---

Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings

	FORT OSAGE Missouri
Jackson County, on the northern edge of the village of Sibley. Historic Fort Osage

Ownership and Administration. Jackson County.

Significance. Fort Osage, founded in 1808 by William Clark as a military post and Government "factory," was one of the most successful of the 28 Indian trading posts, or factories, in operation between 1795 and 1822. The idea of winning the good will of the Indians by supplying them with goods from official trading posts originated in the colonial period; Pennsylvania and Massachusetts experimented with the idea. In 1793 Congress acted on President George Washington's recommendation that the Government establish a series of trading posts where Indians could secure goods at cost by barter. These posts were intended to strengthen military policy, promote peace on the frontier, protect the Indians against exploitation by private traders, and offset the influence of the British and Spanish over the Indians. In 1795 the system was initiated. The Government appointed a superintendent of Indian trade, who shipped goods, obtained in open market or by bids, to factors at the trading posts. The factors sold the goods to the Indians for furs, skins, or other products. These were shipped back east to the superintendent, who sold them at auction or in foreign markets. Complicated and idealistic, the system proved to be a failure. It suffered from poor administration, the extension of too much credit to the Indians, inferior trade goods and Indian products, and high freight charges. Congressional opposition to the system grew throughout the years and led in 1822 to its abolition.

Fort Osage was also of considerable military importance. It was the first U.S. Army post beyond the Mississippi and between 1808 and 1822 was the principal outpost of civilization on the Missouri River and in western Missouri. At the fort, in 1808, the U.S. Government signed a treaty with the Osage Indians in which they ceded most of their lands in present Missouri. In 1811 the Astorians stopped off at the fort on their journey to the Pacific, where they built Fort Astoria. During the War of 1812 the U.S. Army abandoned the fort; and in 1813 the factor at the fort, George Sibley, moved his trading post to the site of Arrow Rock, Mo., where he built a small fort. After the war, in 1815, both the factor and the garrison returned to Fort Osage. The garrison remained until 1819. In 1821 the fort became the terminus of a road that extended through the newly created State of Missouri from St. Charles, Mo. After 1822, when Congress abolished the factory system, the abandoned fort served as a Government storehouse until superseded in 1827 by the newly built Fort Leavenworth, in Kansas, which served both as a military post and supply depot. Fort Osage is a Registered National Historic Landmark relating primarily to the fur trade.

Present Appearance. No remains of the original Fort Osage are extant. Restorations, authorized in 1947 by the County Court of Jackson and accomplished with the technical assistance of the Native Sons of Kansas City, include five blockhouses, the main one containing original cannon and exhibits; officers' quarters; soldiers' barracks; the "factory"; blacksmith's shop; well; and the Little Osage Village. A museum on the second-floor room of the factory features exhibits on the factory system and military artifacts. Fort Osage is open to the public.

NHL Designation: 11/05/61