George Champlin Sibley Papers

The papers of George Champlin Sibley.

Papers in this section are transcripts. Scans of the originals will be uploaded (whenever possible) at a future date. Transcripts were created by Lindenwood University undergraduate students and historian Kate Gregg.

While the folks that transcribed these papers had every intention of being accurate, oftentimes there ARE errors. If you intend on citing a particular letter, it is recommended that you look at the original first before quoting from them!

Letters originating from the United States Office of Indian Trade are digitized copies from microfilm, and as yet have not been transcribed.

History

Prior to helping his wife start Lindenwood Female College, George Sibley briefly served as Assistant Factor at Fort Bellefontaine, near St. Louis. Later, he became Factor of the U.S. trading post at Fort Osage (1808-1822) until the government closed the system down.

From 1822 to 1825, Sibley unsuccessfully tried to start a private trading post in proximity to Fort Osage, while serving as Postmaster General for the region.

As trade between the frontier of the United States grew with Mexico, the government appointed Sibley, along with Benjamin Reeves and Thomas Mather to survey a road to Santa Fe (1825-1827). Part of their responsibilities was to negotiate treaties with Native Americans along the route, to guarantee safe passage for Americans while they travelled to Santa Fe.

Upon finishing the survey, George and Mary Sibley moved to St. Charles, Missouri. While Mary was the driving force behind the creation of Lindenwood College, due to the limitations placed on women at the time, George helped whenever he could.

Warning

Certain language choices and themes found within uploaded files are indicative of other times and views. We realize that some material here could be harmful and/or triggering to encounter. The items are shared not without care, but out of a desire to engage with any potential value the material has as a historical item that helps us understand past contexts, assists us in the study of changes and progress over time, and a hope that by learning from our history we gain insight into attitudes that may still have impact today.

Our current values and work for standardizing diversity, equity, and inclusion at Lindenwood University can be found on the webpage of our Center for Diversity and Inclusion.