Tonkawa Massacre
Encyclopedia
The Tonkawa Massacre occurred after an attack at the Confederate held, Wichita Agency located at Fort Sill
near Anadarko
in Oklahoma
, when a force of pro-Union tribes attacked the agency home to 300 members of the Tonkawa
, a tribe sympathetic to the Confederacy
. During the attack on the Confederate held agency, the Confederate Indian agent Leeper and several other whites where killed. In response to this attack the Tonkawa fled southward toward Confederate held Fort Arbuckle, before they could reach the safety of the fort they were caught on October 24. In the resulting massacre, the estimates of Tonkawa dead are 137 men, women and children among them Chief Plácido
, or Ha-shu-ka-na ("Can't Kill Him"). There are varying accounts of the tribes involved in the massacre with the Lenape
, Osage
, Shawnee
, Caddo
, Comanche
, Kiowa
and Seminole
being named in some accounts.
The reasons for the attack are varied with some suggesting that the Tonkawa had killed and eaten two Shawnees, and that they were responsible for the death and dismemberment of a young Caddo boy, as the Tonkawa were rumored to be cannibalistic. Other accounts name the main reason as their being allied to the southern cause. The relations between the Tonkawa and neighboring tribes had been antagonistic for years for a variety of reasons including the Tonkawa acting as scouts for the Texas Rangers
, and fighting alongside them in actions against hostile tribes including the Comanche.
Many of the survivors fled to Confederate held Fort Arbuckle after the massacre, base of the pro-Confederate Chickasaw Battalion, then made their way to confederate-held, Fort Belknap in Texas in 1863. The massacre completely demoralized and fractured the remnants of the tribe, who remained without a leader and lived in squalor by Fort BelknapThe remnants of the tribe then lived near Fort Griffin in Texas until 1884. They were then forced by the government to relocate temporarily to the Sac-Fox agency and then in the spring of 1885 to Fort Oakland, occupied by Chief Joseph's Band of Nez Perce from 1878 to 1885. In 1891, 73 members of the Tonkawa were allocated 994.33 acres (4 km²) of federal trust land, with an additional 238.24 acre (0.9641239264 km²) in individual allotments, near the former Fort Oakland, which is today Tonkawa, Oklahoma
, 12 miles (19.3 km) west of Ponca City. The population on the reservation is 537
with 481 being officially on the tribal roles.
Fort Sill
Fort Sill is a United States Army post near Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.Today, Fort Sill remains the only active Army installation of all the forts on the South Plains built during the Indian Wars...
near Anadarko
Anadarko, Oklahoma
Anadarko is a city in Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 6,645 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Caddo County.-Early History:Anadarko got its name when its post office was established in 1873...
in Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, when a force of pro-Union tribes attacked the agency home to 300 members of the Tonkawa
Tonkawa
The Tickanwa•tic Tribe , better known as the Tonkawa , are a Native American people indigenous to present-day Oklahoma and Texas. They once spoke the now-extinct Tonkawa language believed to have been a language isolate not related to any other indigenous tongues...
, a tribe sympathetic to the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
. During the attack on the Confederate held agency, the Confederate Indian agent Leeper and several other whites where killed. In response to this attack the Tonkawa fled southward toward Confederate held Fort Arbuckle, before they could reach the safety of the fort they were caught on October 24. In the resulting massacre, the estimates of Tonkawa dead are 137 men, women and children among them Chief Plácido
Chief Placido
Plácido was major Native American Chief of the Tonkawa Indians in Texas during the Spanish and Mexican rule, the Republic of Texas era, and with Texas as part of the United States.-Early years in Texas:...
, or Ha-shu-ka-na ("Can't Kill Him"). There are varying accounts of the tribes involved in the massacre with the Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
, Osage
Osage
The Osage Nation, a Native American tribe in the United States, is the source of most other terms containing the word "osage".Osage can also refer to:*The Osage language, a Siouan language traditionally spoken by the Osage Nation...
, Shawnee
Shawnee
The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
, Caddo
Caddo
The Caddo Nation is a confederacy of several Southeastern Native American tribes, who traditionally inhabited much of what is now East Texas, northern Louisiana and portions of southern Arkansas and Oklahoma. Today the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma is a cohesive tribe with its capital at Binger, Oklahoma...
, Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
, Kiowa
Kiowa
The Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
and Seminole
Seminole
The Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...
being named in some accounts.
The reasons for the attack are varied with some suggesting that the Tonkawa had killed and eaten two Shawnees, and that they were responsible for the death and dismemberment of a young Caddo boy, as the Tonkawa were rumored to be cannibalistic. Other accounts name the main reason as their being allied to the southern cause. The relations between the Tonkawa and neighboring tribes had been antagonistic for years for a variety of reasons including the Tonkawa acting as scouts for the Texas Rangers
Texas Ranger Division
The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...
, and fighting alongside them in actions against hostile tribes including the Comanche.
Many of the survivors fled to Confederate held Fort Arbuckle after the massacre, base of the pro-Confederate Chickasaw Battalion, then made their way to confederate-held, Fort Belknap in Texas in 1863. The massacre completely demoralized and fractured the remnants of the tribe, who remained without a leader and lived in squalor by Fort BelknapThe remnants of the tribe then lived near Fort Griffin in Texas until 1884. They were then forced by the government to relocate temporarily to the Sac-Fox agency and then in the spring of 1885 to Fort Oakland, occupied by Chief Joseph's Band of Nez Perce from 1878 to 1885. In 1891, 73 members of the Tonkawa were allocated 994.33 acres (4 km²) of federal trust land, with an additional 238.24 acre (0.9641239264 km²) in individual allotments, near the former Fort Oakland, which is today Tonkawa, Oklahoma
Tonkawa, Oklahoma
Tonkawa is a city in Kay County, Oklahoma, United States, along the Salt Fork Arkansas River. The population was 3,299 at the 2000 census.-History:...
, 12 miles (19.3 km) west of Ponca City. The population on the reservation is 537
with 481 being officially on the tribal roles.