The Warren Wagon Train Massacre – Indian Version
a previous story, we wrote of this massacre from the white man’s point
of view. This story is of the
same massacre, only written from the Indian participant’s point of view.
may wonder how we can do this one hundred fifty years later.
The answer is a most informative book called “Carbine and
Lance” written by Col. W. S. Nye and published in 1937 by the University
of Oklahoma Press.
Nye was indeed most fortunate to be assigned to the Ft. Sill Artillery
School in 1935. Many of the
warriors who were involved in some of the Indian atrocities of the latter
19th century were still alive and living in the area of Ft.
Sill. Nye took an interpreter
to the various villages and recorded the stories of the old men in an
effort to record these events from the Indian’s point of view.
information on this story was obtained from Yellow Wolf, a Kiowa, who was
the only living survivor of the battle.
Other information was obtained by Col. Nye from Ay-tah, the wife of
Set-maunte who was a participant and George Hunt who obtained his
information from Big Tree.
1857 Congress voted to subsidize a semi-weekly overland mail service. The
line was to run "from such point of the Mississippi River as the
contractors may select, to San Francisco." Further, this service was
to be performed with "good four horse coaches or spring wagons
suitable for the conveyance of passengers, as well as the safety and
security of the mails."
John Butterfield, who had been an owner and a stage driver for some eastern stage lines, and had started the American Express Company in 1850, bid successfully for the six-year contract. The famous Butterfield Overland Express Company carried the mail from St. Louis, following a southerly route through Indian Territory, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona and then up the California Coastline to San Francisco.
Tipton, Missouri to Fort Smith Arkansas, he used existing roads.
From Fort Smith west to California he used Marcy's Road, laid out
in 1849, and the Gila Trail, while inside California he again used
After the Butterfield Trail left Indian Territory at Colbert’s Ferry, it was now in Comanche Country. The stage line made a pass through most of the small towns and forts the army had built in north-central and west Texas on its way to El Paso.
Marcy had established the forts about seventy-five miles apart.
This was done so the army patrols could make the trip between forts
in two days, spending only one night on the trail.
In Indian country it was often necessary to have a “cold camp”
while on the trace. Cold food
made for unhappy troopers.
1859, the Pony Express was established to deliver the mail to California
more quickly. In 1861 the
telegraph was completed to California.
This competition caused loss of revenue to Butterfield.
By the mid 1860’s, the Civil War, rising cost, loss of revenue
and increasing problems with the marauding Comanche and Kiowa caused the
end of the Butterfield Stage Line. The
road was still used by freighters and settlers at the risk of death and
torture from Indian attacks.
days before the attack, Kiowas, Kiowa-Apaches and Comanches were at a camp
on the North Fork of the Red River near present day Granite, OK.
The warriors had gathered to plan a big attack on the Tehannas.
known to whites and history, the leader of this group was a Kiowa called
Do-ha-te, the Owl Prophet. His
real name was Maman-ti (Touches-the-Sky) and he was seen only as a minor
sub-chief by the army. He was
in fact the strongest chief of the time.
superior intellect, he could influence his people and pretend to foretell
the future concerning warlike efforts.
The war party crossed Red River near Vernon, TX at a place the
Indians called Skunk Headquarters named for the prolific skunk population.
Here they removed their saddles, blankets and other unnecessary
items. They hobbled their
spare horses and left a few young boys behind to guard the headquarters.
there was the plan to steal as many horses and mules as possible, many of
the braves did not ride their own horses.
They rode double and carried many lariats and bridles for the
captured livestock. By May 17th,
the war party had entered Young County and headed for the old Butterfield
Trail between Fort Belknap and Fort Richardson, one of their favorite
dark, Maman-ti consulted his oracle.
After a while he rejoined the waiting braves and raised his arms
and said “Tomorrow two parties of Tehannas
will pass this way.
The first will be a small party and must not be attacked.
Later in the day a second party will pass and they may be
next day the words of Maman-ti came true.
Early in the morning, an army wagon and seventeen troopers passed
by, unaware that 150 pair of angry eyes were watching their every move
from behind the hills. The
wagon was an army ambulance carrying Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman and now
Brigadier General Randolph Marcy, Inspector General of the Army and a
honor guard of 17 mounted troopers. Maman-ti
had forbid an attack on the first party, so the warriors sat silently and
unknowingly watched their greatest adversary ride past unmolested.
hours passed and no one else had appeared.
The younger braves became restless and wanted to set out on their
own. They came for action and
were not getting it. Maman-ti
scolded the young men and held them there.
mid-afternoon, a wagon train owned by Warren & Duposes was near Cox
Mountain, half way between Ft. Richardson and Fort Belknap.
The entourage consisted of ten covered wagons, a wagon master, ten
teamsters and a night watchman. The
train carried sacks of corn for the army from the railhead at Weatherford
to Fort Griffin.
about 3:00 in the afternoon, the train was preparing to make camp as was
the custom so as to spare the animals from the heat of the day.
Maman-ti waited until the train was in the middle of the plain.
He then motioned for Satanta to blow his bugle to signal the
attack. Just as the bugle
touched Satanta’s lips, the impatient young men dug their heels into the
flanks of their ponies and charged down the hill.
the advancing Indians were finally noticed and an attempt was made to
circle the wagons. The
Indians were well armed with modern carbines and revolvers.
An attempt was made to unload the cargo and make a breastwork from
the sacks of corn. The
unrelenting fire from the approaching Indians was so intense that the task
had to be abandoned.
the hill charged the young braves trying to be the first to make coup.
A fast horse and reckless daring was a tremendous advantage.
Coup was the touching of the enemy with a lance, stick or hand
while he is trying to kill you. Each
time coup was made, the warrior was awarded an eagle or other type
feather. Enough feathers and
the warrior received a war bonnet and was made a war chief. Anybody
could kill an enemy but it was very difficult to touch the enemy while he
was shooting at you. Coup had
to be witnessed by at least one other Indian.
That must be sort of like making a hole-in-one today.
horseless Indians had dismounted on the hilltop.
Down the slope came the hoard with Big Tree and Yellow Wolf leading
the way. They dashed between
the half circled wagons and Big Tree made coup first followed by Yellow
Wolf. The party rode through
the half circled wagons as the teamsters were grabbing rifles from leather
boots attached to the wagons.
Wolf saw a young man jump from his horse and run toward the teamsters to
engage in hand-to-hand combat. It
was Or-dlee a young Comanche. He
dropped to the ground, shot dead. He
was the first to die in the battle. Then
Red Warbonnet was shot through the thigh and fell from his horse.
The white men were now shooting “dangerously” and the Indians
withdrew to outside the wagons.
the yellow dust and white puffs of gun smoke the Indians began to circle
the wagons shooting and yelling. The
Kiowa were wearing red and white war bonnets and blue breech cloths.
It must have been a blur of color for the teamsters as they fired
their rifles from underneath the wagons.
Wolf saw three teamsters die in the first attack as he rode between the
wagons. He didn’t know how
many more were dead. He also
saw three Indians wounded and one killed in the first rush.
Wolf didn’t know if Satanta blew his trumpet to give signals because the
gunfire was so intense. But
he thought if anybody did hear the trumpet, they didn’t pay any
attention to it.
sky was now growing darker and streaks of golden sunlight made for a
strange setting among the dead and dying .
A big storm was brewing.
Yellow Wolf circled around the wagons to the east he saw a group of white
men run from the wagons toward Cox Mountain.
Several Indians pursued them and one was killed a little way from
the wagons. The white men ran
toward an arroyo and some timber. Just
as they neared the timber, another white man was killed.
The rest escaped into the timber and the Indians returned to the
wagons as that was their prize.
big storm continued to build and the Indians were anxious to hurriedly
finish their work. The battle
site was now totally silent. The
Indians stood a good distance away from the wagons afraid to approach to
soon as they didn’t know how many white men were still in the wagons.
a young man named Hau-tau (Gun-shot) ran toward the wagons.
Two of the older men grabbed him and tried to hold him back.
They yelled “Keep back, it’s too dangerous”.
Hau-tau avoided the grasp of White Horse and Set-maunte and ran
toward a wagon. Hau-tau laid
his hand on the back of the wagon and said “I claim this wagon and
everything in it”.
that instant a wounded teamster inside the wagon, stuck his rifle out the
back of the wagon and shot Hau-tau point blank in the face. The young
Kiowa fell to the ground horribly wounded.
White Horse and Set-maunte were laying their hands on the team of
this wagon claiming the mules. They
ran around the wagon and dragged the youth to a safe place.
act so enraged Maman-ti that he ordered the Indians to “tear up
everything”. At this point,
the Indian version of what happened next suddenly breaks off and no Indian
will tell what happened after the shooting of Hau-tau.
story then picks up with the return trip north.
The dead warrior Or-dlee was carried to the top of Cox Mountain and
placed in a crevice. Rocks
were then placed over him so the army could not find his body.
The wounded were tied to their horses and lead back north.
The captured mules were herded north.
happened to the teamster who shot Hau-tau was reported by army officers.
On May 19th the army arrived to survey the massacre
site. Col. J. H. Patzki,
Asst. Surgeon, U.S.A. in a report to Col. R. S. McKenzie noted “One of
the bodies was more mutilated than the others.
He was chained to the pole of a wagon lying over a fire, face down,
his tongue being cut out. Due
to the charred condition of the body, it is impossible to tell if he was
alive or dead when burned. All
had been scalped except one.” The
army tried to follow the marauders but the heavy thunder storms had
obliterated the Indian's trial.
Col. McKenzie ordered all of the corpses to be placed in a wagon body and buried at the site. Two field stones were placed as markers and seven marks representing the body count were cut into the stones.
When the Indians reached the Red River, it was swollen from the recent rains. The Indians built boats out of willow boughs and canvas. They then placed the wounded and the booty from the raid in these boats and crossed the Red River back into Indian Territory. Those warriors who were still fit plunged their horses into the river and held onto the horse's tails as the horse swam for the north bank.
was carried across the Red River in one of these boats and into Comanche
country near the Wichita Mountains and Ft. Sill.
A few days later he died as a result of screw worms infesting his
head wound .
total fatalities of this raid were three Indians, seven whites and 41
© Contributed by Dennis Muncrief - 2009