This week at Fort Concho, we heard from Rene Trevino and other members of the Kickapoo Tribe from Eagle Pass, as they shared the long and storied oral history of their migration west over the last 400 years, and the events leading up to the Battle of Dove Creek in 1865, fought east of Mertzon, where there are two historical markers recognizing the event.
Trevino’s presentation focused on the history of the tribe from the 1600s up until the battle, and what happened afterward.
According to members, the Kickapoo descend from the Algonquin, and Lenape tribes of the eastern seaboard. During the earliest years of European colonization, the Kickapoo made non-aggression pacts with the French, and with other tribes, which were largely ignored.
Eventually, they fought alongside French colonists against recently arrived British settlers.
Trevino clarified a few things about the Dove Creek engagement.
He said the first important detail to remember is that the historic marker, which says that some 2,000 Kickapoo fought at the battle is an exaggerated figure. He says their number was closer to 300 Kickapoo total, travelling south from their reservation in Kansas to Mexico, with a small detail of militia alongside them for protection.
The Centennial marker on the battlefield reads:
“AROUND THIS MOUNTAIN A BATTLE WAS FOUGHT ON JANUARY 8, 1865 BETWEEN 2000 INDIANS AND TEXAS RANGERS AND STATE TROOPS COMMANDED BY CAPTAINS JOHN FOSSETT AND S. S. TOTTEN – FOUR OFFICERS AND 22 OF THEIR MEN LIE IN UNMARKED GRAVES NEAR BY”
The Kickapoo that remained continued their migration south, while still dealing with violent attacks from Texas Rangers into the 1870s.
The Kickapoo remained in Mexico for the next several decades, and it was there, during the Mexican Revolution, that the Kickapoo fought as a tribe for the last time.
Trevino detailed recent Kickapoo history, telling listeners that when he was born, the tribe was living under a bridge in Eagle Pass, migrating from state to state, and working as farm laborers.
Their homes were built in the traditional manner, but instead of the traditional materials they had to use cardboard.
Her said things started to get better for the Kickapoo, slowly.
The land where they currently live in Eagle Pass was purchased by Willie Nelson, and in 1986, President Ronald Reagan gave them Federal Tribe status.
Now, Trevino and his generation are working hard to preserve traditional tribal practices, and he said their language is being taught and recorded by linguists.
Working alongside Master Naturalist Joyce Gray of Mertzon, the Kickapoo and other scholars are preparing a new research document, with the aim of getting a new historical marker for the battlefield.
One that might tell the story more accurately.
Jan. 8 of 2026 will mark the 161st Anniversary of the battle. This will be recognized formally at the Irion County History Museum, in Mertzon. Mrs. Gray says that they hope to be able to visit the site itself, but nothing is set in stone right now.
Join us next week for the final installment of the Fort Concho Fall Speaker Series Sept. 24, the series will conclude with Jim Matthews’ talk, “Using the Deity’s Name in Reverence on the Texas Frontier: Post Chaplains and Fort Concho.”
Matthews is the author of “Fort Concho: A History and A Guide” which is available through the University of Texas A&M press.
