Not many people have heard of the Ponca tribe, unless they have gone to Ponca City, Oklahoma (named for the Ponca tribe). This is an article I wrote for a historical publication not too long ago.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PONCA PEOPLE
by "Historian"
Traditions common to the Ponca, Omaha, Kansa, Osage and Quapaw give evidence that they were once a people living as a single group in the northern Kentucky, southern Ohio and southern Indiana area along the Ohio River, and may have their earliest roots in the Middle Mississipian Culture known to exist in that area between 800 and 1550 AD (Howard, 1965, pp. 1-6) Their similar language, being the Dhegiha dialect of the Siouan language family, along with the traditional tribal organization, offers strong evidence for this. Most of the anthropological literature agrees with this main point, including the evidence that during a migration to the north and west, the larger Dhegihan group split up, forming separate tribes. The Ponca and the Omaha being the last to separate. See (Dorsey, 1884, pp. 211-213); (Riggs, 1893, p. 190); (McGee, 1897, p. 191); (Dorsey & Thomas, 1910, pp. 278-279); (Swanton, 1910, pp. 156-158); (Fletcher & LaFlesche, 1911, pp. 38-39); (Skinner, 1915, p. 779); (Howard, 1965, pp. 14-16). One traditional account of the ancient migrations says that the Ponca, Omaha, Kansa, Osage and Quapaw were know collectively in their early language as HoN-ga, meaning "leader."
Prior to 1500, this collective group traveled from their original home in the southeast, down the Ohio River to it's mouth. (Dorsey, 1886, p. 218) When they arrived at the Mississippi River the group was separated when trying to cross. Those that traveled upriver were known as U-moN-hoN meaning "against the current" or "upstream." The U-moN-hoN or Omaha was also comprised of the Ponca, Osage and Kansa. The group that traveled down river earned the name U-ga-xpa or Quapaw, meaning "with the current" or "downstream." The Quapaw continued south along the east bank of the Mississippi River into what is now Arkansas, and these descriptive names were already in place by the time Hernando de Soto met the Quapaw tribe when he crossed the Mississippi River in 1541. (Fletcher & LaFlesche, 1911, p. 36) and (Baird, 1989, p. 14)
The name for the Ponca has been interpreted by some authorities as "that which is sacred" (Mails, 1985, p. 308), yet certain members of the Ponca tribe believe it comes from the Ponca word Pah-ca meaning "nose" or "that part of the face that goes before the rest of the body." Other interpretations include "sacred head" and "gentle leader," though these are speculations at best and no one living knows for sure.
Later during the 1600s, the Ponca, Omaha, Osage and Kansa that went upriver along the Mississippi, stayed for a time near present day Osage and Gasconde Counties in Missouri, west of present day St. Louis. At this time they were joined by the Iowa, who belong to the Chiwere dialect of the Siouan language group, similar to the Oto and Missouri tribes.
Then another separation took place at the mouth of the Osage River near present day Jefferson City, Missouri, as the Osage and the Kansa broke off from the Omaha, Ponca and Iowa. It is believed that the Kansa (aka the Kaw), followed the Kaw River into what is now northeastern Kansas, and the Osage followed the Osage River into central Missouri. (Duncan, 1997, p. 33) It is then believed that the Omaha, Ponca and Iowa proceeded slowly northward through present day Missouri, and into present day Iowa. They migrated up the Des Moines River to its headwaters in what is now Minnesota and built a village for a time near the Pipestone Quarries.
Historical and archaeological evidence verifies that the Omaha, Ponca and Iowa as a group, then traveled west to build a fortified village on the Big Sioux River, north of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. (Howard, 1965, p. 15)
The Rev. James O. Dorsey, for many years a missionary and amateur ethnographer among the Ponca and the Omaha in the late 19th Century, states that later the neighboring Yankton Dakota tribe made war on the Omaha, Ponca and Iowa while they camped on the Big Sioux River, which forced the group to travel west to the present day site of Lake Andes, in Choteau County, South Dakota. It is believed that it was here, prior to 1673, that the Omaha's Sacred Cedar Pole was cut, an important religious object, and afterward the Omaha assigned each clan and sub-clan its particular customs and duties. (Dorsey, 1884, pp. 211-213) Both Omaha and Ponca legends say they were living in a village near a lake when the Sacred Cedar Pole was found.
It was in this same area that Omaha and Ponca oral history say that the Omaha, Ponca and Iowa first encountered the Arikara, who at that time occupied territory in northeastern Nebraska. At first they warred with the Arikara, but later a peace was determined by performing the Wa-waN or Calumet Ceremony. Then a grand council was establish to reach an agreement on the terms of the peace, and rules of war and hunting. (Fletcher & LaFlesche, 1911, p. 218) It is also believe that it was at this time that the Arikara showed the Omaha, Ponca, Iowa group how to build an earthlodge, and in return, the Omaha gave the Arikara permission to perform certain aspects of the Hethuska Society traditions and dances. (Howard, 1965, p. 14) (Duncan, 1997, p. 33)
In the early 1700s, the Omaha, Ponca and Iowa migrated up the Missouri River to the mouth of the White River in South Dakota. In his work titled, Known Village Sites of the Ponca , Dr. James H. Howard cites evidence that the Ponca continued westward to the Black Hills, while the Omaha and Iowa remained in the vicinity of the White River around 1715. (Howard, 1970, p. 131) Later, it is believed, the Ponca returned to build a village with the Omaha and the Iowa at the mouth of the White River.
Then the Ponca migrated by themselves, downstream along the Missouri River, then pushed westward and settled in Nebraska near the Niobrara River. According to Dorsey (1884, pp. 211-213) and Howard (1965, p. 11), the Ponca built a fortified village by themselves by Ponca Creek near the Niobrara River when the group reached the vicinity of present day Niobrara, Nebraska, in what is now Knox County. This archaeological site known as "Ponca Fort," has been dated to circa 1700, and closely resembles the Middle Mississippian fortified towns found in Ohio which date to 800 through 1550.
During this time, the Omaha and Iowa pushed further south along the Missouri River to build a village at Covington, Nebraska in present day Dakota County. Then, according to John L. Champe (cited by Wood, 1959, p. 10), the Omaha and Iowa continued moving further south to build a village along Bow Creek near present day Wynot, Nebraska in Cedar County about 1735. However, attacks on the Omaha and Iowa villages by the Dakotas forced both the Omaha and the Iowa to leave the "Bad Village" site and migrate further south along the Missouri River.
By 1770, the Omaha had migrated to a site on Omaha Creek to build a fortified earthlodge village by themselves which they called "Big Village" in present day Thurston County, Nebraska.
The Iowa continued further south almost to the Platte River, making a village near present day Florence, Nebraska in Douglas County. From that time, the Iowa never again built a village near the Omaha. (Fletcher & LaFlesche, 1911, p. 86)
Throughout the 1700s the Ponca were referenced in various maps and literature as living between Ponca Creek and the Niobrara River in north-central Nebraska. The Ponca made first contact with Spanish traders in 1789, and in 1790 their estimated population was approximately three thousand strong. (Duncan, 1997, p. 59) The Ponca then made first contact with French traders in 1794. Soon, the Ponca learned the value of being the middlemen in trade between Europeans and those tribes along the upper Missouri, and in 1795 they began the practice of stopping and raiding trading craft as they went up the Missouri River. (Howard, 1965, p. 25)
By the time the Lewis and Clark expedition reached the Ponca village in September 1804, on the lower side of Ponca Creek, about two miles from the Missouri River, the Ponca had become quite familiar with Europeans. Unfortunately, this association with Europeans had caused a smallpox epidemic among the Ponca in 1800 prior to Lewis and Clark's arrival, which significantly reduced their number. (James, 1823, p. 225)
During the War of 1812, the Ponca and the Omaha allied with the United States, while the Sauk, who held territories northeast of the Omaha, allied with the British. Involvement in this warfare continued to reduce the population of the Ponca. Formal relations between the Ponca and the United States did not begin however, until 1817. It was then that the first Treaty was made between the Ponca and the U.S. to establish "perpetual peace and friendship." (Howard, 1965, p. 27)
In the early 1800s, the Ponca were still a semi-sedentary tribe living in earthlodges that the Arikara taught they and the Omaha how to construct. They planted corn and other crops, hunted buffalo occasionally and traded for many of their goods. However, they were vulnerable from attack by larger nomadic tribes as evidenced by an event that took place in 1824. Peter Wilson, acting on behalf of Maj. Benjamin O¡¦Fallon, visited a group of Ponca at the mouth of the Niobrara River. Upon arriving, he learned that a party of 30 Ponca men had been returning home from a friendly visit with the Oglala Lakota to the north, when they were attacked by a group of Brule or Sicangu Lakota. Of the 30 Ponca, only 12 returned alive. Among the 18 killed was the famous Ponca Chief, Shu-de-ga-xe or "Smoke Maker" (the first of this name) as it was translated. (Report of P. Wilson to B. O'Fallon, 1824, National Archives, St. Louis Superintendency)
In 1825 another treaty with the Ponca was made, in which the Ponca acknowledged that they lived within the "territorial limits of the United States" thereby recognizing the supremacy of the larger force of the U.S. government. This treaty also stated that only "American Citizens" were to be allowed to reside among the tribe as traders, as was the custom at that time, and the tribe agreed to delegate the punishment of offenders to the United States Government, giving American traders an advantage over French and Spanish traders in the area. This was followed in 1826 by yet another Treaty, in which the Federal Government agreed to receive the Ponca "...into their friendship and under their protection." It should be noted, that there are no records that exist to date, showing that any member of the Ponca Tribe have ever killed white settlers or soldiers, or have ever taken up arms against the United States of America. A fact that still provides modern-day Ponca with a certain level of pride.
Since the "War of 1812," the Sauk tribe had continued to make war on the Omaha and the Ponca earthlodge villages which lay between the Sauk territory and the buffalo herds to the west. It was not until after the United States military subdued the Sauk in 1834 during the Black Hawk War, that the Ponca and the Omaha gained some relief. (O'Shea & Ludwickson, 1992, pp. 36-39) By 1835, a Cholera epidemic killed an estimated 10% of the Ponca tribe's population, further reducing their number to approximately 700 persons. (Howard, 1965, p. 24)
During the 1830s the Ponca were generally thought to be allies with elements of the Yankton Dakota and the Teton Lakota and frequently joined with them in warfare against the Pawnee. This was believed to be a means of self-preservation for the now smaller tribe of Ponca, whose lands were in-between the Lakota and Pawnee territories. However, the larger tribe of Pawnee frequently made war on the Ponca when their northern allies were not around. Occasionally, small elements of the Lakota would sometimes raid the Ponca as well, taking horses or stealing corn they had grown. As time progressed, the Ponca and other semi-sedentary tribes along the upper Missouri River, such as the Omaha, Arikara, Pawnee, Mandan and Hidatsa, who were attached to their earthlodge villages and cornfields, were no match for the nomadic Dakota and Lakota, who were very mobile, well-armed and always knew the exact strength and precise location of these tribes.
In the summer of 1846, an advanced party of 400 Mormons were heading west to find a route through the Rocky Mountains after being driven from their homes in Nauvoo, Illinois earlier that year.
At the direction of Brigham Young, who stayed with the main group of Mormons in the Council Bluffs/Omaha area, this advance party traveled along the north side of the Platte River to a deserted Pawnee village on the Loup River near present day Genoa, Nebraska. (Tibbitts, 2003, p. 1) While the Mormons were there, nine Ponca Chiefs and sub-Chiefs arrived on the 8th of August 1846, intending to seek peace negotiations with the Pawnee. These Chiefs were documented by the Mormons as:
Buffalo Bull - Head Chief, also know as Little Bear.
Two Bulls - son of Buffalo Bull, who becomes Head Chief when his father dies in September 1846.
Black Warrior - a Chief of the 2nd Rank, and nephew of Buffalo Bull.
Buffalo Chip - a Chief of the 2nd Rank when Black Warrior dies in August 1846.
Iron Whip - Principle Chief of Gray Blanket Village, and brother of Two Bulls.
White Eagle - son of Iron Whip, with hereditary rites.
Drum - Principle Chief of Fish Smell Village.
Smoke Maker - a Chief of the 2nd Rank, and son of the Chief of the same name who was killed by the Sicangu Lakota in 1824.
Little Chief - son of Smoke Maker, with hereditary rites.
Finding that the Pawnee had deserted the village, the nine Ponca Chiefs invited the Mormons to spend the winter with them. The Mormons were given some provisions to tide them over and assigned a camp near the Gray Blanket Village near the junction of the Niobrara and Missouri Rivers. (Tibbitts, 2003, p. 4)
There were many Mormons who wrote journals about their life and enjoyable experiences among the Ponca. The Ponca Chief Iron Whip indicated the best route for the Mormons to follow when they continued on their journey west in April of 1847. Later in 1847 the Mormons settled in the Rocky Mountains in what is now Salt Lake City, Utah.
continued...
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PONCA PEOPLE
by "Historian"
Traditions common to the Ponca, Omaha, Kansa, Osage and Quapaw give evidence that they were once a people living as a single group in the northern Kentucky, southern Ohio and southern Indiana area along the Ohio River, and may have their earliest roots in the Middle Mississipian Culture known to exist in that area between 800 and 1550 AD (Howard, 1965, pp. 1-6) Their similar language, being the Dhegiha dialect of the Siouan language family, along with the traditional tribal organization, offers strong evidence for this. Most of the anthropological literature agrees with this main point, including the evidence that during a migration to the north and west, the larger Dhegihan group split up, forming separate tribes. The Ponca and the Omaha being the last to separate. See (Dorsey, 1884, pp. 211-213); (Riggs, 1893, p. 190); (McGee, 1897, p. 191); (Dorsey & Thomas, 1910, pp. 278-279); (Swanton, 1910, pp. 156-158); (Fletcher & LaFlesche, 1911, pp. 38-39); (Skinner, 1915, p. 779); (Howard, 1965, pp. 14-16). One traditional account of the ancient migrations says that the Ponca, Omaha, Kansa, Osage and Quapaw were know collectively in their early language as HoN-ga, meaning "leader."
Prior to 1500, this collective group traveled from their original home in the southeast, down the Ohio River to it's mouth. (Dorsey, 1886, p. 218) When they arrived at the Mississippi River the group was separated when trying to cross. Those that traveled upriver were known as U-moN-hoN meaning "against the current" or "upstream." The U-moN-hoN or Omaha was also comprised of the Ponca, Osage and Kansa. The group that traveled down river earned the name U-ga-xpa or Quapaw, meaning "with the current" or "downstream." The Quapaw continued south along the east bank of the Mississippi River into what is now Arkansas, and these descriptive names were already in place by the time Hernando de Soto met the Quapaw tribe when he crossed the Mississippi River in 1541. (Fletcher & LaFlesche, 1911, p. 36) and (Baird, 1989, p. 14)
The name for the Ponca has been interpreted by some authorities as "that which is sacred" (Mails, 1985, p. 308), yet certain members of the Ponca tribe believe it comes from the Ponca word Pah-ca meaning "nose" or "that part of the face that goes before the rest of the body." Other interpretations include "sacred head" and "gentle leader," though these are speculations at best and no one living knows for sure.
Later during the 1600s, the Ponca, Omaha, Osage and Kansa that went upriver along the Mississippi, stayed for a time near present day Osage and Gasconde Counties in Missouri, west of present day St. Louis. At this time they were joined by the Iowa, who belong to the Chiwere dialect of the Siouan language group, similar to the Oto and Missouri tribes.
Then another separation took place at the mouth of the Osage River near present day Jefferson City, Missouri, as the Osage and the Kansa broke off from the Omaha, Ponca and Iowa. It is believed that the Kansa (aka the Kaw), followed the Kaw River into what is now northeastern Kansas, and the Osage followed the Osage River into central Missouri. (Duncan, 1997, p. 33) It is then believed that the Omaha, Ponca and Iowa proceeded slowly northward through present day Missouri, and into present day Iowa. They migrated up the Des Moines River to its headwaters in what is now Minnesota and built a village for a time near the Pipestone Quarries.
Historical and archaeological evidence verifies that the Omaha, Ponca and Iowa as a group, then traveled west to build a fortified village on the Big Sioux River, north of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. (Howard, 1965, p. 15)
The Rev. James O. Dorsey, for many years a missionary and amateur ethnographer among the Ponca and the Omaha in the late 19th Century, states that later the neighboring Yankton Dakota tribe made war on the Omaha, Ponca and Iowa while they camped on the Big Sioux River, which forced the group to travel west to the present day site of Lake Andes, in Choteau County, South Dakota. It is believed that it was here, prior to 1673, that the Omaha's Sacred Cedar Pole was cut, an important religious object, and afterward the Omaha assigned each clan and sub-clan its particular customs and duties. (Dorsey, 1884, pp. 211-213) Both Omaha and Ponca legends say they were living in a village near a lake when the Sacred Cedar Pole was found.
It was in this same area that Omaha and Ponca oral history say that the Omaha, Ponca and Iowa first encountered the Arikara, who at that time occupied territory in northeastern Nebraska. At first they warred with the Arikara, but later a peace was determined by performing the Wa-waN or Calumet Ceremony. Then a grand council was establish to reach an agreement on the terms of the peace, and rules of war and hunting. (Fletcher & LaFlesche, 1911, p. 218) It is also believe that it was at this time that the Arikara showed the Omaha, Ponca, Iowa group how to build an earthlodge, and in return, the Omaha gave the Arikara permission to perform certain aspects of the Hethuska Society traditions and dances. (Howard, 1965, p. 14) (Duncan, 1997, p. 33)
In the early 1700s, the Omaha, Ponca and Iowa migrated up the Missouri River to the mouth of the White River in South Dakota. In his work titled, Known Village Sites of the Ponca , Dr. James H. Howard cites evidence that the Ponca continued westward to the Black Hills, while the Omaha and Iowa remained in the vicinity of the White River around 1715. (Howard, 1970, p. 131) Later, it is believed, the Ponca returned to build a village with the Omaha and the Iowa at the mouth of the White River.
Then the Ponca migrated by themselves, downstream along the Missouri River, then pushed westward and settled in Nebraska near the Niobrara River. According to Dorsey (1884, pp. 211-213) and Howard (1965, p. 11), the Ponca built a fortified village by themselves by Ponca Creek near the Niobrara River when the group reached the vicinity of present day Niobrara, Nebraska, in what is now Knox County. This archaeological site known as "Ponca Fort," has been dated to circa 1700, and closely resembles the Middle Mississippian fortified towns found in Ohio which date to 800 through 1550.
During this time, the Omaha and Iowa pushed further south along the Missouri River to build a village at Covington, Nebraska in present day Dakota County. Then, according to John L. Champe (cited by Wood, 1959, p. 10), the Omaha and Iowa continued moving further south to build a village along Bow Creek near present day Wynot, Nebraska in Cedar County about 1735. However, attacks on the Omaha and Iowa villages by the Dakotas forced both the Omaha and the Iowa to leave the "Bad Village" site and migrate further south along the Missouri River.
By 1770, the Omaha had migrated to a site on Omaha Creek to build a fortified earthlodge village by themselves which they called "Big Village" in present day Thurston County, Nebraska.
The Iowa continued further south almost to the Platte River, making a village near present day Florence, Nebraska in Douglas County. From that time, the Iowa never again built a village near the Omaha. (Fletcher & LaFlesche, 1911, p. 86)
Throughout the 1700s the Ponca were referenced in various maps and literature as living between Ponca Creek and the Niobrara River in north-central Nebraska. The Ponca made first contact with Spanish traders in 1789, and in 1790 their estimated population was approximately three thousand strong. (Duncan, 1997, p. 59) The Ponca then made first contact with French traders in 1794. Soon, the Ponca learned the value of being the middlemen in trade between Europeans and those tribes along the upper Missouri, and in 1795 they began the practice of stopping and raiding trading craft as they went up the Missouri River. (Howard, 1965, p. 25)
By the time the Lewis and Clark expedition reached the Ponca village in September 1804, on the lower side of Ponca Creek, about two miles from the Missouri River, the Ponca had become quite familiar with Europeans. Unfortunately, this association with Europeans had caused a smallpox epidemic among the Ponca in 1800 prior to Lewis and Clark's arrival, which significantly reduced their number. (James, 1823, p. 225)
During the War of 1812, the Ponca and the Omaha allied with the United States, while the Sauk, who held territories northeast of the Omaha, allied with the British. Involvement in this warfare continued to reduce the population of the Ponca. Formal relations between the Ponca and the United States did not begin however, until 1817. It was then that the first Treaty was made between the Ponca and the U.S. to establish "perpetual peace and friendship." (Howard, 1965, p. 27)
In the early 1800s, the Ponca were still a semi-sedentary tribe living in earthlodges that the Arikara taught they and the Omaha how to construct. They planted corn and other crops, hunted buffalo occasionally and traded for many of their goods. However, they were vulnerable from attack by larger nomadic tribes as evidenced by an event that took place in 1824. Peter Wilson, acting on behalf of Maj. Benjamin O¡¦Fallon, visited a group of Ponca at the mouth of the Niobrara River. Upon arriving, he learned that a party of 30 Ponca men had been returning home from a friendly visit with the Oglala Lakota to the north, when they were attacked by a group of Brule or Sicangu Lakota. Of the 30 Ponca, only 12 returned alive. Among the 18 killed was the famous Ponca Chief, Shu-de-ga-xe or "Smoke Maker" (the first of this name) as it was translated. (Report of P. Wilson to B. O'Fallon, 1824, National Archives, St. Louis Superintendency)
In 1825 another treaty with the Ponca was made, in which the Ponca acknowledged that they lived within the "territorial limits of the United States" thereby recognizing the supremacy of the larger force of the U.S. government. This treaty also stated that only "American Citizens" were to be allowed to reside among the tribe as traders, as was the custom at that time, and the tribe agreed to delegate the punishment of offenders to the United States Government, giving American traders an advantage over French and Spanish traders in the area. This was followed in 1826 by yet another Treaty, in which the Federal Government agreed to receive the Ponca "...into their friendship and under their protection." It should be noted, that there are no records that exist to date, showing that any member of the Ponca Tribe have ever killed white settlers or soldiers, or have ever taken up arms against the United States of America. A fact that still provides modern-day Ponca with a certain level of pride.
Since the "War of 1812," the Sauk tribe had continued to make war on the Omaha and the Ponca earthlodge villages which lay between the Sauk territory and the buffalo herds to the west. It was not until after the United States military subdued the Sauk in 1834 during the Black Hawk War, that the Ponca and the Omaha gained some relief. (O'Shea & Ludwickson, 1992, pp. 36-39) By 1835, a Cholera epidemic killed an estimated 10% of the Ponca tribe's population, further reducing their number to approximately 700 persons. (Howard, 1965, p. 24)
During the 1830s the Ponca were generally thought to be allies with elements of the Yankton Dakota and the Teton Lakota and frequently joined with them in warfare against the Pawnee. This was believed to be a means of self-preservation for the now smaller tribe of Ponca, whose lands were in-between the Lakota and Pawnee territories. However, the larger tribe of Pawnee frequently made war on the Ponca when their northern allies were not around. Occasionally, small elements of the Lakota would sometimes raid the Ponca as well, taking horses or stealing corn they had grown. As time progressed, the Ponca and other semi-sedentary tribes along the upper Missouri River, such as the Omaha, Arikara, Pawnee, Mandan and Hidatsa, who were attached to their earthlodge villages and cornfields, were no match for the nomadic Dakota and Lakota, who were very mobile, well-armed and always knew the exact strength and precise location of these tribes.
In the summer of 1846, an advanced party of 400 Mormons were heading west to find a route through the Rocky Mountains after being driven from their homes in Nauvoo, Illinois earlier that year.
At the direction of Brigham Young, who stayed with the main group of Mormons in the Council Bluffs/Omaha area, this advance party traveled along the north side of the Platte River to a deserted Pawnee village on the Loup River near present day Genoa, Nebraska. (Tibbitts, 2003, p. 1) While the Mormons were there, nine Ponca Chiefs and sub-Chiefs arrived on the 8th of August 1846, intending to seek peace negotiations with the Pawnee. These Chiefs were documented by the Mormons as:
Buffalo Bull - Head Chief, also know as Little Bear.
Two Bulls - son of Buffalo Bull, who becomes Head Chief when his father dies in September 1846.
Black Warrior - a Chief of the 2nd Rank, and nephew of Buffalo Bull.
Buffalo Chip - a Chief of the 2nd Rank when Black Warrior dies in August 1846.
Iron Whip - Principle Chief of Gray Blanket Village, and brother of Two Bulls.
White Eagle - son of Iron Whip, with hereditary rites.
Drum - Principle Chief of Fish Smell Village.
Smoke Maker - a Chief of the 2nd Rank, and son of the Chief of the same name who was killed by the Sicangu Lakota in 1824.
Little Chief - son of Smoke Maker, with hereditary rites.
Finding that the Pawnee had deserted the village, the nine Ponca Chiefs invited the Mormons to spend the winter with them. The Mormons were given some provisions to tide them over and assigned a camp near the Gray Blanket Village near the junction of the Niobrara and Missouri Rivers. (Tibbitts, 2003, p. 4)
There were many Mormons who wrote journals about their life and enjoyable experiences among the Ponca. The Ponca Chief Iron Whip indicated the best route for the Mormons to follow when they continued on their journey west in April of 1847. Later in 1847 the Mormons settled in the Rocky Mountains in what is now Salt Lake City, Utah.
continued...
