Inhabitants Before 1800

The Milford Lake region for the most part has been consistently inhabited. Areas with an abundance of food (both wildlife and plant life), constant water supply, moderate climate, and diverse topography have been attracting mankind throughout the ages. Here is a breakdown of the people living in the Milford Lake region before the 1800s.

BOGAN SITE

Milford Lake has many recorded cultural sites both pre 1800s and post 1800s on government lands. The one that stands out the most for its’ historical value is the Bogan Site. The Bogan Site was a small earthlodge village, constructed and inhabited by the Republican River Pawnee Indians. The site most likely was inhabited during the late 1700s and possibly early 1800s. Due to the village’s small size and the number of artifacts recovered, the village was probably inhabited for only a short time. The village was built upon a prominent hilltop overlooking the Republican River valley. A good advantage point when it came to defending the village from enemies. Enemies apparently were prevalent in the area as a fortified wall surrounded the village.

Artist’s conception of the Bogan Site

An historical piece of trivia is that the Bogan Site remained "lost" for 34 years. In 1930 a local amateur archeologist did a limited amount of digging at the Bogan Site. He misidentified the legal description of the location of the site, leaving it "lost" until 1964 when the Milford Lake Project was getting underway. In 1964 the University of Nebraska, Laboratory of Anthropology, tested the site. Then in 1967 the Kansas State Historical Society’s archeological division further investigated the site. This was the last archeological study done at the Bogan Site.

The 1967 investigation discovered that the village had been completely destroyed by fire. The fortification or palisade was even burned. Originally the fortification was built by setting posts vertically in a trench around the village. The trench was filled with dirt, stabilizing the posts.

One house was excavated. The floor of the house was covered with a coating of clay. Posts, which supported the walls and the roof, were set in three circles. The inner circle had 6 posts, the middle circle had 28 posts, and the very outer circle had 60 posts.

The dwelling was 44 feet in diameter. The framework of each  house would have been covered with willows, thatched grass,  and covered with sod. Evidence from the other two house sites  indicates they were burned as well.

Eighty-one artifacts were recovered from the Bogan Site. Six are on display in the Milford Visitor Center.

The scene is set, the facts are laid down, and the mystery begins. What happened at the Bogan Site? A plausible scenario is that the village was abandoned before it was completely occupied.

Fact – the size of the fortification and only three houses built. To build a fortification took lots of hard work and extreme effort on the part of the laborers. Trees were not all that plentiful at this time period in Kansas. Man and horsepower probably transported the trees used to build the fortification and houses over long distances. Why build such a large fortification if you are only planning on building three houses?

Fact – the village was destroyed by fire. At the time of the Bogan Site, Kansa Indians had emigrated to Kansas and were fearful enemies of the Pawnee.
Story – the Kansa burned the village.
Alternate story – the village was burned by a prairie wildfire.

Fact – no evidence was found of food stored in storage caches and recovered artifacts were minimal.
Story – the Pawnee may have already abandoned the village site or may have simply been gone on one of their far ranging hunts and taken all items of value with them at the time of the destruction of the village.

The Bogan Site is only the third Pawnee village site found along the Republican River. The other two sites are the Kansas Monument Site (a 10 acre site near Republic, KS) and the Hill Site (a 25 acre site near Red Cloud, NE).