The Tónkawa were a migratory people and a _colluvies gentium_, whose
earliest habitat is unknown. Their first mention occurs in 1719; at that
time and ever since they roamed in the western and southern parts of
what is now Texas. About 1847 they were engaged as scouts in the United
States Army, and from 1860-’62 (?) were in the Indian Territory; after
the secession war till 1884 they lived in temporary camps near Fort
Griffin, Shackelford County, Texas, and in October, 1884, they removed
to the Indian Territory (now on Oakland Reserve). In 1884 there were
seventy-eight individuals living; associated with them were nineteen
Lipan Apache, who had lived in their company for many years, though in a
separate camp. They have thirteen divisions (partly totem-clans) and
observe mother-right.