168 CALENDAR HISTORY OF THE KIOWA [ethannH 



negotiations to an abrupt close {MalJery, 3). The story, wbich well 

 illustrates the uncertainty of Indian temper, has a striking parallel iu 

 Griunell's story of "The Peace with the Snakes" {Grinnell, Blacl-foot, 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 Wyo7uiiig line. 



SMALLPOX EPIDEMIC OF 1816 



In 1810 the smallpox made terrible ravages among all the tribes iu 

 the region of the lied and Kio tJrande, being probably communicated 

 from the Spanish settlements. The Comanche especially lost heavily 

 (Morse, 1). The Kiowa sufi'ered in proi)ortion, 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 tliem, 

 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, i'; 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 prai- 

 ries of Arkansas and Red rivers, and having great numbers of horses, 

 which f hey 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 be mentions as frequented by the Iviowa, when the Chey- 

 enne came down with goods from the traders on the Missouri to meet 

 and trade for horses wit h the Kiowa, Arapaho, and " Kaskaia or Bad 

 Hearts," and a party of traders from St Louis (James, LoiKfs Ex., 1). 

 This appears to be the lirst 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 tlie Arapaho and Chey- 

 enne, 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 tei-ritory until some years later. The 

 "Kaskaias" are probably the Kiowa Apache, or jiossibly the Wichita. 



THE OSAGE MASSACRE AND THE DRACiOON EXPEDITION — 1833-31 



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 



