FDI - Osage

The Osage were a sedentary hunter/farmer except for summer buffalo hunts which took them great distances. They separated from other Dhegihan peoples in their former territories on the Wabasha and Ohio Rivers. They first migrated up the Mississippi River before ultimately settling in Arkansas and Missouri. ranging into Oklahoma and Kansas.

The Osage were constantly at war with most of their neighbors, though they remained allied with the Kaw. They moved often as a result of those conflicts and from White pressure. They took large population losses during the 19th century. They fought to protect their territories from immigrant tribes leaving the east as a result of the Removal Act, but were ultimately overwhelmed. They lost considerable territory to the Cherokee.

Aboriginal Locations (Subdivisions)

Variable (see links)

Year	*History*
1500	Had separated from the Quapaw and Kansa as part of the Omaha group removing from the area of the Ohio and Wabash Rivers and traveled up the Mississippi to Missouri, the Omaha/Ponce soon migrated north
1673	Mentioned by Marquette map as being located on the Missouri River, called "Ouchage"
1686	Arkansas Post established
1687	Visited by Douray, had 17 villages
1693	Began trading with French traders
1719	Great Osage visited by Du Tisne
1795	Many Osage followed trader Jean Pierre Chouteau to present Oklahoma; Chickasaw attacked Arkansas Post
1798	Received some Missouri tribe refugees from war with Sac and Fox
1802	Many moved west to Kansas on the Arkansas River
1804	Visited by Lewis and Clark
1808	Ceded all Arkansas lands by treaty
1818	Cherokee campaign against Osage ended with Osage ceding some of their Oklahoma lands to Cherokee
1821	Union Protestant mission established among tribe; 800 Osage attacked Ft. Smith; 30-100 Osage massacred by 300 Cherokee, Creek, Delaware, and Shawnee
1823	Delaware killed seven lodges of Osage; Comanche killed 20-25 Osage warriors
1824	Fort Towsend established on Red River to protect Whites from Osage and Cherokee
1825	Further land concessions by treaty
1826	Tribe killed 18 Pawnee
1827	Fort Leavenworth established to stop Delaware-Osage war
1829	Virtually destroyed Missouri tribe; San Houston established store in northeast Oklahoma, allied with Cherokee, Osage, and Creek
1830	Killed 80-90 Pawnee in battle on upper Arkansas River
1839	Further concessions by treaty; possible smallpox epidemic
1855	Smallpox epidemic
1861	1st Osage Battalion fought for south in Civil War under Cherokee Brigadier General Stand Wadie
1865	Further concessions by treaty
1870	Reservation established by act of Congress
1898	Oil discovered on reservation

Year	Total Population	AR	MO	OK	Source
1700	8,000	2,000	6,000		NAHDB calculation
1780	6,200				Mooney estimate
1800	5,200	1,200	4,000		NAHDB calculation
1804	4,800				Lewis and Clark
1806	4,535				Pike report
					Grand Osage 1.909
					Little Osage 926
					Arkansas 1,700
1822	5,200				Morse estimate
1829	5,000				Porter estimate
1843	4,102				US Indian Office
1877	3,001				US Indian Office
1884	1,537				US Indian Office
1886	1,582				US Indian Office
1900	1,900			1,900	NAHDB calculation
1906	1,994				US Indian Office
1910	1,373				Census
1923	2,099				US Indian Office
1930	2,344				Census
1937	3,649				US Indian Office
1973	3,350				BIA
1981	5,612				BIA
1989	8,147				BIA estimate
2000	18,000			18,000	NAHDB calculation

Ethnie:	OSAGE (WAZHAZHE)
*Dialect:*	Osage
Language:	Dhegihan
Family	Mississippi Valley Siouan
*Stock:*	Siouan Proper
*Phylum:*	Siouan
*Macro-Culture:*	Great Plains