Tom Hill (scout) facts for kids

Tom Hill (1811–1860) was a Lenape man who became a skilled mountain man and fur trapper in the American West. He first worked with famous explorer Kit Carson in the 1830s. Later, he lived among the Nimíipuu people and encouraged them to be careful about missionaries. In 1847, Hill fought in Alta California with John C. Frémont. He returned to Kansas in 1854 to live with other Lenape people, where he passed away in 1860. Some historians have said that Tom Hill played a part in the Whitman massacre, which made him well-known.

Early Adventures

Tom Hill was born near Upper Sandusky, Ohio. His family received land from the government in 1817. He probably went to a mission school there for some time when he was young.

In 1833, when Tom was 22, he joined a trapping trip with Kit Carson. This group included Joseph Meek and two other Lenape men. They trapped furs between the Cimarron and Arkansas rivers, an area controlled by the Comanche people.

During their trip, 200 Comanche warriors attacked them. The trappers quickly made a protective wall with their mules. After fighting for several hours, the Comanche left, and all the trappers survived.

The three Lenape men stayed with Carson and reached the Yellowstone River by 1837. There, they met a Niitsitapi village and had a battle. The Lenape leader of their group died, and Tom Hill was chosen to take his place. Hill continued to work with Carson until 1839, based out of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, near Taos.

Time with the Nimíipuu People

After leaving Kit Carson, Tom Hill lived for several years with the Nimíipuu people. He had met them often at the yearly fur trade gatherings called rendezvous. Tom Hill became respected among the Nimíipuu because of his leadership in battles against the Niitsitapi while they hunted bison. He also married a woman from the Nimíipuu group.

Hill taught the Nimíipuu and later the nearby Liksiyu about how Native Americans east of the Rocky Mountains had lost their lands to the growing United States. These stories made people from both groups wary of the ABCFM missionary stations on the Columbia Plateau. Henry H. Spalding, a missionary, spoke badly about Hill, saying he was "spreading his poison."

However, in 1845, Tom Hill visited the Waiilatpu Mission with a group of Nimíipuu led by Ellis. He ate with Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and other families there. Hill stayed at the Mission for about two weeks. Catherine Sager Pringle remembered that Hill was "very intelligent and could speak English as well as Cayuse [actually Niimiipuutímt]."

Visitors and mission residents shared a meal of mostly corn mush and tea. Hill then gave a two-hour speech, which was said to be "quite eloquent." In a talk with Marcus Whitman, Hill told the doctor that he felt good about him. Whitman wrote that Hill "had been much deceived by reports of the Indians from this quarter [about ABCFM missionaries]." After returning from the Mission, Hill told William Craig that he liked Whitman much more than the missionary Spalding.

His Role in the Whitman Massacre

Some historians have said that Tom Hill influenced the Whitman massacre. They believed he was "the bitter enemy of the white man's religion and everything else related to whites." William Marshall, a historian, wrote that Hill was "constantly striving to stir up the Indians against all the whites" while he was with the Nimíipuu. Marshall thought that Hill's influence was very strong in leading to the Whitman massacre.

However, later historians have looked at this idea differently. They believe that other things were more important, like the growing disagreements between Native groups and missionaries, and the spread of diseases on the Columbian Plateau. Francis Haines, another historian, said that while Hill's teachings "undoubtedly helped cause the Whitman massacre," he "had no part in plotting the attack."

Fighting in California

In 1846, Tom Hill joined a small group of Sahaptin people traveling to New Helvetia in California. Two years before, a Walla Walla leader named Piupiumaksmaks had visited the settlement, but his son had died there in a fight. Piupiumaksmaks wanted to return to make sure relations with John Sutter were still good.

Hill and the group arrived in Alta California during the Mexican–American War, when the Conquest of California was beginning. John C. Frémont asked for volunteers to join the California Battalion. Several Walla Walla people became scouts. Hill joined a company of white soldiers, earning $25 a month.

His military group was heading south toward Monterey when they met several hundred Mexican soldiers at the Battle of Natividad. Hill was part of a small scouting group that found the enemy. They had to fight them alone for four hours. After a while, Tom reportedly yelled at the Mexicans, "You come here, me kill you. You can't fight better than one woman." This insult made several Mexicans charge on horseback.

At the end of the battle that evening, the Americans worried they were surrounded by Mexican forces. Hill bravely volunteered to sneak past the enemies and travel to Monterey, where Frémont was. A small Mexican group saw him and began to chase him. Hill, "with the most extraordinary dexterity and bravery," killed four of his pursuers. He managed to reach Frémont's camp the next day.

Hill was then put in charge of the Native scouts in Monterey and continued to march south with the main army. Hill tried several times to engage Californio scouts, but no fights happened. For his brave service, P. B. Reading gave Hill a silver tomahawk and three months' pay.

Later Life

After his time with the California Battalion, Tom Hill stayed in California for another year. He moved to Kansas in the autumn of 1854. The government gave him 120 acres of land because he was a veteran. Tom Hill died in 1860, and John Sarcoxie was given control over his property.