William B. Lees
Kansas State Historical Society
Presented at the 1990 Plains Conference, Oklahoma City
INTRODUCTION
Between 1881 and 1889, Johan August Udden collected and
studied artifacts from the Paint Creek site (14MP1) on the Smoky Hill River in
south-central Kansas. Among these items, which were preponderantly aboriginal
in form, was a piece of heavily rusted chain mail armor which Udden correctly
concluded "demonstrates that this village was inhabited by Indians after
the European race had come over to this continent" (Udden 1900:66). This
find figured prominently in a then ongoing debate on the early Spanish
exploration of the Plains and, in particular, on the route of Coronado's
expedition into the Southern Plains.
Since this initial discovery, substantial research has been undertaken on the protohistoric Wichita. This research has been characterized by occasional finds of European goods on Kansas sites and frequent finds on sites in northern Oklahoma. Of these, finds of chain mail have received most of the attention (cf. W.Wedel 1975) and an overall synthesis of the occurrence of European goods has
been lacking. In particular, there is little in the way of
synthetic or comparative study which includes Great Bend sites in both Kansas
and Oklahoma. This paper attempts a synthesis, and further considers the
significance and meaning of these materials for an understanding of the
protohistoric Wichita.
PREVIOUS RESEARCH
The protohistoric Wichita are recognized archeologically
as the Great Bend Aspect (Wedel 1959). Scholarly attention to the
Great Bend aspect began in the late 19th century and resulted in the acquisition
of collections from Marion County, Kansas, for the Peabody Museum and Smithsonian
Institution (W.Wedel 1959:498-500) and in Udden's pioneering study of artifacts,
including chain mail, from the Paint Creek site in McPherson County, Kansas
(Udden 1900).
In Oklahoma, excavations at the Bryson-Paddock site in Kay
County were conducted in 1926 by J.B. Thoburn of the Oklahoma Historical
Society (Hartley and Miller 1977:3) but no detailed report was produced and the
collection has since been dispersed. What we can refer to as the era of modern
scientific research on the of Great Bend aspect began in 1940 when Waldo R.
Wedel of the Smithsonian conducted investigations in south-central Kansas and
proposed the term "Great Bend aspect" to describe sites he excavated
there. Based on this work, Wedel concluded that these sites were inhabited by
the protohistoric Wichita and that sites in Rice County were the best
candidates for those visited by Coronado in 1541 and that sites in Cowley
County may be those observed by Onate in 1601 (W.Wedel 1942).
Since Wedel's initial work 50 years ago, extensive research
has been conducted in Kansas by the Smithsonian, the Kansas State Historical
Society, and the University of Kansas in Rice County (Smith 1949; W.Wedel 1968;
Witty 1977, 1986; Rowlison 1981); by the Wichita State University and the
Kansas State Historical Society in Marion County (Rohn and Emerson 1984; Lees
1989); by the Kansas State Historical Society in Cowley County; and by Earl
Monger in Pawnee County (Monger 1970). Formal work during this period was
supplemented by several important discoveries by amateur archeologists. In
Oklahoma, research has been conducted by Sudbury on private collections from
the Deer Creek site and by the University of Oklahoma at the Bryson-Paddock
site, both in Kay County, and recently by George Odell at the Lasley Vore site
in Tulsa County.
GREAT BEND LOCALITIES
The Great Bend aspect was originally proposed by Wedel to
define sites in south-central Kansas. This concept has been extended by
convention to include similar sites in northern Oklahoma (cf. Sudbury 1976:79).
A number of semi-discrete localities of Great Bend settlement
have been identified. These localities are spatially defined but also express
minor differences in material culture. Kansas sites have been found principally
in Pawnee County near Larned, Rice County along the Little Arkansas River, McPherson
County along tributaries of the Smoky Hill River, Marion County around the city
of Marion, and Cowley County near Arkansas City. Sites in Rice county were
assigned by Wedel to the Little River focus and in Cowley County to the Lower
Walnut focus. Another Kansas locality probably exists in Wilson County near a
site known as "Neodesha Fort" (14WN1). Oklahoma sites are known along
the Arkansas River north of Ponca City in Kay County and south of Tulsa in
Tulsa County.
Perhaps because so little is known of the McPherson county
sites and their proximity to the Rice County sites and because sites in both
areas have so called "council circle" features, the Rice and
McPherson county sites have generally been lumped. Based on a provisional
comparison of collections from these two counties, which shows a striking and
unexpected difference in lithic raw material selection, it may be more
appropriate to consider Rice and McPherson counties separately. This
distinction is supported by apparent differences in trade materials between the
areas. In Rice County evidence for contact with the southwest is common in the
form of obsidian, pottery, and turquoise. Such material seems to be rare in
McPherson County; the recent collector discovery of Lower Loup pottery at the Sharps
Creek site in McPherson County is probably significant in this equation.
In conceiving of the Great Bend Aspect, then, it is possible
to speak of at least eight distinct localities: six in Kansas and two in
Oklahoma. Although substantial research collections exist from most of these
localities, we are, for a variety of reasons, a long way from a systematic
understanding of the material relationships between them.
CONTACT-PERIOD SITES
There are 12 Great Bend sites in Kansas and Oklahoma for
which European made artifacts have been documented. These sites are distributed
between five of the eight localities defined above. In Kansas, contact items
have not been identified in Pawnee, Wilson, or Cowley counties but Wedel
suggests they may be present in Wilson County.
Marion County, Kansas
Despite extensive work on eight Great Bend sites in Marion
County, contact materials are known only from the Mem site (14MN328) and are
restricted to a single glass bead, a complete rolled brass tube, and a fragment
of another rolled tube also probably made of brass. Of interest, the bead,
which dates to ca. AD 1700 and complete brass tube were found in a single cache
pit in association with a turquoise bead and an obsidian flake from a New
Mexico source (Hughes and Lees 1990). The only other Southwestern trade
material known from Marion County, also a flake of New Mexico obsidian, comes
from this site.
Rice County, Kansas
European artifacts are found in Rice county at the Major
(14RC2), Tobias (14RC8), C.F. Thompson (14RC9), Paul Thompson (14RC12), Kermit
Hayes No. 2 (14RC13), and Saxman (14RC301) sites. Finds of European artifacts
are rare except at Tobias. At the Major and C.F. Thompson sites only chain mail
has been found. At the Saxman site chain mail and a single glass bead
were found on the surface. At the Paul Thompson site the only European
artifacts noted by Wedel are "small metal scraps" and at the
Kermit Hayes No. 2 site 30 glass beads possibly from a necklace were found. The
Tobias site has the largest inventory of contact materials from any Kansas
Great Bend site but it has also been the most intensively investigated. At
Tobias, finds include chain mail, glass beads, rolled brass beads and
tinklers, an iron knife blade, an axe, and an awl.
McPherson County, Kansas
In McPherson County, artifacts of European origin are exceedingly
rare but are found at both the Paint Creek (14MP1) and Sharps Creek (14MP408)
sites. Neither site has received scientific study after Udden's attention
in the 19th century but both have been a continual attraction to local collectors
who have found small pieces of chain mail at both sites (W.Wedel 1975:191).
In addition, passing reference to "one or two perforated beads of blue
glass" found on the surface of one of the refuse mounds at Paint Creek
was made by Udden (1900:67).
Kay County, Oklahoma
Artifacts of European origin are found in quantity in Kay
County at the Deer Creek (14KA3) and Bryson-Paddock (14KA5) sites. Extensive
surface collections from the Deer Creek site contain 47 different categories of
European trade goods including a wide range of gun parts; iron knife sections;
possible iron and glass scrapers; brass, iron, and glass arrowheads; glass
beads; rolled brass and copper cylinders and tinklers; numerous brass and copper
kettle fragments; and many other items (Sudbury 1976). Testing in 1974 and
systematic excavation in 1975 at the Bryson-Paddock site resulted in the
recovery of 39 categories of trade items similar to those from the Deer Creek
site (Hartley and Miller 1977). These items are generally identified as
deriving from the French trade.
Tulsa County, Oklahoma
In Tulsa County the Lasley Vore site (14TU65), recently
discovered and investigated by George Odell of the University of Tulsa, yielded
quantities of European made artifacts alongside an aboriginal assemblage that
is patently Great Bend (Odell 1990). These artifacts are fewer in number and in
diversity than at the Kay County sites described above, but include gun parts,
glass beads, tinklers, knifes, kettle fragments, and other artifacts in
quantities impressive in comparison to Kansas sites. As with the Kay County
sites, a French derivation for these materials is indicated.
DISCUSSION
In the balance of this paper, I would like to examine the
meaning of these European artifacts in the context of Wichita contact and
culture change.
Post-contact settlement pattern
The information introduced above can initially be used to
delineate the Great Bend settlement pattern for the period of ca. AD 1450 to
1800. In Kansas, contact sites are found in localities alongside sites with no
evidence of contact. In Marion County, European materials are limited to three
items and these are from a single site. In McPherson County, European goods are
found at the Sharps Creek and Paint Creek sites; these are within 2.5 miles of
one another.
Occurrences in Rice County are at the Major, Tobias, Kermit
Hays No. 2, C.F. Thompson, and Paul Thompson sites, located within 2.5 miles of
each other, and at the Saxman site, located some 12 miles distant. The Deer
Creek and Bryson-Paddock sites in Kay county are located only 2 miles apart.
The Lasley Vore site in Tulsa county is apparently close to a similar site
identified through survey (George Odell, personal communication 1990).
In Kansas, therefore, contact sites are found in localities
where other Great Bend sites also cluster but the contact sites have a tighter
cluster. Further, important Great Bend localities in Cowley and Pawnee counties
have produced no evidence for European contact. In Oklahoma the contact sites
in Kay and Tulsa counties appear to be isolated from other Great Bend sites of
any consequence.
Localities of Great Bend settlement can therefore be
segregated into three groups based on evidence of contact: 1) localities
containing no evidence for European contact, 2) localities where some sites
produce evidence for contact, and 3) localities where all sites contain contact
materials. Groups 1 and 2 include Kansas sites and Group 3 includes the
Oklahoma sites. Based on differences between their assemblages these groups are
hypothesized to represent migrations of the Wichita between AD 1450 and 1800.
Proximity to the Arkansas River
It is interesting to examine the relationship of this
tripartite grouping to geographic information, specifically the proximity of
the various localities to the Arkansas River. Group 1 localities, including
sites in Pawnee and Cowley counties, Kansas, are located, for all practical
purposes, directly on the Arkansas River. Class 2 localities in Marion, Rice,
and McPherson counties are, instead, located on tributaries well upstream from
the Arkansas or within a different drainage altogether. Class 3 localities in
Kay and Tulsa counties, Oklahoma, are, once again, located directly on the
Arkansas. Variables of geography and evidence of European contact can thus be
observed to co-vary, adding support to the utility of the proposed three-way
grouping of Great Bend localities.
The meaning of chain mail
In examining the nature of the assemblages of European
artifacts it is first useful to consider the Kansas sites where these materials
are so rare. It is particularly useful to examine the relationship of chain
mail to other European artifacts, and it is important to review not only
occurrence by site but also by site context. In particular, a contrast between
artifacts found in association with "council circle" features and
those found elsewhere is drawn.
Three sites in Rice County (Tobias, Kermit Hayes No. 2, and Paul Thompson) and two in McPherson County (Paint Creek and Sharps Creek) are characterized by the presence of what have become known as "council circles." No site has more than one of these circles, which have been described by Wedel as "consisting of a wide shallow ditch some 30 to 60 yards in diameter, with a mounded center" (W.Wedel 1959:574). Wedel conducted excavations at the three Rice County circles between 1940 and 1967 and found these to be complex features consisting of a series of four kidney-shaped semi-subterranean structures surrounding a central plaza (W.Wedel 1959, 1968). A civic and/or ceremonial function is suggested. These council circles occur only in the Great Bend localities in McPherson Rice counties. Similar and perhaps related features may also occur at the "Neodesha Fort" site in Wilson County, Kansas, and at the Deer Creek site in Oklahoma.
An iron awl, axe blade, knife blade fragments, a mass of
iron, three copper beads, five loose blue glass beads, and a necklace made of
250 glass, turquoise, and bone beads were found during Wedel's 1940 excavations
of the "council circle" at the Tobias site. From the Kermit Hayes No.
2 circle, 30 blue glass beads in a pattern suggestive of a necklace were found
(W.Wedel 1968:381). Similarly from the Paul Thompson site, Wedel noted the
contents of the circle closely paralleled the Tobias site, including "the
finding of small metal scraps" (W.Wedel 1968:378).
Most of the known European trade goods found on Great Bend
sites have, in fact, been recovered from the "council circles." Important
exceptions exist in the chain mail, none of which has been found in these
features. The only other European goods from Kansas sites that were not found
in direct association with the "council circles" are the glass and
copper-alloy beads from Marion County, the glass bead and copper-alloy tinkler
found at Tobias in 1977, and the glass bead found on the surface at the Saxman
site. Several conclusions from these observations are possible.
First, the "council circles" are obviously
important contact period features; they are prominent not only in their design
but in their significant association with European goods. Indeed, in Kansas the
"council circles" were the primary recipient of European goods other
than chain mail. While it is impossible at this point to say whether they were
used prior to contact, these features were clearly in use afterwards and the
argument can be made that they should themselves be viewed as post-contact
developments.
Second, the distribution of chain mail is different from
that of other European goods. It has already been noted that chain mail does
not occur in the features making up the "council circles." In the
contexts where it does occur, chain mail is in reality much more common than
other types of European artifacts. The processes that resulted in the
occurrence of chain mail on these sites may thus have differed significantly from those
which brought other European goods to these sites.
Contrasting Kansas and Oklahoma sites
Having examined the distribution of European goods on Kansas
sites, it is now useful to contrast Kansas and Oklahoma sites in terms of 1)
the occurrence of European goods and, 2) the structure of the corresponding
aboriginal assemblages.
Ignoring stylistic variation it is possible to say that the
only type of artifact that is present on the Kansas sites that is not also
found in Oklahoma is chain mail. Since mail is not a typical trade item its
restricted distribution is not surprising and is probably related to
chronological differences between the Kansas and Oklahoma sites. Although
perhaps difficult to associate with Coronado, as many have done, it is
nonetheless easy to associate it with early Spanish exploration.
The only general type of artifact found on the Oklahoma sites
that is totally absent on Kansas sites is gun parts, which make up from 4.7 to
7 percent of the trade materials from excavated contexts in Kay and Tulsa
counties. Once again, this difference is probably chronological. Firearms were
typically not the first item to be introduced in trade, especially if trade was
indirect. The low frequency and diversity of goods on Kansas sites may be
evidence of indirect trade while the much higher frequency and diversity of
goods on Oklahoma sites is most certainly the result of
direct trade, in this case with the French.
Although figures are not available, it is probable that European goods represent a greater percentage of the overall assemblage on Oklahoma sites than in Kansas. A growing frequency and diversity of trade goods is typically seen as a marker of concurrent change in the aboriginal culture through the process of acculturation. Although only a very coarse understanding of the Kansas sites
exists, there does not appear to be any difference between
the assemblage of aboriginal artifacts between sites with and without evidence
of European contact. This is not true, however, when the Kansas and Oklahoma
sites are contrasted.
Two significant changes are apparent; others are probably
present as well. First, a striking absence of hafted and unhafted alternately
beveled knives, characteristic of the Great Bend in Kansas, is noted for the
Oklahoma sites. This is probably explained by reference to the common
occurrence of metal knives on the Oklahoma sites. Another difference noted in the
Oklahoma sites is the virtual absence of pipestone pipes, common on Kansas
site, and the common occurrence of pottery pipes which rare to non-existent in
Kansas. Suggestive of other more subtle changes is an apparent increase in
incised decorations on pottery vessels of otherwise classic Great Bend form.
CONCLUSIONS
In this paper I have examined several aspects of Great Bend
settlement in Kansas and Oklahoma and in particular have focused on evidence
for European contact. Based on the nature of the European goods within the
Great Bend assemblages, I have proposed that the eight localities of Great Bend
settlement may be divided into three groups which include those with no contact
sites, those with sites having evidence of peripheral contact, and those with
sites where European goods are a significant part of the assemblage. Based on
differences between these groups, it is suggested that they reflect different
periods in Wichita culture history with Group 1 sites being the earliest, Group
2 intermediate in age, and Group 3 the most recent.
Geographic data further show different settlement locations
for sites within each of these groups and when conceived within a chronological
framework show initial settlement along the Arkansas River followed by a move
away from this stream followed in turn by a return to the banks of the
Arkansas.
Renewal of settlement along the Arkansas between the second
and third period was perhaps a response to an increasing dependence on the
European trade and perhaps reflects the shift from the overland Spanish to the
river-based French trade.
My goal in this paper has been to draw together information
on one aspect of the Great Bend aspect and to develop a model to explain
observed variation. The model presented describes variability as currently
understood and importantly does not preempt the utility of other variables,
such as band affiliation, in explaining synchronic variability in Great Bend
settlement. Whether or not this model has any lasting merit will, of course,
depend on how effective we are in tackling the massive research problem
represented by the Great Bend aspect