The earliest known attempt at permanent settlement in this valley was made in 1851 by Elijah Skidmore, who was killed after a few months on the frontier. The locality takes its historic name from the Tonkawa nation, known in its own language as "The most human of people." In 1855 the Tonkawa were placed in this valley on a reservation provided by an act of the Texas Legislature, but in 1859 the tribe was removed to Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. After the Civil War ended in 1865, and especially after the Indian reserve was opened to settlers in 1873, pioneers established livestock farms here. Their children attended school in a log cabin with a dirt floor and homemade split-log benches. Schoolmistress Addie McNabb accepted as salary a gray plow pony and a small amount of cash. In 1877 Baptists organized a church with the Rev. G. W. Black as pastor, and Methodists also founded Monk's Chapel with Rev. B. H. Johnson as pastor. The first building used strictly for church purposes was erected in 1909. School consolidation in 1922 enlarged the community, and in 1948 local children began to be transported into Graham. Community life is centered in the churches.