The Gonville WomenBy Bobbie Athon, for Hers Kansas
Their grandfather, White Plume, was a Kaw chief who joined in signing the treaty of 1825. His participation secured land for his mixed-blood grandchildren and their heirs. In a letter to William Clark, superintendent of Indian Affairs, White Plume wrote: I consider myself an American and my wife an American woman--I want to take her home with me and have everything like white people," The name of White Plume’s wife, who was the daughter of Osage chief Pawhuska, is unknown. At the time of the treaty, the family lived at Kawsmouth, the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers, near what is today Kansas City. The treaty of 1825 assigned the Kaws to a reservation 30 miles north-to-south beginning just west of present Topeka and extending far into present western Kansas. Louis Gonville, a French trader, arrived at Kawsmouth in 1807 to hunt and trap along the Kansas River. Gonville married White Plume’s daughter, Hunt Jimmy, and they had two daughters, Josette and Julie. When their marriage ended around 1818, Gonville married White Plume’s younger daughter, Wyhesee. Several children were born to this marriage—it appears only Pelagie and Victoire lived to adulthood. The 23 "half-breed tracts," as they were referred to then,
began at the eastern edge of the 1825 reservation extending 23 miles
east on the north bank of the Kansas River, from present-day Topeka
nearly to Lawrence. Josette and Julie received tracts three and four,
Pelagie and Victoire received tracts five and six. Begun around 1841, the first ferry consisted of one or two log canoes, which were propelled by long poles. Travelers on the Oregon-California Trail in 1841 and 1842 mentioned the ferry in their journals. Matthew Field, a reporter writing for the New Orleans Picayune in 1843, was favorably impressed with the Gonville-Pappan women. 5 sisters—really beautiful—educated at the Mission near Westport—talk French, English, Kaw, and Iowa—4 married to Frenchmen—one to an intelligent half-breed Delaware—a sixth now growing to make some shrewd fellow happy—for these men get a certain quantity of land in right of the Kaw women. Field enjoyed the hospitality of the Pappan family, as had many other travelers who crossed on the ferry. When about to get us our supper, the lady of the house pulled up a couple of planks from the floor, and jumped down, threw a pile of potatoes out, which were forthwith peeled and washed and put on the fire. Boiled pumpkin, cold & insipid, wild turkey, warmed in hot water, potatoes, nearly cooked, strong coffee, without sugar and unsettled, and flour biscuits, homemade, heavy and cold, were laid before us; and we fancied it was something like home, inasmuch as we sat on raised seats at a four legged platform. The Pappan’s ferry business prospered as more people headed west, until flooding destroyed the ferry and log cabin in June 1844. Indian Agent R. W. Cummins wrote in his report: This house stood the flood until the water came above the eaves and then was washed away.. . .overflown from Bluff to Bluff swepping off all. . . Following their loss, the Pappans lived in Kansas City until about 1849, when they returned to discover a competing ferry along the river. They purchased a franchise and resumed their business. The value of the bottomland had greatly increased by the 1850s and the Pappans received many offers to sell their land. One hopeful buyer, Andrew Reeder, the territorial governor, assessed the Pappans as saavy merchants: Louis Papin [sic] is a white man—a shrewd and intelligent Frenchman, who speaks the French and English well, . . .Aubrey is precisely the same. . .their wives are the daughters of Louis Gondil [sic], a French trader, and his Indian wife—quite as intelligent, as their parentage and station would indicate. . . Julie Pappan was a wealthy landowner. She and Louis lived comfortably in their log cabin and cultivated between 15 – 20 acres of the prime bottomland. Their daughter, Ellen, married to Oren Curtis, had two children, Charles and Elizabeth. In an effort to secure the future of her grandchildren, Julie left forty acres to her daughter and grandchildren, omitting her son-in-law’s name from the deed. When Ellen died a few months later, legal battles ensued. The minor children, Charles and Elizabeth Curtis, were eventually awarded the deed to the property in 1875. Julie sold her remaining property by 1865 and she and Louis lived their remaining years on the Kaw Reservation near Council Grove. Photo:
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Early
in Topeka’s history a small group of women became landowners,
controlling some of its most valuable acreage. These powerful women
with resonate French names—Josette, Julie, Pelagie, and Victoire—were
each deeded one-square-mile tracts along the Kansas River, long before
Kansas was a territory. Their mothers were Kanza Indians and these women
were among 23 mixed-blood Kaws who received special reservations.
