Wyandot were forced to leave Ohio and move further west to Kansas as part of an Indian removal. Elizabeth Zane and Andrew Conley married in 1860 in Logan County, Ohio. They raised their daughters on a farm in present-day Wyandotte County. In 1855, Elizabeth had received the land at the age of 17 when Wyandot tribal land was allocated in severalty. In later years, the property collapsed into the Missouri River, forcing the grown Conley daughters to move into Kansas City. The daughters were encouraged to seek education. Helena "Lena" Conley (1867-1958) graduated from Park College in Missouri. Lyda Conley graduated from Kansas City School of Law in 1902 and was the first woman admitted to the Kansas bar. Sarah "Sallie" Conley (1863-1880) died at a relatively young age. Ida Conley (1865-1948) was also active in civic and public life. The sisters shared a house in Kansas City, where they lived together all their lives. None married. Career and public life Background In 1855 some of the Wyandots accepted the government's offer of United States citizenship, as they were judged ready to join the majority society. Their land in Kansas was divided among the individuals. Members who were not ready to give up their tribal institutions migrated from Kansas in 1867 and went to Oklahoma as part of the 19th-century removals. There they kept some tribal structure and retained legal authority over the tribal communal burying ground, at the Huron Cemetery in Kansas. In 1906, the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma approved the sale of the cemetery for development and had Congress authorize the United States Secretary of Interior to convey it for sale, with proceeds to go to the nation in Oklahoma. Kansas City had grown around it and developers wanted to expand on the prime property. At one corner was a Carnegie Library and the Brund Hotel was on another corner. The Scottish Rite Masonic Temple was under reconstruction following a fire. Conley's cause When this controversy arose, the Wyandot descendants in Kansas City were considered an "absentee" or "citizen class" of the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma, and did not have legal control of the burial ground. In 1855 they had accepted the United States citizenship and land allotments in Kansas. The burial ground had been excluded from the allotments, and as American Indian land, it was considered to be controlled by the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma, which has