Chapter 10 Is moving again and so is the Wilson-Lambert wagon train.

Chapter 10 is moving again and the next adventure for our intrepid emigrants is just over the crest of a low hill ahead of them! Chance has now rejoined the train after his "encounter" with Otaktay, the violent and vengeful Sioux warrior. The gracious Pawnee chief, Pitalesharu, has given the emigrants fresh clear water from his spring but has not allowed general contact with his people by those in the wagon train as a way of protecting his people. It will take a few days of travel for the train to cross the lands of the Pawnee. These lands were ceded to them by the government of the United States and we've learned from reading of their experience just how badly our government treated some of the tribes of plains Indians.

I thoroughly enjoyed placing my characters with the Native Americans who were indigenous to the Nebraska prairie at the time of my fictional wagon train's passing. The character of Pitalesharu was particularly interesting although slightly confusing. The name itself, is actually the title shared by many great Pawnee chiefs from different tribal groups of the time period and my chief is a bit of a composite study of  those men. In the Pawnee tongue the name literally means "chief of men" or "man chief". Historians have also been confused as to who all of these men were, so I did not feel too badly with my presentation.

I found this picture in one of the many archives that I pored through in public libraries to help solidify a picture in my mind of the great Pawnee chief.

The Pawnee as with many other tribes did not deserve the treatment they received from our government in the name of "manifest destiny". The Pawnee story is particularly bittersweet since they were the one tribe that never took up arms against our government. The Pawnee did not war against the settlers, but became allies of the U.S. Army, providing them with scouts and warriors during the Indian Wars. Their allegiance to the U.S. was not rewarded, and in 1876 the Pawnee were forced to sell their land and relocated to Oklahoma.

It is my goal to share with my readers as much of the history associated with the passing of emigrants over the Oregon Trail as possible and to hopefully rekindle some interest in this time of growing pains for our young country.

 I wanted to end this post by wishing a goodbye in Pawnee, but "goodbye" is not a term used in most native American languages and Pawnee has no direct equivalent, so I will just tell you "until next time we see each other, "Good health and happy trails".