Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/134

KANSAS THE DESERT (?). 123 Kansas, Osage and Pawnees called the tribe, and the authorities state that as late as 1805 the North Platte was still known as Padouca Fork, and they further say, that these were a branch of the Comanches. So at the date of our story there were five distinct na- tions or tribes of people in and adjoining Kansas; this includes the Missouris. It was the French who changed the name into Kaw; there never was a tribe of that name, but this was the French for Kansas. It has been recited heretofore what CJoronado's opinion was of the newly discovered country. Just compare his views with "The Great American Desert," as it was designated in old geographies sixty years ago. Lieutenant Pike reported to the Government after his going through the country: "A terrestrial paradise for Indians". "A vast tract of untimbered country which lies between the waters of the Missouri, Mississippi and the Western Ocean, from the mouth of the Mississippi to forty degrees north latitude", (which is the north Kne of Kansas). ■ ^