In the beginning, there was nothing on the earth, but there was a lower world where all of the Tree people, the Animal people, and the Human people lived. They all lived in a dark world since there was no light down there.     Read More

The name Lipan means “The Light Gray People.” It comes from the Lipan word for a light gray color (łépai) and the word for The People or The Tribe (indeh or ndé)     Read More

When the Lipans migrated into Texas in the 1600’s, they migrated as one tribal unit. However, after they came to Texas, they divided into two large divisions.     Read More

The Lipan Apaches came to Texas in the 1600’s because they were looking for a homeland which contained buffalo and deer to hunt, plant foods which could be gathered and fertile river banks where they could plant corn and squash.     Read More

The Lipans hunted a variety of animals and gathered a great variety of plant foods. Their primary source of meat was the buffalo, which they hunted twice a year in hunts which were called carneadas by the Spanish.     Read More

Picax Ande Ins-Tinsle, Poca Ropa, Flacco, Cuelgas de Castro, and Costalites are just five of the many notable chiefs of the Lipan Apaches whos feats were documented by non-natives of their times.     Read More

The primary Lipan offensive weapons were the bow, the arrow, and the lance. To make a bow, a Lipan man chose a piece of cedar or mulberry wood which was naturally bow-shaped and which measured about 4 feet long.     Read More

The Lipan Apaches were traditional hunters and gatherers who practiced limited agriculture. The Lipan traded buffalo and deer hides for sugar, tobacco and chili peppers with the Spanish.     Read More

When the Spanish founded a mission and presidio at San Antonio in 1718, they knew there were Apaches in Texas, but they believed that they lived at least two hundred miles to the north.     Read More

When Mexican patriots in Texas took up the grito of Father Manuel Hidalgo of Dolores for the independence of Mexico from Spain, the Lipans backed the patriots.     Read More

The Lipans enjoyed a rare decade of peace under the Republic of Texas (1836-1845). The government formally recognized the Lipan Apaches as friends     Read More

Once Texas became a state in 1846, the Comanches began pressuring the government to address what they saw as special treatment being given to the Lipans under the old treaty of Tehuacana.     Read More

By 1873, so many Texas settlers were complaining that the Lipans in Mexico were crossing the Rio Grande to raid in Texas that the U.S. military decided to take action.     Read More

In 1850, a severe smallpox epidemic at San Antonio caused a small Lipan ranchería led by Chief Magoosh to seek refuge with the Mescalero Apaches in New Mexico.     Read More

Kesetta, a young Lipan girl about ten years old, and a young boy, Jack, a few years younger, were taken prisoner by a 4th Calvalry soldier during the June 1877 attack on a Lipan camp near Zaragosa, Mexico. They never returned home and died as prisoners.     Read More

Lipan Apaches have served proudly and honorably for over 250 years as scouts and soldiers. As early as 1750, the Spanish at San Antonio used Lipan scouts.     Read More