Cutthroat Gap Massacre

Among what the Osage carried off was the Tai-me, the sacred figure at the center of the Kiowa Sun Dance. Among the Kiowa the dance was pledged by an individual moved by a vision and was held to replenish the bison and the people. An Oklahoma Historical Society photograph identifies Che-to-pah as a leader of the Osage at Cutthroat Gap. The Osage returned the Tai-me in 1835, and in 1837 the United States negotiated a lasting peace between the two nations.

What the plaque says

Cutthroat Gap Massacre The Cutthroat Massacre site is approximately 2.5 miles east of this marker. In the early summer of 1833, the summer before "The Stars Fell", an Osage war party attacked an undefended Kiowa camp. The camp of Islandman, A'date, principal chief of the Kiowas, consisted of women, children, the elderly, and a few warriors. Most of the warriors were on a raid against the Utes while others were hunting buffalo. The Osage tracked Islandman's band from Saddle Mountain through the mountains to the camp site early one morning. The Osage raiders struck the camp. The Kiowas, surprised and outnumbered, were unable to organize a defense. The few warriors tried to hold the Osage back to allow the women, children, and elderly to flee. There were many courageous acts of bravery in the camp. It has been estimated that 150 Kiowas were killed. Kiowa warriors found the camp destroyed and decapitated bodies laying where they had fallen. Before leaving, the Osage put the heads of their victims in camp cooking pots. They took the sacred Tai-me medicine bundle, two captives, a boy named "Thunder" and a girl named "White Weasel", and many horses. Thunder died during captivity. White Weasel was returned to her family in 1834 by the first Dragoon Expedition. For allowing the camp to be surprised, the disgraced Islandman was removed as principal chief. To-hau-san was chosen to replace Islandman and served as principal chief from 1833 until his death in 1866. Little Bear recorded the massacre on his calendar. It was known to the Kiowas as the "Summer That They Cut Off Their Heads". The site of the massacre later became known as "Cutthroat Gap". Later, Chief To-hau-san with the assistance of the United States Indian agents negotiated with the Osage tribe for the return of the Tai-me medicine bundle. While To-hau-san was chief, the Kiowas resisted all efforts by the United States to pacify them and it is said that he never lost a battle he fought with the United States Cavalry. Oklahoma Historical Society Kiowa Historical Society

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge — 16 mi
  Worn granite peaks and mixed-grass prairie in Comanche and Kiowa homeland, set aside in 1901 and restocked in 1907 with fifteen bison sent by train from the New York Zoological Park.
• Quartz Mountain State Park — 26 mi
  The granite Quartz Mountains, the low western range of the Wichitas, rising from Lake Altus-Lugert, with a CCC-built park of 1937, a rebuilt lodge and the climbing rock of Baldy Point.

More markers nearby

• Camp Radziminski — 8.7 mi
• Craterville Park — 18 mi
• Millie Durgan, White Captive — 20 mi
• Fort Cobb — 30 mi