Buckskin and Blanket Days

The earliest memories of Thomas Henry Tibbles (1840-1928) were of adventure and danger as his pioneer family followed the frontier west from Ohio to Bleeding Kansas, where young Tibbles volunteered for service with John Brown's abolitionist band. After the end of the border fighting he spent a memorable winter as the guest of a friendly Omaha tribe, going on the warpath with the Omahas against the Sioux, joining with them in buffalo hunts, and gaining the insights that made him a leader in ...