Sister of attorney Eliza Conley, who fought the United States government when they attempted to confiscate land that had an indian burial ground of the Wyandotte tribe on it. The land which is in the middle of the downtown Kansas City Kansas shopping area, is prime real estate. Her and her sister moved into a small structure in the cemetery, locked the gate, and posted a sign, "Trespass at your Peril," as they guarded the cemetery with a shotgun. Her sister Eliza became the first woman to plead a case in the Supreme Court. However, in 1909 the court upheld Congress’s right to interpret the 1855 treaty differently and to sell the land. The struggle drew the attention of Charles Curtiss, Senator from Kansas, himself a Kaw descendant. In 1913 he convinced Congress to repeal the sale. (Curtiss became U.S. Vice-President in 1929.) When sister Eliza died in 1946, she was buried in Huron Cemetery, now on the National Register of Historic Places. Helena's grave marker bears the insription: Wyandotte national burying ground, "Cursed be the villian that molest their graves"
Sister of attorney Eliza Conley, who fought the United States government when they attempted to confiscate land that had an indian burial ground of the Wyandotte tribe on it. The land which is in the middle of the downtown Kansas City Kansas shopping area, is prime real estate. Her and her sister moved into a small structure in the cemetery, locked the gate, and posted a sign, "Trespass at your Peril," as they guarded the cemetery with a shotgun. Her sister Eliza became the first woman to plead a case in the Supreme Court. However, in 1909 the court upheld Congress’s right to interpret the 1855 treaty differently and to sell the land. The struggle drew the attention of Charles Curtiss, Senator from Kansas, himself a Kaw descendant. In 1913 he convinced Congress to repeal the sale. (Curtiss became U.S. Vice-President in 1929.) When sister Eliza died in 1946, she was buried in Huron Cemetery, now on the National Register of Historic Places. Helena's grave marker bears the insription: Wyandotte national burying ground, "Cursed be the villian that molest their graves"
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