The Wyandot Tribe of Kansas
The Wyandot tribe was one of the civilized tribes of North America. They were originally from Ontario, due to disease, their numbers became fewer and most of their warriors were gone. Due to the loss of their warriors, they were not able to defend themselves from the Iroquois who wanted to wipe the Wyandot off the map. The Iroquois burned a Jesuit priest at the stake and killed most of the Wyandot Tribe. The members who fled their lands, went through the Straits and down to Michilimackac to Detroit, Michigan. Years later the Nation separated with some staying in Detroit, some traveling to Sandusky, Ohio.
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 required many nations to leave Ohio, but the Wyandots were the last to leave their home. After being promised 148,000 acres in Kansas City, 664 members left Ohio in July 1843 aboard the Steamboats Nodaway and Republic. After making the journey, they were dumped off the steamboats at the confluence of the Missouri and Kaw Rivers only to find that the land they were promised did not exist. Because of this farce, they were left to camp on the banks of the rivers. During that summer an estimated 60 to 100 members died from disease. They continued to suffer losses after a great flood killed another 100 members just one year of making it to Kansas City. They purchased land from the Delaware tribe. Many of the individuals who did not make the move were buried in what is now called Huron Indian Cemetery at 7th and Minnesota Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas.
Many Wyandots are forever remembered in downtown Kansas City, Kansas. The names of many prominent members of the Wyandot tribe were memorialized in the names of the streets in downtown Kansas City. These members were Armstrong, Tauromee, Splitlog, and Clark; many of whom are buried at the Huron Indian Cemetery. One tribal member was Nancy Quindaro Brown Guthrie. The town of Quindaro was named after her. Quindaro was the first free port on the Missouri River and an underground railroad site.
One of the more famous members of the Wyandot tribe is Ms. Eliza (Lyda) Burton Conley.
Ms. Conley was born around 1869. She lost her mother and father at a young age. Due to these losses, she was raised by her older sister, Ida. Because of Ida’s hard work, Ms. Conley was able to attend Park College. In 1900, she decided to go to the Kansas City School of Law in Kansas City, Missouri, to fight the sale of Huron Indian Cemetery, where her mother and sister were buried. She was only one of four women in her class who graduated with her Juris Doctor. After graduation, she was admitted into the Missouri Bar in 1902. In 1910, she was admitted into the Kansas Bar, becoming the first woman admitted.
Not willing to allow this to happen to her ancestors, Ms. Conely filed an injunction to prevent the sale of the land. While the injunction was pending, she and her sister, Helena, took up position in Huron Cemetery to defend their ancestors. The sisters build “Fort Conley” in the cemetery and hung a sign warning anyone that entered that they were trespassing and to “trespass at their own peril.” They guarded their ancestors day and night armed with a shotgun. While defending her ancestors, she told reporters, “I will go to Washington and personally defend” this land because “no lawyer could plead for the grave of my mother as I could, no lawyer could have the heart interest in the case that I have.”
In the late 1890s or early 1900s, the Wyandot tribe in Oklahoman wanted to sell the cemetery because the area around it was becoming developed. It looked to be a profitable sale. The Wyandots living in Kansas had no say in the sale. In 1906, the United States Congress passed legislation that allowed for the disinterment of the ancestors buried in Huron Cemetery and move them off the land that they were going to sell.
Four years later, Ms. Conley got the chance to defend her position before the Supreme Court of the United States. Not only was she the first women to be admitted to the Kansas Bar, she was the first Native American Women to argue before the United States Supreme Court in Washington D.C.. On January 14, 1910, she argued to the Justices that the 1855 federal treaty with the Wyandot people prevented the federal government from selling the land. Unfortunately, the Justices did not agree with her argument. Despite the loss in the nation’s highest court, Ms. Conley and her sister were not dissuaded and continued to guard the cemetery. This caught the attention of Kansas state senator Charles Curtis. With his help, a law was passed to protect the cemetery from further development. However, her fight was not over. During the following years, Ms. Conley would be arrested for trespass when protecting the cemetery.
Around May 27, 1946, while coming home from the local library, Ms. Conely was jumped by a man who struck in the head with a brick. The man stole her purse, which only contained 20 cents. She succumbed to her injuries 24 hours later. She was buried in Huron Cemetery alongside her mother and sisters.
In the end, Ms. Conely won the war. In 1971, Huron Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2017, Huron Cemetery was declared a National Historic Landmark. This final declaration means that the cemetery is now forever protected, over 100 years after Ms. Conely started her quest.
The Kansas Wyandots are still very active in the community. Members work and volunteer to produce a play about the Conley sisters. They work with the Mayor of Kansas City, Kansas, and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County on the Quindaro project and they are working on getting trails established. They provide lectures to various organizations about the culture and history of the Wyandot Tribe. They are committed to keeping the spirits of their ancestors alive by not forgetting who they are and what they have done for the community.
Special thanks to DAR members and Wyandot Tribal Members: Chief Judith Manthe, Kristen Zane, and Holly Zane for their assistance in learning more about their Tribe and feedback about the information contained herein.
Photographs provided by chapter members and from the Tennessee Bar Association and the Kansas City, Kansas Public Library