Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/100

 40 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI of the man caught on their warpaths. These they held with tenacity and resented any in- trusion upon them. Constant struggle was carried on by the Osages ^^th other Indians seeking to come into this territory. There was a general movement of the Indians from east to west. We have seen that the Osages themselves were the descendants of Siouan Indians who for- merly lived in the valley of the Ohio. Many causes impelled this migi'ation toward the west. Chief of these was terrible ferocity and power of Iroquois or Five Nations of New York. These fierce Indians, the strong- est and most powerful of all the natives on the continent, carried on ruthless war against most of the tribes of the north and east. IMany of these sought to escape this warfare by moving to the west. Those who came afto the settlement of white men in Missouri found their way barred by the Osages, but little in- ferior in prowess and ferocity to the dreaded Iroquois themselves. Against these new com- ers the Osages waged bitter war. The Peo- rias, a little remnant flying across the river to find homes, were compelled to live in con- stant fear. A little band of thirty of these took up their abode under the protection of the white men at Ste. Genevieve, but they hunted but little we are told, owing to their fear of the Osages. The Saukees and Out- gamies, or Sacs and Foxes, who settled in Iowa and north Missouri, attempted to ex- tend their territory south of the ilissouri and became involved in a bitter and relentless struggle with the Osages. Coming from an- other direction were the Cherokees, a part of that great nation of the southern Alleghenies. With all of these, as well as with the Dela- wares and Shawnees, the Osages contended with varying fortunes. None of the invad- ers surpassed them in braver}', ferocity, or skill in warfare, but the Sacs and Foxes brought with them the arms of the white men, and in the end this superiority of arms pre- vailed, and the lessened remnant of the great and haughty tribe of Osages made their way to the west. A remnant of them still live in Oklahoma. A melancholy interest attaches to these few and feeble descendants of a once power- ful and numerous race. The defects of In- dian character were many and grave. Their society and government was most primitive, they inflicted upon the settlers untold suf- fering and most barbaric cruelties. Their going made way for the civilization and prog- ress of the white race. No one would call back the Indians even if that were possible, but the chapter of history which records the dealings of our government with the Indians is a most painful one. We cannot forget that the Indian was fighting for his home, for his hunting grounds, for that state of life and society which seemed to him best and most desirable, and we cannot close our eyes to the fact that the treatment he received from those who took his land was often marked by the extreme of cruelty and treachery. Perhaps it was inevitable that he should disappear be- fore the superior gifts of the white man, but surely it was not necessary that bad faith and cruelty and even treachery should mark our treatment of him. The Osages were perhaps the most formid- able and troublesome of all the savage neigh- bors of the people of this section of the state, but they were by no means the only Indians who were here. The constant drift of the aborigines westward across the river brought man.y of them through Missouri or near its borders, and of these passing through, some