famous treaty made this winter with the confederated tribes on
Medicine-lodge creek, Kansas, known to the Kiowa as "_Ä´yä´daldä P'a_,
Timber-hill river." The picture on the Set-t'an calendar is highly
suggestive. It represents a white man, who appears to be a soldier,
grasping the hand of an Indian, the locality being shown by the figure
of a tree-covered hill above the winter-mark.
The Anko calendar has no reference to this treaty, which is the leading
event in Kiowa history of the last thirty years, but records instead a
minor occurrence, the killing by the Kiowa of a Navaho, indicated below
the winter mark by the figure of a man with his hair bunched in Navaho
fashion, wearing the characteristic black leggings and moccasins and
carrying a quiver. He was killed near _Gúădal Dóhá_, on the upper South
Canadian, by a party under White-horse, of which Anko was a member. On
examining the body of the dead man they found that he had no ears,
having probably been so born. For this reason the winter is sometimes
known as _T'á-bódal Ehótal-de Sai_, "Winter that Spoiled-ear was
killed." Several parties went against the Navaho on the Pecos this year
(that tribe being still at the Bosque Redondo), particularly a large
expedition, including nearly all the Comanche and about half of the
Kiowa and Apache, which started immediately after the sun dance,
defeated the Navaho in an important engagement, and returned in time for
the treaty.
[Illustration: FIG. 142--Winter 1867-68--Medicine Lodge treaty; Navaho
killed.]
The treaty of Medicine Lodge has already been discussed at length in
another place. According to the statement of the Kiowa they were camped
on the creek where they had held their sun dance, when they were
summoned to Fort Larned. Set-t'aiñte, Set-ängya, Set-ĭmkía, and the
other chiefs, with all their people, at once moved to that point,
where they met an officer who, they say, was called _Gánúän_,
"General" by the whites, and whom the Indians called _Pasót-kyä'tó_,
"Old-man-of-the-thunder," because he wore upon his shoulders the eagle
or thunderbird. This was General Winfield S. Hancock, then in command in
that section. By his direction they camped on the river near the post,
where they were supplied with rations for some days until the purpose of
the government was explained to them. They then returned to
Medicine-lodge creek and prepared a council house among the trees, ready
for the arrival of the commissioners. The medicine lodge and Kiowa camp
were on the south (west) side of the creek, while the council house in
which the treaty was made was on the opposite (northeast) side, 12 miles
above, or about 3 miles above the junction of Elm creek and near the
present site of Medicine Lodge, Barber county, Kansas. It is described
in the treaty itself as "the council camp on Medicine Lodge creek, 70
miles south of Fort Larned, in the State of Kansas." The low, timbered
hill, from which the stream takes its Kiowa name of _Ä'yä'daldä P'a_,
"Timber-hill river," is on the east side, opposite the medicine lodge of
the last preceding dance, from which the stream derives its present
name. It was a favorite dance headquarters, as several other dances had
already been held in the same vicinity.
The Kiowa say that the white man, Philip McCusker, who interpreted the
treaty to the three confederated tribes, spoke only Comanche, and his
words were translated into Kiowa by Bä'o ("Cat"), alias Guñsádalte,
"Having-horns," who is still living. They sum up the provisions of the
treaty by saying that the commissioners promised to give them "a place
to go," to give them schools, and to feed them for thirty years, and
hoped that they would then know how to take care of themselves. Only a
part of the Comanche were represented, most of the Kwáhadi band being
then on an expedition against the Navaho. According to contemporary
notices, there were present at the treaty over eight hundred and fifty
tipis, or about five thousand souls, of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa,
Comanche, and Apache, together with about six hundred whites, including
the commissioners and attachés, a large detachment of the Seventh
infantry, and miscellaneous camp followers, the various groups and bands
being scattered for a distance of several miles along the stream,
forming probably the largest Indian gathering that had ever been held on
the plains.
SUMMER 1868
_Íătä'go Dahótal-de K'ádó_, "Sun dance when the Ute killed us," or
_Ä'yädaldä P'a K'ádó_, "Timber-hill river (Medicine-lodge creek) sun
dance." The dance this summer was held on Medicine-lodge creek, near
where the treaty had been made, this, as has been said, being a favorite
place for the purpose. The Cheyenne and Arapaho also frequently held
their sun dance in the same neighborhood, but not in connection with the
Kiowa, although they always attended the Kiowa dance in large numbers.
The Comanche had no sun dance of their own, but sometimes joined with
the Kiowa. On one occasion they tried to get up such a dance, but the
attempt was a failure.
This summer was signalized by a disastrous encounter with the Ute, in
which two of the three _taímes_ of the Kiowa were captured. On the
Set-t'an calendar this battle is indicated by the figure, above the
medicine lodge, of a man holding out the red stone war-pipe, which was
sent around as an invitation to the warriors to join the expedition. On
the Anko calendar it is indicated by flying bullets about the medicine
lodge.
This battle was the most disastrous in the history of the Kiowa tribe
since the memorable massacre by the Osage in 1833. The impression made
was perhaps even greater, for the reason that their sacred palladium
captured on this occasion has never since been recovered.
[Illustration: FIG. 143--Summer 1868--Ute fight.]
In the previous winter Pá-tadal, "Lean-bull" (alias Poor-buffalo), who
is still living, had led a small party against the Navaho beyond the
head of the South Canadian. On reaching the salt beds on that river,
near the line between Texas and New Mexico, they met some Navaho coming
on foot to steal Kiowa horses. A fight ensued, resulting in the death of
one Navaho and one Kiowa, the latter being Pá-tadal's stepson. The
father thirsted for revenge, and at the next sun dance he sent around
the pipe to all the warriors of the tribe to enlist them for a great
expedition against the Navaho. A large number responded, perhaps two
hundred, including some of the Comanche, and placed themselves under his
leadership. Among these was Set-dayá-ite, "Many-bears," the son
(nephew?) of Ansó'te, the medicine keeper. To render victory more
certain and complete, he asked and obtained permission from his father
to carry with the expedition the two smaller _taíme_ images, viz, the
small "man" figure and the "bear kidney." These were sometimes carried
to the field, but the larger one, the "woman," which the tribe still
retains, was never allowed to leave the home camp. Set-dayá-ite carried
one and intrusted the other to his friend Pá-guñhéñte, "Hornless-bull."
According to another story, Pá-guñhéñte's medicine was one which
belonged to himself and had no connection with the _taíme_, although it
was a smaller image of similar appearance. However, Pá-guñhéñte was
killed and his medicine captured, together with the other.
They set out for the Navaho country, but the omens were unpropitious
from the start. Among the numerous things tabooed to the _taíme_ are
bears, skunks, rabbits, and looking-glasses, none of which must be
permitted to come near the sacred image or be touched by the taíme
keeper. Almost at the start the warriors were alarmed by seeing a skunk
cross their path, and soon afterward it was discovered that the Comanche
had brought with them their looking-glasses, which they refused to break
or throw away, but wrapped them up and concealed them at one of the
camping places to await their return. Farther on, at a place where the
warriors had halted for the night to prepare supper, the wind carried to
the nostrils of the Kiowa the smell of burning grease. On investigating
the cause they found that their sacrilegious allies had killed a bear
and were broiling the flesh over their fire. Realizing that nothing but
defeat could now be in store for them, many of the warriors turned back,
but Set-dayá-ite, trusting to his medicine, persisted in going forward,
while Pá-tadal, although he foresaw disaster, as the organizer and
leader of the expedition felt bound in honor to proceed.
They went up the north bank of the South Canadian until they reached the
salt beds in the vicinity of Red-river spring, near where they had
encountered the Navaho the preceding winter. Here they met a much
smaller party of Ute, said to have numbered only thirty or forty, and
the battle at once began. For some reason, perhaps because the Kiowa
felt that their gods had deserted them, they did not fight with their
accustomed dash, and the battle soon became a flight, the Ute pursuing
them for some miles down the river and killing seven, including
Set-dayá-ite and his adopted son, a Mexican captive. Set-dayá-ite on
this occasion rode a balky horse, which became unmanageable, so that he
dismounted and met his fate on foot, telling his comrades that there was
his place to die. His adopted son might have saved himself, but on
seeing his father's plight he returned and was killed with him.
Pá-guñhéñte, who carried the other medicine, was also among the slain.
Set-dayá-ite had the _taíme_ bag tied upon his back, where it was found
by the Ute after the fight. They readily recognized it as some great
"medicine," a conjecture which was made certain if it be true, as some
say, that the dead man had cut (painted?) upon his body sacred emblems
similar to those painted upon the image itself, viz, a crescent upon
each breast, the sun in the center, and upon his forehead another
crescent. Stumbling-bear, who was in the fight, as was also Anko, went
back shortly afterward to bury his remains. He found a beaten circle
around the skeleton of Set-dayá-ite, as though the Ute had danced around
his dead body.
The Ute carried the _taíme_ with them to their own country, but
misfortune went with it. The son of its capturer was shortly afterward
killed in a fight with the Cheyenne, and soon after that the custodian
himself was killed by a stroke of lightning. Afraid to keep longer such
"bad medicine," they brought both images down to the trader Maxwell, in
New Mexico, who placed them on a shelf in his store, where they remained
in plain view for a long time, but were finally lost. The Ute left word
with Maxwell that the Kiowa, if they came for the images, might have
them, on payment of a specified number of ponies. For some reason the
Kiowa did not come--perhaps because they were afraid to trust themselves
so far in their enemies' country.
While the sacred images were on Maxwell's shelf they were seen by a
brother of George Bent, of the noted pioneer trading family, from whom
the author obtained a description of their appearance. They were two
small carved stones or petrifactions, the _taíme_ proper having the
shape of a man's head and bust, and was decorated and painted. The other
resembled in form a bear's kidney. While in New Mexico some years ago
the author made diligent inquiry among Maxwell's former business
associates concerning the images, but found no one who could throw any
light upon their whereabouts. In 1893 Big-bow and some others of the
tribe visited the Ute, chiefly for the purpose of ascertaining the fate
of the _taíme_, not knowing that it had passed out of their possession.
They learned nothing, however, as they asked no direct questions
concerning it and the Ute volunteered no information. This was the first
friendly meeting between the two tribes, although as early as 1873 the
Kiowa chiefs in council had made an urgent request to the agent that
some good white man should be sent with them to make peace with the Ute
(_Battey, 18_).
When the news of the defeat reached them, the Kiowa were encamped on the
Arkansas, near Fort Larned, where at that time they drew their
government issues. They at once moved down to the Washita and encamped
adjoining the Cheyenne village under Black-kettle, on the western border
of Oklahoma. This village was soon after destroyed by Custer. About this
time steps were taken to confine the confederated tribes to the
reservation assigned them by the late treaty, which was soon after
accomplished, and as a people the Kiowa never again went back to the
neighborhood of Arkansas river.
The only official reference to this fight, if indeed it does refer to
it, is the incidental mention in a letter of about June 20 that an
appointment by the agent for the Ute and Jicarilla Apache had been
postponed in consequence of the absence of Kaneatche, who was away and
had had a fight with the Kiowa and Comanche (_Report, 88_). Kaneatche,
Kanache, or Conyatz (_Kanats_ according to Major Powell) was the head
chief of the confederate Ute and Jicarilla band of Apache, and on his
death was succeeded by Ouray.
The encounter is thus noted by a contemporary author:
During the previous summer [1868] a war party of Ute left their
haunts in New Mexico, and after marching on foot a distance of over
500 miles fell upon a band of Kiowa, completely routed them,
captured a number of ponies, took many scalps, and, more calamitous
than all, got possession of the "medicine" of the band. As might be
inferred, the Kiowa had a superstitious dread of the very name Ute
(_Keim, 2_).
The action and the grief of the Kiowa over the loss of their medicine
are further described by a writer in a contemporary Kansas newspaper,
who evidently speaks with exact knowledge:
About the 10th of July [1868] the Kiowa had a battle with the Ute,
in which the chief Heap-of-Bears and seven other Kiowa braves were
killed. Heap-of-Bears had on his person the medicine of the Kiowa,
which was captured by the Ute, who still retain it. This medicine
consists of an image about 18 inches in length, carved to represent
a human face, and covered with the down and feathers of the eagle
and other birds and swathed in wrappers of different materials of
value. Although I have been conversant with Indian habits and
customs for a long time, I was surprised to find the value these
people attach to this medicine. They begged and implored Colonel
Murphy to recover it for them, and promised to pay the Ute as many
horses as they wanted, and also to make a permanent and lasting
peace, not only with the Ute, but also to refrain from further
depredations on the Texas border, if this should be restored.
Colonel Murphy promised to endeavor to recover it, but I think his
success in the matter will be doubtful, as the Ute also attach
great importance to their capture, believing that while they retain
it the Kiowa will be powerless to do them harm (_Abbott, 1_).
[Illustration: FIG. 144--Winter 1868-69--Tän-gúădal killed.]
WTNTER 1868-69
_Tän-gúădal Ehótal-de Sai_, "Winter that Tän-gúădal was killed." _Tän_
is the name of a particular variety of headdress, also of an edible root
resembling a turnip; _gúădal_ signifies red. Shortly after the removal
to the Washita, a small raiding party went to Texas. In an encounter
with a white man and boy both parties fired simultaneously and
Tän-gúădal was killed. Although a young man, he was a noted warrior and
the hereditary owner of a medicine lance or _zebat_, shaped and adorned
like an arrow. The event is indicated on the Set-t'an calendar by the
figure, above the winter mark, of a man holding the arrow lance. On the
Anko calendar it is indicated by the rude figure of the medicine lance.
This medicine lance, which was hereditary in Tän-gúădal's family, came
originally from the Crows. The one carried by him on this occasion, as
described by Set-k`opte, who was with the party, had a Mexican-made
steel blade and was left sticking upright in the ground at the place
where they rested before the encounter, the owner not having taken it
into the fight. Set-t'aiñte claimed the hereditary right to this
medicine lance, through marriage into the family of one of Tän-gúădal's
ancestors. Despite the protest of Tän-gúădal, he made a similar lance,
which he carried for several years (see summer 1874). This lance of
Set-t'aiñte is said to have had a separable ornamented wooden point,
which was inserted on ceremonial occasions, while an ordinary steel
blade was substituted when it was to be used in actual service. Similar
"medicine" lances for ceremonial purposes were used also among other
tribes.
While this expedition was in Texas another party, under Stumbling-bear,
went up the Canadian to bury the bones of those killed with Set-dayá-ite
in the encounter with the Ute.
SUMMER 1869
_Ä´tahá-i Gyä´`gan-de K`ádó_, "Sun dance when they brought the
war-bonnet." On both calendars this sun dance is designated by the
figure of a war-bonnet (_ä-tahá-i_, "feather crest") above the medicine
lodge.
[Illustration: FIG. 145--Summer 1869--War-bonnet sun dance.]
The dance was held on the north side of the North fork of Red River, a
short distance below the junction of Sweetwater creek, near the western
line of Oklahoma, the Kiowa having been removed during the preceding
autumn from Kansas and the north to their present reservation, but still
ranging outside the boundaries, under the hunting privilege accorded by
the late treaty. While the dance was in progress, Big-bow, who had gone
with a large party against the Ute to avenge the death of Set-dayá-ite
the year before, returned with the war-bonnet of a Ute whom he had
killed in the mountains at the head of the Arkansas, in Colorado. By a
curious chance this Ute was one whom the Cheyenne or Arapaho had wounded
and scalped on a former expedition. The Ute had taken their wounded
comrade to the Mexicans of New Mexico, who cured him, only to die soon
afterward by the hand of a Kiowa. The facts in the case were learned by
Big-bow on his friendly visit to the Ute in 1893.
WINTER 1869-70
_Dómbá Etpé-de Sai_, "Winter when they were frightened by the bugle."
The circumstance is indicated on both calendars by means of a bugle in
connection with the winter mark.
[Illustration: FIG. 146--Winter 1869-70--Bugle scare.]
This was a winter of chronic alarm, as the Cheyenne, the neighbors and
friends of the Kiowa, were on the warpath and were being hard pressed by
Custer. The Kiowa had made their winter settlement in two camps on
Beaver creek, near the junction of Wolf creek, in the vicinity of the
present Fort Supply, in Oklahoma. It was reported that soldiers were in
the neighborhood, and a party of young men went out to look for them.
On returning, about daylight, one of them, who carried a bugle, blew it
to announce their approach, with the result that the whole camp,
thinking that the troops were about to attack them, fled precipitately
several miles before the truth was discovered.
According to another account, the bugle was blown by Set-t'aiñte, who
for many years carried on ceremonial occasions a bugle which he had
probably obtained from some army post. He had been on a visit to the
Arkansas, and blew it on his return in order to locate the camp.
SUMMER 1870
_É`gú Gyäk`íädă-de K`ádó_, "Plant-growing sun dance," or _K`ádó
Paíñyoñhä´-de_, "Dusty sun dance." The former is the more common
designation. This sun dance, like the last, was held on the North fork
of Red river, but on the south side, in what is now Greer county,
Oklahoma, near where the reservation line strikes the stream. During the
dance the traders brought corn and watermelons to sell to the Indians.
The seeds were thrown away, and on returning to the spot in the fall the
Kiowa found that they had germinated in the sandy soil and developed
into full growth; hence the common name of the dance, indicated on the
Set-t'an calendar by a stalk of green (blue) corn beside the medicine
lodge. On the Anko calendar it is distinguished as the "Dusty sun
dance," on account of the high winds which raised clouds of dust during
the dance and which are rudely indicated by close black lines across the
medicine pole. No other event is recorded, the dance serving merely as a
chronologic point.
[Illustration: FIG. 147--Summer 1870--Plant-growing sun dance; dusty sun
dance.]
WINTER 1870-71
_Set-ä´ngya Ä´ton Ágan-de Sai_, "Winter when they brought Set-ängya's
bones."
For this winter the Set-t'an calendar records the bringing home of the
bones of young Set-ängya, indicated by a skeleton above the winter mark,
with a sitting bear over the head.
[Illustration: FIG. 148--Winter 1870-71--Set-ängya's bones brought home;
drunken fight; negroes killed.]
In the spring of 1870, before the last sun dance, the son of the noted
chief Set-ängya ("Sitting-bear"), the young man having the same name as
his father, had made a raid with a few followers into Texas, where,
while making an attack upon a house, he had been shot and killed. After
the dance his father with some friends went to Texas, found his bones
and wrapped them in several fine blankets, put the bundle upon the back
of a led horse and brought them home. On the return journey he killed
and scalped a white man, which revenge served in some measure to assuage
his grief. On reaching home he erected a tipi with a raised platform
inside, upon which, as upon a bed, he placed the bundle containing his
son's bones. He then made a feast within the funeral tipi, to which he
invited all his friends in the name of his son, telling them, "My son
calls you to eat." From that time he always spoke of his son as
sleeping, not as dead, and frequently put food and water near the
platform for his refreshment on awaking. While on a march the remains
were always put upon the saddle of a led horse, as when first brought
home, the tipi and the horse thus burdened being a matter of personal
knowledge to all the middle-age people of the tribe now living. He
continued to care for his son's bones in this manner until he himself
was killed at Fort Sill about a year later, when the Kiowa buried them.
Although a young man, Set-ängya's son held the office of _Toñhyópdă´_,
the pipe-bearer or leader who went in front of the young warriors on a
war expedition.
The Anko calendar records two incidents. The first was a drunken fight
between two Kiowa, in which one killed the other, indicated by the rude
representation of two heads with a bottle between them. The other event
was the killing of four or five negroes in Texas by a party led by
Mamä´nte ("Walking-above)," who brought back the scalps with the
woolly-hair attached. It is shown on the calendar by means of a figure
with bullet and arrow wounds, drawn below the heads and the bottle. An
attempt has been made to indicate the peculiar woolly hair of the negro;
the trousers are blue, like those worn by soldiers, Anko thinking they
were probably soldiers, because, as he says, "Negroes can't go alone."
[Illustration: FIG. 149--Summer 1871--Set-t'aiñte arrested; Koñpä´te
killed.]
In this winter Ansó-gíăni or Anso`te, "Long-foot," the great medicine
keeper, died of extreme old age. He had been in charge of the _taíme_
for forty years; consequently there was no sun dance for two years until
his successor was selected.
SUMMER 1871
For this summer the Anko calendar records the death of Koñpä´te,
"Blackens-himself," who was shot through the head in a skirmish with
soldiers. He was the brother of the noted raider, White-horse. The event
is indicated by the rude representation of a head struck by a bullet. As
there was no dance this summer, the medicine lodge is not represented on
either calendar.
The great event of the summer was the arrest of the noted chiefs and
raiders, Set-t'aiñte, Set-äñgya and Ä´do-eétte, "Big-tree." The figure
on the Set-t'an calendar shows the soldier arresting Set-t'aiñte,
distinguished by the red war-paint which he always used.