Robert McGee, As A 14-Year-Old He Was Scalped By Native Americans.
Updated: Aug 13
In the early part of 1890, Robert McGee sat for photographer E.E. Henry (1826-1917). The picture, the portrait you see above, shows McGee after he was scalped in the summer of 1864.
Scalping, the act of removing the scalp from the head of a living or deceased person, is one of the most brutal practices recorded in history. Although it has often been associated with Native American warfare, the reality is that scalping was not exclusive to any single group or time period.
The Origins and Techniques of Scalping
Scalp-taking is a gruesome cultural practice that has developed independently across various civilisations throughout history, both in the Old and New Worlds. As part of the broader practice of taking human body parts as trophies, scalping may have originated as an alternative to head-taking. The process allowed for easier transport, preservation, and display of the spoils of war. The techniques of scalping were relatively uniform across different cultures, involving the use of sharp instruments to cut around the desired portion of the scalp, which was then forcefully removed from the skull.
Instruments used in scalping varied, ranging from stone knives made of flint, chert, or obsidian, to other materials like reeds or oyster shells. Despite the differences in tools, the essential method remained the same: a quick and violent removal of a portion of the scalp, which could be performed on either living or deceased victims. Although scalping was not inherently fatal, it was most commonly inflicted on those who were already gravely wounded or dead.
Scalping in the Context of North America
The history of scalping in North America is complex, with its practice varying by region and purpose. Among Native American tribes, the taking of scalps held significant cultural and spiritual meaning. For example, in the Southeast, scalps were taken to achieve the status of a warrior and to placate the spirits of the dead. Among Plains Indians, scalps were taken as war honours, often from living victims. In some cases, warriors would shave their heads as a challenge to their enemies, demonstrating their readiness for combat.
The arrival of European settlers in North America brought about an increase in the practice of scalping. Aggression between the settlers and indigenous peoples, combined with bounties offered for enemy scalps, led to a rise in scalping incidents. The Dutch Colony of New Amsterdam, for instance, saw Governor Willem Kieft offering bounties for the scalps of enemy Indians, further entrenching the practice as a tool of warfare.
The Legend of Robert McGee: A Survivor of Scalping
In the summer of 1864, a 14-year-old boy named Robert McGee embarked on a journey that would forever etch his name in the annals of American history. Born into a family of emigrants, McGee and his family decided to migrate west, a common pursuit for many at the time, in search of a better life on the American Frontier. The family joined a wagon train heading towards Leavenworth, Kansas, but tragedy struck along the way when McGee's parents died, leaving him an orphan.
Upon reaching Fort Leavenworth, Robert sought to join the army, but his application was rejected due to his age. Desperate for work, he took a job with a freight company tasked with transporting supplies to Fort Union in New Mexico. In July 1864, McGee joined a wagon train that set out from Fort Leavenworth towards Fort Union. Given the dangers on the trail, the wagon train was accompanied by a U.S. army escort.
On July 18, after a long and exhausting day on the trail, the pioneers made camp near Walnut Creek, not far from Fort Zarah, near present-day Great Bend, Kansas. With the fort in close proximity, the teamsters and their escort grew complacent, setting up camp about a mile away from the army escort. This lapse in security proved fatal when, at around 5 p.m., the camp was attacked by 150 Sioux warriors, allegedly under the command of Chief Little Turtle. The attack was swift and brutal, with the warriors overwhelming the unprepared pioneers, who were quickly slaughtered.
Robert McGee’s story, however, did not end with the massacre. According to McGee, he was scalped personally by Chief Little Turtle. While lying face down in the dirt, having already suffered multiple arrow wounds, a pistol shot to the back, and a tomahawk wound, McGee remained conscious as the Sioux leader removed 64 square inches of his scalp, starting just behind the ears. It is said that Sioux warriors took much larger pieces of scalp compared to other tribes, adding to the horror of the act.
When the soldiers charged with protecting the wagon train finally arrived at the scene, they found a gruesome massacre, with every member of the caravan scalped. Yet, to their amazement, they discovered that Robert McGee, along with another boy, had survived the ordeal. McGee was taken to Fort Larned, where the post-surgeon treated his injuries. Despite the severity of his wounds, McGee recovered, albeit without his scalp.
Robert McGee’s survival became the stuff of legend, earning him the nickname "the man with 14 lives." His disfigurement, coupled with the press’s sensationalised accounts, helped McGee establish a career in public appearances. Surgeons experimented on McGee, but attempts to restore his hair were unsuccessful. While the legend suggested that McGee was the only person to ever survive a scalping, he was not alone in his ordeal.
Josiah Wilbarger, for instance, was attacked by Comanche Indians near modern-day Austin, Texas. Like McGee, Wilbarger was scalped and left for dead, but he too survived. He later recounted that while the act of scalping was surprisingly painless, the sound of his scalp being removed resembled "the ominous roar and peal of distant thunder," according to James de Shield’s Border Wars of Texas. Another survivor, William Thompson, endured a similar fate when he was ambushed and scalped. Despite fainting from his injuries, Thompson survived and even attempted to have his scalp reattached to his head.
Scalping in North America was more than just an act of brutality; it was deeply intertwined with the cultural practices of the time. For Native American tribes, scalps were often offered as ritual sacrifices or preserved and carried by women in triumphal scalp dances. The scalp could also be retained as a pendant by the warrior, used as tribal medicine, or discarded depending on the tribe’s customs.
The practice of scalping, both among Native American tribes and European settlers, serves as a stark reminder of the violence and brutality that marked the history of North America. Although the stories of survivors like Robert McGee, Josiah Wilbarger, and William Thompson may seem legendary, they underscore the grim reality of frontier life during a time when scalping was a widespread and feared practice.
Sources
de Shields, James T. Border Wars of Texas. 1912.
Kupperman, Karen Ordahl. Indians and English: Facing Off in Early America. Cornell University Press, 2000.
White, Richard. The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815. Cambridge University Press, 1991.
Stannard, David E. American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World. Oxford University Press, 1992.
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