How the Tonkawa Tribe Came to Live in Austin Texas

Treaty Oak in Austin

We are very excited to share a research paper written by our documentary team historian, Bob O'Dell, during the making of our film Tonkawa: They All Stay Together.

The paper is now available digitally as a PDF from the Austin History Center, which is a part of the City of Austin's Public Library network.




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How The Tonkawa Tribe
Came to Live in
Austin Texas
 
Written by Bob O’Dell, Austin Texas
August 2, 2023   Version 1.0
 
ABSTRACT

The Tonkawa Tribe, indigenous to Austin, Texas was forcibly removed to Oklahoma over one hundred years ago. Today’s members still consider themselves as being from the Austin area and carry an emotional attachment to the city of Austin.

In the 1800s, the Tonkawa were consistently friendly to Texas settlers, providing countless acts of assistance to them over six decades of contact. In a little-known story, the tribe provided its finest help directly to the people of Austin at the time of our city’s greatest need, during Texas’ “Archive War.” When Texas President Sam Houston tried to remove the “capital of Texas” status from Austin, after three-quarters of our city’s population relocated eastward for safety, the Tonkawa Tribe moved into Austin in the summer of 1842, doubled the city’s population, lived peaceably with the remaining settlers, and worked cooperatively with them for eighteen months to protect the city from Comanche raids. By the end of 1843 when political winds shifted in the city’s favor, the Tonkawa Tribe was asked to leave the city.


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