Note 3 — APPENDIX 7: JOHN WILSON, THE REVEALER OF PEYOTE

We have elsewhere expressed the opinion that the Caddo had an historical significance in the spread of peyotism second only to that of the Kiowa-Comanche, and that Wilson represents this Caddoan influence predominantly. Though he had Delaware blood, this numerically small group could scarcely have wielded the influence or exercised the prestige necessary to account for the spread of his “moon;” the Caddo, on the other hand, who early had peyote, did have this prestige. We therefore believe Petrullo in error in claiming Wilson as a Delaware. Speck (Notes on the Life, 540) writes that “His associations with the Comanche and Caddo, to whom he was related by blood, were close.” Petrullo himself, indeed (The Diabolic Root, 44) indicates Caddoan influences on Wilson: “John Wilson, the originator of the Big Moon, was living among the Caddo. He was one of the first Delaware to eat peyote. He belonged to the Black Beaver band ... held by the Government at the Wichita and Caddo reservations. It was there that Wilson was born and raised.” Petrullo also says Wilson made visits to Arizona and New Mexico before returning to make his moon on the Caddo reservation.