The State Historical Society of Missouri COLUMBIA, MISSOURI (Siif^Iaisiiiaisiissisiaissiisisisiaiisiisisiisis IK
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The State Historical Society of Missouri COLUMBIA, MISSOURI (Siif^iaisiiiaisiissisiaissiisisisiaiisiisisiisis IK. M & THE COVER: Thomas Hart Ben- M g ton began the initial drawings of H J§ the front cover illustration "Shal- JS M low Creek" in 1938 and completed fl g a painting of the subject the g] ig same year, A year later an edition || j§ of 250 lithographs was prepared jlj jE of "Shallow Creek" and one of B jg the lithographs is reproduced on || & the cover. The figure in "Shallow pj & Creek" is Benton's son wading in M fw' 'SI jg a small stream in the Ozarks. ^ MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW Published Quarterly by THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI COLUMBIA, MISSOURI RICHARD S. BROWNLEE EDITOR DOROTHY CALDWELL ASSOCIATE EDITOR JAMES W. GOODRICH ASSOCIATE EDITOR The MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW is owned by the State Historical Society of Missouri and is published quarterly at 201 South Eighth Street, Columbia, Missouri 65201. Send communi cations, business and editorial correspondence and change of address to The State Historical Society of Missouri, corner of Hitt and TjOwry Streets, Columbia, Missouri 65201. Second class postage is aid at Columbia, Missouri. VOLUME LXV The REVIEW is sent free to all members of The State Historical ciety of Missouri. Membership dues in the Society are $2.00 a \r or $40 for an individual life membership. The Society assumes * NUMBER 3 responsibility for statements made by contributors to the APRIL, 1971 THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI The State Historical Society of Missouri, heretofore organized under the laws of the State, shall be the trustee of this State—Laws of Missouri, 1899, R.S. of Mo., 1959, Chapter 183. OFFICERS 1968-71 T. BALLARD WATTERS, Marshfield, President L. E. MEADOR, Springfield, First Vice President LEWIS E. ATHERTON, Columbia, Second Vice President RUSSELL V. DYE, Liberty, Third Vice President JACK STAPLETON, SR., Stanberry, Fourth Vice President MRS. AVIS TUCKER, Warrensburg, Fifth Vice President REV. JOHN F. BANNON, S.J., St. Louis, Sixth Vice President ALBERT M. PRICE, Columbia, Treasurer FLOYD C. SHOEMAKER, Columbia, Secretary Emeritus and Consultant RICHARD S. BROWNLEE, Columbia, Director, Secretary and Librarian TRUSTEES Permanent Trustees, Former Presidents of the Society RUSH H. LIMBAUGH, Cape Girardeau LEO J. ROZIER, Perryville GEORGE A. ROZIER, Jefferson City E. E. SWAIN, Kirksville ROY D. WILLIAMS, Boonville Term Expires at Annual Meeting, 1971 LEWIS E. ATHERTON, Columbia R. I. COLBORN, Paris ROBERT A. BOWLING, Montgomery City RICHARD B. FOWLER, Kansas City FRANK P. BRIGGS, Macon VICTOR A. GIERKE, Louisiana HENRY A. BUNDSCHU, Independence ROBERT NAGEL JONES, St. Louis Term Expires at Annual Meeting, 1972 GEORGE MCCUE, St. Louis RONALD L. SOMERVILLE, Chillicothe L. E. MEADOR, Springfield JACK STAPLETON, SR., Stanberry W. WALLACE SMITH, Independence HENRY C. THOMPSON, Bonne Terre ROBERT M. WHITE, Mexico Term Expires at Annual Meeting, 1973 WILLIAM AULL, III, Lexington *GEORGE FULLER GREEN, Kansas City WILLIAM R. DENSLOW, Trenton *GEORGE H. SCRUTON, Sedalia ELMER ELLIS, Columbia JAMES TODD, Moberly ALFRED O. FUERBRINGER, St. Louis T. BALLARD WATTERS, Marshfield EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE The twenty-nine Trustees, the President and the Secretary of the Society, the Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, and President of the University of Missouri constitute the Executive Committee. FINANCE COMMITTEE Four members of the Executive Committee appointed by the President, who by virtue of his office constitutes the fifth member, compose the Finance Committee. ELMER ELLIS, Columbia, Chairman WILLIAM R. DENSLOW, Trenton LEO J. ROZIER, Perryville GEORGE A. ROZIER, Jefferson City T. BALLARD WATTERS, Marshfield * Deceased qwaiKiigigiis NEW SOCIETY MEMBERSHIPS The State Historical Society of Missouri is always interested in obtaining new members. For more than seventy years thousands of Missourians who have be longed to the Society have been responsible primarily for building its great research collections and libraries. They have given it the support which makes it the largest organization of its type in the United States. The quest for interested new members goes on continually, and your help is solicited in obtaining them. In every family, and in every community, there are individuals who are sincerely interested in the collection, preservation and dissemination of the his tory of Missouri. Why not nominate these people for membership? Annual dues are only $2.00, Life Memberships $40.00. Richard S. Brownlee Director and Secretary State Historical Society of Missouri Hitt and Lowry Streets Columbia, Missouri 65201 CONTENTS THE UPPER MISSOURI INDIAN AGENCY, 1819-1868. Bv Ernest L. Sclutsky 249 JACKSON COUNTY IN EARLY MORMON DESCRIPTIONS. BV Richard L. Anderson 270 SLAVERY AND EMANCIPATION IN LEWIS COUNTY, MISSOURI. Bv George R. Lee 294 THE TRUMAN VICE PRESIDENCY: CONSTRUCTIVE APPRENTICESHIP OR BRIEF INTERLUDE? By Arthur F. McClure and Donna Costigan 318 HISTORICAL NOTES AND COMMENTS Dedication of First Capitol Inaugurates Missouri's Sesqu[centennial . 342 Errata 343 Dorothy V. Jones and Society's REVIEW Receive Awards 344 Editorial Policv 345 Views from the Past: Missouri Religious Life 346 News in Brief 348 Local Historical Societies 349 Gifts 362 Missouri History in Newspapers 366 Missouri History in Magazines 370 In Memoriam 373 BOOK REVIEWS 375 BOOK NOTES 379 A HISTORIC RACE 386 INDEX TO VOLUME LXV, NOS. 1, 2 & 3 389 LIT LEA ST. CLAIR MOSS Inside Back Cover iv _ ^.....,—.^ r~> •<: -» \-p. '" -.. ... ^"S :.*>^-f **?**+/**/ George Gray, Artizt The Upper Missouri Indian Agency 18194868 BY ERNEST L. SCHUSKY* To many people the term "Indian Agency" is synonymous with Indian reservation. Indians themselves interchange the words. Thus, it might be assumed that reservations have a long existence because "agencies" appeared fairly early in the government's con tact with Indians, and it might be further assumed that "reservation policy" must be well thought out because of its long existence. An examination of the history of one agency illustrates how mistaken these assumptions are. The history of the Upper Missouri Agency indicates that agencies were established primarily as an extension of Congress' right to regulate trade with the Indian tribes, the Constitution's only reference to Indians. Secondarily, the govern ment hoped to maintain peace on the frontier, but with a minimum *Ernest L. Schusky received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He is currently a professor of Anthropology at Southern Illinois University, Edwards- ville. 249 Benjamin O'Fallon Hist. Sites of Jefferson Co. of expenditure or effort.1 Reservations, for the most part, were later established around the agencies, but they resulted from a policy of white expansion and a major effort toward federal acquisition of land. The effects of reservation life on Indians were hardly con sidered; indeed, reservation policy had simply grown with no systematic thought about the consequences. Although the reserva tion had its conception in the agency, the offspring is quite different from the parent; the Upper Missouri Agency illustrates, in some measure, how these differences grew. The Upper Missouri Agency was authorized by an Act of Congress on March 3, 1819, that designated the annual salary of the agent.2 William Clark, the regional superintendent for most of the Northwest, was so occupied with events on the Upper Missis sippi that it was some time before an agent could be appointed and assume duties near Council Bluffs. The responsibility for the Upper Missouri Agency initially rested in the hands of agent Benjamin O'Fallon who reported to Superintendent Clark in St. Louis. In turn, Clark reported to Secretary John C. Calhoun. Poli tics and patronage resulted in a fairly rapid turnover of agents, but Clark served as superintendent for a vast area of frontier until his death in 1839. It is difficult to determine the character of the early agents or fully understand their attitude toward Indians. Few i Roger Nichols, "Martin Cantonment and American Expansion in the Mis souri Valley," MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW, LXIV (October, 1969) , 1-17. 2 Richard Peters, The Public Statutes at Large, III (Boston, 1846) , 514. The Upper Missouri Indian Agency 251 of the agents served more than two years, and often they fulfilled their duties in the summer months. None of them showed any great affinity for Indians. Their correspondence frequently justifies trips to St. Louis or the East. For example, one of O'Fallon's first letters on record was a request for a leave of absence even though he recognized a paternalistic obligation. He begged leave "knowing that absence from my station will produce much disappointment to my charges, and greatly interferes in progressing in improving the character and disposition of my Indians which I had flattered myself I had much improved but much was left to be done."3 Actually, the government seemed more anxious to simply keep the peace and promote the fur trade. Army commanders, who could not frequently leave their posts, as did the agents, reported regularly to the Secretary of War on the condition of the tribes. These men often shouldered the responsibilities of an absent agent in making peace. The lack of any physical facilities for the Upper Missouri Agency indicates its priority. The agent was assumed to reside at Council Bluffs with the army. Agent O'Fallon was soon joined by two sub-agents, but for a long time the three men maneuvered to spend much time at Fort Leavenworth, St. Louis, Washington or even their home towns as far away as Virginia and Pennsylvania. The initial zeal of agents sometimes lasted as much as a year, but Dakota winters were discouraging, a lack of quarters brought an embarrassing dependence on the army or fur traders, and life was lonely. Early in 1826 O'Fallon resigned his position for reasons of health. In his long correspondence he enumerated the difficulties of life while fulfilling bureaucratic obligations, but rarely did he mention Indians.