MooNEv) LITTLE ARKANSAS TREATY, 18fi-l 179 



In a strong letter their agent writes that, while he has a desire to shield 

 all Indians from wrong and severe treatment, yet "lead, and plenty of 

 it, is what the Kiowas want and must have before they will behave." 

 He denounces them as murderous thieves, and says that he has had 

 personal experience of their insolence and outrages (Report, 13). The 

 incidents of this war noted on the calendar are the encounter at Fort 

 Larned, in which the Kiowa ran off the horses of tlie soldiers, and the 

 attack on a Kiowa camp by a detachment of troops and Ute Indians 

 under command of Kit Carson (see the calendar). 



From the agent's report it appears that the Indians had begun hostili- 

 ties in the summer simultaneously on the Platte and the Arkansas, and 

 up to September had killed a number of people and run oft' several thou- 

 sand head of horses, mules, and cattle. Communication between the Col- 

 orado settlements and the Missouri had been almost entirely cut off, the 

 overland coaches had to be supplied with large escorts, and emigrant 

 trains were compelled to combine for safety. It was thought that all the 

 tribes of the plains were on the warpath together. The Indians were 

 well mounted, knew the whole country jjerfectly, and so far, in every 

 contest on anything like equal terms, had proven themselves a match 

 for the white soldiers. As nearly the whole available force of the 

 government was then employed in suppressing the rebellion, no addi- 

 tional troops could be sent to the frontier, and Oovernor Evans of 

 Colorado asked and received permission to raise a force of volunteers 

 against the hostiles. It was the opinion of many persons, including 

 army officers stationed in the country, that the whole trouble might 

 have been averted had the Indians been properly treated by the 

 whites [Report, 14). 



In spite of the serious condition of affairs it was evident that the 

 chiefs did not want war. Early in September peace overtures were 

 received from the Cheyenne and Arapaho, who soon after came in and 

 camped as directed near Fort Lyou, Colorado. A month later the 

 agent reported that the Kiowa and Comanche had committed no depre- 

 dations for a long time and were supposed then to be south of the 

 Arkansas, near the Texas border (Report, 15). Before the trouble 

 began they had been encamped on the Arkansas, near Fort Larned. 

 As the tribes had now expressed their desire for peace, a commission 

 was sent out early in 1865 to meet them for that purjiose. The com- 

 missioners met the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache on August 15 at the 

 mouth of the Little Arkansas, where now is the town of Wichita, 

 Kansas, and received their promise to cease hostilities and to meet the 

 same commission in October to make a regular treaty of peace. Three 

 days later the Cheyenne and Arapaho entered into a similar agreement 

 at the same place. The Kiowa chiefs signing the agreement were 

 Dohiisiin as head chief, Giu-pii 'go ("Lone- wolf"), Sct-daya'-ite ("Many- 

 bears"), Set-t'aifite ("White-bear"), Te'nc-angopte ("Kicking-bird"), 

 and Set-Imkia ("Pushing-bear," commonly known as Stumbling-bear), 



