The Chickasaws took heart after the building of Fort Arbuckle. For fourteen years since their removal, they had been living in the Choctaw district, unable to move onto their own land to the west. Fort Arbuckle, although built for the protection of the gold seekers, gave the Chickasaws the protection they needed to move into their own district, and it gave them the strength and the incentive to reclaim their identity as a separate tribe. They were tired of being a minority party in the Choctaw Nation as stipulated in their removal treaty. Finally, in June of 1855 the Chickasaws negotiated an agreement to form their own separate government. They wrote a constitution, elected officials, created their own school system and police force. Chickasaw and Choctaw citizens were still free to live in either district, but they were once again separate tribes.
One of the first acts of the Chickasaw legislature was to order the plains tribes off their land. Since the federal government had leased a portion of the Chickasaw-Choctaw land for these tribes at the request of the Comanche chief Tibbalo (see post of March 25, 2011) the plains tribes now had a place designated as their home.
In October 1857 the Indian agent over the southwest reported that about 5000 prairie Indians lived in the Chickasaw territory. There were 900 Wichita and 300 Kichai living along Rush Creek, 50 miles west of Ft. Arbuckle. 300 Waco and Tawakoni lived on the Canadian River 50 miles northwest of Ft. Arbuckle. 365 Caddo, Anadarko and Hainai, five miles southeast of Fort Arbuckle, were destitute and waiting on government support. 2500 Delaware, Kickapoo, and Shawnee were living on the Canadian and Washita Rivers. There were also 600 Comanche at about 100 longitude. At time of the report the warriors of these tribes were hunting in the Leased District.
The massacre of the Comanche by Texas Rangers in May of 1858 (see post of March 25, 2011) occurred just after the troops at Fort Arbuckle had been sent to Utah to put down the Mormon revolt (see post of March 19, 2011). The Comanche, aware that the fort was now deserted, began to gather around the fort, and to raid the surrounding farms for horses. It was estimated that there were several thousand Comanche camped near the Canadian River. At that time there were 18 Chickasaw and Choctaw families living near Fort Arbuckle, including my great great grandparents, Smith and Ellen Paul. One day in June of 1858, several of their horses were stolen, and several others returned home with arrows sticking in them.
After the attack, the Chickasaw agent, Douglas Cooper, requested troops from Fort Belknap in Texas, and also sent out a call for volunteers to pursue the Comanche horse thieves. The Chickasaws were so eager to volunteer for the honor of defending their land that Cooper had to limit the volunteers to 25 from each district. On June 29, 75 Chickasaws, along with a company of troops under Lt. James Powell sent from Fort Belknap, set out from Fort Arbuckle. They searched in vain for twenty days, as far away as the Wichita Mountains in the Leased District, but found no Comanche.
On July 25, a Sunday, just a few days after the Chickasaw volunteers had dispersed, things had almost returned to normal around the fort. Lt. Powell and his 100 men now occupied the fort. Smith and Ellen Paul and their neighbors had moved back into their houses. There had been a camp meeting that night and Robinson Thompson, one of Smith and Ellen's neighbors, dropped by the Paul house afterwards to visit. Smith came in after Robinson arrived, and mentioned that there were a lot of horses tied under the trees near his fence.
When Mr Thompson left, he decided to visit the Indians camped nearby. He assumed they were Wichita, some of whom he knew. When he got closer he recognized them as Comanche, so he mounted his horse to go warn the soldiers at the fort. No sooner had he got on his horse, than some Comanche stepped out of the brush and called to him in Caddo asking if he was an American. Thompson replied, "No, I am Chickasaw." One of the Comanche struck his breast and shouted that he was Comanche, and the party began shoot arrows at Thompson. Thompson's horse fell dead under him, and he took off running. Thompson managed to reach some brush nearby where he hid until morning.
The next morning the Comanche were gone, but there were several reports about their activities of the previous night. In addition to Mr Thompson, there were several others including Smith Paul who came in to report horses missing. Mrs. Hall, a Choctaw citizen who lived 4 miles from the post, told the story that she had heard some noise the previous evening and had hidden in her corn field. From there she had watched as 15 Comanche whooped and yelled and danced a war dance in her yard, and then stole all of her horses. For the next few nights most of the farmers in the community stayed in the fort.
Lt. Powell sent out 25 men to follow the Comanche party on foot. The troops arrived at the Comanche's camp the next morning while their campfire was still warm, but never again got close, although they followed the trail for 50 miles.
Soon after this incident, the principal chief of the Wichita, Lasadovah, came to Lt. Powell, complaining that the Comanche were raiding their villages on a regular basis. The Wichita had permanent settlements and farms more like the Chickasaws. Lasadovah said that he had met with the Comanche, and they had promised not to steal again, but the raids continued anyway. He said his tribe wasn't powerful enough to defend itself, and there were other tribes in the same position. Lt. Powell advised them all to camp together at Rush Springs, about 40 miles from the fort, for protection.
Meanwhile Lt. Powell invited the Comanche chief to meet with him and leaders from the other tribes at Rush Springs. At the meeting the Comanche chief, Parracoonanup, claimed ignorance of the raids, but said that the young warriors had been enraged by the attack of the Texas Rangers of the month before. He promised that he would return as many horses as he could find, and that he would punish the warriors responsible. He also asked to be given land in the Leased District so that his tribe could settle down and farm like the Wichita.
Several weeks later, as a large party of Comanche were driving a herd of horses toward Fort Arbuckle, they were intercepted by a Texas Indian Agent, Capt. S. P. Ross, who was
illegally patrolling Indian Territory with a unit of troops. Ross stampeded the horses, and then sent for reinforcements from Texas. Major Earl Van Dorn, with 400 cavalry troops, then marched north, following the Comanche's trail to Rush Creek, where the Comanche were meeting peacefully in a Wichita village with Chickasaw and Choctaw representatives. Van Dorn attacked the Comanche camp the next morning while they slept, killing 60 Comanche and 4 Wichita.
That ended the Comanche's attempt to settle down peacefully. They restarted their attacks on the Wichita, whom they blamed for tricking them into trusting the white man. The Wichita's crops were also ruined by the invading Texans, and they were forced to flee to Fort Arbuckle for safety and for food. The Comanche continued their war against the white man for another fifteen years.
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