Battle of Claremore Mound

The Battle of Claremore Mound, also known as the Battle of the Strawberry Moon or the Claremore Mound Massacre, was one of the chief battles of the war between the Osage and Cherokee Indians. It occurred in June, 1817,^{[lower-alpha 1]} when a band of Western Cherokees and their allies under Chief Spring Frog (Too-an-tuh) attacked Pasuga, an Osage village at the foot of Claremore Mound (in present-day Rogers County, Oklahoma). During the two-day battle, the Cherokees killed or captured every member of Chief Clermont's band and destroyed everything they could not carry away. Historians consider it one of the bloodiest Native American massacres in modern history.^[1]

Conflict between Osages and Cherokees

On November 19, 1808, at Fort Clark, Kansas, the Osage Nation made a treaty with the United States, ceding all of its land east of a line that ran south from Fort Clark to the Arkansas River and all of its land west of the Missouri River.^{[lower-alpha 2]} The land left to the Osage Nation was further reduced by treaties signed at St. Louis (June 2, 1825, Fort Gibson (January 11, 1839) and Canville, Kansas (September 29, 1865).

According to Eaton, the Osages established two main villages about 1800, when they migrated to the area between the Verdigris and Grand River. These were called Pasona (near present-day Claremore, Oklahoma) and Pasuga (at the foot of Claremore Mound).^{[2][lower-alpha 3]}

About 1760, a portion of the Cherokee tribe who had been living in the Southeastern United States, had begun moving to land claimed by other tribes west of the Mississippi River. This produced a long period of conflict between the Western Cherokees (as the migrants had become known) and the Osage, a more warlike tribe that dominated the Plains area in today's Kansas, southwestern Missouri and northeastern Oklahoma. Soon the Osage began raiding Cherokee towns, stealing horses, carrying off captives (usually women and children), and killing others, trying to drive out the invaders. Cherokees retaliated in kind, but were ineffective at stopping the raids. By 1817, an estimated three thousand Western Cherokees had settled in the area known as Arkansas.^[3]

The Cherokee-led attack

In January 1817 the Arkansas Cherokee began planning a retaliatory attack against the Osage and began asking their relatives from the east to aid them in a battle against the Osage. They also asked for help from the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Delaware, and others, including whites, .^[3]

The Cherokees knew that Osage men left their villages lightly guarded during the Strawberry Moon to go on a long distance hunt for bison.^{[lower-alpha 4][4]} Therefore, this would be the most opportune time to attack.

The Cherokees were enraged by the treatment they had endured at the hands of the Osage, which helped offset the greater personal strength of most Osage warriors. They also had another advantage over the Osage because they had more modern weapons - rifles, and were well-experienced in their use. The Osage relied on traditional bows and arrows, as well as a small number of old muskets.

500 Cherokee, along with a number of Choctaws, Chickasaws and whites, convened at a place on the Arkansas River, where the modern city of Russellville, Arkansas now stands. They traveled upriver into Indian Territory and went overland to the Osage villages.^{[lower-alpha 5]} After luring out a representative of the Southern Osage the attack began in which the invading party killed thirty-eight Osage and took one hundred and four captives.^{[lower-alpha 6]} According to Eaton, Chief Clermont was present at the time of the attack and was killed during the fighting. He was later buried on Claremore Mound.^[2] Another source indicates that Pasuga was attacked first, and that the inhabitants of Pasona had been alerted by the sounds and smells of smoke when the marauders burned the village. The Pasugans hid in a cave previously discovered and prepared as a hideout by Black Dog, who had gone on the buffalo hunt also. Thus, they were unharmed by the raid on their own village and were even able to feed and care for the few survivors from Pasuga.^[5]

The aftermath

The warriors of the Osage people, had been out on the hunt when their town was decimated. In an attempt to maintain peace with the U.S. government they chose not to retaliate immediately. The Osages that were taken captive were sold to the eastern Cherokee for payment for their contributions in the battle. In December of the same year the United States started constructing Fort Smith between the Cherokee and Osage settlements and the following summer the Osage were forced by the U.S. to cede more land to the Cherokees that were settling in the area because of the apparent Cherokee victory at the Battle of Claremore Mound.

In December 1818, the U.S. government began construction of a fort on the Arkansas River, close to the western border of Arkansas Territory. When completed, Fort Smith was staffed with troops whose primary mission was to prevent further hostilities between the Osage and the Western Cherokees. In 1824, this function was transferred to Fort Gibson, which was built near the confluence of the Grand River and Verdigris River in Indian Territory. Fort Smith was then abandoned until a replacement was constructed several years later.

The Osage continued to live in the area until they moved to the Osage Reservation in 1839.^[3]

Site marker

The Oklahoma Historical Society erected a marker at the site of the battle. Coordinate for the marker are 36° 22.919′ N, 95° 37.972′ W. It is about 5.4 miles (8.7 km) north of the Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore on State Highway 88.^[6]

See also

• List of battles fought in Oklahoma

Notes

Sources

• Eaton, Rachel Caroline. "The Legend of the Battle of Claremore Mound", Chronicles of Oklahoma 8:4 (December 1930) 369-376 (retrieved August 16, 2006).
• Rollings, Willard H. "The Osage: An Ethnohistorical Study of Hegemony on the Prairie-Plains." (University of Missouri Press, 1992) 230-255
• Mathews, John Joseph. "The Osages: Children of the Middle Waters." (University of Oklahoma Press, 1961) 416-418

External links

• Rogers County, Oklahoma
• Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Claremore's Mound, Battle of

References