{{Short description|1833 indigenous massacre in Oklahoma, US}} {{Infobox terrorist attack |title=Cutthroat Gap massacre |image_size = |image=Cut-Throat_Massacre,_1833.jpg |caption=Cutthroat massacre |location=Cooperton, Kiowa County, Oklahoma |coordinates={{coord|34|50|11|N|98|49|55|W|region:US-OK_type:event|display=inline,title|name=Cutthroat Gap massacre}} |date=1833 |time-begin= |time-end= |timezone= UTC-6 |type=Mass murder |fatalities=150 killed and 2 captives |injuries= |dfens= Kiowa tribal camp |perps= Osage warriors |victim= Women, children and elderly |motive=Raid on a Native American camp }} {{Location map | Oklahoma | lat_deg = 34.836389 | lon_deg = -98.831944 | caption = Location within Oklahoma | label = Cutthroat Gap site }} The '''Cutthroat Gap massacre''' occurred in 1833, "The Year the Stars Fell" in Oklahoma.<ref name=blogok>[http://www.blogoklahoma.us/place.asp?id=117 "Cutthroat Gap Massacre"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723100633/http://www.blogoklahoma.us/place.asp?id=117 |date=23 July 2012 }} ''Exploring Oklahoma History''. Web. 23 May 2012.</ref> A group of Osage warriors charged into a Kiowa camp and brutally slaughtered the women, children and elderly there. Most of the warriors of this group of Kiowas, headed by Chief A'date (Kiowa: Àu:d̶áude, {{IPA|[ɔ́ːtɔ́ːtè]}}) or "Island Man" had left to raid a band of Utes or had gone bison hunting.<ref name=blogok/> The camp was left mainly unguarded and when the Osage came, the Kiowas had no choice but to flee. The Osage killed approximately 150 Kiowa people and took their sacred Tai-me ({{IPA|[tʰã́jmẽ́]}}) medicine bundle and two children captive.<ref name=tinker/>
==Events leading to the massacre== A few days before the Osage raid, the Kiowa bands from all over the Plains met near the Rainy Mountain Creek to discuss the annual Sun Dance ceremony, the most important religious ceremony of the Plains tribes, and hold a tribal council.<ref name=labdiva/> An Osage arrow was found on the ground during this meeting and as a result, the different bands of the Kiowa scattered and ran from the threat of what was their biggest enemy.<ref name=tinker/> However, the Sun Dance was an extremely important event to all the Kiowas, where the normally independent bands of the tribe all gathered to reaffirm their basic beliefs about the universe and the supernatural so it was already an unspoken agreement that all the bands would come back together before the ceremony.<ref>"Sun Dance." ''Encyclopædia Britannica Online''. Web. 23 May 2012. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/573608/Sun-Dance.</ref>
One particular group, headed by the Chief Islandman, left the creek and travelled southwest to find better grazing land and natural resources. They stopped west of the mountain, thinking they were safe and set up camp.<ref name=labdiva/> Most of the men left to raid a Utes camp and to hunt buffalo. However, what the Kiowas didn't know was that they had been followed by a band of Osage from Three Forks that had been hunting bison in Kiowa domain. They wanted the Kiowa's horses and had been stalking Islandman's band ever since they left the meeting.<ref name=tinker>Tinker, George E. "The Massacre of the Kiowas." ''The Osage: Historical Sketch''. Sequoyah Research Center. Web. 23 May 2012. {{cite web |url=http://anpa.ualr.edu/digital_library/Osage_Sketch/osage_sketch_6.htm |title=The Osage: A Historical Sketch |accessdate=2012-05-24 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720082653/http://anpa.ualr.edu/digital_library/Osage_Sketch/osage_sketch_6.htm |archivedate=20 July 2008 |df=dmy-all }}.</ref>
The day of the massacre, a young boy had been outside of the camp grazing his family's horse when he saw an Osage warrior hiding behind some rocks. He hurried back to raise the alarm and the Osage attacked.<ref name=tinker/>
==The massacre== The Kiowas were surprised, outnumbered and disorganized so they had no choice but to flee. Panic surrounded the camp as women struggled to find their babies and people ran in all different directions, hoping to get to safety. The Osage thundered into the camp, killing the women, children and the elderly mercilessly. They decapitated and murdered the victims in the camp and burned down the teepees. One old man escaped and managed to alert the nearest camp, enabling them to send a relief effort to help Islandman's struggling tribe.<ref name=labdiva>Taylor, Ethel, [https://ahgp.org/ok/cutthroat-massacre.html "Cutthroat Massacre"] Web. 23 May 2012.</ref>
===Acts of bravery=== There were many inspiring acts of bravery during the massacre. A visiting Pawnee warrior attempted to fight off the Osage warriors to allow some women and children to escape. In addition to this, a father is said to have carried his son with his teeth as he charged through the destruction, putting him down to shoot arrows at the Osage and then picking him up again to run. A young boy placed himself between the Osage warriors and the women and children and repeatedly shot arrows at the enemy. Also, a mother fought off an Osage warrior singlehandedly while carrying a baby in a cradle board on her back and holding her young daughter's hand.<ref name=labdiva/>
==The aftermath== When the Kiowa warriors returned to the camp, all they found were the decapitated, mutilated bodies of the women, children and elderly that the Osage had killed. The victims' heads had been placed in cooking pots left at the camp.<ref>"Cutthroat Gap Massacre." ''Exploring Oklahoma History''. Web. 23 May 2012. {{cite web |url=http://www.blogoklahoma.us/place.asp?id=117 |title=Exploring Oklahoma History - Cutthroat Gap Massacre - Historic Place in Kiowa County (BlogOklahoma.us) |accessdate=2012-05-24 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723100633/http://www.blogoklahoma.us/place.asp?id=117 |archivedate=23 July 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The Osage had also taken the sacred Tai-me medicine bundle that was necessary in order to perform the Sun Dance<ref>Momaday, Navarre S. The Journey of Tai-me. Print.</ref> and a pair of siblings, a boy named Thunder and a girl named White Weasel captive. As a result, the Kiowa were not able to perform the Sun Dance ceremony for two years after the massacre until they negotiated with the Osage and got the Tai-me back.<ref name=tinker/>
After the massacre, Islandman was greatly dishonoured for letting his tribe be surprised and attacked. As a result, he was removed and replaced by Chief To-hau-san who led the tribe until his death a few decades later.<ref name=tinker/> It was this new chief who managed all relations with the Osage and the return of the Tai-me. He also refused to be pacified by the United States and the Kiowa tribe was one of the last of the Plains tribes to surrender to the United States government and their society.<ref>"Kiowa." ''Encyclopædia Britannica Online''. Web. 24 May 2012. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/318957/Kiowa.</ref>
Cutthroat Gap used to be a popular place for the Kiowa to camp but since the massacre, they have never used it again. Some even believe that the spirits of the victims still wandered the area and could be heard.<ref name=labdiva/>
===Osage and Kiowa relations=== After they returned to camp, the Osage decided that they needed to make peace with the Kiowa. As a result, they resolved to take White Weasel back to the Kiowa as a peace-offering. Her brother, Thunder, had died during captivity but White Weasel was returned to the Kiowa tribe during the first Dragoon Expedition of 1834 which greatly improved Osage and Kiowa relations.<ref>May, Jon D., [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/C/CU012.html "Battle of Cutthroat Gap"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102205441/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/C/CU012.html |date=2 November 2012 }} ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. Web. 24 May 2012.</ref> In addition to this, the Osage allowed the Kiowa to take the Tai-me medicine bundle back in exchange for one pony, lessening the hostility between these two tribes.<ref name=tinker/>
==See also== {{portal|Oklahoma}} * List of battles fought in Oklahoma
== References == {{reflist}}
== Other links == "Expedition Oklahoma." [http://www.expeditionoklahoma.com/2010/10/cutthroat-gap-massacre-.html ''Cutthroat Gap Massacre'']. Web. 24 May 2012.
{{Oklahoma history}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
Category:1833 in North America Category:Massacres in 1833 Category:Massacres of Native Americans Category:Massacres committed by Native Americans Category:Mass murders in Oklahoma Category:Native American history of Oklahoma Category:Pre-statehood history of Oklahoma