Osage Mission

Attn: Hennessy Agency; Subject: Progress Report; March 18, 1873
 
We arrived in Osage Mission where we had reason to expect Dr. York would have business on his travels. Upon checking into our lodging, we discovered that the Dr. had been a guest there on the 9th proving he made it at least this far before his disappearance. We also heard of an unknown deceased person being discovered, so we immediately went to follow-up in case it was related to our person-of-interest.
 
The Sheriff—a Norwegian by the name Lars Anderson; everyone in town calls him the "Sweede"—allowed us to view the corpse. It turns out to some unknown individual (see attached notes for full description and details). We requested to keep one of his belongings, a leather sketch book written in some kind of coded language (copy of the receipt attached) which might prove useful in future. The death may have been entirely coincidental, but perhaps not.
 
We spoke with a number of individuals in town about Dr. York and other potentially related matters including the director of the local school (the recently established St. Francis Institute for Boys), the local doctor (who turned out to have a distinct dislike for Dr. York based purely on his reputation), and the mayor who had the most useful information.
 
Dr. York had visited the mayor while he was in town and conveyed more detail about the missing wagon. He had loaned it to a father, George Longcore, who was traveling alone with his infant daughter, Mary Ann. While he was in Ft. Stockton, he had received word that his horses and wagon (identified by his mark on the horses) were found in poor condition outside the Fort. He told the mayor that he was deeply worried about the man and his daughter, and that he planned to inquire about them along his route back to Independence. Therefore, the trail leads on from Osage Mission back towards his home. What befell him on his travels still remains a mystery.
 
A few notes:
 

• On the road from Walnut, we encountered Company B, 10th Calvary looking for Kiowa who had left the reservation lead by someone named "Melting Stone".


• The unknown deceased was found at a formation outside of town known as the Devil's Rock Pile. The area has a smell of brimstone and bad air, but was also a holy site for the natives and used by shamans for visions. It appears the deceased was an artist exploring the area on his own and fell victim to the bad air—we ourselves had some folks succumb, but had companions to get them to safety.


• Osage Mission is currently host to a large temporary workforce tented outside of town working on the railroad.


• Father Schumaker is raising funds to build a cathedral for the boys & girls school; they currently only have a small chapel in town.