River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1891-06-18
LAST OF THE TEHuACANAS.
The determination of That Once Powe
full Tribe of the Cherokees.


The determination of That Once Power
full Tribe of the Cherokees.
When the Cherokee tribe of Indians
were removed from the eastern homes
of their ancestors to their present do
main in the Indian Territory, portion
of them settled on the north bank of
Red river, some distance from the main
body of their countrymen. From long
contact with the whites, to whom they
were ever friends and allies. they had
learned many of the arts of civilization
and acquired much property in arms.
horses, cattle and other property of
value to pioneers. Indeed, many of
them were wealthy in such property.
The little family on Red river set indus
triously to work building houses, clear
ing ground and fencing land.
At that time the vast territory now
locally known as central 6exas, be-
tween the Trinity and Brazos rivers,
was occupied by a powerful confeder-
acy of Indian tribes, chief of which was
the Tehuacanas, one of the most war
like tribes of the southwest, which was
dreaded even by the fierce Comanche,
its hereditary enemy. One of the mem
bers of this savage cOufederacy, the
Wacos, had its village on the site now
occupied by the city of Waco. on the
banks of the Brazos. 4 party of Waco
hunters ascending this river to its head
waters, crossing Red river, came upon
the settlement of industrious CherOlees.
who received them with true Indian
hospitality. While accepting their kind
offices the Wacos looked with covetous
eyes on the firearms and horses of their
hosts, and even then were planning to
steal them. Returning home the Wacos
related what they had seen, and party
of over one hundred young men weTc
dispatched to steal as many horses as
possible. They entered the corral where
the Cherokees kept their horses, and
each secured an animal and stampeded
the others. BY the time the Cherokees
were awake and secured their remain
ing frightened horses it was deemed inn
practicable to follow the thieves, as the
latter were now far south of the river,
and il was decided to send a few scouts
to locate their residence and attend &c
them after the corn was planted.
When the scouts had returned ant.
everything was in readiness, nearly
two hundred well-equipped and mounted
Cherokees set out for the Waco village.
They made a midnight attack and fired
the lodges at the same time. The ter
rified Wacos rushed out and a vengeful
massacre began. Out of over three
thousand inhabitants, at daylight the
only survivors were in cave, and as
its entrance was very narrow. the fugi-
tives had a decided advantage over
their besiegers. Late in the afternoon.
however, they began to pile rubbish in
the entrance of the cave with view to
firing it. to suffocate the inmates
They had scarcely applied the torch
when over three thousand Tehuacana
warriors appeared in answer to a sum
mons to rescue, sent by their allies
As many of these had firearms the
CherolIees could only make an orderly
retreat The fire in the cave had
nearly accomplished their terrible ven
geance, however, when the Tehuacanas
extinguished il. The surviving Wacos
were incorporated into the Tehuacanas,
and their tribe was no more.
Next spring the Cherokees, having
previously determined to avenge them
selves on the Tehuacanas, set out about
six hundred strong, al mounted and
armed with rifles and pistols, with the
determination of annihilating the Te-
huacana nation. The capital village of
the latter stood on the hills now occu-
pied by the village which takes its name
from the great tribe. On the day when
the Cherokee army arrived the entire
tribe had assembled to celebrate the
grass dance. All were on one of the
hills where the dance was in progress,
and few had arm, when the furious
onslaught of the Cherokees swept down
upon them. When the crowd became
scattered and the bullet was not sure
enough, the Cherobees began to cut
them down with sabers. About fifteen
hundred took refuge in a low fort Gov
cred with buffalo hides. AS the only en-
trance was small, the Cherol1ees adopted
the same tactics as with the Wacos-
Grass was crowded into this and fired.
Blinded with smoke, the fugitives burst
the frail roof of their covert to fall by
the bullet, saber or tomahawk. of over
six thousand probably two thousand es-
capped to neigh boring tribes, to be well
coined or slain, according to the super
stitious caprices of the allies they had
formerly sheltered. fed and protected.
Their passion for blood fully stated, the
Cherolxees returned home and resumed
occupations hardly compatible with
their conduct on the two expeditions TO
the south.
The hills of Tehuacana are rich in
flint arrow-heads, spear-heads, stone
hatchets and other relics of the stone
age. Piles of stone in extended rows
indicate the former presence of walls,
but the name borne by the sleepy little
village and the crystal rivulet from
whose ripples the painted and feathered
sachem once slalled his thirst, and the
human skulls which are occasionally
turned up by the farmers plowshare
are all that remain in memory of a bar
barrie empire that was destroyed by "a
few hundred fellow savages who had
advanced but a step in civilization DE
yond their victims.-Albert Sidney, in
Detroit Free Press