A Moment in Time
"Fighting For Honor and Vengeance:
War Between the Pawnees and the Kansas"
November 2002
By Richard Gould and Ron Parks
A monthly series from the Kansas Historical Society
On his way west in June 1842 explorer John C. Fremont encountered a cluster
of burned and blackened huts scattered in an open wood on the east
bank of the Vermillion River, just north of the Kansas River in
present-day Kansas. What Freemont saw were the results of another
bitter event in a long and sometimes bloody war between the Kansa
(or Kaw) and Pawnee tribes.
Situated near Belvue, this
abandoned Kansa village had been attacked and burned earlier that spring by the
Pawnees.The burning of the village was
in retaliation for a massacre of Pawnees perpetrated by Kansa warriors in
December 1840. Sixty-five Kansa
warriors had surprised a Pawnee camp whose warriors had left on a buffalo
hunt. The Kansas killed more than 70,
mostly women and children, and captured 11.
At the time of Fremont's expedition the two tribes had been enemies
longer than anyone could remember. From the 1500s, if not earlier, the
Pawnees had lived and hunted in present-day Nebraska and Kansas. The
Pawnees were organized into four independent bands: the Chaui, Pitahauerat,
Skidi, and Kitkahahki, the latter having been victimized by the Kansas
in the 1840 attack.
By 1700 the Kansas had migrated from the Ohio River Valley and established
a village on the west bank of the Missouri River in present Doniphan County.
At the time of the massacre of Pawnees, the Kansas were living in three villages--the
Vermillion River village and two others near present-day Topeka.
The Pawnees were the dominant power of the Central Plains by the 1800s. Their
numerous earth lodge villages were located near the Loup and Platte Rivers in
present Nebraska and along the Republican River in what is now Kansas. Their
hunting grounds covered much of the High Plains, and this meant conflict with
almost every other Plains tribe including the Kansa.
Both cultural practices and
historical events fueled the conflict between the two tribes. The Pawnees and Kansas encouraged their
young men in the practice of the martial spirit. Those warriors performing daring feats in battle and stealing
horses from enemy tribes won honors and gained status in the tribe. Vengeance was a pervasive motivation for
both tribes.
The Euro-American invasion
brought the fur trade to the Plains, and competition between the tribes for the
harvest of pelts-often encouraged by the traders for business reasons-became
fierce. By the late 1700s Pawnee and
Kansa warriors had become expert horsemen and were better able to travel long
distances to raid each other. Most of
these raids were essentially horse-stealing expeditions, but some escalated
into violent encounters.
The U.S. government
frequently attempted to arrange truces between the Pawnees and the Kansas, but
these efforts met with little success. In 1830 pressure from the Kansas and their Osage allies forced the
Kitkehahki band to abandon their village in present Republic County and to
rejoin the other Pawnee bands to the north in the Platte River valley.
By the 1870s, however, both
the Pawnees and the Kansas were reeling from poverty, disease, and the loss of
their land. In June 1872 a large band
of Pawnees traveled from their Nebraska reservation to smoke the pipe with the
Kansas on their Council Grove reservation.
The weeklong celebration concluded with an exchange of gifts and
expressions of good will between the ancient enemies. At long last the Pawnees and the Kansas were at peace.
One year
later the Kansas were removed to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma); the Pawnees
were relocated there in 1876.
The Pawnee Nation at present
numbers close to 2,500 members with many residing in the Pawnee, Oklahoma
area. The Pawnees are very proud of
their past and have many annual celebrations to honor their history. They also have a very active language
program that helps the people keep their culture alive.
Today the Kansa tribal
organization, known as the Kaw Nation, has a membership of approximately
2,600. Headquartered in Kaw City, Oklahoma,
the Kaw Nation provides its members with many social, cultural, and health care
benefits under the governance of the Kaw Executive Council.
The Kansas retain vital ties
to their homelands in Kansas. In early
2000 the Kaw Nation purchased approximately 170 acres of former reservation
land about four miles southeast of Council Grove. Named for their great chief, the Al-le-ga-wa-ho Memorial Heritage
Park is being developed to honor the heritage of the Kansas in the state that
bears their name.
The Pawnee Indian Village
State Historic Site near Republic tells the story of the Pawnee Nation through
archeological and historical displays. This 1820s village once housed as many as 2000 Kitkehahki in at least 40
earth lodges. The museum encloses the
excavated floor of one of the largest lodges, with remains of other lodges
dotting the grounds. The site is
located eight miles north of U.S. Highway 36 on K-266, at 480 Pawnee Trail,
Republic KS 66964; 785-361-2255; piv@kshs.org.
The site is open 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday - Saturday; 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Sunday 1-5, closed on holidays.
To learn more about the Kansa people, visit the Kaw Mission State Historic Site in Council Grove. A seven-minute orientation video, The
Original Kansans, exhibits, and programs explore the history and culture of
the Kansa. The site is located at 500
North Mission, Council Grove KS 66846; 620-767-5410; kawmission@kshs.org. The site is open 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday - Saturday, 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Sunday, closed holidays.
The Kansas Historical Society, which administers 18 historic
sites, is headquartered at 6425 SW Sixth Avenue, Topeka KS 66615-1099; 785-272-8681; TTY
785-272-8683; www.kshs.org.
The Kansas Historical Society does not discriminate on the basis
of disability in admission to, access to, or operation of its programs. The
Society requests prior notification to accommodate individuals with special
needs or disabilities.
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