Frontier in Montgomery County

The land the railroad wanted was home to Osage (Wazhazhe) bands living in villages across what became Montgomery County. Andreas's 1883 history places Chetopa's band near the west end of Table Mound south of Elk River, Napawalla's on its north side, Big Hill or Governor Joe's village about six miles south of present Independence, and Black Dog's near the mouth of Onion Creek. Their agency stood near the mouth of Drum Creek. On September 10, 1870, at that agency, Pi-na-push-a, Che-to-pa, Black Dog, Strike-Axe and others signed for the sale of the Diminished Reserve.

What the plaque says

Frontier in Montgomery County The Sturgis Treaty (also known as the Drum Creek Treaty) has been described as a "stupendous wrong," a "brazen steal," and a "thoroughly planned fraud." Signed in 1868 and sent to the U.S. Senate for ratification, the treaty would have transferred 8 million acres of Osage land directly to the Leavenworth, Lawrence, & Galveston Railroad for just 20 cents an acre. The railroad, in turn, would pocket huge profits by selling the land to settlers. The federal government's lead negotiator for the treaty was William Sturgis, president of the Leavenworth, Lawrence, & Galveston. When Kansas officials learned as much, they raced to Washington, D.C., to expose the fraud and prevent ratification. The treaty was with- drawn, and a new one was negotiated in 1870, which paid the Osages $1.25 an acre and placed the land in the public domain. Erected by the State of Kansas

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Dalton Defenders Museum — 1.0 mi
  Coffeyville's museum named for the four townsmen killed on October 5, 1892, when the Dalton gang tried to rob two banks at once, across the street from the bank where the plan fell apart.
• Little House on the Prairie Museum — 14 mi
  The Ingalls family's claim of 1869 and 1870 southwest of Independence, a squatter's homestead on the Osage Diminished Reserve, with a replica cabin, schoolhouse and post office.

More markers nearby

• Drum Creek & the Civil War — 14 mi