"The Summer They Cut Their Heads Off"

The Cut Throat Gap Massacre of 1833 was one of the most violent episodes in the long cycle of intertribal warfare on the Southern Plains. Taking place in what is now southwestern Oklahoma, the massacre was carried out by a band of Kiowa warriors against the Pawnee, and it was remembered for its brutality and the grim legacy it left in the region’s oral history.

At its heart, the massacre reflected the intense competition for dominance, territory, and resources among the Plains tribes during the early 19th century. The Kiowa, along with their close allies the Comanche, had been expanding their control across the southern Plains, pushing against traditional Pawnee hunting grounds. The Pawnee, who were often aligned with U.S. forces as scouts and auxiliaries, were considered enemies by the Kiowa. Raiding, ambushes, and retaliatory strikes were constant features of life on the Plains, and the massacre at Cut Throat Gap was part of this larger cycle.

The name “Cut Throat Gap” comes from the gruesome fate of many victims. According to both Kiowa oral tradition and later frontier accounts, the Pawnee camp was attacked in a surprise raid. The Kiowa warriors not only killed their enemies in battle, but also mutilated the bodies of women, children, and the elderly who had been left largely defenseless. Many victims were found with their throats cut from ear to ear, a detail that gave the site its enduring name. In Kiowa memory, the massacre was seen not just as an act of vengeance, but also as a warning to enemies and a display of ferocity that would deter future incursions into their lands.

The massacre also became infamous because of the targeting of noncombatants. Unlike the clashes between armed warriors on the open plains, the raid at Cut Throat Gap emphasized the vulnerability of tribal camps and the merciless nature of warfare in this era. Children were reportedly killed alongside their mothers, and mutilation was widespread. To the Kiowa, these actions were part of the brutal calculus of survival and dominance; to outsiders and later historians, they stood out as a particularly savage moment in Plains warfare.

In the years that followed, the memory of the massacre lingered heavily. The Pawnee never forgot the slaughter, and it reinforced their role as U.S. military allies, particularly in conflicts with the Comanche and Kiowa later in the 19th century. For the Kiowa, the victory at Cut Throat Gap enhanced their reputation as fierce fighters, but it also fueled cycles of vengeance that made peace between tribes difficult to achieve.

The site itself remained a place of dark memory. Local settlers and historians in Oklahoma recorded the story, often through the lens of frontier violence, portraying it as evidence of Native “savagery.” Yet from a Native perspective, it was part of an older tradition of intertribal conflict—warfare that predated European settlement but was intensified by new pressures such as firearms, horses, and competition over hunting grounds.

Today, the Cut Throat Gap Massacre is remembered as one of the bloodiest intertribal events in the Southern Plains. It illustrates the complexity of Native history in the 19th century, where tribes were not only resisting U.S. expansion but also contending violently with one another for survival, prestige, and control. More than a simple tale of brutality, the massacre stands as a window into the turbulent and violent dynamics of Plains life at a moment when the balance of power was shifting forever.

To learn the full story of the Cut Throat Gap Massacre, check out the HOKC episode linked below!