when the youth asks the consent of the father, he will probably say, I have no objection to you, but you know I am of a considerable family, what reputation will you bring into it as you have never been to war, and are no warrior? When you have acquired a name in war, you shall have my daughter. The Indian now becomes anxious for war; he joins the first warparty; or, if he is an aspiring youth he paints his face, raises a small fire near the village, and begins the song of invitation to war, he is joined probably by some of his companions, and a war-party is raised which sallies out to kill their enemies and steal horses.

An old woman carrying a burthen will frequently be heard to exclaim aloud, 'I am old and have to carry a large burthen, I have a son, a grown man and stout, but he has never been to war, to steal a horse for his old mother.' This reproach frequently repeated drives the son eventually to war.

August 5th we left Fort Osage, intending to proceed in a S. W. direction, to cross the Kanses River, at the Kanses village, about 150 miles from its mouth, and go from these over to La Platte river, at the Pawnee villages, and from thence to the Council Bluff, on the Missouri.

After a march of 16 days, through a country almost exclusively of rolling prairie, covered with a thin vegetation, and in which we found some difficulty in obtaining water, and suffered excessively from the intense heat of the sun without meeting any of the natives; we came in sight of the Kanses village. At the Kanses, where the Indians with whom our troops had some difficulty last spring, which ended in the whipping of several of them, we were doubtful as to what would be our reception; we hoisted our flag, but the natives did not appear to discover us for some time. At length, however, we saw the tops of their earthen lodges, covered with people, and immediately after, discovered a large party, headed by a chief, rushing towards us, some mounted,

and some on foot. The chief who was in advance, halted his horse when within a few paces of us; surveyed us sternly and attentively for some moments, and then offered his hand, the rest followed in a more tumultuous manner, shaking hands, and crowding round us, and forming the most grotesque groups imaginable. Order being somewhat restored, we explained in a few words, who we were, and what was our object in visiting their country. The chief ordered the crowd to keep off, which they did, and forming a lane for us, we moved forward towards the village. We were conducted to the lodge of the principal chief, and our soldiers were carried to that of one of the subordinates; on our reaching the entrance of the lodge, we were met by the favourite wife of the chief, who took charge of our horses and baggage, we entered the lodge, followed by a considerable crowd; who, however, kept at a respectful distance. After being seated, a quantity of jerked Buffaloe meat was produced by the women, cut into slices and placed in bowls before us; some cool water was sent for, and we were invited to eat, we eat heartily and considered it as the best meat we had ever tasted; owing probably, as well to the real excellence of Buffaloe as meat, the novelty of it, and the rough diet we had lately been accustomed to. This repast being ended, and a pipe smoked, the inquiry was again repeated of our object and destination, we informed the chief that we were bound to the Pawnee village, on our way to the Council Bluffs, and that curiosity was our motive for taking his village in our route, the chief proclaimed aloud to the crowd in the lodge, the explanation that had been given him; they in return stated to us, that they had only returned the day before from their summer Buffaloe hunt, in which they had been very successful and had found the Buffaloe much nearer their village than they usually do, that they had returned to the village, to gather their green corn, and other vegetables, that they had received a message from the In

dian agent, to meet him at the Isle aux Vaches that their principal men would start directly for the Missouri. This business being concluded, we were invited to a feast by one of the head men; we accompanied him to his lodge and were invited to seat ourselves on a mat; two wooden bowls, filled with Buffaloe meat, soup and corn were placed before us, with spoons made of the Buffaloe horn; we found the dish very palatable, and although we had just risen from eating, we ate heartily again. As soon as we had finished, we arose and left the lodge; we were immediately, however, invited to another feast, and conducted to another lodge; we seated ourselves again on the mat; and corn, prepared in a manner new to us, was again set before us; we thought it good, and took our leave in the same unceremonious manner as before; we were invited again to a feast, that consisted of water melons; during the course of the day, we were invited to partake of nine or ten feasts. The chief, at whose lodge we resided, came to tell us, that as he was obliged to go, and to take with him his principal wife, he had left a man in his lodge to see that his other wives cooked for us, and that we had plenty to eat. The Kanses village is situated near the junction of the Kanses and Blue-earth rivers; the village itself is a confused assemblage of lodges covered with dirt; their figures are circular, and their diameter from thirty to sixty feet; piles are driven into the ground in the form of a circle, which are elevated four or five feet from the earth, on these rest rafters which meet in the centre at an elevation of six or seven degrees, forming for the roof a conical figure with an aperture in the centre, to permit the smoke to escape. The lodge is covered with earth and mats on the roof and sides, and forms a comfortable habitation; the entrance. is protected by a projection through which you stoop to pass. The interior of the lodge is surrounded by a platform, raised about two feet from the ground, on which are placed, the skins, corn, saddles, &c, of the owner; the floor is the bare