Kyle Carroll Art: Land of the Osage

As the dominant tribe of the middle water frontier, the
Osages controlled the trade on the Lower Missouri for a half
century. Armed by the French and Spanish with fuseés, or
trade muskets, they had kept rival tribes like the Quapaws,
Sauks, Shawnees, Chickasaws, Sioux, Comanches, and
Iowas at bay while providing the Europeans with a rich supply
of buffalo robes and dressed skins of deer, elk, bear, and
beaver. Their warriors were expert hunters, well known for
their physical strength and great height. Many exceeded six
feet – and they seemed even taller with their heads plucked
of all hair except for their bristling roaches. Jefferson
described the 1804 Osage delegation as “the most gigantic
men we have ever seen.” Washington Irving later called them
“Romans…the finest looking Indians…in the West.”

Landon Jones, page 166, William Clark and The Shaping of
the West