Mackenzie’s force included Tonkawa scouts, led by a Tonkawa chief identified in the sources as Johnson, and Black Seminole Scouts.

The Tonkawa had a long history of animosity with the Comanche — they had been the targets of Comanche raids for generations — and their motivation to assist the Army in tracking Comanche bands was grounded in this history.

The Black Seminole Scouts were descendants of Seminole people who had lived among and intermarried with escaped enslaved people in Florida and later in Mexico; they had been recruited by the Army specifically for their tracking and scouting abilities.

On September 25 and 26, Indian groups were gathering around Mackenzie’s camp — according to the sources, warriors had been observing the column and, on the night of September 26-27, attacked it near Tule Canyon and Boehm’s Canyon.