Louis F. Burns

Louis F. Burns
Born	January 2, 1920 Elgin, Kansas
Died	May 20, 2012 Pawhuska, Oklahoma
Occupation	Historian, author
Spouse(s)	Ruth Blake (1945-2006)

Louis Francis Burns (January 2, 1920 – May 20, 2012) (Osage) was an American historian, author, and teacher, a leading expert on the history, mythology and culture of the Osage Nation. Burns wrote more than a dozen books and scholarly works on the Osage people. In 2002 he was inducted into the Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame.

Burns was born on January 2, 1920, in Elgin, Kansas, to Robert Lee and Bessie (née Tinker) Burns. His mother, Bessie, an Osage allottee, was a member of the prominent Tinker family, whose history Burns chronicled in his 1980 book, Turn of the Wheel. Through her, Burns was descended from the Little Bear/Strike Axe band of Little Osages, and was a member of the tribe's Mottled Eagle Clan. His Osage name was Hulah Kiheka (Eagle Chief), and he became a member of the I’n Lon Schka Society. Burns was raised on a cattle ranch within the Osage Nation.

He served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II within the Central and South Pacific Campaigns. Soon after returning to the United States from the war, he married Ruth Blake in 1945.

Burns received both a bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in history from Kansas State Teachers College at Emporia. (The college is now known as Emporia State University since 1977). He later worked on a doctorate at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

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