Whipple's report 1853


"On reaching the Canadian the country improves; The valley grows wide and more fertile; herds of buffalo are occasionally seen grazing upon the hill-sides. Turkeys congregate under the dark green foliage of scattered copses that form an agreeable contrast to the pale red that is spread over the landscape of river and plain Many rivulets are well wooded, and will furnish a small supply of timber.

     "Có-tat-sin, (Caballo Alazan) the great chief of the Kái-ò-wàs, is said to be upon a buffalo hunt north. Some, who appeared to be sub chiefs, with faces painted yellow, had colored the tops of their heads, where the long black hair was parted, with vermilion. Their noses were long and aquiline; chins beardless, and eyes small, bright, and sparkling. Their foreheads were retreating, and their cheekbones high and ugly. They carried superb bows of bois d'arc, ornamented with brass nails, silver plates, and wampum beads. The arrows were about twenty eight inches in length, with steel points and tinted feather trimmings. The quiver and belt of wolfskin, were wrought with beads. They wore moccasins and buckskin leggins, covered with wampum and beadwork, and fastened with silver buckles. From the crown of their heads was suspended a queue of horsehair, reaching nearly to the ground, ornamented with ten circular plates of silver, from one to three inches in diameter, and terminated by a silver crescent and wampum. They wore no pendants from the nose, but in their ears were brass rings, from which hung chains and bugle beads of bone or iridescent shells, reaching far down upon the shoulders. Similar ornaments were worn around the neck. All had bracelets of brass wire or silver bands. One of the chiefs had suspended from his neck a large silver cross, weighing half a pound or more, curiously wrought, and terminated with a crescent; a trophy, probably, from some Mexican church. Hanging upon a post in the village was a still more elaborate headdress. It consisted of a cap, richly embroidered with wampum, with a pendant eight feet long trailing behind, ornamented with a row of scarlet-dyed goose quills, which when worn stand perpendicularly from the body. We tried to purchase some of these things; but the Indians said that they loved their ornaments and could not part with them. Truly, in our whole train we had nothing to vie with them in magnificence to tempt an exchange.

     "Chiefs Sanaco and Ketumse agreed on a Comanche Reservation in the Clear Fork valley just north of the present Throckmorton County line in 1855. These Comanches represented the Penetekas or Honeyeaters. "



Amiel Weeks Whipple

Resources

• Whipple's Reports of Exploration and Survey of the Canadian River
• U.S. Corps of Topographical Engineers, Whipple
• Short biorgraphy of Amiel Weeks Whipple

Additional Reading

El LLano Estacado: Exploration and Imagination on the High Plains of Texas and New Mexico, 1536 - 1860.
John Miller Morris, Texas State Historical Association, 1997.

The Texas Panhandle Frontier.
Frederick W. Rathjen. Texas Tech University Press,1998.