Council Oak Panel - Council Grove, KS
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 39.708 W 096° 29.053
14S E 718894 N 4282250
Treaty signed in 1825 to help in creating the Santa Fe Trail
Waymark Code: WMNFHQ
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 03/06/2015
Views: 2
County of site: Morris County
Location of site: US 56 (Main St., city park, Council Grove
Marker erected by: National Park Service and City of Council Grove
Marker text:
Council Oak
The hunting grounds of the Kaw (Kansa) and Osage Indians were located here when Americans and Mexicans began hauling trade goods over the Santa Fe Trail in 1821.
In 1825, in response to traders and merchants who eagerly sought trade with Mexicans, the U.S. Congress authorized that a road be surveyed and marked from the western frontier of Missouri to New Mexico.
A council was held in this oak grove among U.S. Commissioner George C. Sibley; Pa-hu-ska (White Hair), head chief of the Great Osages; and Ca-he-ga-wa-ton-ega (Foolish Chief), head chief of the Little Osages. On August 10, 1825, they signed a treaty granting passage through Osage territory for citizens of the United States and Mexico in exchange for $800 in cash, plus ribbons, tobacco, calico, and other goods.
Sibley named the site "Council Grove." Traders continued to use the name when referring to the site, and later on, to the small settlement found here by 1847. The community grew, and the town was incorporated in 1865.
Three U.S. commissioners were assigned to survey and mark the road to Santa Fe and gain the consent of American Indians whose lands it crossed. Mountain man "Old Bill" Williams served as translator.
The Kaw (Kansa) Indians were hunting buffalo to the west when the treaty was signed. Sibley caught up with them at Turkey Creek (near present-day McPherson) and signed an identical treaty with them six days later.