Republic Square and the Tonkawa: Facts versus Speculation

1840 map with location of today's Republic Square. Click to enlarge

#tonkawathemovie #Tonkawa #Austin-TonkawaFriendshipDay #HowTheTonkawaTribeCametoLiveinAustinTexas

Since 2024 there has been a fair amount of speculation about the use of Republic Square by the Tonkawa, all surrounding the PR for a documentary film about the Tonkawa. Unfortunately many "facts" don't stand-up to historical scrutiny.  

 Here's what is factually known.

Anecdotal evidence suggests some Tonkawa used Republic Square as a camp, though specific dates are uncertain. An 2024 Austin American-Statesman^[1] article posited the City of Austin invited the Tonkawa to camp at Republic Square in 1842 while Austin was partially evacuated for protection from the Comanche.^[2] The article, based on an interview for the film Tonkawa: They All Stay Together, claimed the "triggering event" for the invitation was a "famously vicious [Comanche] raid in the summer of 1842" in which two Simpson children were abducted. But the Simpson children, William and Jane Simpson, were abducted in 1844, not 1842.^[3][4][5] Other claims that a Republic Square camp c. 1842-1844 acted as a "tripwire" warning of Comanche raids into Austin, and that "Austin has no record of direct Comanche attacks within the city limits during that period"^[6] aren't supported historically. A large raid on Austin occurred in the first half of 1843 before the alleged camp was said to have disbanded. The raid resulted in a running battle between Austinites and Comanches with deaths on both sides. Unlike many other skirmishes in which Tonkawa assistance to Texans was detailed^[7][8], none of the half dozen accounts of the 1843 raid mention Tonkawa involvement: raising alarm, help in pursuit, engaging the raiding party, or ritualistic celebration of Comanches that were killed, raising the question of whether the Tonkawa were encamped in Austin then.^[9][10] The primary source for the camp described in the Austin American-Statesman^[1] article is a paragraph from a 1924 interview of William C. Walsh (1836–1924) months before his death in 1924, aged 87.^[11] Walsh describes the camp as being near the "Walker Properties"^[12] and having been the result of the Tonkawa seeking refuge for two years after the Tonkawa massacre of 1862: "[secured by] the enmity of the Lipans, Comanches and other inimical tribes... these Indians made an united attack on the Tonks (sic) and almost entirely wiped them out." One factor cited for the 1862 massacre was the Tonkawa's support for the Confederacy, the tribes that attacked them being pro-Union. Fleeing to Austin, a fortified city^[13] in the Confederacy during the Civil War made sense. Walsh noted it was a mutually beneficial arrangement: Texas' frontier defenses were stretched thin by the Civil War; a Tonkawa presence bolstered defense.^[14] Walsh's camp of two years at Republic Square corresponds to an arrival of the Tonkawa c. 1863^[15] until the end of the Civil War when Union forces retook Austin, July, 1865.^[16][17] The 1924 article makes a historical error citing a date of 1842 for the Tonkawa massacre, rather than 1862, perhaps misspoke or misquoted by the paper. Contrary to the 2024 Austin American-Statesman article^[1] nothing in the Walsh interview suggests the City of Austin invited the Tonkawa to a camp for Austin's protection. Walsh also relates memories from his childhood playing with some Tonkawa children, but ties to a Republic Square camp per se are uncertain given his statement the Republic Square camp was after the Tonkawa massacre of 1862. Evidence of a sizable Tonkawa camp or camps that "more than doubled the city’s population"^[1] at Republic Square between the years 1842-1845 while Austin was partially evacuated is lacking with primary sources of that time indicating the Tonkawa were elsewhere.^[18] Sources, including government records, document some Tonkawa having migrated back to Texas, including Austin, c. 1863 after the Tonkawa massacre of 1862, remaining until 1867 after the end of the Civil War, at which time the Tonkawa were escorted out of Austin to Jacksboro, Texas. March 1st and 3rd, 1867, John L. Lovejoy, State Agent for the Tonkawa Tribe, visited the Tonkawa camp in Austin in preparation for escorting them to Jacksboro, but does not specify the location of the camp; Republic Square is plausible given Walsh's claim related to the Tonkawa massacre.^[19][20][15] In 1905 Mary Smith Mitchell wrote that 200 of the tribe were camped for months "in a grove of live oaks on the ... old court house square", today's Republic Square, but does not give a date or a reason for the camp. Mitchell's camp of months doesn't align with Walsh's camp of two years so may reflect camps at different times. Mitchell also claimed ritualistic cannibalism at Republic Square: "Often serious battles occurred between the Comanches and Tonkawas, and the latter always brought their dead [Comanches] into their camp, on the old court house square [Republic Square]" for ritualistic cannibalism and "war dance".^[10] This claim was separate from the camp of 200. Again no source, dates, or context is provided for the claim and is not corroborated in the Walsh article. Mitchell makes no connection between the camps she mentions and the evacuation of Austin between 1842-1845. Mitchell was not a first hand witness to events of Austin's evacuation of 1842-1845.^[21][22]

^Footnotes

1. 1 2 3 4

   Barnes, Michael. 'Austin has done almost nothing', Thanking the Tonkawa for saving the capital of Texas, Austin American-Statesman, May 7, 2024.

2. ↑

   Texas State Historical Association. "The Vásquez Raid and the Woll Invasion: Tensions Between Texas and Mexico". March 5th, 1842, the Mexican Army under Ráfael Vásquez (general) marched into Texas and seized San Antonio; the capital city of Austin north of San Antonio was partially evacuated from 1842 to 1845 in response to the Mexican invasion. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/mexican-invasions-of-1842

3. ↑

   Winfrey, Dorman H. & Day, James M. The Indian Papers of Texas and the Southwest 1825-1916. Five-volume compilation of Native American government papers for the Republic of Texas and State of Texas. The abduction of the Simpson children is discussed in a letter by Thomas G. Western, superintendent of Indian Affairs dated November 7, 1844, Volume 2:131. The children were abducted by rogue Comanches causing a rift with bands that were at this time pursuing peace with Texas. Those responsible were confronted resulting a fight in which Chief Cut Arm, who pursued peace, was killed, along with the son and father responsible for the abduction. Volume 2:283-84 & 298-99

4. ↑

   Children of Mrs. Simpson abducted, The Standard (Clarksville, Texas) December 4, 1844.

5. ↑

   Joint Resolution [of Texas Legislature]. Making an appropriation of money for the redemption of William and Jane Simpson, Texas National Register, Washington, TX, January 18, 1845. Washington, Texas, was the temporary seat of government at the time.

6. ↑

   O'Dell, Bob. How the Tonkawa Tribe Came to Live in Austin Texas [white paper], p.11, Version 1.0, August 2, 2023. Paper cited in Austin American-Statesman, May 7, 2024, 'Austin has done almost nothing', Thanking the Tonkawa for saving the capital of Texas.

7. ↑

   McGowen, Stanley S., PhD. The Texas Tonkawas, State House Press, 2020.

8. ↑

   Brice, Donaly E. The Great Comanche Raid: Boldest Indian Attack of the Texas Republic, pp. 44, 36-37, 47, 85, Eakin Press, 1987

9. ↑

   The raid of 1843 was widely documented: Smith's eye-witness account confirms the year as 1843; Wilbarger puts the raid in January of 1843, Brown says June. Collective descriptions provide the scope and duration of this raid and the resulting running battle between Austinites and a Comanche raiding party.

   • Smith, John. Eye witness account by James Smith and son John. John Smith documented the raid in a letter to his cousin, Briscoe Center for American History, John Scott and Justina Rowzee Pickle Family Papers, 1834-1960. James Smith (not to be confused with the judge of the same name) was one of the proprietors of Montopolis, his home thought to be the 2nd oldest in Austin (today's Boggy Creek Farm) built the same year as the French Legation. https://txarchives.org/utcah/finding_aids/04466.xml

   • Brown, Frank. Annals of Travis County and of the City of Austin, From the Earliest Times to the Close of 1875, Bell and Coleman, Volume 4:46-49 https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth841238/m1/162/

   • Jenkins, John Holland. Recollections of Early Texas, p.166

   • Sowell, Andrew J. Rangers and Pioneers of Texas, pp.58-59

   • Sinks, Julia Lee. The Indian Raid [of] 1843, Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, 1900

   • Willbarger, John Wesley. Indian Depredations in Texas, p.142, Hutchings Printing House, Second Edition, 1890.

10. 1 2

    "Dances | Tonkawa Tribe of Oklahoma". tonkawatribe.com. Retrieved 2026-06-10. Scalp Dances

11. ↑

    Walsh, William C. Odds and Ends--Indians, Austin American-Statesman, 20 Apr 1924, p.8. Walsh (1836–1924) was 87 years old in 1924 when the article was written, the year he died. Walsh moved to Austin with his family in 1840 when he was 4 years old. As an adult serving in the Civil War for the Confederacy, he was stationed in Austin from 1862 until the end of the war and lived there rest of his life there. He was witness to events in Austin as a child, as a military officer following the Tonkawa massacre of 1862, and their relocation out of Austin in 1867. The article may reflect and or conflate memories of separate events in Austin history. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/walsh-william-c

12. ↑

    Polk's Morrison & Fourmy Austin City Directory, 1922. Walsh never mentions Republic Square directly. The "Walker Properties" were located at 310 San Antonio St, Austin, TX 78701, near today's Republic Square Park. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth39153/

13. ↑

    Fort Magruder and other fortifications were constructed in Austin anticipating Union attack. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=69091

14. ↑

    Dunlay, Thomas W. Friends And Allies: The Tonkawa Indians And The Anglo-Americans, 1823-1884. Great Plains Quarterly Vol. 1, No. 3, Summer 1981, pp. 147-158.

15. 1 2

    TxDOT, Tribal Histories: Tonkawa Tribe. These are reports prepared by TxDOT in conjunction with the tribes themselves. They provide no oral history of a camp between 1842 and 1845. They do document Tonkawa migration back to Austin c. 1863 after the Tonkawa Massacre, pp. 22-24. https://www.txdot.gov/business/resources/environmental/compliance-toolkits/historic-resources/tribal-histories.html

16. ↑

    Terrell, Alex W. The City of Austin from 1839 to 1865, The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 14, July 1910 - April, 1911, pp. 113-128.

17. ↑

    https://www.tsl.texas.gov/exhibits/civilwar/1865_2.html

18. ↑

    Sources on location of Tonkawa camps and movement 1842-1845

    • Himmel, Kelly F. The Conquest of the Karankawas and the Tonkawas, 1821-1859, Elma Dill Russell Spencer Series in the West and Southwest, Texas A&M University Press, 1999. "By 1838 [the Tonkawa] had located their main campsite on the east side of the Colorado River, below Alum Creek, on lands claimed by General Edward Burleson [Bastrop, Texas]. The association between the Tonkawas, led by Placido and Campos (sic), and General Burleson would sustain the Tonkawas through the turbulent years of the republic .." (p. 82). No reference to Austin for the Republic of Texas era.

    • Winfrey, Dorman H. & Day, James M. The Indian Papers of Texas and the Southwest 1825-1916. Five-volume compilation of Native American government papers for the Republic of Texas and State of Texas. Volumes 1 and 2 cover 1825 to 1845. For the years 1842-1845 during Austin's partial evacuation there is no mention of a Tonkawa camp in Austin, but there is evidence of the Tonkawa's location elsewhere. Volume 4, pp.188-195 provides correspondence on removal of Tonkawa from Austin to Jacksboro, Texas, in 1867. The Portal to Texas History https://texashistory.unt.edu/search/?q=The+Indian+Papers+of+Texas+and+the+Southwest+1825-1916

    • Colorado Gazette and Advertiser, Matagorda, Texas, July 9, 1842. March 5th, 1842 the Mexican Army under Ráfael Vásquez marched into Texas and seized San Antonio. Months later in support of the Republic of Texas the Tonkawa and Lipans were mustered for an expedition against the Mexican invasion: "We understand that the whole tribe of Lipans and Tonkewas (sic) have been ordered to move to the vicinity of Corpus Christi, to accompany the army on its march to the Rio Grande". There is no mention of Tonkawa being "ordered" or invited to Austin for its protection and places the "whole tribe" elsewhere.

    • Bollaert, William. William Bollaert's Texas. Edited by W. Eugene Hollon and Ruth Lapham Butler. University of Oklahoma Press, first edition, 1956, pp. 188-190. William Bollaert, writer, chemist, geographer, and ethnologist traveled through Texas in 1842 to 1843. August 1843 while in Bastrop, Texas he interacted with Tonkawa, including Chief Campo, recording their camps and activities including in the town of Bastrop, but did not record having seen any Tonkawa in Austin during his 3 days there. While in Bastrop Chief Campo told Bollaert he had just returned from buffalo hunting, and was then planning a visit to the coast to see the ocean. No mention is made of having visited Austin.

    • Joseph William Robertson Papers, 1840-1940. UT Austin's Briscoe Center for American History. Robertson was a life-long resident of Austin and mayor from 1843-1845 remaining in Austin during the partial evacuation in response to the Mexican take-over of nearby San Antonio, Texas. His papers make no mention of a Tonkawa encampment during this period.

    • The Morning Star (Houston, Tex.) May 6, 1843. Accounts from 1843 document a split in the Tonkawa tribe with one group going to the Rio Grande, but that "The main body of the tribe is still in the vicinity of Bastrop [Texas]". No mention of any of the tribe in Austin at this time.

    • McGowen, Stanley S., PhD. The Texas Tonkawas, State House Press, 2020. Between 1843 and 1845 Republic of Texas Indian agents were tasked with keeping the Tonkawa out of white settlements. In 1844 they were reported at numerous locations, none being Austin. By 1845 they were relocated to a reservation near San Marcos under Chief Campos. pp.81-82

    • Sinks, Julia Lee. Early Days in Texas. The Galveston Daily News, Feb 16, 1896, p. 18. Julia Lee Sinks, historian, was sister-in-law to Joseph Robertson, Austin mayor from 1843 to 1845; both Robertson and Sinks were among those who stayed in Austin during the partial evacuation 1842-1845. Her Feb 16, 1896 article details a party of Comanche entering downtown Austin in the spring of 1845 under a flag of truce apparently looking for their enemies, which would have included the Tonkawa. Sinks makes no mention of a Tonkawa camp or the Tonkawa being involved in Austin citizens' response to the Comanche entering Austin. Had their been a Tonkawa camp in downtown Austin, the Comanche would have known and a fight ensued. The Comanche left peacefully.

    • TxDOT, Tribal Histories: Tonkawa Tribe. These are reports prepared by TxDOT in conjunction with the tribes themselves. They provide no oral history of a camp between 1842 and 1845. They do document Tonkawa migration back to Austin c. 1863 after the Tonkawa Massacre, pp. 22-24. https://www.txdot.gov/business/resources/environmental/compliance-toolkits/historic-resources/tribal-histories.html

19. ↑

    Winfrey, Dorman H. & Day, James M. The Indian Papers of Texas and the Southwest 1825-1916. Five-volume compilation of Native American government papers for the Republic of Texas and State of Texas. Volumes 1 and 2 cover 1825 to 1845. For the years 1842-1845 during Austin's partial evacuation there is no mention of a Tonkawa camp in Austin, but there is evidence of the Tonkawa's location elsewhere. Volume 4, pp.188-195 provides correspondence on removal of Tonkawa from Austin to Jacksboro, Texas, in 1867. The Portal to Texas History https://texashistory.unt.edu/search/?q=The+Indian+Papers+of+Texas+and+the+Southwest+1825-1916

20. ↑

    The Dallas Weekly Herald (Dallas, Texas), May 18, 1867, p.3 Letter from John L. Lovejoy, State Agent for the Tonkawa Tribe describing in detail his visit to Tonkawa camp in Austin and subsequent removal from Austin of the Tonkawa to Jacksboro, Texas.

21. ↑

    Mitchell, Mary Smith. Early Days In City Of Austin, The Austin Statesman, Apr 2, 1905. This was one of the key sources for How the Tonkawa Tribe Came to Live in Austin Texas [white paper] cited in the Austin American-Statesman article, May 7, 2024, 'Austin has done almost nothing', Thanking the Tonkawa for saving the capital of Texas. Mitchell puts her camp(s) at the "old court house square", today's Republic Square Park. Mitchell's brother was Robert A. Smith, son-in-law of Dr. Joseph Robertson, life-long resident and mayor of Austin from 1843-1845.

22. ↑

    Mary Smith Mitchell's (1842-1931) father, William A. Smith (1809-1867), was a "Methodist Preacher". The 1850 census shows the family in Gainesville, Sumter, Alabama. By 1860 the census shows the Smith family in Webberville, TX. Her husband Thomas F. Mitchell (1841-1894) arrived in Austin about 1869. Mary Smith married Thomas F. Mitchell in 1872 (Obituary, Austin American-Statesman, Feb 3, 1894). Neither she or her husband were first hand witnesses to events of 1842-1845 so relied on other sources.