xxiv INTRODUCTION. 



approximation he ever met to the ideal Indian. He had 

 a fine manly form, and a humane trustworthy face ; he 

 has associated freely with the settlers in Colorado ever 

 since the gold discoveries of 1858. He has always been 

 on good terms with them, and in several instances pre- 

 vented outbreaks of his people, who wished to avenge 

 real or fancied injuries. In 1860, he received a medal 

 from President Buchanan, and has been honoured in 

 other ways by the military commanders on the Plains. 

 When speaking of the future of his people, ' Little Eaven ' 

 is always despondent, as he plainly sees that the Indian 

 is doomed to destruction, and that a few generations at 

 furthest will see the race extinct. Other chiefs are ' Bird 

 Chief and Yellow Bear.' 



The Kiowas and Comanches. The Kiowas and Co- 

 manches are wild and roving Indians, whose range 

 extends over a large part of T ,'estern Texas and the south- 

 eastern portion of New Mexico and Northern Mexico. 



The two tribes in 1867 numbered 2,800. The 

 Kiowas, or * Prairie men,' make the signs of the prairie 

 and of drinking water. Catlin, when he visited them, 

 describes them as being a much finer race of men than 

 either the Comanches or Pawnees, tall and erect, with an 

 easy and graceful gait, and long hair, cultivated fre- 

 quently so as to reach nearly to the ground. He states 

 that they have usually a fine and Eoman outline of head, 

 and are decidedly distinct from both the Comanches and 

 Pawnees, both in appearance and language. The Kiowas 

 have the reputation, and doubtless deserve it, of being 

 the most rapacious, cruel, and treacherous of all the 

 Indians of the Plains. They range mainly south of the 

 Arkansas, and south of the Eio Grande. They have 

 the credit of influencing the Comanches to do whatever 

 they suggest. 



The Comanches, or Camanches (Les Serpents), imitate 



