1832 15 Black Hawk murdered and mutilated after the Black Hawk War
1832 11 Militia turned 11 Indian bodies over to enemy Indians, who hacked them to bits
1832 c.120 Black Hawk Sac and Fox warriors retreated to west bank of Mississippi; Sioux there scalped them
1837 2+ During the Second Seminole War, Generals Thompson and Rogers were shot 15 times; both were scalped, and their skulls beaten in
1841 11 Comanche tortured prisoners
1847 13 Cayuse Indians killed Whitmans and other settlers
1849 5 Maidu Indians in California attacked miners who had raped their women
1849 2 Indians killed harsh ranchers
1850 11 California Indians attacked men who burned their ferry-boat, mangled their bodies, and burned them
1851 11 Yavapais (or perhaps Apache) killed Oatman family and tattooed daughter Olive Oatman
1851 72 Indians in California murdered settlers near Rattlesnake Creek
1851 7 Ferrymen killed by California Indians at Colorado River
1851 1 Settler murdered by Indians near Merced River
1851 13 California Indians massacred settlers at Four Creeks and tore out their entrails
1851 5 Cahuilla chief in California killed servant, then white invalids
1851 4 California Indians killed sheepherders near Gila
1851 3 California storekeeper Savage found his men murdered
1851 7 California Indians killed on Merced River
1852 130+ Legislators in California advised governor about murders by Indians in their counties
1853 1 Miner murdered by Indians in California
1853 1 California chief learned an Indian had stolen, started to take him in, Indian tried to escape, and chief ordered him killed
1853 1 Mule train attacked by Indians in California and Dick Owen killed
1854 30 Sioux hacked soldiers to death at Grattan’s Massacre
1855 3 Sioux killed settlers to avenge Grattan’s Massacre
1855 1 Sioux caught trapper Levasseuer in the Black Hills and cut off his hands and cut out his tongue
1855 31 Oregon Indians raided settlement
1855 17 Comanche chopped off arms and hands, cut out some tongues, and scalped all
1855 2 Comanche scalped, cut, and finally crashed hatchets into skulls of captives, and dogs lapped up the blood
1855 1 Comanche hanged a soldier by his heels, cut off his ears
1855 27 Indians killed settlers in Oregon
1856 4 Cheyenne war party killed after misunderstanding about mail wagon
1857 70+ Indians and Utah citizens attacked troops, murdering many
1858 8 California Indians killed their medicine men because they were not effective
c.1860 1 A captured woman was brought on horseback into the Indian camp. When an Indian attempted to lift her from the horse, she shot him; the Indians cut her body in gashes, filled them with powder, then set fire to her
1861 8 Apache Cochise tied Mexicans to wagon wheels and set fire to them
1861 6 Cochise’s hostages were perforated with lance holes to the extent that one could be identified only by his dental work
1861 1 Indians in California robbed a house and killed the cook
c.1862 6 A joint Apache-Comanche expedition in Texas resulted in a family being tortured and killed
1862 800 The Santee Sioux Massacre in Minnesota resulted in torture, rape, and murders
1862 2 Yahi Indians of California murdered children; one had a slit throat and was scalped
unknown 3 After an Indian raid in Colorado, a mother and her 2 children were discovered. The mother was stabbed, scalped, and perhaps raped, and the children had their throats cut and their heads nearly severed
unknown 1 Lieutenant Springer found a scalped soldier
unknown 4 Captain Palmer found children whose heads had been beaten to jelly and a servant girl who had been staked out, her body full of arrows and horribly mangled
unknown 1 Sergeant Wyllyams was killed by Indians, scalped, and mutilated
1864 20 Sioux attacked a flatboat on the Yellowstone River, killed some and threw them in the river, and tortured women and children the next day
1865 1 Cheyenne raided a station, staked a prisoner out on the ground, cut out his tongue, and built a fire on his stomach
1865 21 After the Battle of Platte Bridge in Wyoming, soldiers were found mangled, one with a wagon tire across his bowels that had been heated red hot; Lieutenant Collins had his hands and feet cut off, his heart taken out, was scalped, and had 100 arrows in him
1865 6 The Boxx (or Box) family was attacked by Kiowa in Texas, the father and youngest child killed, the mother and 2 teenage daughters raped, and a 7-year-old compelled to walk barefoot on live coals
1865-67 162 Texas governor reported that during these years, Indians killed settlers
1866 80 Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho killed and badly mutilated at Fetterman’s Massacre in Wyoming, where eyes were torn out, noses, ears, and chins chopped off, hands, arms, feet, and genitals cut off, punctures all over bodies, even soles of feet and palms of hands; one body with 105 arrows in it
1866 1 Artist out of Fort Phil Kearny was separated from his party and was found with a cross cut in his chest and his head completely skinned
1866 1 Indians raided a tent home in Kansas, and 30 raped the wife
c.1866 1 Sioux completely skinned soldier Pate Smith
1867 117 Cheyenne and Arapaho war parties in Kansas killed settlers
1867 12+ Cheyenne killed settlers
1868 75 Settlers killed by Plains Indians
1868 2 Cheyenne camp killed a woman and a child prisoner when army attacked at Battle of the Washita River
1868 17 Cheyenne mutilated soldiers at same battle, some with cut throats, some beheaded
1868 2 When the army seemed about to rescue captive Blynn and her 2-year-old son from Kiowa leader Satanta, Satanta tomahawked the mother, dashed the child’s head against a tree, killing him, and threw his body on his dying mother
1869 1 Cheyenne killed a pregnant prisoner when attacked
1871 7 In Texas, a wagonmaster and others were killed; one was tied to a wagon wheel and burned
1872 12 Modoc Indians raided a ranch
1874 c.84 Comanche and Cheyenne tortured and killed settlers; 4 bringing supplies to Indians scalped and one burned
1874 6 The German family was captured by the Cheyenne; 5 were killed; Catherine was compelled to be the tribe prostitute and was frequently raped
1876 1+ Army buried its dead after a fight; Sioux dug up bodies and scalped at least one
1876 c.15 Found in a Cheyenne village were human forefingers, 12 severed right hands of babies and children, and 2 scalps
1876 1 Crows mutilated the body of a wounded Sioux so that he was no longer recognized as human
1876 2+ Before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Reno’s men were defeated, and Indian women and children mutilated bodies of soldiers, including cutting off fingers to get rings
1876 c.200 At the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the bodies of the Custer soldiers killed were mutilated in many ways: scalping, slashing and hacking of bodies, hands and feet cut off, stabbings, pieces of skin cut out, noses and other members cut off, an iron pin thrust through the testicles, penises cut off, disembowelment, heads cut off, eyes torn out, heads burned beyond recognition’ bodies propped into sitting positions and used for target practice, buttocks shot full of arrows, and stakes driven through chests. Although Custer was not scalped, an arrow had been rammed up his penis. Rain-in-the-Face claimed he killed Custer, then cut out his heart and bit off a piece of it
1877 2+ Bannocks dug up bodies of Nez Perce and mutilated them
1877 4 Nez Perce Indian Swan Necklace and his men killed settlers
1878 1 Umatilla Indians killed and scalped Paiute chief Egan
unknown 4+ Apache reported to literally tear bodies of women prisoners apart and to hang prisoners head down o
ver a small fire while they roasted to death
1879 10 Ute killed Indian agent Meeker and others
* Atrocities by Indians against other Indians are included
Total 9,156, or 56 percent of all atrocity deaths
APPENDIX C
Deaths Caused by Specific Settler Atrocities
Date Number of deaths Brief description of the atrocity
c.1623 c.150 Governor Wyatt poisoned Indians
1634 1 Dutch soldiers tortured a Hackensack Indian, fed him his own flesh, castrated him, flayed him, dragged him through the streets alive, and finally beat his head off
1637 600 Settlers and Indians burned Pequot town
1643 80 Dutch soldiers murdered Wappingers
1655 2 Dutch killed Indian man and woman
1659 2+ Dutch killed peace emissaries
1675 32 Nanticokes killed over account dispute
1676 1 Connecticut militia severed Weetamoo’s head
1676 1 Soldiers killed, drew, and quartered King Philip
c.1677 1 Soldiers beheaded Annawan, Philip’s successor
1697 10 Hannah Duston scalped her Indian captors
1711 1 Swiss colonists roasted a chief alive
1713 366+ Slave trader Moore with settlers and Indians burned hundreds and murdered 166 Indians
1756 2 Settler M’Swine scalped his Indian captor and another Indian
1763 20 The Paxton Boys murdered 20 Indians
1764 5 Indian captive David Owens escaped, then scalped some of the Indians
1778 5+ Major Moses Van Campen took several scalps
c.1778 5 Pennsylvanians took Indian scalps
1779 6 George Rogers Clark scalped 2 and murdered 4 Indians
1779 2 Soldiers skinned captured Indians
1781 15 Soldiers killed, then scalped, Indian prisoners
1781 1 Civilian murdered Indian chief during truce
1782 90+ Militia murdered Indians at Gnadenhutten
1786 1 Captain McGary murdered and scalped Indian chief
1791 6 Soldiers scalped 5 Indians and beheaded another
1794 1 Soldiers scalped Indian after the Battle of Fallen Timbers
1795 4+ Alexander Outlaw murdered women and children
1795 17 Benjamin Harrison murdered Creeks and beheaded some
1813 46 Davy Crockett burned Creeks alive in a house
1813 12 Militia scalped Indians at Frenchtown, Michigan
1824 9 Settlers murdered Indians on Fall Creek in Indiana
1832 27+ Trappers in Wyoming murdered 27 Indians
1832 2 Trappers in Wyoming burned Indians to death
1838 1 Catlin robbed the grave of Chief Black Bird
1848 25 Texas Rangers killed Wichita Indians
1848 20+ Oregon militia murdered Cayuse Indians
1849 20+ After miners in California raped Indian women and Indians killed miners, miners killed Indians
1849 1 Miner and Indian in California disputed ownership of horse, and Indian was killed
1849 1 Ruins of smoking house found, settlers followed tracks leading from it to California Indian, and he was killed
unknown 2 Army captain Naglee in California murdered 2 Indian chiefs
1849 27 White gang murdered Indians in California
1849 24+ After Indians in California killed 2 ranchers, soldiers surrounded 300 Indians, killed many; captain described it as “a perfect slaughter house”
unknown 1 Prospector in California accused Indian of stealing his pick; chief came to inquire about it and was killed
c.1850 1 Settlers dragged the father of Scarface Charley to death
1850 1 Ferryboat owner in California killed employee of competitor
1851 27 Savage, owner of store that had been raided in California, found Indian camp and killed occupants
unknown 1 California Indian stole horse, and owner killed him
1851 10 Store owner Savage surprised Indian camp in California
1851 1 Indian in California was called outside his home and knifed
1852 153 Indians in California killed some cows, and ranchers retaliated
1853 200+ During their harvest dance, California Indians murdered
1853 2 Ranchers in California who had been raided hired men to kill Indians. One of these men killed an Indian and captured another, who was hanged
1853 13 Stock was stolen from a California ranch, a posse formed, Indians found in a cave and killed
1853 1 An Indian chief in California threatened vengeance on the whites, and he was hanged
1853 4 A store was robbed in California; an owner went to the ranch of the Indians he thought were the robbers, found some of his goods, and firing broke out
1853 18 There was a dispute in California between miners and Indians over some thefts, and killings occurred
1853 3 In Sonora, California, Indians stole some stock, and they were pursued and killed
1853 10 Cattle were stolen in California, ranchers attacked the Indians, and all were killed for this and other stealing offenses
1853 6 An army major learned that a white woman might have been kidnapped by Indians in California; his men went to the Indian camp; some Indians tried to escape and were killed
1854 3 Lieutenant Grattan killed Sioux
unknown 1 Army captain Wessels reported that an inoffensive Indian had been murdered by a white man near the post
1855 1 Militia cut off ears and scalp of Walla Walla chief
1855 23 Settlers murdered old men, women, and children in Rouge River War in Oregon
1855 86 Colonel Harney killed innocent Sioux in revenge for Grattan’s Massacre
1856 9 Because the sugar of a California miner had been stolen by Indians, he put strychnine in it
1857 350 In the vicinity of Round Hill in California, it is claimed this great massacre took place. For reasons stated in the text, this report must be viewed with caution
1859 1 An Indian boy in California set fire to a house; a mob took him from the courthouse and hanged him
1859 87 California citizens complained Indians were putting their lives and property in danger, and the governor sent out a party to “chastise” them
1859 16 The governor sent out another party
1859 80 Yet another expedition was sent
unknown 283 Captain Jarboe in California bragged about these killings (which may duplicate some of the above numbers)
1860 65 White men in California rowed to an island where Indians were dancing
1860 240 The San Francisco Bulletin reported this slaughter
1860 32 Stock had been stolen in Mendocino County, California, and settlers had formed a standing army
1860 60 Captain Jarboe’s men in California killed Indians on South Eel River and near Round Valley
unknown 200+ This massacre occurred at the mouth of Eel River in California
1860 26 Settlers in Humboldt County, California, attacked Indians in retaliation for thefts by them
1861 46 In the same California county, settlers who had thefts found the Indians they believed responsible and killed them
1861 2 After a robbery by Indians in California causing a death, settlers killed these Indians
1861 3 Lieutenant Bascom hanged relatives of Cochise and left their bodies hanging for months as a warning
1861 35 Soldiers killed Navajo after a horse race
1862 2 Captain Graydon murdered Apache chiefs
unknown 2 Soldiers robbed Indian grave sites in Montana
1864 24 Rancher Wolsey in Arizona alone massacred these Indians at a peace council
1864 2+ Soldiers caught Indians who had killed another soldier and cut their heads off and stuck them on poles
1864 c.163 Indians murdered, scalped, dismembered, raped, etc., at Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado
1865 1 Whites in California tried to get possession of a 10-year-old Indian girl; a crippled Indian boy resisted and was killed
1867 1 Soldiers scalped and beheaded Sioux
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The Wild Frontier Page 39