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333 THE LITTLE OSAGES. 3S3 Osages. It is presumptuous to deviate trom the route as iuapped out by Major Inman; but then it is very much of a guess with him, and common sense would seem to bear out the theory that pwing to hav- ing found no mines among the Kansas and Pawnees, the Spaniards would be sufficiently interested to travel seventy-five miles to make personal examina- tion of the locality; and when it is considered how beautiful the country was at this time of the year, it would appear at this late day as though the party had not used the proper energy if it did not explore the country of the Osages. Again, bear in mind that Ysopete was a Kansas Indian, but he spoke the same dialect as the Osages, and was able to impart the necessary information relative to the customs and lo- cations of that tribe; and lastly, if Coronado did not visit the Grand Osages in Bates county, Missouri, it will do no harm for the purpose of this book to men- tion such facts, but may give some light as to the his- tory of that tribe of Indians, who now have the honor to be the wealthiest people on the face of the globe. A good deal of thinking and many doubts were entertained as to which of the Osage villages our party should be taken. The idea was first conceived to continue down the Missouri to the town of Malt^ Bend, Ssiline county, Missouri, for without doubt in very early times the Little Osages were there located. This conclusion is reached from what Lewis and Clark say in 1803, that "On the south side of the Mis- souri, they passed ( near Malta Bend) an old village of the Little Osages, which had been abandoned; it wsCs some distance from the river at the foot of a small