Longhorn Mountain

Kiowa County, OK
GPS Coordinates: 34.925132, -98.747203

The mountain can be best viewed either:
* from the corner of N2380 Rd & E1440 Rd (GPS Coordinates: 34.928367, -98.743396)
* or from round the intersection of E1450 Rd & N2380 Rd. (GPS Coordinates: 34.913543, -98.743813)

Longhorn Mountain was named after a Spanish boy who was captured by the Comanches and later given to a Kiowa Indian Family who raised him. He was given the name "Longhorn". He married Pai-ah-tay the daughter of Kiowa Chief Satanta. He was allotted one full half of the Southwest side of the mountain where he resided by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, approved by the Secretary of the Interior, and signed by President William Mc Kinley. The mountain was named after him.

The Kiowa Nation has used Longhorn Mountain for hundreds of years as a temple where tribe members pray, have vision quests and retrieve sacred cedar used in many rituals. Today, Longhorn Mountain is still used by the Kiowa, Comanche, Apache and other surrounding Plains Indian tribes for prayer, the vision quest and events of other religious significance. Native people also go there to pray for their families in times of illness and death. Native people fast for four days and nights upon Longhorn with only a blanket to shield them from the elements. They pray continually during this time with no food or water.

Descendants of the Longhorn family still have a special bond to Longhorn Mountain. Longhorn was also a tourist attraction at one time. People would climb the mountain to see where the Kiowa tribal members went for their vision quest and to view Saddle Mountain, Rainy Mountain and the surrounding area. Both of these mountains have historical significance as well.

Missionaries built a church near Longhorn Mountain to convert the Kiowa people to Christianity. The church was later abandoned in the 1950’s

Cedar from Longhorn Mountain is cut from the trees and dried to be used in the religious ceremonies or in homes for purification. Longhorn cedar is used today in every traditional Kiowa home. The cedar is dried and then prayed over before being used. Tribes all over the US use the cedar from Longhorn Mountain. And some travel great distances to gather Longhorn Cedar.

Longhorn Mountain will always be a monument to Kiowa ancestors. Longhorn Mountain was once the playground for the late “Alfred Jack Quoetone”, deceased June 11, 1991, sone of Mable Longhorn Quoetone, and grandson of Longhorn and Pai-ah-tay, the daughter of Kiowa Chief Satanta from 1830 to 1878.

Longhorn Mountain has tremendous spiritual significance and is considered to be one of the most sacred of all sites by the Kiowa people of Oklahoma and is still used for the vision quest. Longhorn Mountain is currently facing a serious threat.

There are five landowners on Longhorn Mountain -- two on the east side, two on the west, and one in the middle -- none of which are members of the Kiowa Tribe. The landowners on the eastern side have always allowed Kiowas onto their property to pick cedar and pray.

The tribe has not always needed permission to visit Longhorn Mountain. In the mid-1800s, the mountain was made part of the Kiowa reservation. Later it was broken up into lots and given to individual tribal members. When the Great Depression hit, the Kiowa owners sold.

However, the farmers that currently own the western half of the mountain have leased the land to a company that intends to strip mine the mountain, turning it into gravel to make highways. The destruction of Longhorn Mountain would be a tragic loss and an act of cultural genocide perpetrated against the Kiowa people and all traditional Native Americans.

* Longhorn Mountain Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzXTGNrkV5g

An excellent book related to this is:

* "Religious Revitalization among the Kiowas: The Ghost Dance, Peyote, and Christianity" by Benjamin R. Kracht

Sources:
* Wertz, J. (2019). Longhorn Mountain: Sacred Kiowa Spiritual Site And Future Limestone Mine. [online] Kgou.org. Available at: www.kgou.org[Accessed 19 Jan. 2019].

* Gomez, N. (2019). The Historical and Spiritual Significance of Longhorn Mountain. [online] Ben Oofana's Blog. Available at: benoofana.wordpress.com [Accessed 19 Jan. 2019].