Very Special Visitors
Return to Osage Mission

On Tuesday, April 12 the Osage Mission-Neosho County Museum was honored to host more than 60 members of the Osage Nation. While most guests arrived on tour buses from Pawhuska, Oklahoma, others traveled by automobile from locations in Oklahoma and Arkansas. One visitor, Osage writer and photographer, Ruby Murray, had traveled to Pawhuska, from her home in Puget Island, Washington to participate in the tour and other Osage activities occurring during the April time period.

The visit was arranged by the Wah-Zha-Zhi Cultural Center, a part of the Osage Nation. The Cultural Center conducts a variety of programs and projects preserving Osage heritage. This tour was conducted primarily for "Osage elders" 50 years of age or older. Several members of the Osage Nation Historic Preservation Office and other Nation supporters accompanied the group.

The museum's program consisted of several activities arranged through Vann Bighorse, the Director of the Wah-Zha-Zhi Cultural Center:

A welcome and guided tour of St. Francis de Hieronymo Catholic Church.
A delicious luncheon featuring Osage meat pies brought from Pawhuska, with salads and desserts provided by the museum.
A brief slideshow describing early missionary work leading to the establishment of Osage Mission, and a brief history of the Mission prior to the Osages departure from Kansas.
Free time to tour the museum's inside and outside display areas.
A walking tour of historic St. Francis Cemetery including the Osage grave and missionary sections.

Luncheon and Presentation The museum's lobby and serving kitchen easily accommodated more than 70 guests and museum staff. The history slideshow was presented on a lobby screen, while visitors were finishing their lunch. During this time, the two display rooms were open for casual browsing or staff explanations of exhibits. We received valuable input regarding the Osage display in our main exhibit room.

St. Francis Cemetery Tour The historic St. Francis Cemetery tour was the closing event of the day and of particular interest to our Osage guests. The Osage Manual Labor Schools were in operation from 1847 through the departure of the Osages in the late 1860's. During this time frame, the Mission began to grow into a settlement that would eventually become the town of Osage Mission and later St. Paul. During this period many of the Osage people, as well as settlers, died and were buried in the old Mission cemetery. As the town grew, the old cemetery was closed to new burials and families were asked to move their loved ones to the new cemetery, near Flat Rock Creek. Eventually, any unmoved graves were relocated to St. Francis to a location in or near Potters Field. The Osage graves were located in a common burial site near the northeast corner of the cemetery. Two sandstone blocks and a large monument mark the site. The monument is inscribed with the name of Charles N. Mongrain, an Osage mixed breed interpreter and Union Civil War veteran. The tour also included descriptions of the missionary graves located in two areas of the cemetery. All of the original five Jesuits, as well as other missionary priests, are buried in the eastern part of the cemetery, close to the Osage graves. Many of the Sisters of Loretto, who served the mission schools, and established St. Ann's Academy are buried together in the central part of the cemetery.

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