Osages Attack Kiowa Village, 1833 |
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In 1833 a large party of Osage warriors left Clermont's village on
the Vertigris River and rode west to the Salt Plains of North-Central
Oklahoma where they picked up a Kiowa trail leading to the northeast.
They backtracked along the trail southwestward to the Kiowa camp at
Rainy Mountain Creek near the Wichita Mountains. The almost defenseless
Kiowa camp fled from the Osage gunfire, splitting into four groups.
One of these groups, believing they were out of danger, set up camp
on Otter Creek. The pursuing Osages surrounded the camp and attacked,
killing everyone but a ten-year old boy and his twelve-year old sister.
They then, in accordance with their custom, beheaded the corpses and
placed the heads in brass buckets around the smoldering remains of the
village. The Osages killed the wife of the keeper of the tribal spiritual
medicine bag, the Taime, while she was trying to untie it from the teepee
pole and carried it with them when they left. This was a terrible blow
to the entire Kiowa nation and they did not hold their annual sun dance
for another two years.
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