Cutthroat Gap Massacre

Kiowa County · on OK-54, two miles south of Cooperton

In the early summer of 1833, an Osage war party attacked an undefended Kiowa camp nearby, killing many elderly men, women, and children. Most of the warriors had left the camp days earlier to hunt bison. It has been estimated that 150 Kiowas were killed. The Osage took two children captive and stole many horses. Little Bear recorded the massacre on his calendar as the “Summer That They Cut Off Their Heads,” acknowledging Osage raiders who put the heads of their victims in camp cooking pots. The site of the massacre later became known as Cutthroat Gap.

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Marker data: Oklahoma Historical Society, Historical Marker Program. Marker texts and locations come from the Society's marker database, reproduced with the Society's written permission.
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Cutthroat Gap Massacre

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