Good Afternoon, Fellow bloggers,
Today is February 7, 2014 and another cold and cloudy day to be sure. A couple of days ago while out driving through Derby; to my surprise and delight, I saw two different yards that had eight or nine robins hoping around, looking for bugs or more likely seeds. When I was a kid and saw my first robin of the new year, I would be so happy because I was sure that it would soon be spring. I've been told by some bird watching friends, that robins don't leave Kansas in the winter, they just hang out in the woods and then come out of hiding in February or March. Spring is still on the way, and I will be so glad when it arrives.
Well, that's my "robin (rabbit) trail" for today. Last night I spent some time reading material that the man who is in charge of the history education department at our Wichita's CowTown Museum gave me . He was very nice and I enjoyed my visit with him. I wish I had written his name down, but I didn't. I will have to call the museum and ask his name. Anyway, he printed off for me several, very good writings about early Wichita. Two are essays that W.S.U. students wrote. One is titled: Indians In Wichita, by David A. Cox. The other one is titled: Wichita Indians, by Elie Tabarani. Both essays were assignments they had to do for a English 102 class. Much of the information in their reports is the same as what I have already discovered, with a few minor differences. One item that I want to have for my own essay are the names of the affiliated Indian bands. According to David Cox, they were the Wacos, Towacanis and Kechais. Information located in Kansas Historical Collections,(Topeka: Kansas State Historical Society, 1923), Vol. 15, p. 501. Subheading 19 Mead, p.172.
In Elie Tabarani's essay, she relates that several names were suggest for the new settlement. Henry Vigur proposed "Wichita, Sedgwick for General John Sedgwick. Governor Crawford wanted it to be called Hamilton for Alexander Hamilton. This is the funny one; Opu Elei (elk tooth), suggested by a man because it was the name of the loveliest Indian woman he had ever seen. The name Wichita was most likely decided on by its main promoters; Greiffenstain, Munger, and Mead. They are reported to  have expressed their reasoning because Wichita was already being called Wichita Town, and it should continue to be called Wichita. According to Elie Tabarani's paper, the Indian pronunciation of Wichita was "Wish-i-ta." That's just a little different from the pronunciation I found in my research which was: "Wee-che-taw.) Taw is Osage for North, and Wiche (Weechee) means scattered Villages. I have several references in my notes, but I will have to retrace my tracks to find just where I got this information. I'm reasonably sure it is from the Kansas Memory's web site of the Kansas Historical Society. I must learn to take more care in writing down my references.
I am forming a sketchy picture of the very busy and industrious Mr. James Mead. That will be in part the substance of my next blog.
Search on, dear bloggers,
Cheri