as living back of the Kiowa, between the head streams of the North
Platte and the Yellowstone, and were probably bands of the Shoshoni.
From this it appears that besides being well supplied with horses, with
which they carried on a profitable trade at this period with the tribes
on the Missouri, the Kiowa also acted as the trading medium between
these tribes and others living in the mountains beyond the Kiowa. The
officer suggests the mouth of Cheyenne river as the most suitable place
to establish a trading post for them. The Crows are described as having
then the same wars and friendships as the Kiowa, excepting that they
were at war with the Arikara as well as with the Dakota (_Lewis and
Clark, 2_).
The Comanche are described at this period (1805) under the name of the
"La Playes" division of "Aliatans" or "Snake Indians," as inhabiting the
plains from the headwaters of the Arkansas, and including the sources
of Red river, and extending from the mountains eastward indefinitely.
They were a wandering people, claiming no particular boundaries, and,
although possessing no guns, were brave and warlike. Their country
abounded in wild horses, besides great numbers which they raised
themselves (_Lewis and Clark, 3_).
In his volume published a few years later the explorer, Zebulon M. Pike,
states that the Kiowa, estimated by him to number 1,000 men, had in 1803
been driven by the Dakota into the mountains on the heads of the Platte
and Arkansas and north of the Comanche, where they were then wandering.
They owned immense herds of horses, were armed with bows, arrows, and
lances, hunted the buffalo, and were at war with the Dakota, Pawnee, and
"Tetau" (here meaning the Ute). In another place he mentions both Ute
and Kiowa as living in the mountains of northern Mexico--the present
Colorado and New Mexico--the former being more civilized from contact
with the Spaniards. He speaks also of meeting, in 1807, a party of Kiowa
and Comanche returning from a trading expedition to the Mandan (_Pike,
1_).
EXPLANATION OF "ALIATAN" AND "TETAU"
As the names Aliatan and Tetau here quoted from Lewis and Clark, with
their variants, have been the cause of much confusion in our western
tribal nomenclature, some explanation will not be out of place. Although
so unlike in appearance, these appellations are really but different
forms of the same word. The Ute of the mountain, region at the
headwaters of the Platte and the Arkansas, being a powerful and
aggressive tribe, were well known to all the Indians of the plains, who
usually called them by some form of their proper name, _Yútawáts_, or,
in its root form, _Yuta_, whence we get Eutaw, Utah, and Ute. Among the
Kiowa the name becomes _Íătä_(_-go_), while the Siouan tribes seem to
have nasalized it so that the early French traders wrote it as Ayutan,
Iatan, or Ietan. By prefixing the French article it became L'Iatan, and
afterward Aliatan, while by misreading of the manuscript word we get
Jatan, Jetan, and finally Tetau. Moreover, as the early traders and
explorers knew but little of the mountain tribes, they frequently
confounded those of the same generic stock, so that almost any of these
forms may mean Shoshoni, Ute, or Comanche, according to the general
context of the description.
UNSUCCESSFUL OVERTURES OF THE DAKOTA
As an incident of the war in progress during this period between the
Kiowa and the Dakota, we find it recorded on a calendar of the latter
tribe, under date of 1814-15, that a party of their people visited the
Kiowa camp on Horse creek for the purpose of making peace, but their
benevolent purpose was defeated by the occurrence of a sudden quarrel
between one of their own men and a Kiowa, which ended by the Dakota
sinking his tomahawk into the Kiowa's head, thus bringing the peace
negotiations to an abrupt close (_Mallery, 3_). The story, which well
illustrates the uncertainty of Indian temper, has a striking parallel in
Grinnell's story of "The Peace with the Snakes" (_Grinnell, Blackfoot,
1_). The Kiowa camp was at the junction of Kiowa creek with Horse creek,
which enters the North Platte from the south in Nebraska, just east of
the Wyoming line.
SMALLPOX EPIDEMIC OF 1816
In 1816 the smallpox made terrible ravages among all the tribes in the
region of the Red and Rio Grande, being probably communicated from the
Spanish settlements. The Comanche especially lost heavily (_Morse, 1_).
The Kiowa suffered in proportion, and their old men speak of this as the
first epidemic of smallpox within the memory of their tribe. It is
probable, however, that they had suffered in the same way some years
before, for we know that in 1801 a Pawnee war party, returning from New
Mexico, brought the smallpox home with them, with the result that it
spread among the tribes from the Missouri to the coast of Texas. The
prairie tribes are said to have lost more than half their population at
this time, while the Wichita, Caddo, and others in the south suffered
almost as severely (_Morse, 2_; _Lewis and Clark, 4_).
THE KIOWA IN 1820
In the account of his expedition up the Arkansas in 1820, Long speaks of
the Kiowa as wandering with the Arapaho and others over the prairies of
Arkansas and Red rivers, and having great numbers of horses, which they
traded to the Cheyenne and other northern Indians, who were not able to
rear them so easily in their colder and more barren country. He
describes a great gathering of tribes in 1815 on the South Platte,
apparently about the junction of Kiowa creek in Colorado, a region which
he mentions as frequented by the Kiowa, when the Cheyenne came down with
goods from the traders on the Missouri to meet and trade for horses with
the Kiowa, Arapaho, and "Kaskaia or Bad Hearts," and a party of traders
from St Louis (_James, Long's Ex., 1_). This appears to be the first
notice of the Kiowa as living on Red river--which, however, may here
mean the Canadian--and is evidence that they were at this time on
friendly terms with the Arapaho and Cheyenne, with both of which tribes
they were soon after at war. We learn also from this notice that the St
Louis traders had already begun to come out to trade with them on the
Arkansas, although none were regularly established in their territory
until some years later. The "Kaskaias" are probably the Kiowa Apache, or
possibly the Wichita.
THE OSAGE MASSACRE AND THE DRAGOON EXPEDITION--1833-34
We come now to the period covered by the Kiowa calendars, the first
important event of which is the massacre of a large number of the tribe
by a war party of Osage in the early spring of 1833. This led
indirectly to the expedition of the First dragoons in 1834, by which the
Kiowa, Comanche, Wichita, and associated tribes were first brought into
official relations with the United States. The massacre and the
expedition will be found treated at length in the proper place. When the
troops returned to Fort Gibson, in the eastern part of Indian Territory,
in August, they were accompanied by a party of one Waco, one Comanche,
three Wichita, and fifteen Kiowa chiefs or headmen, of whom the artist
Catlin says they were undoubtedly one of the most interesting groups
that had ever visited the frontier. Invitations were sent out to the
chiefs of all the neighboring tribes to come in to Fort Gibson and meet
their visitors from the west. A number responded, and a council lasting
several days was held under the auspices of Colonel Dodge of the
Dragoons, Indian Agent Major Armstrong, and Indian Commissioner General
Stokes, which paved the way for a friendly understanding between the
eastern and western tribes, and for both with regard to the United
States (_Catlin, 1_).
A year later, in August, 1835, as a result of the friendly relations
thus established, the chiefs of the Comanche and Wichita met the United
States commissioners at Camp Holmes, about 5 miles northeast of the
present site of Purcell, Indian Territory, and made their first treaty
with the government. The principal stipulation was that there should be
peace and friendship between the Comanche and Wichita on the one hand,
and the United States, Creek, Cherokee, and other immigrant tribes, and
the Osage on the other (_Treaties_).
THE TREATY OF 1837
Owing to a delay in the negotiations, the Kiowa who had attended the
meeting became impatient and returned home and consequently were not
parties to this treaty, but two years later a full delegation of Kiowa,
Apache, and Tawakoni went down to Fort Gibson, where the first treaty
between the United States and these tribes was made on May 26, 1837, and
was formally ratified the following year. In the document the three
tribes are called "the Kioway, Ka-ta-ka, and Ta-wa-karo nations of
Indians." The general terms of the treaty are the same as in that
previously made with the Comanche and Wichita, namely, peace and
friendship, with forgiveness of past injuries, and satisfactory
settlement of future disputes that might arise between these western
tribes and the Osage, Muscogee (Creek), and citizens of the United
States. All the tribes concerned were to have equal hunting rights on
the southern prairies as far west as the jurisdiction of the government
extended, and citizens of the United States were to have free right of
travel to and from Mexico and Texas through the Indian hunting grounds.
There was also a stipulation that if "any of the red people belonging to
the nations or tribes of Indians residing south of the Missouri river
and west of the states of Missouri and Arkansas, not parties to this
treaty," should be found in the country of the Kiowa, they should be
kindly treated by them. This was probably intended to refer only to the
immigrant tribes removed from the east, as it was hardly to be expected
that the Kiowa would act very hospitably toward any stray Dakota or
Pawnee who might occasionally visit the Arkansas in search of Kiowa
scalps or ponies. There was also a distinct understanding that it was
the desire of the government that perfect peace should exist between the
Kiowa and their allies and the republics of Mexico and Texas. The usual
presents were then distributed and everybody was happy (_Treaties_).
The peace thus made with the Osage and Creeks was never broken, although
in after years relations with the Osage were somewhat strained in
consequence of their serving as scouts against the allied southern
plains tribes. The promised friendship was also kept with regard to the
citizens of the United States until after the annexation of Texas, which
the Kiowa and Comanche never ceased to regard as a distinct and hostile
government, making a clear distinction between "Americans," i. e.,
settlers and emigrants from the north or Kansas side, and "Texans," whom
they regarded as a different nation and their enemies, in having driven
them from their best hunting grounds in violation of treaties and
without compensation.
The treaty commissioners on behalf of the government were General
Montfort Stokes and A. P. Chouteau, the latter being a member of the
noted pioneer trading company. Clermont and Roly McIntosh, head chiefs
of the Osage and Creeks, signed, with others, for their respective
tribes. Among the witnesses were a number of officers, stationed at Fort
Gibson, including, among others, the commanding officer, Colonel
Whistler, the noted Captain Bonneville, and Colonel R. L. Dodge, who had
led the dragoon expedition. The treaty was signed by ten Kiowa chiefs
and principal men, three Apache (whose Kiowa names only are given), and
four Tawakoni. Below are given the names of the Kiowa and Apache, as the
earliest on record from these tribes, excepting those given by Catlin,
together with the proper forms and translations of those which can be
identified.
_Kiowa_
Ta-ka-ta-couche, "Black Bird" (_Couche-kóñigya_, "black"?).
Cha-hon-de-ton, "Flying Squirrel."
Ta-ne-congais, "Sea Gull" (?) (_T'ené-kóñigyă_, "Black Bird").
Bon-congais, "Black Cap" (_Bohón-kóñigya_, "Black Cap").
To-ho-sa, "Top of the Mountain" (_Dohá-sän_, "Little Bluff").
Sen-son-da-cat, "White Bird."
Con-a-hen-ka, "Horned Frog" (_Séhänk`ia_, "Horned Toad Man"?).
He-pan-ni-gais, "Night."
Ka-him-hi, "Prairie Dog" (_Tséñhi_ ? "Dog").
Pa-con-ta, "My Young Brother."
_Apache_
Hen-ton-te, "Iron Shoe" (_Hâñ-doti_, "Iron Shoe, or Moccasin").
A-ei-kenda, "One who is Surrendered."
Cet-ma-ni-ta, "Walking Bear" (_Set-mänte_, "Bear Above? or Walking
Bear"?).
At this time the Kiowa were located on the upper waters of Arkansas,
Canadian, and Red rivers, in friendship with the Comanche and Wichita,
who occupied much of the same territory, but usually ranged more to the
east and south. They continued to occupy the same general region until
confined to their present reservation. Their war parties extended their
raids far beyond these limits, particularly toward the south.
CATLIN'S OBSERVATIONS IN 1834
Catlin, who saw them in 1834, describes them as a much finer race of men
than either the Comanche or Wichita, being tall and erect, with an easy
graceful gait, long hair reaching often nearly to the ground, with a
fine Roman outline of head, of a type common among the northern tribes,
but entirely distinct from that usually found in the south (_Catlin,
2_).
TRADERS AMONG THE KIOWA
From the statement of Lewis and Clark already noted, it appears that in
1805, while still located on the North Platte, the Kiowa had as yet no
communication with traders, but obtained supplies indirectly through the
tribes living farther east. From Pike's narrative, however, we learn
that James Pursley, "the first American who ever penetrated the immense
wilds of Louisiana," spent a trading season with the Kiowa and Comanche
in 1802 or 1803, under engagement with a French trader operating from
the Mandan country, and remained with them until the next spring, when
the Dakota drove them from the plains into the mountains at the heads of
the Platte and Arkansas (_Pike, 2_). From Long's statement, also
previously quoted, we learn that in 1815, the Kiowa having drifted
farther south in the meantime, traders from St Louis had begun to ascend
Arkansas river to trade with the Kiowa, Cheyenne, and other tribes near
its headwaters. From other sources it is apparent that before this time
they had had dealings also with the Spaniards of New Mexico. The first
regular American trading expedition to the Kiowa country was made in
1834 when, on the return of the visiting chiefs from Fort Gibson, a
company of eighty trappers and traders went back with them to their
homes on the upper Washita and Red rivers (_Catlin, 3_). In 1835,
shortly after the treaty with the Comanche at Camp Holmes, Colonel
Auguste Chouteau built on the same site a small stockade fort, where a
considerable trade was carried on with the Comanche, Kiowa, Wichita, and
associated tribes until his death three years later, when the place was
abandoned (_Gregg, 1_). The exact location of Camp Holmes and Chouteau's
fort was at a spring on a small creek, both still bearing the name of
Chouteau, on the east or north side of South (main) Canadian river,
about 5 miles northeast of where now is the town of Purcell, Indian
Territory. It was a favorite Indian camping ground and was the site of a
Kichai village about 1850.
Auguste Chouteau, the descendant of one of the early French founders of
St Louis, was the pioneer organizer of the Indian trade in the upper
Red river country, as were the Bents, also of French origin, on the
upper Arkansas. Under the name of _Soto_, Chouteau is still held in
affectionate remembrance by the Kiowa.
Chouteau's fort on the Canadian was considered to be in Comanche
territory. Shortly after the treaty with the Kiowa in 1837, he
established what they regard as the first trading post within their own
country, on the west bank of Cache creek, about 3 miles below the
present Fort Sill, Oklahoma. _Tomé-te_ (Thomas?) is the name by which
the Kiowa remember the trader in charge, who, however, did not remain
long. Another store was established nearly on the same ground by William
Madison (_Sénpo-zédalbe_, "Terrible-beard") in 1869, after the tribes
had been assigned to a reservation. In 1844, William Bent began building
trading posts on the South Canadian, in the Texas panhandle, near the
principal Kiowa trails. They also traded extensively at various points
on the Arkansas until their final removal to Indian Territory.
FIRST VISIT TO FORT GIBSON
With the treaty of 1837 and the building of the first trading post in
their country, the modern history of the Kiowa may be said to have
fairly begun. Their first introduction to American civilization was in
1834, when Dohásän and the other chiefs accompanied the troops back to
Fort Gibson, and again in 1837 when they went to the same place for the
purpose of making the treaty. Soon afterward arrangements were made by
Colonel Chouteau to have a delegation of Kiowa, Comanche, and their
associated tribes visit Washington and other eastern cities. A party of
chiefs visited Fort Gibson for this purpose in the summer of 1839, but
Colonel Chouteau having died during the previous winter, and the season
being then far advanced, it was deemed best to abandon the trip, and
accordingly they were given some presents and returned to their homes
(_Report, 1_).
SMALLPOX EPIDEMIC OF 1839-40--PEACE WITH THE CHEYENNE AND ARAPAHO
In the winter of 1839-40 the Kiowa again suffered from the smallpox,
which had broken out in the north in the summer of 1837, nearly
exterminating the Mandan, and then swept the whole plains to the gulf.
In 1840 they made peace with the Arapaho and Cheyenne, with whom they
have ever since been on terms of intimate friendship (see the calendar).
They had already made peace with the Dakota, so that they were now on
good terms with all the tribes of the plains excepting the Pawnee and
Tonkawa, who seem always to have been outlawed tribes, without friends
or allies.
TEXAN SANTA FÉ EXPEDITION
In 1841 the Texan Santa Fé expedition passed through the country of the
Kiowa. Kendall, the historian of that ill-fated undertaking, describes
the tribe as occupying the prairies near the headwaters of Colorado,
Brazos, Wichita, and Red rivers, and incorrectly supposes that their
hunting grounds had never before been visited by white men. He says that
they seemed to be a powerful people, hitherto but little known, owing to
the fact that their range was south of the line of the Missouri traders
and north of that portion of the Comanche country with which the Texans
were acquainted. He speaks of their extraordinary horsemanship, and
credits them with the feat, ascribed also to other plains tribes, of
throwing themselves to one side of their horses while riding parallel
with their enemies in such a way as to conceal and protect their bodies
while discharging their arrows directly under their horses' necks. They
had then but few guns, and these were ineffective in their hands, but
were surprisingly expert in the use of shields, bows, and lances
(_Kendall, 1_). The disastrous encounter of the Texans with the tribe is
narrated in the proper place.
CHOLERA EPIDEMIC OF 1849
The next notable event in Kiowa history is the cholera epidemic of 1849.
It was brought from the east by California emigrants, and ravaged all
the tribes of the plains. The Kiowa remember it as the most terrible
experience in their history, far exceeding in fatality the smallpox of
nine years before. Hundreds died and many committed suicide in their
despair (see the calendar).
FORT ATKINSON TREATY IN 1853
For years the Kiowa and their confederates had been carrying on a
chronic warfare against Mexico and Texas, although generally friendly
toward Americans on the north. For the protection of the advancing
settlements and the traffic over the Santa Fé trail, now amounting to
over $2,000,000 annually (_Report, 2_), it was deemed necessary to end
this anomalous condition of affairs. Accordingly, on July 27, 1853, a
treaty was negotiated by agent Thomas Fitzpatrick, at Fort Atkinson, on
the Arkansas, in Kansas, with the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache, by which
these tribes agreed to remain at peace with both the United States and
Mexico, and conceded the right of the government to establish roads and
military posts within their territory. In return for these concessions,
they were to receive an annuity of $18,000 for a term of ten years,
subject to a further extension of five years (_Treaties_). It is
somewhat remarkable that this treaty is not noted on the calendar,
neither does it seem to form a subject of conversation among the older
men.
DEPREDATIONS IN MEXICO--MEXICAN CAPTIVES
Although for obvious reasons the Indians were opposed to the
establishment of roads and military posts in their country, the chief
difficulty in the way of a treaty was their unwillingness to cease war
on Mexico. The proposition to restore their Mexican captives met a
prompt and decided refusal. As the Mexican captive element forms so
large a proportion of the blood of these three tribes, the remarks of
agent Fitzpatrick in this connection are of interest:
The chief difficulty which occurred in negotiating the present
treaty was not, however, presented in the article embracing the
foregoing points, but in that which contemplates a cessation of
hostilities against the neighboring provinces of Mexico and the
restoration of prisoners hereafter captured. For a long time these
tribes have been in the habit of replenishing their caballadas of
horses from the rich valleys and pasture lands which border upon
the Rio Grande. Yearly incursions have been made by them far into
the interior of Chihuahua and Durango, and they but seldom return
without having acquired much plunder, as well as many captives,
from the defenseless inhabitants of that country. The name of the
Comanche and Apache has become a byword of terror even in the
villages and beneath the city walls of those fertile provinces. The
consequences of those expeditions are twofold, for while they serve
to sharpen the appetite for pillage and rapine, they also tend to
keep up the numbers of the tribe. The large herds driven off
produce the former result, and the prisoners captured contribute to
the latter. The males thus taken are most commonly adopted into the
tribe, and soon become the most expert leaders of war parties and
the most accomplished of marauders. The females are chosen as wives
and share the duties and pleasures of the lodge. In fact, so
intermingled amongst these tribes have the most of the Mexican
captives become that it is somewhat difficult to distinguish them.
They sit in council with them, hunt with them, go to war with them,
and partake of their perils and profits, and but few have any
desire to leave them. Upon this account the chiefs of the nations
refused positively and distinctly to entertain any proposals or
make any treaties having in view giving up those captives now
dwelling amongst them. They stated very briefly that they had
become a part of the tribe; that they were identified with them in
all their modes of life; that they were the husbands of their
daughters and the mothers of their children, and they would never
consent to a separation, nor could any persuasion or inducement
move them to abate this position. All that could be accomplished
was to make a provision for the future (_Report, 3_).
Even this much, seems to have amounted to but little, for in the next
year we find the same agent-reporting that "so far as I can learn, they
have faithfully complied with the treaty stipulations, save one. It is a
difficult matter to make them understand that New Mexico now belongs to
the United States. They deny ever having consented not to war on
Mexicans. They say that they have no other place to get their horses and
mules from" (_Report, 4_).
DEFEAT OF ALLIED TRIBES BY SAUK AND FOX, 1854