Three views of the Pawnee Village site in Republic County, Kansas. This site is part of the Pawnee Indian Museum, the oldest historic site owned by the state of Kansas. In 1899 George and Elizabeth Johnson deeded to the state of Kansas most of the site upon which a large Kitkehahki (Republican) band Pawnee earth lodge village had stood in the late 1700's.
The state accepted the site in 1901, put up an iron fence and erected a granite obelisk to mark the site where in 1806, United States explorer Zebulon Pike convinced the Pawnees to lower the Spanish flag, recently left there by a large Spanish force and raise the United States flag. Supposedly this was the first time the U.S. flag was raised west of the Missouri River. This flag raising episode was true except it happened about 40 miles up the Republican River at a village the Pawnees moved to after deserting this one.
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