 A historic seasonal Pawnee tipi village had been located only from Fort Hays, but the Pawnee had been excluded from it by other dominate tribes for some time by the 1860s.There was a real John Dunbar who worked as a Christian missionary among the Pawnee in the 1830s–40s, and sided with the Native Americans in a dispute with government farmers and a local Indian agent.It is unclear whether the name "John Dunbar" was chosen as a corollary to the historical figure.