Potawatomi 
Web


Introduction
nIshnabe'k The People
mzenegenek books
bode'wadmimo speak Potawatomi
eagle aloft Next section
nizhokmake'wen resources/help
Home Page: news & updates
BWAKA - about us

Page 520

1871.

There was but a continuance of the conditions reported in 1870. The Prairie band numbered 415, as nearly as the agent could ascertain. They were about the only Indians left on the old reservation, the others being mostly removed to the Indian territory to a new reservation provided there. On the diminished reserve (the present reserve) 6,000 bushels of corn had been raised. Other crops were produced. There were 350 ponies, 150 cattle, 175 hogs and 15 sheep on the reserve of the

Page 521

Prairie band on Soldier creek, the present reserve. The total of crops and personal property on the reserve was $18,690.

Photo of two young girls HELEN NAH-GON-HE AND ELIZABETH KEGG,
Prairie band, Pottawatomie Indians.
Mayetta, Kan., 1917.

1872.

The agent, Joel H. Morris, resigned in April. The supervision of the agency devolved on Enoch Hoag, at Lawrence. The agency had not been changed from Rossville, in Shawnee county. Hoag advised that an agent be appointed at an early date, and that the agency be moved to the reservation of the Prairie band, the present reservation. The report mentions the removal of many of the Prairie band to the Indian territory to join the other bands of the tribe.

The funds belonging to the band are enumerated by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in his report for this year, as follows:

Annuities under provisions of treaties of August 3, 1795; September 30, 1809; October 2, 1818; September 20, 1828; July 29, 1829; June 5, 1846, aggregating $22,779.07
For blacksmiths and assistant, for iron, steel and for salt (annually) 1,362.77
Annual appropriation (at will of Congress) for education 5,000.00
U. S. bonds 91,500.00
U. S. bonds 20,000.00

Page 522

The $91,500 in United States bonds made a trust fund for educational purposes, and yielded $4,585 annually. In this fund the citizen class of the band claimed an interest amounting to $67,000.

1873.

For the year 1873 there was found no report of the Prairie band. Enoch Hoag, superintendent of Indian affairs at Lawrence, Kan., made a report, but failed to mention the Prairie band.

1874.

The new agent, M. H. Newlin, made a census of the Indians of the Prairie band, finding a total of 467 persons. There were in Wisconsin 181 members of the band in addition, also about 30 members in Mexico. The names of these absentee Pottawatomies appeared on the fundamental roll approved by the Interior Department, May 6, 1865. All transactions with the band are made on this roll. It is the foundation of the establishment of the Prairie band on the Jackson county reservation.

The Wisconsin Pottawatomies had been visited September 1, 1874, and urged to return to the Kansas reservation. Agent Newlin admitted in his report that the action of the Prairie band in maintaining tribal relations and keeping their land in common had been wise. He had expected to find a wild and turbulent people, but was greatly surprised to find them civil and anxious to improve their condition. He soon had a school established, though he met with some opposition in doing it. The children were found to be intelligent and obedient. Degraded white men hung about the reservation, preying on the Indians and selling them whisky. Only a few of these Indians, however, were confirmed drunkards. There were many who were strictly temperate.

1875.

There were on the reservation this year about 450 Indians, and there were about 175 of the Prairie band in Wisconsin. Those in Wisconsin lived in Calhoun county, where they owned a quarter section of land (160 acres) in common. About 100 acres of this tract had been put into cultivation.

The reservation in Jackson county, Kansas, was officially announced as containing 77,357.57 acres of land. It is well watered by Big and Little Soldier creeks, and is fertile land.

The Prairie band made progress this year, though the grasshoppers destroyed their crops in the spring, making it necessary to replant two or three times.

The school numbered thirty pupils, all making progress.

The report is encouraging, and the condition of the band is set out in a manner which promised much for the future.

1876.

The year 1876 was one of progress for the Prairie band. Larger crops and a greater variety of them were planted than in any previous year. Farms were enlarged and fences strengthened. New houses were erected--some of logs and some of sawed lumber. Wells were put down and walled with stone. Large numbers of ponies and some

Page 523

horses were seen grazing on their natural meadows. While the Indians preferred to raise horses, they were beginning to build up herds of cattle. They had some mules and a large number of hogs. The practice of cooking at the open fire was being abandoned. Cook stoves were installed, and meals were eaten from tables. Wooden bowls and ladles were replaced with porcelain dishes and the spoons, knives and forks of the white man. At the spring term of the United States district court the agent had become disgusted with a decision that it was no crime to sell an Indian whisky when he was off the reservation. This made it difficult to maintain order. About one-fourth of the men of the band would go to seek whisky; another fourth would drink it if it was put in their way. Half of them had the moral stamina to resist it. With the help of these latter Indians, order was maintained.

1877.

The agency still remained at Rossville, in Shawnee county. Under its jurisdiction were also the Kickapoos, numbering 255, and the Chippewas and Christian Indians, numbering 61. The number of the Prairie band of Pottawatomies, exclusive of those in Wisconsin, is set down as 450, evidently an estimate. Some twenty-four members were still with the Mexican Kickapoos.

The improvements in the condition of the Prairie band are shown to have continued. Individuals of the band were supplied this year with fruit trees to the number of one thousand, and these were so well planted that all lived except about forty. This was the beginning of orchards on the reservation.

Agent Newlin notes in his report that there was a class of the Prairie band opposed to progress. It was composed of the priest and medicine men--the men who held to the old traditions and customs of the Pottawatomies. This inclination to preserve the ancient rites was always condemned by the agents and missionaries. They always saw, as they supposed, in this attitude, a sort of defiance of Christian influence. In reality there was no intention to stand in opposition to the missionary efforts. It was the love of the old order and the faith and reverence held in and for the ways of ancient days, so strong in the human heart. If the agent and missionaries had but rightly read Indian character in this respect, they would have permitted and encouraged the free exercise of the old ceremonies. The Indian would have added the Christian religion to his own--which those individuals did who adopted it. It requires time to divest a people of religious customs and feelings. As the generations passed the old pagan practices would have passed, for the vital elements must and will survive and subvert the superfluous in human life. The old rites would have survived as folk customs, folk lore. Much of beauty and much of ethnological value would have been saved--much that would have benefited both the white and Indian races.

1878.

The progress shown under Agent Newlin in former years was maintained in 1878. The following extract from his report is most encouraging; and it is enlightening, as proving what intelligent direction can ac-

Page 524

complish with the Indians. It proves, too, that the Indian is capable of responding nobly to a proper recognition of his powers and inclinations:

"The Pottawatomie Indians are advancing in education, morality, Christianity, and self- support. In a period of five years they have progressed from a discouraged and seemingly helpless community, living generally in wigwams and cultivating but small patches of ground, to a community of prosperous farmers, raising cattle, hogs, horses and ponies. Their fields are now located on the open prairie. A majority of them have erected substantial houses, inclosed them with fences, planted fruit trees, and otherwise beautified their surroundings to quite as great an extent as the time and their facilities would permit. During the summer they have broken 300 acres of prairie, and laid off other tracts, which they purpose inclosing next spring and breaking at their leisure.

"Until April, 1873, not a scholar could be obtained from the Prairie band to attend school. The average attendance during the last fiscal year was twenty-nine pupils, with an enrollment of forty-four. The school buildings are well supplied with facilities for boarding and lodging the pupils, and also for teaching the females, in addition to their studies, all kinds of household duties. Attached to the school is a farm of sixty-three acres, well stocked with horses, cattle, hogs and poultry. The male pupils are taught to participate in all the labor necessary in conducting this farm and in caring for stock. After carefully noting the effect of this course upon the boys, I am convinced that they are quite as industrious and useful as white boys, and that the great difference between the usual adult Indian and white men is that the latter in youth were taught to labor and the former was not. I think the industrial boarding-school system, if persevered in, will result in the complete civilization of the Indian youth in this agency, and will greatly assist the adult Indians in forming a correct estimate of the value of education, and of learning the absolute necessity of labor as a means of realizing personal independence.

"Since a boarding school was established for the Pottawatomie Indians, a number of them who before their children learned to read and write perhaps never examined a letter in the alphabet, have learned to correspond in their language with Indians residing at a distance. I have seen letters containing considerable information written in the Indian language, with sixteen English letters understandingly read by Indians who had not the slightest knowledge of the use or sound of letters until a very recent period, and have not now except as applied to such letters; yet I think this will show that adult Indians who may even be prejudiced against education are susceptible to its influences, and may be made aware of some of its uses at least."

A correct and definite census was made of the reservation population. The totals shown are: 427 of the Prairie band on the reservation, 280 in Wisconsin, and 17 in the Indian territory.

1879.

This year there was a change of agents for the Prairie band. H. C. Linn, still living at Topeka, was appointed to succeed M. H. Newlin. Mr. Newlin had administered the affairs of these Indians in an intelligent and efficient manner. The record shows nothing as to why he was not continued. There were 451 members of the band on the reserve and some 200 absent "without permission."

This being the first report of the new agent, is somewhat lengthy. The whole situation is reviewed. Progress of the Indians is the fact most emphasized. Seven new dwellings were erected by them on the reser-

Page 525

vation. Five hundred fruit trees were planted and grew thriftily. Four hundred acres of prairie were broken. Hogs in abundance were raised, and horses and cattle. Doctor Linn also mentions that they clung to the traditions of their fathers. He admits that those who set most store by these traditions were those who had made greater progress in the arts of civilization. Concerning education Agent Linn says:

"There are many zealous supporters of education among the ablest minds in the tribe, and it is not openly opposed by any of the Indians; but the party of extreme Indian ideas do not send their children to school, and doubtless prevent all from being sent they can. The school accommodations for this tribe are excellent. They consist of a boarding house of ample dimensions to board and lodge forty pupils, a schoolhouse sufficiently large to seat comfortably all the children of suitable age to attend school in the tribe, a large and well arranged laundry, a smoke and milk house combined, and a commodious barn for the accommodation of stock belonging to the school farm. The farm consists of sixty-three acres of land, on which good crops of corn and oats have been raised this year; the stock consists of about fifty head of cattle, four horses, and nearly if not quite enough hogs to furnish bacon for the school nine months out of twelve.

"The boys attending the school labor on the farm regularly, and are taught to properly care for stock, to milk, and to perform all kinds of labor incident to farm life. I have observed them very closely in the performance of their various duties, and am satisfied that they learn as quickly ,and are as industrious and faithful as white boys of the same age. The girls attending the school are taught by the matron all housekeeping duties, and under the instruction of the assistant teacher are taught to cut and make garments for themselves and male pupils. They are very quick to learn and are proud of their ability to make for themselves as neat garments as are worn by white people of their age."

1880.

The Industrial Boarding School was established in 1873. It is reported this year as having been in successful operation since that time. Agent Linn says that during the year it has been attended by an intelligent class of Indian children, obedient, industrious, and attentive to their studies. The school had a number of buildings--a boarding house for pupils (erected in 1871), the schoolhouse proper, smokehouse, milkhouse, laundry and barn. Most of these latter buildings were erected in 1875. Probably all of them were first used that year. They were said to be commodious and well arranged. In connection with these buildings was a farm of sixty-three acres, planted to corn, oats, potatoes and garden vegetables. It was well tilled and the yield was abundant. The cattle, horses and hogs on the farm numbered more than fifty, and there was much poultry.

The agent said that the Indians were entirely satisfied with their home, and had made improvements with the future welfare of their children in mind. During the year they erected fifteen substantial dwellings, mostly of logs but finished with pine lumber. One stone house 24 by 32 feet, of six rooms, was in course of construction. They broke more than three hundred acres of prairie in the summer. There were ninety farms opened, improved and cultivated, the total acreage in crops being more than two thousand. Wheat, oats, flax, corn, potatoes, beans, pumpkins and many other crops were successfully cultivated. Orchards were in-

Page 526

creasing. These Indians were coming to depend on themselves. They broke the prairie with their own teams, made rails and built fences, and even surveyed their own farms and located the dividing lines.

1881.

The number of the Prairie band this year is given as 750. Of these 430 were on the reservation, 280 were living with the Winnebago Indians in Wisconsin, and 40 in the Indian territory.

The school was in good condition. The children were taught the English language. The boys were taught to chop wood, milk, feed stock, intelligently harness and drive teams, hoe and plow the crops, harvest them, and to care for the premises. The girls were taught to cook, wash, iron, scrub, knit, sew, to cut out and make clothing, to mend clothing and general housekeeping. The school developed industrious, cleanly, intelligent boys and girls, quite as willing and competent to perform the various duties of life as the white children.

On the school farm were seventy cattle, four horses, and hogs sufficient to furnish all the lard, pork and bacon required.

There were twenty substantial dwellings erected during the year, "neat in appearance and of respectable dimensions." The hopeful thing in the building of these houses was that they all replaced inferior houses, proving that these Pottawatomies were progressing in civilization. The agent said:

"The individuality of the Indian has been developed thereby. The pride and happiness of his family demonstrate their appreciation of a better and healthier mode of life. Though it has been but about eight years since the houses of the kind described could be counted on the fingers of the hands, there are now very few heads of families but what are supplied with and live in them. Thirty percent of these houses have been built solely at the expense of the Indians occupying them. For furnishing the remainder lumber has been purchased with interest derived from their improvement fund, but no further expense has been incurred either for hauling or carpenter's work, the Indians having performed this labor or employed persons for the purpose. Their houses with suitable space for yards, are all inclosed, generally with very neat fences. A large number of them are furnished with cooking stoves, chairs, dishes, bedsteads and other necessities of civilization.

"The Indians subsist on the same kinds of food as white people, and their women, who are generally good cooks, prepare it in the same manner as white cooks, and with the exception, perhaps, of cooking meat more thoroughly. In the spring they bought more than 2,000 apple trees at individual expense, and planted them with very good judgment. They are fond of fruit and much interested in growing it, and take excellent care of their orchards, all of which are enclosed with good fences. The first and finest early apples I ate this year were presented to me by an Indian, and while traveling on their reserve I have seen fine apples growing on trees planted by the Indians four years ago. They have also bearing peach and cherry trees. Some few have raised tame grapes and a number have planted pear trees.

"These Indians are developing a strong liking for money and property of all kinds, holding to it with astonishing tenacity, and have already learned to gauge the consideration due their neighbors by their ability to gather and retain it."

Could a better showing be made for any community, regardless of nationality, than this report makes for the Prairie band of Pottawat-

Page 527

omies? And it must be remembered that they were in the woods in blankets only a few years before, without knowledge or love of civilization.

1882.

The year 1882 was one of continued progress. The agent reports:

"The Pottawatomies [Prairie band] as a tribe realize the necessity of getting their living from the soil, and are industrious. They seem to take pride in establishing their homes and making them comfortable. All have fields; while some are small, a greater portion have large, well-tended fields. Some of the corn planted and tended by these Indians is as fine as I have seen, and will yield as much per acre as any in this section. They will have an aggregate amount of about 12,000 bushels, and have raised and thrashed 2,000 bushels of oats and 500 bushels of spring wheat."

The school was in good condition and doing a fine work.

1883.

The condition of the Prairie band is well described in 1883 in the Andreas "History of Kansas," under "Jackson County," and what is there said is set out here:

"In the south central portion of Jackson county is the diminished Pottawatomie Indian reservation, embracing, in round numbers, 77,400 acres of land. Here are located 440 Pottawatomies; 280 being in Wisconsin, 30 in Iowa, and 24 in the Indian territory.

"The Pottawatomies came from the islands near the entrance of Green Bay, and were a branch of the Chippewas or Ojibways, who held the country from the mouth of Green Bay to the headwaters of Lake Superior.

"The word Pottawatomie is said by some authorities to signify the act of blowing out the cheeks, as in kindling a fire, and is supposed to refer to the facility which the nation possessed in kindling the ancient council fires of their forefathers. The word is also rendered by some, "I am a man."

"Mention is made of the early history of this tribe in the "Sketches of Indian Tribes" in this work. The three bands of Pottawatomies--the Pottawatomies of the Woods, the Christian or Mission band, and the Prairie band--occupied the reservation of thirty miles square on the Kansas river from 1847-'48 until November 15, 1961, when under provisions of a treaty made and concluded at the Pottawatomie agency on Cross creek, now Rossville, the Mission and Wood bands elected to become citizens of the United States, receive patents in fee simple for their allotments of lands, their pro rata shares of the cash credits of the tribe amounting to about $685 for each allottee. There were then about 1,650 allottees. At that time the Prairie band consisted of 780 persons. They elected to hold their lands in common, and accordingly there was set apart for them an undivided quantity sufficient to allow one section to each chief, half a section to each headman, 160 acres to each head of a family, and 80 acres to each other person, which aggregated 77,357.57 acres.

"In 1866, George W. James, born in 1842, in Baltimore county, Maryland, starting for California, was detained at Rossville on account of sickness, and on recovering he became identified with the interests of these people, and has ever since devoted his attention to them. Dr. H. C. Linn, their present agent, regards him as standard authority on any matter connected with them. He is general clerk. In 1874 there were but five houses on the reserve occupied by Indians; in 1882 there were 105, all of which are habitable, and some of which are very comfortable. In 1875 the Indians thought they could not live in dwellings like white

Page 528

people; they could not get air, and the cyclones would sweep them away. In 1882 they cannot be supplied with the amount of timber they desire and could make a good use of. They have 105 fields, ranging in area from 3 to 150 acres. Surrounding them are some of the very best rail woven fences in Kansas, made of good oak and walnut, eight rails high, staked and double ridered. Forty percent of them have good gardens, in which they raise a great variety of vegetables in their season. They raise corn and hogs for market in considerable quantities, and they sell other products. There are some twenty mowing machines on the reserve, and the average Indian has skill to that degree that he can properly use one. In 1880 they had herds of cattle, 1,150 horses, 10 mules, 1,275 swine, 65 sheep, hundreds of fowls.

"The Indian boarding school located at the new mission, fifteen miles southwest of Holton, opened in 1875. The grounds embrace 63 acres; and on the farm here opened the Indian children are taught to labor and are instructed in good methods of husbandry. The school building, boarding house, barn, laundry, etc., cost $12,000. Consequent upon the last treaty, made November 15, 1861, the Prairie band was entitled to thirty-nine one hundredths of the entire assets of the Pottawatomies, which has been set apart for them, and on the books in the Interior Department their credits are as follows: Permanent annuity, $395,636.42; for support of blacksmith shop, $20,179.86; for support of school, $80,000; improvement fund, $18,000; general fund with accrued interest, $122,000. Total amount, $635,816.28.

"The Prairie band still maintain a tribal government. After the death of Se-noge-wone, his son Wab-sai became head chief, which he held until his death in 1872. The present head chief is Sough-nes-see. The first speaker is Masqui; the second, Pis-she-quin. August 5, 1878, the matter came before them in regard to transferring the control of the Indians to the War Department, and the sense of the tribe was expressed by Masqui, who said:

" 'Chiefs and others have stated: "We feel happy and pleased to have a choice to elect how we shall be controlled." I have heard the opinions of the chiefs, who say that at the time peace was made with us they were glad that we inferred from them (the President and commissioners) that we would be as one people as long as the earth should exist; the President would be our father, who promised to look after our rights; that the day would come when his wars would be settled all over the face of the earth, and for all time the President would protect us in the possession of our property. Therefore the chiefs were satisfied, and are satisfied that such acts have been done. I am indeed ignorant as to how we should be treated if turned over to his (the President's) braves for protection; therefore I would remain as at present. Under the care of the Interior Department I will receive full protection and encouragement, and where my property will not be squandered, but will be saved to our children and our children's children for all time to come. I do not wish to make new rules or contracts, but desire to remain under the guardianship of the government as stipulated in our treaties, and as have been exercised in the past.'

"At a recent funeral occasion the speaker, alluding to the deceased woman, said substantially: 'The person now before us but a few days ago was walking around with us. We may learn from this that we should truthfully speak of and kindly treat our fellows; we should be charitable, for as this one needs our charity, so ere long will we need some of yours.'

" 'The noble red man' does not alone exist in song and story, for among these created intelligences residing on this diminished reservation are those who have chords which, if properly touched, are susceptible to that kind of vibration, that this race, the aborigines of America, may come to the noble Caucasian and teach him perhaps not wordy lessons so much as worthy examples.

Page 529

"This Prairie band of Indians are, many of them, resolutely cultivating the arts of peace. They are just and honest with the whites and themselves; they are developing the holy love of a personal, permanent home; they are comprehending subjects of business presented to them; they are substituting for the sixteen English letters they have heretofore used in their Indian language, all of the English alphabet found necessary to express vocal sounds. They are learning to acquire property; in fine, they are making gradual progress, and their permanent location in Jackson county may bring mutual compensation to themselves and the 'superior race.' "

1884.

The number of the Prairie band was officially reported this year as 432. The year was a prosperous one. The herds of cattle increased materially. The horses had multiplied rapidly, and this year they shipped six carloads of them to market, realizing good prices for them. The attendance at the boarding school was up to the full capacity of accommodation. Many more would have attended had there been facilities for caring for them.

Agent Linn notes the appearance of a new system of a new system of worship among the Pottawatomies, and says of it:

"There has been introduced into the Pottawatomie tribe in the past year a system of worship which consists principally of dancing and exulting, though, like all semicivilized nations, clouded in superstition. Apart from the superstition and consumption of time spent in those dances, the moral tendency is very good, as the teaching is in accordance with the Ten Commandments. They object to sacrament by the use of intoxicating drink, and denounce gambling and horseracing. This religion was introduced by the Chippewas of Wisconsin."

1885.

There was a change of agents this year, Dr. H. C. Linn being succeeded by I. W. Patrick. The report made by Agent Patrick shows continued progress of the Prairie band. They were cultivating 110 separate farms, in size from 5 acres to 200 acres each. These farms were worked by 120 families. On each farm there was a neat, well-built dwelling house. The farms were enclosed with excellent fences, mostly of rails, neatly and strongly built. The good housekeeping of the women is complimented in the agent's report. The Indians shipped five carloads of horses, receiving good prices for them.

There was some friction among the Indians this year. Some citizen Pottawatomies came to the reservation. They had no legal rights there. Their children attended the agency school, to which some of the Prairie band objected, as it crowded the school, But later in the year they were all sent to Haskell University, at Lawrence, which relieved the situation.

The agent says that the Prairie band were "thoroughly united on the question of retaining their present home. Any suggestion of contrary action meets with an angry response, and they become unjustly suspicious of any attempt in that direction."

The following quotations from the report of Agent Patrick will give the status of the new religion:

"These Indians are chaste, cleanly and industrious, and would be a valuable acquisition to the Prairie band if it were not for their intense devotion to a religious dance started among the northern Indians some years

Page 530

since. This dance was introduced to the Prairie band about two years ago by the absentee Pottawatomies and Winnebagoes, and has spread throughout the tribes in the agency. They seem to have adopted the religion as a means of expressing their belief in the justice and mercy of the Great Spirit, and of their devotion to him, and are so earnest in their convictions as to its affording them eternal happiness, that I have thought it impolitic so far to interfere with it any further than to advise as few meetings as possible, and to discountenance it in my intercourse with the individuals practicing the religion. It is not an unmixed evil, as under its teaching drunkenness and gambling have been reduced 75 percent, and a departure from virtue on the part of its members meets with the severest condemnation. As some tenets of revealed religion are embraced in its doctrines, I do not consider it a backward step for the Indians, who have not heretofore professed belief in any Christian religion, and believe its worst features are summed up in the loss of time it occasions and the fanatical train of thoughts involved in the constant contemplation of the subject."

1886.

The agent found little that was new to report for the year 1886. The number of Indians in the reservation is given as 470. There is no mention of absentees. It is noted that the cattle were increasing, the farms well enclosed with hogtight fences, and that much hay had been cut from the prairies. Intemperance was rare among the Prairie band, and it is said: "The Pottawatomies [Prairie band] are a happy people."

1887.

C. H. Grover was the agent this year. The report is dated at Hoyt, Kan., September 5, 1887. On the reservation were 468 of the Prairie band. There were 250 to 300 in Wisconsin, the Indian territory and elsewhere. The money due the Prairie band amounted to $640,000. It was natural that a new agent would have more to say than one who had been long familiar with the affairs on the reservation. The investigation of the affairs by Agent Grover did not result in any new developments nor the discovery of anything more than we have seen in former reports. While not so many new houses were built, there was much repairing and overhauling of the old ones, so the Indians were better housed than ever before. There was one homicide on the reservation. A white man who had married a half-blood Pottawatomie was shot dead by her brother. There was an epidemic of measles and whooping cough. The surplus land was rented for pasture to white men at one dollar per head for the cattle pastured. This year the report makes the first mention of the Indian police. That of the Prairie band consisted of one captain, one sergeant and five privates.

1888.

There was a change in agents, the report showing that John Blair was the agent in 1888. He made the report. The population numbered 496, and the absentees were estimated at 250. The number of births were increasing and the deaths decreasing. Dr. Wilson Stuve had been employed as the physician of the tribe in 1887, when the epidemic of measles and whooping cough appeared, and was still retained in 1888.

The white farmers about the borders of the reservation were beginning to compete for the hay and for grazing privileges. The sum of $8,295

Page 531

was collected for grazing in 1888. It was estimated that $3,000 would be received from the sale of hay on the tribal land not cultivated nor used by the Indians. The Prairie band had increasing herds of hogs. The pony was the base of the stock, but it was begin improved by the intermixing of American horses. They sold from $40 to $80 a head. These Indians were improving their cattle. There were sixty-one pedigreed shorthorn cattle on the reservation and hundreds of "grades." The average price of the latter was $30 per head.

The school was not viewed with enthusiasm by the new agent. The facilities for boarding the number of pupils desiring to attend were insufficient, and there was a lack of pure water. The Indians were in favor of education and wished to improve the schools.


Introduction
nIshnabe'k The People
mzenegenek books
bode'wadmimo speak Potawatomi
eagle aloft Next section
nizhokmake'wen resources/help
Home Page: news & updates
BWAKA - about us

We welcome your questions and comments.

Text and photographs courtesy of Kansas State Historical Society
Internet presentation copyright © Smokey McKinney 1997