Cone Tinkler from the Wea Presbyterian Mission, 14MM322
Date: 1837-1857
This cone tinkler was recovered from the Wea Presbyterian Mission in 1997 by Kansas Historical Society archeologists and crew. The excavations revealed foundations for the Mission house, a spring house, and an outbuilding in addition to a filled in well. The Wea Mission (1834-1837) changed functions over time: it served as the Osage River Subagency (1837-1844), the Wea and Piankeshaw Baptist Mission (1844-1857) and then had other occupants until 1909 when the house burned. Tinklers were used to decorate hair, clothes and other objects.

English Gunflint from the Wea Mission, 14MM322
Date: 1837-1857
This gunflint was recovered from the Wea Presbyterian Mission in 1997 by Kansas Historical Society archeologists and crew. The gunflint, quarried and manufactured in southern England, and has a single dorsal arris. Gunflints were used to generate a spark in a flintlock musket or pistol and as strike-a-lights for lighting a fire. The excavations at the site revealed foundations for the Mission house, a spring house, and an outbuilding in addition to a filled in well. The Wea Mission (1834-1837) changed functions over time: it served as the Osage River Subagency (1837-1844), the Wea and Piankeshaw Baptist Mission (1844-1857) and then had other occupants until 1909 when the house burned.

Map of Eastern Kansas
Creator: Jewett, J.P. & Company
Date: 1856
A map of Eastern Kansas by E.B. Whitman and A.D. Searl, General Land Agents, Lawrence, Kansas. The map illustrates a portion of Eastern Kansas which depicts trading posts, post offices, missions, government forts, Indian villages, roads, trails and Indian boundaries. The Indian boundaries that are featured included: the Kickappo, Pottawatomie, Kansa, Sax and Fox, Shawnee, Miami, Ottawa, Chippewa, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Iowa, Delaware, Wyandotte, Piankashaw, and the Wea. The map includes illustrations of the Eldridge House in Lawrence and the Constitution Hall in Topeka. The land discussed above was originally given to Native Americans following the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830.

Pitcher from the Wea Presbyterian Mission, 14MM322
Date: 1837-1857
One half of a porcelain pitcher was recovered from the Wea Presbyterian Mission in 1997 by Kansas Historical Society archeologists and crew. The pitcher may represent a small cream pitcher or it could be a child's toy pitcher. The excavations revealed foundations for the Mission house, a spring house, and an outbuilding in addition to a filled in well. The Wea Mission (1834-1837) changed functions over time: it served as the Osage River Subagency (1837-1844), the Wea and Piankeshaw Baptist Mission (1844-1857) and then had other occupants until 1909 when the house burned.

Transferware Plate from the Wea Mission, 14MM322
Date: 1847-1874
These plate sherds were likely all from one plate and were recovered from the Wea Presbyterian Mission in 1997 by Kansas Historical Society archeologists and crew. The plate depicts a landscape that had been added to the plate by transfer printing, called transferware. The excavations revealed foundations for the Mission house, a spring house, and an outbuilding in addition to a filled in well. The Wea Mission (1834-1837) changed functions over time: it served as the Osage River Subagency (1837-1844), the Wea and Piankeshaw Baptist Mission (1844-1857) and then had other occupants until 1909 when the house burned.

United States versus Clayton Baine et al. for trespass
Date: crime February - April, 1858
This judicial case file contains a subpoena, arrest warrants, and an affidavit related to the charge against Clayton Baine, W. B. Oldham, John Lamar, and C. Bryant for trespass in Lykins County (now Miami County), Kansas territory between February and April of 1858. On November 23, 1858, John Ellis testified to the Second Judicial Court in Paola, Kansas territory that Baine, Oldham, Lamar, and Bryant had stolen timber from lands belonging to the Wea tribe. During the 1820s and 1830s, many Native American tribes were forcibly removed to lands west of the Mississippi River. When Kansas became a territory in 1854, the influx of settlers led to encroachment on lands promised to Native American tribes like the Wea.