Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/729

 OSAGE KIYER where the tree is abundant, that while the ex- posed wood may gradually waste away at the surface from the action of the weather, a rot- ten or decayed stick is never seen ; the wood changes but little with alternate wetting and drying, and is regarded as especially valuable for wheels, and as it will take a fine polish it is suitable for ornamental work. The wood abounds in a yellow coloring matter, and the bark of the root is of an intense orange color ; a related Central and South American species (M. tinctoria) yields the well known yellow dyewood, fustic. The bark of the Osage or- ange affords a fibre similar to that of the paper mulberry. (See MULBEEEY.) Though not found growing wild far above the Arkansas river, the Madura is hardy much further north, and en- dures the winter perfectly well in the climate of New York city. It is rarely seen as an or- namental tree, but it has much to commend it to the planter ; it does not make so handsome a head as some other trees, but the deep green and shining leaves are more beautiful than those of the orange, and in this respect ex- ceed those of any other hardy deciduous tree ; and with the large and abundant fruit added to the fine foliage, the tree becomes highly orna- mental on the lawn. The great value of the tree is as a hedge plant, on account of its gen- eral freedom from disease and insects, the fine green of its foliage, its thorny branches, and the manner in which it bears severe clippings. It may be propagated from cuttings of the roots ; but for hedging, plants raised from the seed are preferred. (See HEDGE.) OSAGE RIVER. See MISSOUEI, vol. xi., p. 664. OS AGES, a tribe of Indians of the Dakota fam- ily. Marquette in 1673 put them down on the Missouri under the name Wshage (Wasashe). They were allies of the Illinois, and before 1700 were driven down by enemies to the Arkansas. In 1712 a party of them aided the French at Detroit against the Foxes. In 1719 Dutisne" visited them and set up the French arms, but the next year a Spanish expedition from New Mexico to join them in crushing out the Mis- souris was destroyed by the latter. The visit of some chiefs to France in 1726 confirmed their attachment. They operated with the French against the Chickasaws, and against the English in their final struggle. At the be- ginning of this century they were at war with the Sacs and Foxes, but peace was made in 1804. The Great Osages (Barharcha) were then chiefly at the forks of the Arkansas un- der Big Track, with a few on the Great Osage ; the Little Osages (Oodzatau) had moved from the Missouri to the Great Osage. They were estimated in all at 6,300. They ceded some of their lands by a treaty made Nov. 10, 1808, with Papuisea, grand chief of the Big Osages, Nichu Malli of the Little, the Osages of the Arkansas under Clermont and Big Tract con- senting. Government did not immediately carry out this treaty, and the Osages declared that it had been signed without authority, but OSBORN 715 it was too late. They had been great thieves and plunderers before, and now became worse. They were constantly at war with neighboring tribes, and especially with the Oherokees, who in 1817 killed Clermont and destroyed his town. A series of treaties ceding lands fol- lowed: Sept, 12, 1815; Sept. 25, 1818; Aug. 31, 1822 ; June 2, and Aug. 10, 1825. They comprised at this time the Great Osages of the Osage and of the Neosho, and the Little Osages and the Chanees of the Arkansas. A mission and school of the American board were estab- lished about this time, but were abandoned in 1845. They were constantly warring with other tribes, plundering, and showing no in- clination to agriculture. A visit of some to France revived the old French influence, and at their request the Jesuits began a mission in 1846. A treaty in 1839 ceded lands and led to increased annuities, but in a few years the set- tlement of Kansas and the consequent trou- bles almost drove them from their reservation, while epidemic diseases swept away many. At the beginning of the civil war about 1,000 went south; treaties in September, 1865, and May, 1868, prepared for the removal of the whole. In 1870 the tribe, reduced to 3,150, accepted an act conveying their lands in trust to the United States, and providing for their removal to Indian territory. The government had utterly failed to protect them, and their horses, cattle, and houses had been taken from them. Their new reservation was between Kansas and the Creek country, west of Ion. 96. Here they were placed under the soci- ety of Friends. Some progress in agriculture is said to have been made, 2,000 acres being planted. A school was established on the res- ervation, and 33 pupils were maintained at the Osage mission school in Kansas. The tribe received interest on $300,000, and the interest of $110,000 is applied to education. Some educational works have been issued in the lan- guage, but there is no grammar or dictionary. OSAKA. See OZAKA. OSBOR, Sherard, an English author, born April 25, 1822, died in May, 1875. He en- tered the navy in 1837, served in the search for Sir John Franklin, in the Crimean war, and in Japan and China, where the emperor gave him in 1862 the command of a squadron for the suppression of piracy; but he withdrew from this engagement, and in 1864 assumed the command of the Royal Sovereign to test the turrets invented by Capt. Cole. Subsequently he was for a few years managing agent of the great Indian Peninsula railway at Bombay. After his return to England he became rear admiral. The lords of the admiralty delegated to him at the close of 1874, in conjunction with Rear Admirals Richards and Sir Leopold McClintock, the power to fit out an arctic ex- pedition, to sail in 1875. His works include " Stray Leaves from an Arctic Journal " (Lon- don, 1852); "Quedah, or my Journal in Ma- layan Waters" (1857) ; "A Cruise in Japanese