After struggling to assemble a straightforward outline of James McCloskey’s story, I’m happy to hand the reins over to researcher Keith Jones, who has spent some time on the trail of one of McCloskey’s partners in the fur trade, a man I used to know as "Changreau.” D.S.
Julian's full name was Louis Julian Shangreau, but I will refer to him as simply Julian, so as to not confuse him with his son, Louis.
Marshall County census data shows Changreau's name was actually spelled with an “S” (Shangreau with variations). The Shangreau name had gone through many changes over the years. Several years ago I was in contact with one of Julian Shangreau's descendants, who had done considerable genealogical research (including DNA testing). She explained how the name morphed considerably through generations. She said the earliest version in Canada was Gingras. That was corrupted to Jangro, which was Julian Shangreau's father's name, and variations of that name were spelled Jangreau and Gangro. She explained how the variations developed, as “G” was often pronounce as “J” in French, and “G” or “J” can sometimes have a "sh" sound, which is how the name Shangreau came into existence. She said the name Shangreau began with Julian, therefore anybody with that last name were his descendants.
When Francis Parkman chronicled his trek west in 1846 he encountered Julian Shangreau on the upper Platte, but he recorded the name as Jeangras. (The Journals of Francis Parkman, 2 vols. (London, 1947), 2: 453-54)
As the story goes, two French-Americans (Shangreau & LaRoche) came to Kansas with James McCloskey. All three men had Sioux wives, and they'd come from Siouan lands in the vicinity of Fort Laramie. McCloskey settled on the Big Blue River at Marysville, whereas Shangreau & LaRoche settled 20 miles southeast of there, where the Independence branch of the Oregon Trail crossed the Black Vermillion River. A French-American named Louis Tremble was taking advantage of the Western migration by operating a toll-crossing and a blacksmith shop there.
Julian Shangreau reportedly went to the foothills of the Rockies with the Janis family. It was there (circa 1847) that he married Wiyela, the daughter of Yellow Woman and the Oglala Chief "Smoke" (b 1784 & d 1864). Julian & Wiyela had two sons, Julian Louis (1848-1899) and John (1850-1926). Some historians say Julian Shangreau was also married to Wiyela's younger sister, Breath Wind.
So, there were two Shangreau boys (Louis & John) living with their parents on the Black Vermillion before the family fled back to Laramie.
It isn't clear when Julian Shangreau returned to Laramie, but the cause for his exit was an attack by Kaw (Konza) Indians. Kaws captured his wife's sister; took her all the way to their villages and sacrificed her in a manner that resembled the Skiddi-Pawnee Morning Star Ritual, where Pawnees sacrificed a captive from a rival tribe (a ritual to their fertility god to bring about a prosperous harvest). The Pawnee medicine-man then proceeded to eat the heart of the victim after she was dead, but the Pawnee had already abandoned that horrific fertility rite two decades earlier, and why the Kaws would have been compelled to adopt it might have been their dismal living conditions.
Conditions got seriously worse for the Kaws in 1846 when they were forced to leave the fertile Blue-Kansas River Valleys (at present-day, Manhattan Kansas) to live on the upland prairie of the Flint Hills (Council Grove). Their living conditions took a more dramatic downward spiral in 1854 when the Kansas Territory was carved out of the Indian Territory.
White squatters occupied and fenced the limited fertile valleys on their reservation at the head waters of the Neosho River; wild game had vanished; severe droughts for the next several years compounded their problems and starvation became common during the time that Julian Shangreau lived in southern Marshall County Kansas.
Julian Shangreau's luck didn't change for the better after he returned to Laramie. He was murdered by his brother-in-law (his wife's brother) "The Announcer" aka "Big Mouth" in 1860. Big Mouth, the eldest son of Chief Smoke, became the head chief of his band after his father died.
Autobiography of Alex Adams in Beinecke Library at Yale University: "A Sioux man whose name was Announcer, killed a white man who wore long locks. He was the father of Louis Shangreau, whose name was also Louis Shangreau."
Upper Platte Agency records by Agt T. S. Twiss, Oct. 8, 1860: "A Sioux Indian, called 'Big Mouth', who killed a white man at Cache la poudre in Sept last, has surrendered to me". Twiss indicated there was a drunken brawl among white settlers on the Cache la Poudre River where they gave whisky to the Indian - "who states to me that he was drunk- one of the white men struck the Indian, or gave offence in some way: afterwards, in the night, the Indian shot a white man by the name of Jeangras."
Keith Jones