=Indian Tribes in Kansas.= The western prairies had for untold ages been occupied by Indians. At the time of Pike’s expedition there were four tribes living within the present bounds of Kansas. These were the Kanza, the Osage, the Pawnee, and the Comanche tribes. The Kanza, or Kaw, Indians lived in the northeastern part of the State and were the ones seen by Lewis and Clark in their expedition up the Missouri River. It is from this tribe that Kansas probably received its name. The Osage Indians were located in the eastern part, south of the Kansas River. The Pawnee tribe lived north and west of the Kanza Indians. It was in the Osage village that Pike secured supplies for his journey, and in the Pawnee village that he caused the Spanish flag to be lowered. The Pawnees were once called the Quiviras. The first of their tribe that we know anything about was “Turk,” who led Coronado into the wilderness. These three tribes lived in permanent homes and had their tribal villages, but the fourth tribe were wanderers. They were the Comanches, sometimes called the Padoucas, and they roved over the western part of Kansas and adjacent territory, hunting buffaloes and following the herds as they grazed from place to place. They were fine horsemen, and brave, but very fierce and warlike. =The Kansas of a Century Ago.= This was the Kansas of a century ago. At that time it had received neither name nor boundaries. For the first fifty years that this region was a part of the United States, that is, from the purchase of Louisiana until Kansas was organized as a territory in 1854, the country was little used by the white people except as a pathway to the West. SUMMARY President Jefferson, wishing to learn something of the unknown western country, sent out two exploring expeditions. The first, in 1804, was in charge of Lewis and Clark, who were to follow the Missouri River and to go on across the mountains until they reached the Pacific coast. They passed along the northeast border of Kansas. The next exploring party was in command of Pike. His route was somewhat in the form of a circle. Beginning at St. Louis it was to pass through Kansas, then south, then east, and up the Mississippi to St. Louis. He visited the Osage Indians in eastern Kansas, the Pawnee Indians in northern Kansas where he raised the American flag, and then marched into Colorado where he discovered Pike’s Peak. From Colorado he went into what is now New Mexico, where he was taken prisoner by the Spaniards. They took him nearly to the Mississippi River and released him. On his return he reported this country as unfit for settlement, and his opinion was shared by later explorers. At the time of Pike’s expedition there were four tribes of Indians in Kansas, the Osages, the Kanzas, the Pawnees, and the Comanches. REFERENCES