MooNEY] KIOWA AND COMANCHE ALLIANCE 163 



I will go." A Comanche captive among tlie Kiowa volunteered to go 

 with him. Turning then to his followers, he said to them, "Go home 

 and tell our tribe that I am gone to make peace with the Comanche. 

 lU'turn for me to this place when the leaves are yellow. If you do not 

 ilnd me here, know that I am dead and avenge my death." He then 

 dismissed them, and the Kiowa started homeward, while he, with the 

 captive and one or two Mexicans accompanied the Comanche to their 

 camps on Ganta Z"«, the Double-mountain fork of the Brazos, in Texas. 



On arriving there with his escort, the Comanche were at first dis- 

 posed to regard him as an enemy and made a show of preparing to 

 revenge upon him the losses they had suffered at the hands of his peo- 

 ])le, but finding that he was a brave man not to be easily frightened, 

 they changed their purpose and gave him a friendly welcome. He 

 remained with them all summer, being well entertained by them on the 

 hunt and at their social gatherings, and when at last the leaves began 

 to turn, the tipis were taken down and the whole band, having long 

 ago decided on peace, moved off to meet the Kiowa at the appointed 

 rendezvous. They had not long to wait, for Indians observe the sea- 

 son changes closely, before the whole warrior body of the Kiowa tribe 

 appeared in sight, prepared either to make a treaty of perpetual friend- 

 ship or to avenge the death of their chief, as the case might be. As 

 they api>roached, the Comanche chief and (luik site rode out to meet 

 them, somewhat to the surprise of the Kiowa, who had hardly hoped 

 ever again to see their kinsman alive. He told the story of his kind 

 treatment at the hands of the Comanche and their earnest desire for 

 peace, and the result was a treaty of friendship and alliance which 

 endures to this day, the two tribes, with the Kiowa-Apache, having 

 ever since occupied a common territory and acted together on all 

 iuiijortant occasions, notwithstanding radical differences in language, 

 ceremonies, and temperament. The former condition of hostility is 

 clearly shown by the fact that the common name of the Kiowa for their 

 present allies, the Comanche, is Gydi ko, " Enemies." 



This treaty with tlie Comanche must have been made toward the 

 close of the last century, probably about 1790. As there is no tally date 

 in Kiowa history until we come to "the year when the stars fell," i. e., 

 18.33, a description of the manner in which we arrive at this conclusion 

 may be of interest as a specimen of the ordinary methods of Indian 

 chronology. 



Among the oldest men of the tribe are T'c'-bodal, "One who carries a 

 buffalo's lower leg," Gaapiatan, "Feathered lance," (commonly known 

 as Heidsick, from his Comanche name of Hai-tsiki), and A'dali)epte, 

 "Bushy-hair" (Frizzle- head), all being prominent men and noted war- 

 riors when in their prime. T'ebodal is the oldest man in the tribe, and 

 as he was "a well grown boy when the stars fell," is consequently 

 now just about SO years of age, as the Indians consider a boy a young 

 warrior at 17 or 18. Gaapiatau is a few years younger, and A'dalpepte 



