Lot
11 
[Indians - Choctaw Nation] "Good Water, Oct. 3d, 1846", dateline on folded letter to Whately Mass., letter entered mails with "Fort Towson, Ark. Oct 12" cds and manuscript "10" rating, the letter is from Catherine M. Belden, a teacher at a Choctaw Indian school with interesting content: "It is said that a teacher is coming to establish a boy's school at Mountain Fork, who is I think to be supported by those for whom he labors. The company expect to start the middle of Oct…A great change is going on at Spencer…a new Superintendent, Rev. Mr. Ramsay and a new principal, Mr. Stark…the institution is deeply in debt…Last Winter was a season of intense interest…The gospels have been published in one volume in Choctaw…my services as a teacher have been highly appreciated as I could wish; the Choctaws have uniformly been kind & curteous to me; it is not a week since one of our neighbors took a horse out of the plough for me to be gone two days…"; some stains, small paper loss on one sheet, Fine. Estimate $200 - 300.
Realized: $280
Lot
12
[Indians - Chowtaw Nation] "Choctaw Agency West of Ark. Oct 11, 1846", manuscript postmark with matching "10" rating on folded letter to New Castle Tenn., datelined "Fort Coffee, Oct. 9th 1846", the letter is from a fellow missionary and speaks of being sent further out into the prairie to take over a new Indian school; tiny edge tear, F.-V.F. Estimate $200 - 300.
Realized: $250
Lot
13
[Indians - Comanche] "Camp on the Brazos, November 4th 1851", dateline on enclosed letter from Lt. Clinton W. Lear correspondence to his wife in the late 1840s to early 1850s, buff cover entered mails with "Fort Smith Ark. Nov 21" cds and manuscript "5" rating to New Orleans, La., Very Fine, ex-Bleuler. Estimate $200 - 300.
The letter mentions an express being run from this advance camp, presumably to Fort Smith where this cover entered the mail stream. It also states that Gen. Smith & Belnap were leaving for Fort Wishita the following day, and some of the Indians that the troops have encountered: "The Big Chiefs of the Comanches - 'Sanaco & Yellow Wolf' " are both here & express great friendship for the Whites - They are fine looking fellows - The women are horribly ugly…".
Realized: $750
Lot
14
[Indians - Creek Nation] 1790 (Jul. 15) Philadelphia Pa. To Baltimore, Forwarded To New York N.Y., folded signed letter of Charles Biddle Jr. to Col. Willett, Philadelphia "16 IY" Franklin mark and "2" dwt rating, letter mentions "Col. McGillivray and a number of the principal Chiefs of the Creek Nation…are expected," on this trip he signed a peace treaty with the United States, forwarded with "Baltimore July. 18" straightline and "2.16" rating to New York totaled to "4.16" (4dwt 16gr) due, finally notated "returned" and local currency "2/4" 2sh 4d due rating; mior fold splitting, Very Fine letter. Estimate $300 - 400.
McGillivray, as Chief of the Creeks, in behalf of the Creek Confederacy, entered into an alliance with Spain and was a colonel in the Spanish Army. In 1790, was induced by Washington to visit New York City, where he signed a short-lived peace treaty. He was also persuaded to withdraw from Spanish service and was rewarded with the rank of Brig. General in the U.S. Army.
Realized: $525
Lot
15
[Indians - Creek Nation] Fort Gibson, C.N., two covers with cds strikes in black and blue, first bearing 1870, 3¢ green, corner tear, tied by black target with matching "Fort Gibson C.N. Feb 28" cds on cover addressed to Creek Agency, C.N., second bearing 1873, 3¢ green cancelled by blue target with matching "Fort Gibson C.N. Apr 29" cds on Western Union Telegraph company envelope addressed to the "Principal Chief, Cherokee Nation in Tahlequah, reduced a bit at right; F.-V.F. Scott No. 147, 158 Estimate $200 - 300.
Lot
16
[Indians - Osage Nation] Addressed To Harmony Mission, Bates County, Mo., incoming folded letter datelined "London, May 31st 1846" bootlegged to the U.S., red "New-York 21 Jul" cds arrival cds and manuscript "10" rating, forwarded upon arrival to Calhoun with "Forwarded from Little Osage Mo Aug 25th" postal marking and "Ford 5" rating totaled to "15" cents due, Very Fine and interesting use. Estimate $200 - 300.
Realized: $170
Lot
17
[Indians - Osage Nation] Factory System/Fur Trade, "Fort Osage, 1st Jany. 1811", dateline on folded letter to Detroit Mich. with "Public Service, J. Brownson" endorsement, carried down the Missouri River and entered mails with manuscript "St. Louis Jany 24" postmark over "3/4 oz" notation and "75" rating at right, letter contains quarterly returns of a company of the First Infantry Regiment that was stationed at the fort, in a postscript the writer says "6 of our Osage Indians have been lately killed by a party of Pawtowatomies"; some light soiling, Very Fine. Estimate $500 - 750.
Following a treaty with the Osage Indians on November 10, 1808 Fort Osage was built on the big eddy of the Missouri River on a bluff 70 feet high near the present site of Sibley, Jackson County, Missouri. It replaced Fort Belle Fontaine as an Indian trading post and soon became the most important post in the United States. It was evacuated during the War of 1812 (in 1813), but the garrison returned in 1815. Troops were withdrawn in 1819 at the time of the Yellowstone Expedition, when the garrison was moved to Fort Atkinson at Old Council Bluffs. The fur trading operations were shut down in 1822 when the Indian Factory System was terminated, but the post was not abandoned until 1827, when Fort Leavenworth was built to protect the Santa Fe Trail. George C. Sibley was the factor at Fort Osage during its entire existence as a trading post. He later founded the town of Sibley, Missouri near the abandoned fort.
Realized: $1,300
Lot
18
[Indians - Osage Nation] Factory System/Fur Trade, "Ft Osage Mo - Decr 4", red manuscript postmark with matching "25" rating on 1821 folded letter to Philadelphia Pa., datelined "Union, Arks Ter. Sep 30, 1821" and written by William F. Vail who was missionary to the Osage Indians at Union Mission in Arkansas Territory (present day Oklahoma), carried privately to Fort Osage and deposited in the mails there, Very Fine and rare. Estimate $500 - 750.
THIS IS THE EARLIEST RECORDED LETTER POSTED AT FORT OSAGE, AND THE ONLY LETTER THAT ENTERED THE MAILS THERE DURING THE TIME THE FORT WAS OPERATING AS A GOVERNMENT INDIAN FACTORY.
A post office was established at Fort Osage in 1820. The letter thanks the recipient for clothing and other supplies for the mission and says that a school is under construction, even though they have been able to obtain only three children because of an ongoing Indian war. He concludes by saying: "Be not alarmed for our safety…though the Indians prowl around the forest in quest of each others blood, we dwell securely.".
Realized: $1,200
Lot
19
[Indians - Osage Nation] "Osage Agency Sac & Fox Nation 30th Augt" (1849), dateline on folded letter with manuscript "Paid 5" rating, carried privately and posted with manuscript "West Port Mo., Sept 3" postmark, addressed to John W. Denver in Platte City Mo. from Andrew S. Williamson who was the Osage Indian Agent, he writes "I write to inform you that I am well also to let you know I cannot be with you at the trial I have pending the reason is the Sac & Foxes will be paid on or about the 20th next month and I would be loosing about $200 if I would not attend while the Indians have the money…", Very Fine. Estimate $200 - 300.
Realized: $3,000
Lot
20
[Indians - Pawnee] "Council Bluffs Agency, Dec. 15, 1844", dateline on folded letter that entered mails with red "St. Joseph Mo. Jan 21" cds and manuscript "25" rating to Newburn Va.; letter was written by the U.S. Indian Agent Daniel Miller saying "I have comparatively little trouble in managing the wild Indians to what I have with the white people in the Indian Country…The missionaries at the Pawnees, who have been placed there by the American Board of Missions have and are taking a most unwarrantable course with the Indians by exercising an improper influence over them…but I pursue what I conceive to be a proper course, undeterred by their power and influence…The weather is very cold and I am waiting my trip to the Pawnees until moderates - 120 miles directly up the Great Platt."; some soiling, Fine and great content. Estimate $200 - 300.
The cover was probably carried by a military courier down the Missouri River to St. Joseph, where it entered the mails. The St. Joseph cds is the earliest of only two recorded strikes in red.
Realized: $350