Tulsa Botanic Garden is an oasis in the Osage Hills just 8 miles northwest of downtown Tulsa. Enjoy the beauty of Osage County, Oklahoma!
Biscuits, pho, and breweries, oh my!
Choosing the perfect baby name can be a daunting task for new parents. With so many options and influences, it can be difficult to narrow it down to that one
A POSTOAK Lodge Zipline Canopy Tour will take you high above the Osage Hills on an adventure you won't soon forget! Osage County, Oklahoma
Even if you don't have kids you'll want to visit...it's just that beautiful.
Do you enjoy extreme outdoor adventure? If so, get an adrenaline rush on Oklahoma's first zipline tour at PostOak Canopy in Tulsa. This tour takes thrill-seekers over treetops and along almost 4,000 feet of cable line while enjoying scenic views of downtown Tulsa and Osage Hills.
The Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror was a frightful time for the Osage people.
Rolling Stone says: "Tulsa Might be the Next Austin!" Tulsa is a cool place to visit. Read on to find out how to spend 48 hours in Tulsa!
VISIT THE OSAGE, your tourism one-stop spot for all of Osage County, Oklahoma including Pawhuska, home to the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, the Osage Nation, and more!
One activity you’ll want to make sure you experience this spring is a visit to Tulsa Botanic Gardens. This botanical garden covers 170 acres just west of
Tulsa, Oklahoma is an affordable and family-friendly destination that has growing arts, music, and restaurant scenes. It’s fun to stop by to check out a local museum, spend some time outdoors, and soak up the nostalgia of this stop along Route 66. The city makes an excellent day trip or overnight stop as you drive […]
Every school kid in Tulsa will recall trips to the Gilcrease Museum. It’s a lovely place right on the border between the Osage Nation and Tulsa proper. The collection of Western art sometimes borders…
We need your stories about the city's hidden corners and unusual places.
Author David Grann shares powerful images from one of the FBI’s first major homicide investigations, which he details in his book, “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI."
VISIT THE OSAGE, your tourism one-stop spot for all of Osage County, Oklahoma including Pawhuska, home to the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, the Osage Nation, and more!
Set amongst the hills of northeastern Oklahoma is an epic canopy course that will take you on an incredible adventure with stunning views.
The Healing Rock at Skiatook Lake in Oklahoma is a historic site believed to have healing powers and is accessible via a short, scenic
VISIT THE OSAGE, your tourism one-stop spot for all of Osage County, Oklahoma including Pawhuska, home to the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, the Osage Nation, and more!
Planning a visit to Bluestem Falls in Pawhuska, Oklahoma? Here's everything you need to know to plan a perfect visit to Bluestem Lake Falls!
Trash is piling up on one of Tulsa's popular bike trails. The Osage Prairie Trail between OSU-Tulsa and Skiatook is seeing a lot of illegal dumping.
VISIT THE OSAGE, your tourism one-stop spot for all of Osage County, Oklahoma including Pawhuska, home to the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, the Osage Nation, and more!
Sam Pony Smith Sam P. Smith Sam Smith born circa 1883 in Tennessee with an incomplete cleft palate (but not a cleft lip) (but not a hare lip) In the 1880s as a youngin' with his folks, Sam left Tennessee in a covered wagon for Indian Territory. When Indian Territory became the 46th state, the state of Oklahoma, Sam was about 24 and married to the daughter of a 1st chief, Saucy Chief of the Beaver Clan. The capital of the Osage Reservation was named after Chief Pawhuska (Catholic) alternate spelling: Chief Pahuska Chief Paw-Hu-Ska Chief Paw-Hu-Skah Chief Paw-Hiu-Skah aka Cheveux Blanc = White Hair Pawhuska capital of the Osage Nation Pawhuska = NW of Tulsa Pawhuska = West of Bartlesville Pawhuska = closer to Bartlesville Other Osage villages = Hominy (South of Pawhuska) Gray Horse (SW of Pawhuska) Grayhorse (closer to Fairfax) Grey Horse Greyhorse (alternate spellings) Osage Reservation = Osage County: Pawhuska Hominy Fairfax (next to Gray Horse) Indian Territory when Sam arrived as a kid. Sam was about 24 at the time of statehood. Sam was married the year before statehood. 1907 Oklahoma Statehood (President Teddy Roosevelt) 14th Amendment guaranteed citizenship to persons born in the U.S., but only if "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" This clause excluded some indigenous people (e.g., citizens of Indian Nations, such as the Osage). 1924 - Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 The 1924 Act did not include indigenous people born before 1924 (including all of Sam's Osage kids). Indigenous people born before 1924 were not granted citizenship until the Nationality Act of 1940 provided that all born on U.S. soil were citizens. President Coolidge + Osage on White House Lawn 1924 thus Sam would have known all four Osage. Osage Reservation = Osage County Oklahoma's largest county. Hun-Kah = People of the Land People of the Middle Waters: Osage, Kaw (Kansas), Omaha + Ponca originated at the mouth of the Green River in Kentucky. Osage creation myth: flood waters drained into the Middle Water - the junction of these seven (7) rivers: Mississippi Ohio Missouri Wabash Arkansas Illinois Tennessee Living in villages along the Osage River, the Osage Indians roamed the land between three rivers: East = Mississippi River South = Arkansas River North = Missouri River These artworks are in the public domain because the copyrights have expired Charles Balthazar Julien Fevret de Saint-Mémim, 1770-1852 aka Charles Balthazar J.F. Saint-Memin aka Charles B.J. de Saint-Memin circa 1804-07 time period of Thomas Jefferson and Lewis + Clark. Saint-Memin was a French aristocrat working as an artist in Washington DC between the years 1804-07 when Native Americans whose lands had been acquired by the U.S. (as part of the Louisiana Purchase) came to the capital to meet President Thomas Jefferson. Saint-Memin created 15 portraits of natives of the plains. At least 3 of these were Osage: Note: plucked/shaved eyebrows shaved head + tuft of hair + pigtail + slit (not pierced) ear earrings "Cachasunghia, an Osage Warrior" - 1806 1806 watercolor and graphite 1894 photograph 1673 French Jesuit priest/explorer Jacques Marquette + French-Canadian explorer Louis Jolliet aka Joliet first to map the Mississippi River. Marquette enountered a band of Osage in what is now the state of Missouri French Jesuit Missionaries = Osage Mission, Kansas The Osage name for the Jesuits was "Black Robes" 1791 During George Washington's presidency, Paw-hiu-Skah fought against American troops in Ohio. He attempted to scalp an officer but the officer's powdered wig ("White Hair") came off in the Indian's hand. 1802 Osage Tribe split into: Greater Osage + Little Osage 1802 Chief Paw-hiu-Skah ("Pawhuska") settled his band near Pierre Chouteau's trading post on the Verdigris River, a tributary of the Arkansas River, in Indian Territory (what is now SE Kansas and NE Oklahoma) 1803 Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase included the Osage's land. 1804 Lewis + Clark The Great Osage on The Osage River a 360-miles tributary of The Missouri River in Indian Territory now called the State of Missouri 1808 First (of many) Osage Treaty w/ USA or 52,500,000 acres of Osage territory 1809 to USA (most of what later become the state of Missouri and northern Arkansas). (60 years till 1870 Osage gave up over 100-million acres) 1821 Missouri became a state - Osage relocated from Missouri to Kansas 1834 George Catlin painted several Osage at Fort Gibson. 1839 To end Osage-Cherokee hostilities, the U.S. government forced all Osage bands to leave what later became Oklahoma + Arkansas and relocate to what later became Kansas - where the Missouri Osage had been relocated in the early 1820s. 1854 Kansas opened for settlement 1861-2 U.S. Civil War (osage v. osage) Indian Agent Dorn was a Southerner Greater Osage = Confederate Osage Battalion Little Osage fought for the Union Old White Hair = neutral 1st Osage Battalion = 200 Osages Confederate States of America Major Broke Arm. Companies A + B + C Company A = Captain Augustus Captain (Ogeese Captaine) Company B = Captain Black Dog II Interpreter = Captain Louis Pharamond Chouteau 1862 Osage Reservation/County not included in the Homestead Act. 1866 14th Amendment passed but did not provide citizenship for Osage. 1866 Cherokee Treaty allowed only "civilized" tribes in the Cherokee Reservation. 1868 30-mile strip of land totaling 8,000,000+ acres sold to the Leavenworth, Lawrence + Galveston Railway for $1,6000,000. Interpreters were Augustus Captain + Louis Choteau. Signed with an "X" by Principal Chief White Hair, Black Dog, Strike Axe, Hard Rope, et al. But treaty was never ratified - see 1870. 1870 1868 treaty modified selling the land to the U.S. government for $1.25 acre. This was the final treaty which removed the Osage from Kansas to Oklahoma (then known as Indian Territory). 1871 Kansas Osage bought 1.5 million acres of Indian Territory (now N.E. Oklahoma) 3rd displacement in 46-years. 1872 Cherokee Tribe argued that the Osage were "Blanket Indians" who hunted buffalo and thus were not "civilized" circa 1883 birth of Sam in Tennessee 1886 birth of Minnie 1880s covered wagon-train 1884 Gray Horse's first trading post opened by Ed Finney the brother-in-law of John Florer, who was a trader in Pawhuska. 1889 Land Run (white homesteaders) 1890 U.S. Congress created "Oklahoma Territory" (17-years until statehood) 1890s Income from grazing grass-leases caused the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to call the Osage "the richest people on earth" 1897 oil discovered 1899 Peyote Faith introduced to the Osage possibly by a Comanche. Peyote from the Nahuatl (Aztec) word Peyotl The small spineless cactus grows in Mexico and the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, peyote is not indigenous to Oklahoma. 1906 Osage Allotment Act (Oil Royalties) 1906 birth of William Lookout (son of John) 1906 allottee listed as Mrs. Sam Smith 1907 "Oklahoma Territory" becomes "State of Oklahoma" 1908 Death of Chief James Bigheart "Big Jim" 1908 Round House built in Gray Horse (destroyed in 1963 by prairie fire) 1908 FBI founded 1918 Intertribal coalition of Peyotists achieved legal definition for their religion through the incorporation of the Native America Church of Oklahoma 1921-23 Osage murders FBI's first homicide case "Osage Reign of Terror" Author = Dennis McAuliffe (a "Washington Post" editor) 1924 future Osage granted U.S. citizenship 1924 Osage-owned/bred/trained horse named "Black Gold" won the Kentucky Derby. 1950 "Headright" holders had received more than $300-million in 44 years. Osage Capital = Pawhuska Saucy Chief Band = NW of Pawhuska both on Bird Creek Mrs. Sam Smith listed as Beaver Clan First delegation of Osage Indians - Lawrence, Kansas - 1873 Front Row #14 = Ogese Capton aka Ogese Captain aka Ogeese Captaine aka Augustus Captain(e): Osage-French half-breed #15 = Strike Ax Back Row #1 = Sam Bevenue, Chief of the half-breeds #2 = White Hair/Pawhuska #3 = Saucy Chief (will become Sam Smith's father-in-law in 1906) Sam's in-laws: Saucy Chief (1st Chief) and Ipisarkia Chief Osage Tribal Museum Archives + Library Allottee List Osage Nation, Oklahoma, Land Records: Index to Osage Allotment Cards Allottee Number: 0555 Roll Name: John Lookout father of William Lookout Allottee Number 0556 Roll Name: Minnie Smith Roll Name: Mrs. Sam Smith Heh-kah-mon-kah Sacred Eagle Official spelling: Heh-kah-mon-kah Alternate spellings: Hahn Kah Moankah Hun Kah Mohn Kah Hun Kah Mon Kahn Hunka Mon Kahn Beaver Clan born 1886 (standing) mother of William Lookout #2231 mother of Jeffrey Smith mother of Annie Smith mother of Harry Smith mother of Mamie Smith Mamie raised by her grandmother + grandfather Nannie J. (Jane?) Smith b. December 4, 1855 d. January 20, 1945 George W. Smith b. February 17, 1858 d. April 25, 1950 Sam Smith with his 1st wife (married 1906-1946, her death) Heh-kah-mon-kah (Sacred Eagle) aka Minnie and the first 2 of their 4 kids: Annie and Jeffrey (Jefferson) Harry + Mamie not yet born Minnie also had a son, William, born 1906, year she married Sam (William's father = John Lookout) Sam also had a daughter, Lazora Juanita Crossett Lazora Juanita's mother = Mildred Annetta Rotan Crossett (married Sam 1946, year of 1st wife's death) Jeffrey and Annie Smith Annie died of tuberculosis Annie was: born before 1924 died before 1940 thus was never a U.S. citizen R= Jefferson "Jeff" Smith brother of Sam Smith Wet Moccasins Snake Hide aka Grace Berry # 103 Wet Moccasins = Grace Snake Hide = Berry b. 1886-1917 1917: Spanish Flu brought to the USA by GIs returning from World War I I remember Sam "Pony" Smith talking about his friends "Bacon Rind" + Chief Fred Lookout Actually, the Lookout family + Tall Chief family + Tinker family "Bacon Rind" 1860 born in what is now Kansas. 1932 died at Pawhuska, Oklahoma Buried on a hill northeast of Pawhuska (the capitol of the Osage Nation) Last quarter-century of his life, "Bacon Rind" represented the Osage on his annual visits to Washington DC note: same medallion in three photos below Bacon Rind - 1900 - note: Tattoo on houlders and chest Bacon Rind - 1909 - note: feather fan Bacon Rind - 1916 - note: otter-skin cap Bacon Rind with Telephone. Note: beaded moccasins + otter-skin cap Left = Fred Lookout later Chief Lookout 3rd from left = Bacon Rind 1904 Chief Fred Lookout 1860 born in what is now Kansas. 1932 died at Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Back Center = Bacon Rind Back Left = Eaves Tall Chief 1906 Back Left = Eaves Tall Chief 1908 1894 Tall Chief 1925-20213 half-Osage Betty Marie Tall Chief later renamed Maria Tallchief America's First Prima Ballerina Father: Alex Tall Chief Birth name: Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief Nickname: Betty Marie School: Sacred Heart Catholic Born in Fairfax on the Osage Reservation 3-years old began ballet lessons in Oklahoma 8-years old moved to Beverly Hills, CA 12-17 years old studied Russian ballet with Madame Nijinska sister of Nijinsky. 15-years old danced her first solo-performance at Hollywood Bowl. Graduated from Beverly Hills High. 1942-47 Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, a Russian troupe based in New York City. Agnes de Mille suggested that she modify her name: Eliminate Elizabeth Change Marie to Maria Change Tall Chief to Tallchief (2 to 1 word) Married to George Balanchine (born Giorgi Melitonovitch Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia) Married 1946-52 (he was 21 years her senior) Balanchine and Tallchief moved to Paris. Her debut at the Paris Opera was the first for an American ballerina. 1947-65 Balanchine Ballet Society now called the New York City Ballet. At the New York City Ballet Tallchief became the prima (lead) ballerina. She was the first American dancer to achieve this title. She held that title for eighteen years - until she retired in 1965. Maria's younger sister, Marjorie Tallchief, was "premiere danseuse etoile" of the Paris Opera Ballet. 1981 Sisters, Maria + Marjorie, founded the Chicago City Ballet. She was presented with a National Medal of the Arts award by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1999. Three joint-chiefs: 1. Black Dog I 2. Pawhuska (White Hair) 3. Claremore Sam "Pony" Smith never mentioned the name "Black Dog" to me but he must have known Black Dog II Black Dog I (c.1780-1848) (note: battle axe + peace-pipe) painted by George Catlin - 1834 (1834 was just about the time photography was invented) Black Dog I died age 68 in 1848 Black Dog I = 6'6" or 7' Black Dog I = 250-300 lbs Black Dog I = blind left eye Black Dog II 1827-1910 1876 (note: battle axe) (14-years after he was Captain of Company B 1st Osage Battalion, C.S.A. Confederate States of America fought two battles in NW Arkansas during the Civil War) During the Civil War Large band of Osage fought for the South Small band of Osage fought for the North 1865 photograph (end of the civil war) Union soldier + Osage with peace pipe Tricky spellings: 1T allot 2T allottee 2T allotting 1T allotment 2T before a vowel 1T before a consonant According to the Smithsonian Institution The Osage name Ga-hi-ge-wa-da-in-ga translates: Playful Chief also called Saucy Chief According to the Smithsonian Institution he was born circa 1827 (?) and was the "Principal" Chief of the Osage Tribe. Principal Chief was also known as the 1st Chief.
