The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-12-15

even at that time the Wichita Indians
were then as now. pursuing the avoca-
tons of peace. They claimed they had
abandoned their home. not an unusual
occurrence among all tribes of Indians.
Many circumstances contribute TO this
act. among them being the sickness and
its accompanying Authorizations of local
evil spirits. successful fees. and that
peculiar unaccountable fact OF the scare
ity of game for years over wide region
formerly well supplied with that neces-
sity. What become of this remnant OF
the Wichitas is not known, but they were
undoubtedly absorbed either by the Ten
sas or Caddo tribes hard by. with whom
they were then on friendly terms, for
there is no account of their return IN
the year 49, at a point near where
Shreveport, Louisiana. now stands
splendid trading post with the Caddo
Indians was established by the French.
These Indians afterward sold their
interest at this point and moved further
west on the Brazos river, where they
remained until they We're united with the
Wichita Indians at Fort Arbuckle in 1859.
To the northwest from Shreveport, and
probably on the Canadian river, while
Du Rivaee. who came from Shreveport.
was on one OF his numerous exploring ex-
petitions. ne found large Indian village
extending for three miles along the river
bank The village not only included the
Wichitas proper, but also the Towac-
konies, Ouaichitzs, Anadarkos, Houaches
(IVacoes) and some others, all closely
allied tribes and who now, ard probably
did then, speak the same language. Du
Rivage says there were four thousand
resident Indians and three thousand Wis
itors in this village. Among them al
least one tribe of Wichitas, from a qoint
further northwest. Eighteen years after
weard. in 1877, Fabry de la Bruyiere found
to the northwest on the Canadian river,
the remains Of a mento or Wichita vii
lage. but he searched in vain for the in
habitants They had disappeared without
leaving any record Of their prospective
destination. Bruyiere, however, did not
go far enough west, for ia 1853 the Wich
itas were installed in a village on the
Red river west of Cross Timbers, that
famous strip of timber which every his
torian and explorer mentions and never
describes. Be it known that that famous
strip Of timber extended across the coun-
try in an irregular line generally south
erly from a point not far from where
Guthrie, Oklahoma, is now located.
Its boundaries have never been fixed
but it was the dividing line between the
unknown with the plains of the Indians.
Tradition among them recites that sell
dom indeed did a plains Indian attempt
to cross this belt to the eastward. He
believed that it's dark recesses We're in
nabited by evil spirits who prevented the
return of all those who ventured into
it's unknown depths This village on -
Red river was attacked by the Spaniards
under Colonel Parilla about this time,
1759 and the Spaniards were ignominious-
" defeated. and were compelled TO re-
treat, leaving one of their brass cannon
behind them. This piece of ordinance re-
manned among those Indians for twenty
nine years, and one can well imagine
what an object of awe it must have been
among mem. and how they tried all the
subtle witchcraft of their mighty medi-
cine men to>once again cause it to belch
forth fire and smoke as it was wont TO do
under the magical hand of the Spaniards.
The Spaniards, however, made peace with
these Indians in the year 49, and ten
years afterward, Mesieres. the represen-
tative of Spanish power. met them in
their own village and obtained from them
the much coveted prize of war. From
1853, when the Wichitas were found on
the Red river west of the Cross Timbers.
official documents kept by the different
nations in proximity to them. keep them
in constant view. In the reckless manner
Of he - &c hur haf
is sometimes obscure, but they are not
again lost.
1t should be remembered that the site
of these villages was Spanish territory
until 1919. and the Spaniards were ever
jealous of French as well as American
explorations in this region. Until after
this date this region was seldom visited
by white men. In 1916 all the prairie
tribes were visited by that awful scourge
Of the Indian camp-smallpox In No. %,
Senate Executive Department, 4Sth Con-
gress. a statement of Uts Tuts kins.
member of the Wichita tribe, is to the ef-
feet that his people lived near the mouth
of the Little Wichita river. and that from
there his people moved to the mouth Of
Cache creek about the year 1910 The
Little Wichita river above mentioned
flows into the Red river at a point near
where the Rock Island railroad crosses
the Red River between the Chickasaw
nation and Texas From Cache creek, he
continues. the remnant of his people in
1916, moved northwest to Otter creek,
opposite the mouth of Elm Fork. and I'M
der western spur of the Wichita noun
tains. This place is not far from where
q IL
Wichitas were visited by the soldiers of
General Leavenworth's expedition. under
Colonel Dodge, in the year 1854 At this
time the Wichitas were often called the
Pawnee Picks. and were well known as
tillers Of the soil in distinction from
that of all the surrounding tribes. who
were more varlike and migratory. They
were not. however. Pawnee Indians. for