Home |  PublicationsEncyclopedia |  Antelope Hills, Battle of the

The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

ANTELOPE HILLS, BATTLE OF THE.

In spring 1858 Capt. John S. "Rip" Ford led a combined force of 102 Texas Rangers and 113 Indian allies, mainly Tonkawa, Anadarko, and Caddo, north from Texas against the Comanche. On May 12, 1858, the Rangers attacked a large Comanche village northwest of the Antelope Hills, on the north bank of the Canadian River near the mouth of Little Robe Creek in present Ellis County, Oklahoma.

A Comanche chief, Iron Jacket, wearing an old Spanish shirt of mail, rode forth to challenge the Rangers. His belief that his "medicine" and armor would protect him was shattered when he was killed by a bullet from the rifle of Anadarko and Caddo chief Jim Pockmark. The village was captured, and the battle became a running engagement between small groups and individual combatants as the Comanche fled. Reinforcements from neighboring Comanche villages arrived to challenge the invaders but were repulsed by the Texans, who then marched south.

Although hailed as a great victory in Texas, the incursion violated federal law pertaining to the sovereignty of Indian Territory. The results revealed to the Indians that the Texans could bring war to the Comanche. The fight is also known as the Battle of Little Robe Creek.

Bob Rea

Browse By Topic

American Indians
Military

Explore

Events

Learn More

Brad Agnew, "War Against the Comanches," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 49 (Summer 1971).

Stan Hoig, "The Battle of Little Robe Creek," Oklahoma Today 17 (Spring 1967).

Joseph B. Thoburn, "A Campaign of the Texas Rangers Against the Comanches," Sturm's Oklahoma Magazine 10 (July 1910).

Walter Prescott Webb, The Texas Rangers: A Century of Frontier Defense (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1935).

Citation

The following (as per The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition) is the preferred citation for articles:
Bob Rea, “Antelope Hills, Battle of the,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=AN008.

Published January 15, 2010

Copyright and Terms of Use

No part of this site may be construed as in the public domain.

Copyright to all articles and other content in the online and print versions of The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History is held by the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS). This includes individual articles (copyright to OHS by author assignment) and corporately (as a complete body of work), including web design, graphics, searching functions, and listing/browsing methods. Copyright to all of these materials is protected under United States and International law.

Users agree not to download, copy, modify, sell, lease, rent, reprint, or otherwise distribute these materials, or to link to these materials on another web site, without authorization of the Oklahoma Historical Society. Individual users must determine if their use of the Materials falls under United States copyright law's "Fair Use" guidelines and does not infringe on the proprietary rights of the Oklahoma Historical Society as the legal copyright holder of The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and part or in whole.