150 Years of History, 1876 to 2026Español
City of Hutto1501876 · 2026
Room 2 of 9 · 500 - 1800 AD

The First Peoples

Native American Peoples

Hutto rests on land first shaped by the Native American tribes who roamed the Coastal Plains of Central Texas.

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Native American Peoples

Hutto was founded in the shadow of civilizations of Native American tribes who roamed the plains of Central Texas. Their lifestyle was consistent with a reverent attention to the conditions in nature that surrounded them. They believed that by living gently in an area and then relocating, the balance of natural processes would be minimally impacted and allowed to “rest” and recover from human occupiers. Because the bison or buffalo was favored by these tribes, they terraformed the region so that the land would be well-suited to the bison’s needs. This was accomplished by the periodic burning of the land, which reduced shrubs and trees and allowed vast areas of grassland to proliferate.

The land of Hutto was first occupied by the Tonkawa Tribe. The Comanche Tribe migrated from the west and gradually pushed the Tonkawa out of Central Texas.

Historical interpretation generated for illustrative purposes.Native camp on the prairie.

Tonkawa

Tonkawa comes from a word used by the tribe to describe themselves and means “the real people.” They were skilled horsemen and hunters of buffalo and deer. Their women were also skilled at using weapons to protect the tribe when necessary. For at least two centuries, the Tonkawa (pictured above in 1898) fought with the Comanche and the Kiowa for their commonly claimed territories, before migrating to the Indian Territory of present-day Oklahoma in 1885.

The Tonkawa Tribe currently occupies about 1,500 acres in Kay County, Oklahoma, and as a legal entity owns only 273 acres. Total tribal enrollment in 2022 was 718. Tribal headquarters is about 2.5 miles southeast of the town of Tonkawa, OK.

Tonkawa group, Omaha, Nebraska, 1898. Photograph by F. A. Rinehart. From the collections of Omaha Public Library.
Tonkawa reservations and agencies, 1855 to 1885. Map redrawn for the Hutto 150 exhibit.

Comanche

Originally part of the Wyoming Shoshone Tribe, the Comanche, who called themselves “The People,” migrated across the plains and into Texas and Oklahoma by the early 1700s. They moved south in successive stages, attacking and displacing other tribes, becoming known as “Lords of the plains.” By the early 1800s, the Comanche were powerful, with an estimated population of as many as 30,000.

They became skilled in breeding and riding horses, giving them an advantage in times of war. Most of the Anglo settlers’ conflicts in early Williamson County were with the Comanche.

Their main headquarters is 9 miles north of Lawton, Oklahoma and the tribe has approximately 17,000 members.

Comanche men on horseback, Kiowa Reservation, 1891. Hutchins & Lanney. National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution, BAE GN 01773B.

Identity and Culture

In 1830 the United States Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. This law empowered United States President Andrew Jackson to negotiate treaties with Native American tribes to exchange their land for land in the “Indian Territory,” now part of the State of Oklahoma. Federal Indian agents convinced or forced Native peoples to relocate to this territory. Government-created living conditions made the Native American peoples dependent on the federal government for life essentials. The result was humiliating and devastating poverty for a once proud and thriving civilization.

In the 1970s sovereignty among the tribes and the concept of the “Indian Nations” was reborn. Federally recognized tribes became legal equals with the states. Tribal Nations are now subordinate only to the Federal Government.