Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1904-03-10
INDIAN CANNIBALS.
Tonkawas Were Man Eaters as
Late as 1875.
Once Powerful Tribe Was the Terror
OF Indian Territory and Texas
Are Now FulI-FIedged
Citizens.

With the exception of one fact that
Tonkawa Indian is prevented by the
United States government from dlspos-
ing Of his allotment Of land, he is now
full-fedged Unite Estates citizen, nav
ing the power to vote, run for office, ana
take part in political campaigns. VI
this once powerful tribe, says GuthIle
(Okla.) special correspondence OF the
Chicago Inter Ocean, there now remain
according to the report of Gov. Tom Fer
gusOn for 1903, only about so persons.
AS late as 1875, they were powerful
tribe, and were the terror of the other
southwestern tribes which roamed In
dian Territory and part of Texas.
1t seems strange that cannibals could
exist in this country as late as $780,
yet the Tonkawas are charged by other
tribes and by persons who have been
long in the government service with be-
ing man-eaters even as late as that date
1t is claimed that among the many
tribes which have inhabited this coun-
try, the Tonkawa is the only one that
has had this charge lodged against 1t.
AS a result, it is alleged that the Ton
kawas were always so hated by other
tribes as to be- Stunned on all occasions,
and even to this day the hatred is said
to exist against the few remaining Ton
kawas, who are now as far from canni-
balism as any people on earth.
Mat Durr, the aged white man who
has lived among the Oklahoma Indians
for years, and is acquainted with their
customs, traditions and languages,
more than any other white man in the
southwest, says of the Tonkawa of to-
day:
"a solitary Tonkawa Indian was a
visitor recently among the Sac and Fox
Indians, looking for friend. Every
one of the so descendants of the Ton
kawas is Stunned and despised by the
other tribes. The remnants of the man
eaters, who devoured thousands of other
redskins, always hunt for a friend,
which they seldom find. The ancient
Tonkawas were the Ishmaelites of the
red race, and their so living descendants
are actually hated by other Indians for
the human flesh-eating committed by
their ancestors.
Tradition relates that the last big
feast on roasted human flesh caused the
death Of several thousand Of the vo-
racious cannibals in Texas. Having
gorged themselves on the tender flesh
of several hundred captured Kiowa In
dams, they INDUCED in their last sleep.
Many thousand Kiowa Indians, and
some other children-robbed redskins, ap-
preached the unguarded wigwams of
the gluttonous man-eaters and slew all
they could find. Only few, the pro-
genitors of the 80 still remaining Ton
kawas, escaped. Our solitary Tonkawa
visitor felt very lonely; he failed to find
a single income or friend"
1t is related of the Tonkawas that an
old custom was to hold feast at least
once each year, at which they killed and
ate any prisoner in their possession
who had been sentenced to death, and it
Is added that it made no difference at
these annual feasts whether the color
of the prisoner was white or red, the al
legged fate was the same. In this con-
nection Jack Leedy, Of Hennessey,
Okla, who for many years was in the
employ of the government at the Ana
darko Indian agency in southwestern
Oklahoma, relates this story, evidently
the same occasion as referred to by Mat
Durr, although the two differ somewhat
in the minor details only:
"In the fall of 1876 the Tonkawas
came up from Texas, and were camped
about five miles southwest of the Ana
darko agency; it being the season for
the man-eating feast, it was learned
that they had as prisoner young Cad
do Indian, and expected to kill him for
the occasion 1t was estimated that
about $50 Tonkawas were in camp, and
the Caddoes planned the rescue of their
tribesman, but, being few in numbers
themselves, persuaded the Kiowas, who
were friendly, to join them and massa-
ere the Tonkawas.
"On the night settled upon for the
butchery they stole upon the Tonka-
was in the darkness and waited for the
moon to rise. 1t was about midnight
when the war whoop Of the chief was
given, and with uplifted tomahawks
they rushed the Tonkawa camp, striking
down their victims as they sprang from
their beds of leaves. Out Of the entire
number of Tonkawas but AZ escaped.
The Kiowas and Caddoes scalped their
victims and left the bodies to be de-
voured by wild beasts and buzzards
The spot where the massacre took
place was marked for many years by the
skulls and bones lying around on the
ground, but they were later buried by
an order of the government"
In their tribal days the Tonkawa res
egvation, in the southwest, was report.
: ed the finest in the United States, rich
in resources, and the tribe rich in cat
tie. To-day each Tonkawa has home
stead of 100 acres, his government allot'
ment. and, in order to protect the In
dams from sharpers, the government
prohibits him from selling it. Now the
Tonkawa is an agriculturist, cultivating
his land until it teens with rich acre
age of wheat, corn, and pastures covered
with cattle. The land is largely prairie
with a rich, well-watered soil, peculiar
" adapted to wheat raising. From thei
pastures, too, are cut many tons Of wild
hay, which is sold in large quantities tt
cattlemen or shipped to market
Important Point.
She-You say you love me a little bit
I He-Yes, l do.
.,o,,r. Iowa will crrcrry p