by Thomas Ray
Long before the white man settled in the Brazos River Valley in Central Texas, the area was inhabited by the Wacoes, a tribe of American Indians. The Wacoes had a unique tradition that long ago a stranger carrying a cross had passed through the area and informed them a white man would one day come and tell them all about the Great Spirit. The Wacoes accepted this as a prophecy and firmly believed a white man they named “the Father-Talker” would come and fulfill the prophecy.
In the mid 1800s, white settlers began arriving in the valley. Unfortunately, they did not come to tell the Wacoes about God, but they came to steal their land, and adding insult to injury, they systematically began killing off the buffalo. The Wacoes were infuriated; they depended upon the buffalo as their major food source. The braves retaliated against this threat to their livelihood by attacking the settlers. Governor Sam Houston, fearing a full-fledged war, interceded between the Wacoes and the settlers and arranged a treaty between the two parties. The Wacoes faithfully adhered to the treaty but the settlers ignored the agreement. They continued to encroach upon the land that had been reserved for the Indians. The settlers also continued slaughtering the buffalo. These treaty violations resulted in open warfare.
The settlers appealed to the federal government who proceeded to send the cavalry. The tribe was defeated and placed under the control of an Indian agent. Naturally, the Wacoes were disillusioned by the actions of the white settlers, resulting in a rejection of the promised prophecy. But one of them, Kin Choess, the tribe’s medicine man, refused to abandon the prophecy.
Our story’s hero had been a worshipper of the Great Spirit from his youth. He had often prayed, “Come, oh Great Spirit, and tell us.” One day a chief named Soda Arako returned from a trading trip to the Seminoles and told how he had seen with his own eyes the Father-Talker, and that he promised to visit them in the spring. In the middle of June 1877 a runner began informing the Wacoes the Father-Talker had come. The next day the Father-Talker arrived. His name was A. J. Holt, a renowned Baptist missionary.
Holt announced that in two days he would talk to all of them at the Hill West of the Ford on Sugar Creek. On the appointed day an enormous crowd had gathered. Holt spoke of the wonderful Christ, his miraculous birth, and holy and sinless life, his sacrificial death, and his glorious resurrection. No one listened more intently than Kin Choess, and slowly a great peace filled his heart. At the conclusion of his message, Holt asked if anyone would like to walk that road, that person should arise and come forward. Kin Choess was one of the first to respond. Afterward Kin Choess, overcome with emotion, wrapped his arms around the Father-Talker and lifting him up, he began carrying him about with tears streaming down his face. For Kin Choess this was the beginning of a new and exciting life of faith. He no longer made medicine to the unknown God; he went directly to Jesus who had given him supreme peace.
After several years, Holt was transferred to another field. The day he departed Kin Choess took him aside and said to him in his broken English “When me I down and get up no more, Jesus come take me to Him. Then I be very happy, but I watch for you come. By and by after long time, you lie down and get up no more. Then you come up and I see you come; then I come and take you by hand, and lead you up to Jesus and say, ‘Here Jesus, this is the Father-Talker that told me about you.’”
Holt said of Kin Choess, “He was one of the most sincere and spiritually minded persons I have ever met.” Thank God for missionaries past and present who have devoted their lives to reaching people for Christ.
Editor’s note – This article refers to American Indians. In choosing that term, we referred to Guidelines for Bias-Free Writing published by Association of American University Presses, which recommends using “American Indian. This term is favored by some over Native American, which is also accepted. Whenever possible, writers are encouraged to use the name of the specific people, e.g., Cherokee or Crow, rather than this umbrella term.”