10. The Wichita Agency raid
In October, 1862, troops loyal to the Union attacked the Wichita Agency, then at Fort Cobb, south of the present-day Fort Cobb, Oklahoma. The agency provided shelter to 300 or so Tonkawa who were there expecting the protection of the Confederacy. In the pre-war years, the Tonkawa frequently supported the United States government and the Texas Rangers in their battles with other tribes, particularly the Cheyenne. Their service included acting as scouts for the cavalry and rangers, earning them the enmity of several tribes. The agency had few troops to protect it, and the Tonkawa were not prepared for an assault, which included Indian troops from numerous tribes. Some accounts claim both Cheyenne and Kiowa participated in the attack, though neither tribe was allied to the Union, making it unlikely.
Following the assault, which led to the agency being destroyed, all of the whites dead, and the Tonkawa fleeing to Fort Arbuckle, they were attacked again the following day. Which tribes participated in the second attack, known as the Tonkawa Massacre, is equally unclear, but approximately 140 men, women, and children were killed as the remains of the party scattered and fled to the south. Those who survived and reached Fort Arbuckle came under the protection of a Chickasaw unit loyal to the Confederacy. The attackers of the Wichita Agency returned to their bases, taking with them a captured Confederate flag and about $1,200 in gold.