Herman Toppah

Date Found: August 22, 1980

Location: Carnegie, Oklahoma

Investigating Agency: Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation

(800)522-8017

On August 22, 1980, someone found celebrated Kiowa painter Herman Toppah murdered and lying in an alley in Carnegie, Oklahoma. It was just 5 days after his 57th birthday.

Herman was well known for his art and had won several awards over the years. He displayed his work in Gallup, Santa Fe, Tulsa, Chicago, Oklahoma City, and Bismarck. Herman won 2nd place in the special category at the 18th Annual American Indian Artist’s Exhibition for the painting shown here titled “Peyote Ceremony”.

Herman was born August 17th, 1923 in Carnegie, Oklahoma. He attended Riverside Indian school in Anadarko at one time. Herman had five children. He enlisted in the Army twice – January 19th, 1943 and September 24th, 1948. His final discharge was August 8th, 1951. Herman served as a paratrooper and was a member of the 325th Airborne Inf. Regt., 82nd Airborne Div. His wife Pauline passed away almost exactly a year before on August 1st, 1979. Herman struggled with alcohol dependence throughout his life.

Investigators determined that blunt force trauma to the head caused Herman’s death. Little else is known about the circumstances of his murder.

Please call the OSBI at 800-522-8017 with any information or inquiries about the murder of Kiowa artist and father Herman Toppah.