Fred Lookout (ca. 1861 – 1949) was an

Osage Nation The Osage Nation ( ) () is a Midwestern Native American nation of the Great Plains. The tribe began in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 1620 A.D along with other groups of its language family, then migrated west in the 17th cen ...

politician who served several terms as the principal chief of the nation. Lookout served as principal chief three times: 1913–1914, 1916–1918, and from 1924 until his death in 1949. Born near

Independence, Kansas Independence is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Kansas, Montgomery County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,548. It was named in commemoration of the ...

in Osage territory, he attended the

Carlisle Indian Industrial School The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from its founding in 1879 to 1918. It was based in the histo ...

and was removed with his tribe to present-day

Osage County, Oklahoma Osage County () is the largest county by area in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Created in 1907 when Oklahoma was admitted as a state, the county is named for and is home to the federally recognized Osage Nation. The county is coextensive with t ...

. He became active in tribal politics in the 1900s, serving as the assistant chief of the Osage Nation between 1908 and 1910 and on the Osage Nation tribal council between 1920 and 1922. He died in office while serving as the principal chief of the nation in 1949.

Early life

Fred Lookout was born into an Osage family in 1861 or November 1865 near present-day

. His father, Eagle-that-Dreams, was a member of the Eagle Clan. He later said of his life in Kansas:

"I was born in a typical Osage camp of the Little Osages. Our lodges were on the prairie. They were made of bent poles for frame work, with elm bark around the base, with cattail stems forming the sides and buffalo hides spread over the top for a roof. These lodges were 20 or more feet wide and 25 to 30 feet long."Edgar Weston, "Fred and Julia Pryor Lookout", ''Bartlesville Examiner Enterprise''
19 January 2022.

The United States

Indian Agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the U.S. government. Agents established in Nonintercourse Act of 1793 The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the Un ...

to the

selected Lookout at about age 18 in 1879 to attend the newly founded

in Pennsylvania. He attended Carlisle until 1884; that year his father died and he returned home to his people. He refused to return to the school. Lookout married Julia Pryor (Osage), a member of the Bear clan, and they settled on a farm near

Pawhuska, Oklahoma Pawhuska ( Osage: 𐓄𐓘𐓢𐓶𐓮𐓤𐓘, ''hpahúska'', lit.: ''White Hair''; Chiwere: ''Paháhga'') is a city in and the county seat of Osage County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,98 ...

Political career

Lookout entered tribal politics in 1908, winning election as assistant principal chief. He did not run for reelection in 1910. In 1914, he was appointed principal chief by

U.S. Secretary of the Interior The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natur ...

Walter L. Fisher, replacing Bacon Rind. The latter was removed in relation to a scandal involving oil leases. The Osage had retained mineral rights on their land and were becoming wealthy from revenue from oil leases. There was much corruption in the local areas by whites trying to gain access to Osage wealth. Lookout lost his reelection effort later that year. In 1916, he won a two-year term as principal chief. Thereafter, he served on the tribal council from 1920 to 1922. In 1926 he was elected again as principal chief and was repeatedly elected, serving until his death in office in 1949. During the

Osage Indian murders The Osage Indian murders was a serial killing event that took place in Osage County, Oklahoma, United States, during the 1910s–1930s. Newspapers described the increasing number of unsolved murders and deaths among young adults of the Osage Nat ...

, Lookout's family claimed he survived a shooting attempt and then hired

Chicago Mafia The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or the Organization, is an Italian American Mafia crime family based in Chicago, Illinois and throughout the Greater ...

members as bodyguards.

Legacy and death

He was inducted to the

Oklahoma Hall of Fame The Oklahoma Hall of Fame was founded in 1927 by Anna B. Korn to officially celebrate Statehood Day, recognize Oklahomans dedicated to their communities, and provide educational programming for all ages. The first Oklahoma Hall of Fame Induction Cer ...

in 1948, and said the honor showed the importance of the Osage to the culture and life of Oklahoma. Fred Lookout died on August 28, 1949. He holds the record for longest serving chief in the history of the tribe.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lookout, Fred Principal Chiefs of the Osage Nation Native American leaders 1860s births 1949 deaths Carlisle Indian Industrial School alumni Politicians from Independence, Kansas