wichita.edu
… nominally held the area, the Spanish had little influence in this part of North America. Of the early European explorers, it was the French who in the eighteenth century made the first forays into the region. They were the ones who named the Marais des Cygnes. They were also the ones who made the major trading connections with the Osage and the Kansas…
https://www.wichita.edu/academics/fairmount_las/history/SPH/MineCreek/Setting.php