Mark Twain
The State Historical Society of Missouri's Historic Missourians
Sacred Sun
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George Washington Carver
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Sacred Sun (1809? – 1836?)

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Introduction

Sacred Sun, also known as Mohongo, was a courageous Osage woman who lived for some time on Osage land in present-day Missouri. Sacred Sun took a remarkable journey to Europe. Her adventure was recorded in French and American newspapers and pamphlets of the day. When she returned to America, her portrait was painted and displayed in Washington, D.C.

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Early Years

Saline County, Missouri Saline County, Missouri 1831 map showing the territory of the Osage in the lower left corner.

[SHS 2002-0161]
Sacred Sun was probably born around 1809 in an Osage village on the Missouri River, perhaps in what is now Saline County. Mi-Ho’n-Ga
There are many different versions of Sacred Sun’s Osage name. She is also referred to as Mo-Hon-Go, Mohongo, Mi-hunga, and Myhangah in various publications from the period and later. Certain assumptions made in this essay about Sacred Sun’s life, especially as a child, are based on the work of archaeologists, historians, and reporters from the period.
was her Native American name. The Osage
When the first French explorers came to present-day Missouri, they found two Indian tribes, the Osage and the Missouri. The Osage tribe was the largest and most powerful group in Missouri at one time. Early in their history, the Osage divided into two groups: the “Upper-Forest Sitters” and the “Down-Below People.” French missionaries later called them the Great or Big Osage and the Little Osage, respectively. The Big Osage lived along the Osage River in present-day Vernon County, and the Little Osage lived along the Missouri River in what is today Saline County. Sacred Sun was a Little Osage.

[Wolferman, The Osage in Missouri, p.10, and McCandless and Foley, Missouri; Then and Now, p. 11.]
were nomadic hunters, who also spent periods of time in their villages. As a baby, Sacred Sun would have been strapped to a cradleboard and fastened to a tree branch while her mother worked with other Osage women tending gardens, preserving meat, sewing clothes, and making domestic tools and vessels.
Osage men by George Catlin Osage men by George Catlin
Osage men by George Catlin Osage men were tall and wore their hair in a roach style. They dressed in loincloths, moccasins, and leggings.

[SHS 2003-0147] Clermont, an Osage, painted by artist George Catlin Clermont, an Osage, painted by artist George Catlin.

[SHS 2003-0117] Osage Chief Tchong-Tas-Sab-Bee or Black Dog painted by artist George Catlin Osage Chief Tchong-Tas-Sab-Bee or Black Dog painted by artist George Catlin.

[SHS 021420]
Because the Osage had been trading furs with the French for European goods for nearly a century, Sacred Sun would have been in close contact with French fur traders. French fur traders traveled into present-day Missouri via a large network of rivers, including the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers and their tributaries.

[SHS 023813] She may have even been the country wife
There is evidence that Sacred Sun was the “country wife” of one of the Chouteaus or a close associate of theirs. The Chouteau family, led by Pierre de Laclède and Auguste Chouteau, had founded St. Louis in 1764. Sacred Sun and her French Osage daughter, Amelia, are mentioned in a treaty signed on December 30, 1825. This treaty “moved the Osage completely out of the state of Missouri and the Territory of Arkansas, but several tracts of 640 acres on the north side of the Marais des Cygnes [River] were set aside for French-Osage children, including one for ‘Amelia, the daughter of Mi-hunga’—evidence that ‘Mi-hunga,’ or Sacred Sun, had a child by one of the traders.”

[McMillen, Into the Spotlight: Four Missouri Women, pp. 21–23. For more information about “country wives” see McMillen, “Les Indiens Osages: French Publicity for the Traveling Osage,” MHR, p. 297.]
of a French fur trader. Sacred Sun would have seen American settlers Thousands of settlers flocked to Missouri on boats and in wagons after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.

[SHS 014414] steadily move into Osage territory. Since the United States had purchased the land west of the Mississippi in 1803, her tribal homeland had become sprinkled with forts, Fort Osage was a fort and trading post established in 1808 to serve the Osage Indians. It was situated on a high bluff overlooking the Missouri River, about three hundred miles upstream from St. Louis. This lunette painting of Fort Osage by William Knox can be seen at the Missouri State Capitol.

[SHS 2002.0159] trading posts, and pioneer homesteads. With the coming of settlers and the United States Army, traditional life for the Osage people changed dramatically. By the time Sacred Sun was twelve or thirteen, she would have heard about, or experienced, many hardships due to war, starvation, disease, and the relocation of her people and other Indian tribes.
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Sacred Sun’s Journey Begins

St. Louis riverfront, around 1832 St. Louis riverfront, around 1832 St. Louis riverfront, around 1832.

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In 1827, eighteen-year-old Sacred Sun made plans to travel to France with eleven other people from her tribe. David Delaunay,
David Delaunay was born in France, but had been in the Louisiana Territory since about 1800. He was a close associate of Auguste Chouteau (1749?–1829).
a French-born resident of St. Louis organized the trip and would be their guide. Other Osage had taken trips
As early as 1725, Osage Chief Boganienhin, along with chiefs from other tribes and a Missouri woman named Ignon Ouaconisen, had visited France with the Frenchman Etienne de Véniard sieur de Bourgmont (1679–1734), the first known white man to explore the lower and middle Missouri River and systematically record his observations (Christensen, Dictionary of Missouri Biography, p. 108). Sacred Sun may have heard stories about this trip when she was young. She may have also heard about Osage chiefs taking trips to Washington, D.C., with the Chouteaus, St. Louis-based fur traders who had established relations with the Osage. The first delegation went in 1804 and included twelve chieftains and two boys.

[McMillen, “Les Indiens Osages: French Publicity for the Traveling Osage,” MHR, p. 297.]
to France and Washington, D.C. in the past. Though the exact reason
The Osage may have been seeking signs and answers to the many problems facing their tribe. Suffering from the pressure of westward expansion and increasingly difficult relations with the United States government, settlers, and displaced eastern tribes, the Osage were experiencing difficult times. The Osage may have wanted to discuss their problems directly with the French, people with whom the Osage had a longstanding connection. Or the group may have wanted to take the trip to gain a higher position in their tribe or simply for the sake of adventure.
for their trip is unknown, the Osage hunted game and prepared furs for four years to pay for their journey.
Hawk Woman, Little Chief, and Minckchatahooh. Hawk Woman, Little Chief, and Minckchatahooh. The French artist Louis Leopold Boilly drew this portrait of (clockwise from upper left) Hawk Woman, Little Chief, and Minckchatahooh.

[SHS 1978-0056]
After loading their furs on a raft, the twelve Osage set off on the Missouri River for St. Louis. As they neared the city, the raft wrecked and all the furs were lost. Half of the Osage decided to return to their village while the other half —Sacred Sun (Mi-Ho’n-Ga), Little Chief (Ki-He-Kah Shinkah), Hawk Woman (Gthe-Do’n-Wi’n), Black Bird (Washinka Sabe),
Black Bird may have been Sacred Sun’s Osage husband.
Big Soldier (Mo’n-Sho’n A-ki-Da Tonkah)
Big Soldier (1773?–1844) was a Little Osage war leader. He played a prominent role in early treaty councils and diplomatic relations between the Little Osage and American officials in the early 1800s.
and Minckchatahooh —continued. They soon joined Delaunay and his assistants
François Tesson and Paul Loise traveled with Delaunay on this trip. Tesson was a St. Louisan from a French family. Paul Loise had been appointed by Meriwether Lewis as translator for the Osage in 1808. Sources disagree about Loise’s parentage.

[McMillen, “Les Indiens Osages: French Publicity for the Traveling Osage,” Missouri Historical Review, p. 297.]
and took a steamboat called Commerce down the Mississippi to New Orleans. There they boarded a ship named New England and set sail for France.
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An Honored Guest in France

The six Osage The six Osage The six Osage as they appeared in a French newspaper in 1827.

[SHS 2003-0097]
Sacred Sun arrived in Le Havre, France, on July 27, 1827. She was greeted by a crowd of excited French citizens. According to French newspaper descriptions and drawings, the six Osage looked exotic and interesting. Sacred Sun was particularly beautiful with her large, lively eyes and small frame.
A French writer named M. P. Vissier gave a description of the Osage when they arrived in France:

“Their costume, their arms, the color of their reddish-copper skin, the beauty and regularity of their immobile features, everything about them was an object of surprise. Everyone pushed near them, to touch their hands, and to receive from them a gesture gracious and full of nobleness.”

[McMillen, Into the Spotlight: Four Missouri Women, p. 25.] According to McMillen and Roberson, Vissier also provided an estimate of their height, with the men being about 5 feet 5 inches and the women about 5 feet tall.
Both she and Hawk Woman wore their black hair in the traditional Osage fashion with it parted down the center with a red line painted down the parting. This red line represented the dawn road of Grandfather the Sun. Sacred Sun wore a red tunic over her knee-length dress, mitas—or gaiters—made of beaver skin over her shoes, and strands of shells around her neck.
The six Osage at the opera The six Osage at the opera A French newspaper printed this illustration of the six Osage attending the opera.

[SHS 2003-0096]
At first, Sacred Sun and her group were treated well by the French. They stayed in nice hotels, ate rich food, and rode in carriages to attend operas and other places of interest. They met King Charles X
King Charles X Charles X portrait, includes signature. Henry Smith Williams, The Historians’ History of the World. New York: Outlook Company, 1904. p. 38. [909 W672 v.13]

[SHS 027644] Charles X profile Charles X profile. Henry Smith Williams, The Historians’ History of the World. New York: Outlook Company, 1904. p. 34. [909 W672 v.13]

[SHS 027643] Newspaper article about Osage meeting the King of France and their native dress. Scan of newspaper article about Osage meeting the King of France and their native dress. St. Louis Missouri Republican, 1 November 1827, p. 2, c. 4.

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at his palace in St. Cloud. Before long, however, the French lost interest, and David Delaunay found it difficult to feed and afford lodging for the Osage. He tried various ways to raise money. He sold tickets to see them in their hotel rooms. He arranged an event at which the Osage agreed to perform their native dances, and Little Chief went up in a hot air balloon. Eventually, however, Delaunay ran out of money.
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Sacred Sun’s Hardships

Bird's-eye view of Galena, Missouri An Osage woman and child An Osage woman and child as depicted by George Catlin.

[SHS 2003-0116]
Meanwhile, Sacred Sun had another important matter facing her. She was pregnant and wanted to return home to deliver her baby in the safety of her tribal village. Newspapers reported that she wept in public. On February 10, 1828, about six months after arriving in France, Sacred Sun gave birth to twin daughters in a hotel in Belgium. Both girls were given French names.
Sacred sun with child

The names of Sacred Sun’s daughters born in Belgium were Maria Theresa Ludovica Clementina Black Bird and Maria Elizabeth Josepha Julia Carola. Sacred Sun kept the second daughter named. She is pictured in the portrait painted by Charles Bird King.

[SHS 021180]

For unknown reasons, Sacred Sun let a wealthy Belgian woman adopt one daughter while she kept the other. Around the same time, Delaunay was imprisoned for not paying his bills. The Osages were left to survive on their own.
Marquis de Lafayette Marquis de Lafayette The Marquis de Lafayette (1757 – 1834).

[SHS 012596]

Sacred Sun and the other unhappy Osages spent the next two years traveling in Europe, trying to survive and find a way home. They begged for food and lodging. Eventually, a newspaper wrote about their dire situation. The Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the American Revolutionary War, sent Sacred Sun, her baby, Black Bird, and Minckchatahooh back to America. Sacred Sun and one of her daughters arrived safely at Norfolk, Virginia, in late 1829, but Black Bird and Minckchatahooh supposedly died of smallpox aboard the ship. Little Chief, Hawk Woman, and Big Soldier returned to America a few months later. The Osage were reunited in Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., around 1830.

[SHS 027807 (detail)]

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Back in America

Thomas L. McKenney Thomas L. McKenney Thomas Loraine McKenney (1785–1859) was a United States official who served as Superintendent of Indian trade from 1816–1822. He became superintendent of Indian affairs in 1824, serving in that position until 1830. McKenney was an advocate of the prevailing American view that the Native Americans would benefit from adapting more fully to European American culture and complying with United States government demands, especially abandoning their traditional lands and moving farther west. With James Hall (1793–1868) as co-author, McKenney published a History of the Indian Tribes of North America between 1836 and 1844.

[SHS 027828]
Thomas L. McKenney, director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs from 1824 to 1830, had the artist Charles Bird King

Charles Bird King (1785–1862) was an accomplished professional portraitist. He is best known today for his depictions of Native American dignitaries who came to Washington to confer with government officials. The King portraits were commissioned by Superintendent of Indian Affairs Thomas L. McKenney (1785–1859). The publication History of the Indian Tribes of North America featured portraits by King and other artists, along with biographies of the subjects.

paint a portrait of Sacred Sun and her baby while she was in Washington, D.C. The portrait hung in the National Indian Portrait Gallery until 1865 when it was destroyed by fire. Copies of all the portraits in the gallery, including Sacred Sun’s, had been made before the fire. They were printed in the book History of the Indian Tribes of North America.

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Sacred Sun’s Legacy

The McKenney & Hall History of the Indian Tribes of North America   History of the Indian Tribes of North America
The McKenney & Hall History of the Indian Tribes of North America The McKenney & Hall History of the Indian Tribes of North America.

Thomas L. McKenney and James Hall co-authored and published History of the Indian Tribes of North America between 1836 and 1844. This 3-volume publication includes 120 hand-colored lithographs of portraits from the Indian Gallery in the Department of War at Washington, as well as biographical sketches and anecdotes of the principal chiefs. Charles Bird King and other artists painted the original portraits.

[J. Christian Bay Collection, SHS] A biographical sketch of Mohongo McKenney and Hall wrote this biographical sketch of Mohongo that accompanies her portrait in History of the Indian Tribes of North America. The sketch reveals that the authors, like most European Americans of their time, lacked a fundamental understanding of native cultures. They believed that Indian people, like Mohongo, needed improvement that could only come through an education in Western culture.

[J. Christian Bay Collection, SHS] Description of Mohongo, continued A description of Mohongo, continued.

[J. Christian Bay Collection, SHS] Description of Mohongo, continued A description of Mohongo, continued.
[J. Christian Bay Collection, SHS] Description of Mohongo, continued A description of Mohongo, continued.
[J. Christian Bay Collection, SHS]

Sacred Sun was an adventurous and brave woman who lived during a period of great change for her people, the Osage. Her portrait and the accounts of her ambitious journey to Europe offer a glimpse of her life and personality. When Sacred Sun returned to St. Louis in the summer of 1830, she traveled to rejoin her tribe—no longer in Missouri, but living in the Oklahoma Territory near Fort Gibson—and there she lived probably another six years on land set aside for the Osage.


Text by Carlynn Trout with research assistance by Bridget Begley

Meets Show-Me Standards SS: 2, 6, 7; 4th grade GLE 2a.A.; and MSIP equity in gender and racial/ethnic awareness

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References and Resources

For more information about Sacred Sun's life and career, see the following resources:

Society Resources

The following is a selected list of books, articles, and manuscripts about Sacred Sun in the research centers of The State Historical Society of Missouri. The Society’s call numbers follow the citations in brackets.


  • Articles from the Missouri Historical Review
    • McMillen, Margot Ford. “Les Indiens Osages: French Publicity for the Traveling Osage.” v. 97, no. 4 (July 2003), pp. 295-333.
    • Shoemaker, Floyd C., ed. “Missouriana–Mohongo’s Story.” v. 36, no. 2 (January 1942), pp. 210-214.
  • Articles from the Newspaper Collection
    • “Osage may visit Philadelphia.” The Missouri Republican. September 13, 1824, p. 2, c. 3.
    • “Osage in France.” The Missouri Republican. November 1, 1827, p. 2. c. 4; November 8, 1827, p. 3. c. 2; November 14, 1827; p. 2, c. 1.
  • Books and Articles
    • Barry, Louise.The Beginning of the West: Annals of the Kansas Gateway to the American West, 1540–1854. Topeka: Kansas State Historical Society, 1972. pp. 143-144. [REF 978.1 B279]
    • Christensen, Lawrence O., William E. Foley, Gary R. Kremer, and Kenneth H. Winn, eds. Dictionary of Missouri Biography. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999. pp. 67-68 (Big Soldier); 167-179 (Chouteau family). [REF F508 D561]
    • Fletcher, Alice C. “The Osage Indians in France.” American Anthropologist. v. 2, no. 2 (April-June 1900), pp. 395-400. [REF Vertical File]
    • Foreman, Carolyn Thomas. “Curiosity on the Continent.” Indians Abroad, 1493-1938. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1943. pp. 132-146. [REF 970.6 F761]
    • Foreman, Grant. “Our Indian Ambassadors to Europe.” Missouri Historical Society Collections. v. 5, no. 2 (February 1928), pp. 109-128. [REF F550 M69 v.5]
    • Hodge, Frederick Webb, ed. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 30. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1907. Part 1 (A-M): pp. 927-929 (Mohongo). Part 2, (N-Z): pp. 156-159 (Osage). [REF 572.05 Un3b no. 30]
    • Mathews, John Joseph. “Little Chief and Hawk Woman Go to France.” The Osages: Children of the Middle Waters. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1961. pp. 539-547. [REF F580.3 M423]
    • McCandless, Perry and William E. Foley. Missouri; Then and Now. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2001. [REF F550 M126m 2001]
    • McKenney, Thomas L. and James Hall. “Mohongo (An Osage Woman).”The Indian Tribes of North America. Edinburgh, Scotland: John Grant, 1933. v. 1, pp. 44-49. [REF 970.1 M196 v. 1]
    • McMillen, Margot Ford and Heather Roberson. Called to Courage: Four Missouri Women. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2002. pp. 5-33. [REF F508 M228]
    • McMillen, Margot Ford and Heather Roberson. Into the Spotlight: Four Missouri Women. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2004. pp. 1–34. [F508 M228in]
    • Trout, Carlynn. Notable Women of Missouri. Columbia, MO: Columbia: American Association of University Women–Columbia, Missouri Branch, 2005. pp. 3–4. [F508 T758 2005]
    • Wolferman, Kristie C. The Osage in Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1997. [F580.3 W832]
  • Manuscript Collection
    • Godsey, Roy, “Southwestern Missouri Indians,” n.d. (C2089)
      Manuscript submitted to the Missouri Historical Review about southwestern Missouri’s Indian population, especially the Osage Indians.
    • Dougherty, John (1791-1860), Letter Book, 1826-1829 (C2292)
      The Dougherty letter book contains letters from John Dougherty, a fur trader, interpreter, and Upper Missouri Indian agent, to William Clark, superintendent of Indian affairs at St. Louis, various U.S. Army officers, Indian agents, interpreters and fur traders, U.S. War and Treasury Department officials, Missouri politicians, and private citizens. Information about the Osage Indians can be found throughout the book.

Outside Resources

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Historic Missourians: Sacred Sun
Sacred Sun Sacred Sun and her child, around 1830.

[SHS 021180]

Sacred Sun

Born: 1809?
Died: 1836? (age 27?)
Tribe: Osage
Categories: Native Americans, Women
Region of Missouri: Central
Missouri County: Saline
Introduction
Early Years
Journey Begins
Honored Guest in France
Sacred Sun's Hardships
Back in America
Sacred Sun's Legacy
References & Resources