|
Tawehash Indian Tribe
History
Tawehash (Ta-we'-hash, commonly known in early Spanish writings as
Taovayas.) A principal tribe of the Wichita confederacy, distinct from the
Wichita proper, although the terms are now used as synonymous. By the middle of
the 18th century they had settled on upper Red river, where they remained
relatively fixed for about a hundred years. Rumors of a tribe called the Teguayos, or Aijaos, who may have been the Tawehash, reached New Mexico from the
east early in the 17th century (Bancroft, No. Mex. States, 1,
387, 1886). The Toayas found by La Harpe in 1719 on Canadian river with
the Touacara (Tawakoni), Ousitas (Wichita), and Ascanis (Hasinai) were evidently
the Taweliash, and his report gives us our first definite knowledge of them
(Margry, Dec., vi, 278, 282, 289, 1886). Their southward
migration, due to pressure from the Osage,
Chickasaw, and
Comanche, was probably contemporary with
that of their kinsfolk, the Tawakoni. That their settlement on Red river was
relatively recent in 1759 is asserted by Antonio Tremiño,
a Spanish captive who was released by the tribe in 1765
(Testimony of Tremiño, Aug. 13, 1765, MS. in
Béxar Archives).
The Spaniards of New Mexico usually designated the
Tawehash as the Jumaoos; the French frequently called them and the
Wichita Pani piqué, or tattooed
Pawnee, while to the Spaniards of San Antonio and the officials in Mexico they
were uniformly the Taovayas (in varying forms of orthography) and
Wichita (see Declaration of Pedro Latren at Santa Fe, Mar. 5,
1750, MS. in Archivo Gen.).
After La Harpe's visit, in 1719, the group of tribes to which the Tawehash
belonged became attached, through trade, to the French, while on the other hand
they saw little of the Spaniards. But from indifferent strangers the Tawehash
and the Spaniards soon became converted into active foes through their differing
relations to the Comanche and the Apache. To
the Comanche and the Tawehash alike the Apache were a hated enemy, while the
founding of San Sabá mission in 1757, for
the Lipan Apache, put the Spaniards in the light
of Apache allies. The result was the destruction of the mission in Mar. 1758, by
a large force of Comanche, Wichita, Taweliash, and other northern Indians. To
avenge this injury, Don Diego Ortiz Parrilla, a soldier of renown, was put, in
command of 500 men-regulars, militia, Tlascaltecan, and mission Indians and
equipped for a four months' campaign. Leaving San Antonio, in Aug. 1759, he
marched with Apache allies to the Tawehash settlement, which he found flying a
French flag, fortified by ditch and stockade, and so strongly defended that he
was repulsed with loss of baggage-train and two cannon. Years afterward Bonilla
wrote: "And the memory of this event remains to this day on the Taovayases
frontier as a disgrace to the Spaniards" (Breve Compendia, 1772,
trans. by West in Tex. Hist. Asso. Quar., viii, 55, 1905). The cannon
were not recovered till 20 years later.
Parrilla's report of the Tawehash fortification was
confirmed in 1765 by Tremiñe, the released
captive mentioned above. According to him it was built especially to resist
Parrilla's attack. It consisted of a palisaded embankment about 4 feet high,
with deep ditches at the east and west ends, to prevent approach on horseback.
Inside the enclosure were 4 subterranean houses or cellars for the safety of
non-combatants (Tremiño, op.
cit.). From the time of Parrilla's campaign forward the Tawehash
settlement was referred to in Spanish writings as the "fort of the Taovayas." Of
interest in this connection is the record that the Waco, also of the Wichita
group, had at their village a similar earthen wall or citadel which was still
visible in the latter part of the 19th century (Kenney in Wooten,
Comp. Hist. Texas, 1, 745, 1898).
In 1760, the year after the famous battle, Fray Calahorra y Saenz, the veteran
missionary at Nacogdoches, was sent to the fortaleza to effect a peace,
which he accomplished, at least nominally (Fray Joseph Lopez to
Parrilla, Exp. sabre San Sabii, MS. in Archivo Gen., 1760). The
liberation of Tremiño in 1765 was attended
with special marks of friendship. He was escorted to Nacogdoches by head chief
Eyasiquiche, who was made a Spanish official and sent home with presents of a
cane, a dress-coat, and three horses. He would not consent, however, to
Calahorra's proposal of a mission for his people (Calahorra,
letter of July 16, 1765, MS. in Béxar
Archives). In spite of these signs of amity, the Spaniards still
entertained suspicions of the Tawehash, but matters were improved by the efforts
of Mezières, a skilful Indian agent. In 1770
he met the Tawehash, Tawakoni, Yscanis, and Kichai chiefs in a conference at the
Kadohadacho (Caddo) village. The treaty arranged at this time was ratified at
Natchitoches in Oct. 1771, by three Tawehash chiefs, who by proxy represented
the Comanche also. Among other things, they promised to give up their Spanish
captives and Parrilla's cannon, not to pass San Antonio in pursuit of the Apache
without reporting there, and to deliver to the Spanish authorities the head of
any violator of the peace. This compact was solemnized by the ceremony of
burying the hatchet (Articles of peace, MS. in Archivo Gen., Hist.,
xx). From this time forward the Tawehash were generally named among the
friendly tribes, but they were seldom trusted. They were, however, often turned
against the Apache, and in 1813 they aided the revolutionists against the royal
arms (Arredondo to the Viceroy, Sept. 13, 1813, MS. in Archivo
Gen.). As a tribe they were never subjected to mission influence, which
may be said of all the tribes of the Wichita confederacy.
In 1772, and again in 1778, Mezières visited the
Tawehash settlement to further cement their friendship, and from his reports we
get our fullest knowledge of their relationships and society. They spoke nearly
or quite the same language as their kinsmen and allies, the Wichita, Tawakoni,
and Yscani. Their settlement was situated on Red river, at the eastern Cross
Timbers. At the time of Mezières' second visit it consisted of a population of
800 fighting men and youths, living in two villages on opposite banks of the
river. That on the north side was composed of 37 and the other of 123 grass
lodges, each containing 10 or 12 beds. To these two villages Mezières at this
time gave the names San Teodoro and San Bernardo, in honor of the commandant
general of the interior provinces and of the governor of Louisiana. The Tawehash
had extensive agriculture, raising corn, beans, calabashes, watermelons, and
tobacco, with which they supplied the Comanche, in exchange for horses and
captives. The calabashes they cut up in strips which, when dry, were made into
chains or mats for convenience in carrying. Though fish were plentiful in the
river, they are said not to have eaten them. Women took part in the government,
which was democratic. Chiefs, who prided themselves on owning nothing, did not
hold office by hereditary right, but were elected for their valor. Regarding the
religion of the people Mezières mentioned "fire worship" and belief in a very
material heaven and hell (see also Wichita).
There is some ground for thinking that one of the two villages of the Tawehash
settlement described by Mezières in 1778 was composed of the Wichita tribe, who
six years before had been living on Salt Fork of the Brazos, 60 leagues away.
But the Wichita later were still living apart of the time at least on the upper
Brazos. About 1.777 or 1778 the "Panis-Mahas" (Ouvaes, Aguajes, Aguichi [see
Akwech]) came southward and settled with the Tawehash, but at the time of
Mezières' visit in 1778 they had withdrawn temporarily northwestward. Within a
few months, however, they returned, and seem to have remained permanently with
the Tawehash (Mezières, MS. letters in Meln. de Nueva Españia, xxviii, 229,
281-82). They evidently established a separate village, for Fernandez in 1778
and Mares in 1789 each noted in this locality three Jumanes or Tawehash villages
a short distance apart (diaries in the Archivo Gen.). Twenty years later
Davenport said that on Red river, 100 leagues above Natchitoches, there were still
three neighboring villages of these people, which he called the Tahuyás,
Huichitas, and Aguichi, respectively (Noticia, 1809, MS. in Archivo Gen.).
Austin's map of 1829 (original in the Department of Fomento, Mexico) and the Karte von Texas of 1839 both show the Tawehash settlement on Wichita river,
above the junction of the two main branches. For their treaties
with the United States and their removal to reservations, see
Wichita (confederacy).
The books presented are for their
historical value only and are not the
opinions of the Webmasters of the site.
Handbook
of American Indians, 1906
Index of Tribes or Nations
Free
Genealogy |
Indian
Genealogy
|
Index of Tribes or Nations
|
|
