Chapter XI: Part 11

His stringent measures at times brought him into disfavor with his co-religionists, but had great influence in bringing these unruly tribes under effectual control. He writes, under date of April 7, 1896:

General Sherman called at my office, Kiowa and Comanche agency,
Indian Territory, fifth month, 23, 1871, to see if I knew of any
Indians having gone to Texas lately. He said that a party of
Indians, supposed to number about one hundred and fifty, had
attacked a train of ten wagons about 17 miles from Fort Richardson
and killed the trainmaster and six teamsters. Five others escaped.
Being at the fort at the time, he gave orders for the available
troops to follow them with thirty days' rations and report at Fort
Sill.

I told the general that I could not then tell what Indians they
were, but thought that I could ascertain in a few days. Four days
later the Indians came after their rations. Before issuing I asked
the chiefs to come into the office, and told them of the tragedy in
Texas, and wished to know if they could tell by what Indians it had
been committed. Satanta immediately arose and said:

"Yes; I led in that raid. I have been told that you have stolen a
large amount of our annuity goods and given them to the Texans. I
have repeatedly asked for arms and ammunition, which have not been
furnished, and made other requests which have not been granted. You
do not listen to my talk. The white people are preparing to build a
railroad through our country, which will not be permitted. Some
years ago they took us by the hair and pulled us here close to
Texas, where we have to fight them. When General Custer was here
some years ago he arrested me and kept me in confinement several
days, but that is played out now. There are never to be any more
Kiowa Indians arrested. I want you to remember that.

"On account of these grievances a short time ago I took about one
hundred of my warriors, whom I wished to teach how to fight, to
Texas, with the chiefs Satank [_Set-ängya_], Eagle-heart, Big-tree,
Big-bow, and Fast-bear. We found a mule train, which we captured,
and killed seven of the men. Three of our men got killed, but we
are willing to call it even. It is all over now, and not necessary
to say much more about it. We don't expect to do any raiding around
here this summer. If any other Indian claims the honor of leading
that party he will be lying to you, for I led it myself."

Satank, Eagle-heart, and Big-tree were present, and assented to the
correctness of the statement made by Satanta. That they were guilty
of murder in the first degree I had not the shadow of a doubt, and
thought that forbearance in the case had ceased to be a virtue and
would become a crime. I told the men to go to issuing and I would
go to the fort (Sill). I went to Colonel Grierson's quarters and
requested him to arrest Satanta, Satank, Eagle-heart, Big-tree,
Big-bow, and Fast-bear on the charge of murder. Scarcely had the
order been given when, to the surprise of all of of us, Satanta
took the post interpreter into Colonel Grierson's quarters. He had
heard that there was a big Washington chief there (General
Sherman), and he probably wished to measure up with him and see how
they compared. When I started to the agency he said he would go
with me, but some soldiers stepped in front of him with their
revolvers and ordered him back, and he quietly obeyed. The colonel
sent for Satank and Eagle-heart to go to his quarters. Satank went
and was arrested. Eagle-heart got nearly there and saw Big-tree
being arrested, and he turned and fled. Kicking-bird pled
eloquently for the release of the three prisoners, although he
entirely disapproved of their raiding.

A day or two after the arrest, Colonel Mackenzie, in command of the
troops from Fort Richardson, arrived at Fort Sill and reported that
the heavy and continued rains had obliterated the tracks of the
raiding Indians so that they could not be followed. After remaining
a few days, the colonel with his troops took charge of the
prisoners to convey them to Texas for trial. Satank was so
refractory that he was put into a wagon with two soldiers, and
Satanta and Big-tree were put into another wagon. George
Washington, a Caddo Indian, rode alongside of the wagons as they
left Fort Sill. Satank called to him and said: "I wish to send a
little message by you to my people. Tell them that I am dead. I
died the first day out, and my bones will be lying on the side of
the road. I wish my people to gather them up and take them home."
Satanta also sent a message, saying: "Tell my people to take the
forty-one mules that we stole from Texas to the agent, as he and
Colonel Grierson require. Don't commit any depredations around Fort
Sill or in Texas."

When about a mile from the post Satank sang his death song, and
with his back to the guard drew the shackles off his hands by
taking some of the skin with them. Then with a butcher knife which
he had secreted, he started for the guard in the front part of the
wagon, cutting one of the soldiers slightly in the leg. They both
jumped out, leaving their guns. Satank picked up one of them and
commenced loading it, wanting to kill one more man. Before he got
it loaded he received several shots, and in twenty minutes died in
much agony, gritting his teeth. Colonel Grierson had him buried at
Fort Sill. He gave the Indians permission to take him up and convey
him to their camp for interment, which they declined to do.

Mr Leeper, my interpreter, who has since been a practicing
physician in Chicago, and Horace P. Jones, the post interpreter,
attended the trial of Satanta and Big-tree at Jacksboro. The jury
brought in a verdict of murder in the first degree, and sentenced
them to be hung on the 1st of the following September. I had
requested that they be not executed, and gave my reasons for
thinking that such a course would have a better effect upon the
Indians of the reservation. The judge wrote me that he approved of
my request and would ask the governor to commute the sentence to
life imprisonment, which was done. The Kiowas delivered to me the
stolen mules, as Satanta requested.

Although Set-ängya was a bad Indian and deserved punishment, it is impossible not to admire the grim courage of the old man, as, true to his warrior oath to despise death, though laden with chains and surrounded by armed troops, he boldly sang his death song, and then, wrenching the manacles from his bleeding wrists, drove the guards from the wagon, picked up their abandoned guns, and coolly prepared to kill one more enemy of his race before he fell, shot to death.

WINTER 1871-72 (1872-73)

A part of the Kiowa camped during this winter on _Ä´-gíăni P'a_, "Long-tree creek," a branch of Elk creek of upper Red river. The name is indicated on the Anko calendar by the figure of a tree below the winter mark. The remainder of the tribe camped on the Washita, near Rainy mountain. During this winter the Kiowa were visited by a large party of Pawnee, who came to make peace. They came on foot and remained a long time, returning with many horses given them by their hosts. On the Set-t'an calendar the event is indicated by a representation of three characteristic Pawnee heads above the winter mark.

This was the first friendly meeting within the memory of the two tribes. The Pawnee first came to the Wichita, their near relatives, and then announced their intention to visit the Kiowa to make a treaty of peace. The Kiowa debated the matter for some time, but finally agreed, and after the visit dismissed their guests with many presents of horses. The older men describe the identical horses which were given. In the fall of 1873 another large party of the Pawnee visited the Wichita and remained some time. On their return home they gave such an account of their experience that the entire tribe decided to remove to the south from Nebraska, where they were constantly harassed by the Dakota. The matter was brought to the attention of the government and a new reservation was selected for them in Indian Territory (Oklahoma), to which they removed in the spring of 1875 (_Report, 90_).

From the concurrent notices by Battey, Grinnell, and the Indian Commissioner, together with the statements of a number of Indians, it is plain that in this instance the author of the calendar has made an error in the date, which should be the winter of 1872-73. As the Indians tell it, the Pawnee came late in the fall, after the Kiowa had left _Ä´gíăni P'a_. The explanation may be in a confusion between the visit of the Pawnee and that of the Pueblos (see winter 1872-73).

In regard to this Pawnee visit, which led to the removal of the tribe to Indian Territory, Grinnell says that in the summer of 1870 Lone-chief led a large party of the Pawnee southward to visit the Wichita. Again in the winter of 1871-72, the same chief, with a party, started on another visit to the Wichita, but for some reason turned back. The next winter (1872-73) in consequence of renewed inroads of the Dakota, the Pawnee were thrown into an unsettled condition and the question of removal to a safer situation began to be seriously discussed. It was finally decided to send a small party under Lone-chief and one or two others to the southern tribes to learn how these would look upon a general Pawnee migration into Indian Territory. The delegates visited the Oto, Kansa, Wichita, Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache, and were everywhere received in a friendly manner. The Pawnee then invited the chiefs of the various tribes to meet them at the Wichita camp, where the Pawnee speaker broached the proposition, stating that his people wished to be at peace and had made up their minds to come and live with their friends in the south.

They received a cordial invitation from all the chiefs of the
different tribes, who said that they had good land and plenty of
buffalo for them, and the result was that in 1873 the first party
moved south and was followed by others, until in 1875 the whole
tribe had removed from Nebraska to the Indian Territory (_Grinnell,
Pawnee, 1_).

Grinnell is not entirely consistent with himself, but in another place says that the first expedition under Lone-chief took place "the following summer in August" of 1869 or 1870, and that it was on that occasion that the Pawnee visited and made peace with the Kiowa, and afterward visited the Comanche (_Grinnell, Pawnee, 2_).

The Quaker teacher, Battey, was with Kicking-bird in the Kiowa camp on Cache creek on the arrival of the Pawnee dancers, numbering forty-five, in March, 1873. He gives an extended account of their reception and performance:

A party of Pawnees came in last evening, giving notice of their
arrival by their headman and two or three others coming into camp,
while the main body remained 2 or 3 miles distant. This morning a
public reception was given them.

The party was seen coming over a ridge in single file, bearing a
white flag. Approaching to within 20 rods, they planted their flag,
upon which was painted the single letter P, and sat down in a line
on each side of it, facing the village. After sitting in this
manner for perhaps half an hour, during which they maintained
entire silence, and preliminary arrangements for their reception
were made in the camp, the chiefs, followed by most of the headmen,
and these by the young men, women, and children, went forth to
welcome them. Upon drawing near to them, the Kiowa chiefs walking
with a slow step and dignified mien, some of the old women set up a
chant in a shrill voice, whereupon the head chief of the Pawnees
and two or three others, perhaps the nearest in rank, arose, and
with a quick, firm step approached the Kiowa chiefs, and after
embracing them retired to their former position.

Others of the Pawnees came forward, a few at a time, until all had
embraced and been embraced by the Kiowa chiefs and headmen. The
women, remaining some distance behind, renewed their shrill chant
from time to time. Some of the Pawnees occasionally placed a shawl
or embroidered blanket upon the shoulders of a Kiowa, while several
of the old men passed along in front of the whole line of the
visitors, shaking hands with them. After this the Pawnees set up a
weird song, during the continuance of which Kiowa fathers, each
carrying a small child in his arms, bearing a piece of stick in its
little hands, young girls, and occasionally a woman, would
approach the Pawnees, and selecting someone, would present
themselves before him, holding out the stick. Thereupon he would
arise, place his hands upon the donor's head in a solemn,
reverential manner, as if blessing, pass them down the sides,
following the arms, take the stick, and sit down. Each stick thus
given was a pledge from the giver to the receiver for a pony, to be
given when the visitors are ready to return to their country. Old
men, from time to time addressing the Kiowas, urged them to
liberality, to show the largeness of their hearts and the warmth of
their friendship by giving ponies to these poor Pawnees, who had
come so far to see them and renew their friendship, and not allow
them to return on foot, as they came. I know not how many ponies
were thus pledged to them, but there must have been many.

At the conclusion of the ceremony the Pawnees arose in a body,
ceased their song, took up their flag, and a part following one
Kiowa chief and a part another, accompanied them to their lodges to
partake of their hospitality. The head chief, with four or five
others, including the flag bearer, accompanied Kicking-bird to his
lodge, thus becoming his guest.

In the afternoon the visitors gave a Pawnee war dance, of which Battey wisely remarks:

I shall not render myself ridiculous by attempting to describe that
which is indescribable.... Individuals occupied the intervals
between the dances by narrating their own former valorous exploits,
not even omitting that their victims were in some instances Kiowas,
concluding by throwing their war implements upon the ground with
such force, in case of tomahawk or hatchet, as to cause the metal
to ring. Then, with gesture of covering it up, they would go away,
leaving it to lie there; thus intimating that, though they had been
foolish and fought, they now rejoiced in the beams of peace and
hoped that the red men everywhere might live in peace one with
another; all of which was received by the Kiowas with the loud
response of "How! how! Yes! yes!" (_Battey, 20_).

SUMMER 1872

This summer there was no sun dance, and in consequence the medicine lodge does not appear on either calendar.

For this summer the Anko calendar has two connected human figures, together with what he explains as a "mule's head" above the medicine pole. Between the forks of the pole is another human head, where he commenced to draw the first figure, but found that he had no room. The joined human figures refer to a drunken fight between Sun-boy and T'ené-zépte, "Bird-bow" (?), growing out of some whisky smuggled in by Mexicans, in which Sun-boy shot his antagonist with an arrow. The mule's head indicates a raid into Kansas, in which the Kiowa captured a large number of mules. This may have been the same raid in which Bíako was shot.

The Set-t'an calendar has a picture of a man wounded in the chest, with a tree above his head to show that the event occurred in summer. This has reference to a skirmish with the whites in which a Mexican captive named Bíako (Viejo) was shot, but afterward recovered. He was one of those selected for confinement in Florida a few years later, and is still living and with the tribe. The fight took place in the course of a raid into Kansas by a small party of Kiowa under T'ené-'taide, "Bird-chief," which was undertaken against the protests of the other chiefs, who desired to be at peace with the Americans. Near Medicine-lodge creek, not far from the Kansas line, they were joined by some of the Osage, and soon afterward met a party of white men in wagons, whom they thought were surveyors; a skirmish ensued, resulting in the wounding of the captive and one of the Osage.

WINTER 1872-73

_Téguăgo Tsän-de Sai_, "Winter that the Pueblos came." In this winter, while most of the Kiowa were encamped on the Washita near Rainy mountain, a party of Pueblo Indians and Mexicans visited them to trade _biscocho_, or Pueblo bread, and eagle feathers for horses and buffalo robes. The Kiowa were very fond of this bread and willingly gave a pony for a small bag of it. The figure on the Set-t'an calendar represents a Pueblo Indian, with his hair tied in a bunch behind, driving before him a burro (donkey) with a pack upon his back. The Kiowa say that the Pawnee visited them late in the fall, while the Pueblo party came in the winter, stopping south of Stumbling-bear's present camp. From an early period the Pueblo Indians of the Rio Grande had carried on a trade with the southern plains tribes, with which they appear to have been always on friendly terms. This was the next to their final visit.

The Anko calendar records the accidental burning of a noted heraldic tipi, hereditary in the family of the great Dohásän. It was known as the _Dó-gíägyä gúăt_, "Tipi with battle pictures," being ornamented with battle pictures on the northern side and horizontal stripes of black and yellow alternating on the southern side; it occupied the second place from the entrance in the camp circle on ceremonial occasions. A small facsimile model has been deposited by the author in the National Museum. Plate LXXIX shows the appearance of the buckskin model when open and spread out.

The Kiowa, like the plains tribes generally, had an elaborate system of heraldry, exemplified in the painting and decoration of their shields and tipis. Every prominent family had its heraldic tipi, which had its appointed place in the great camp circle of the tribe and descended by inheritance from generation to generation. The system may form the subject of a future study by the author.

SUMMER 1873

_Iyúgúa P'a K`ádó_, "Maggot-creek sun dance," so called because held on that stream, known to the whites as Sweetwater creek, a tributary of the North fork of Red river, near the western line of the reservation, just within the Texas panhandle. The dance was made by Dóhéñte, "No-moccasins," the successor of Anso te; it occurred in June and was attended by Battey, who describes it in detail in his book. There were present most of the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache, with a large part of the Cheyenne and Arapaho, who discussed the question of starting another war in consequence of the continued imprisonment of Set-t'aiñte and Big-tree. Although Battey himself had come to bring them the news of the further detention of these chiefs on account of the Modok war, he was able, with the help of Kicking-bird, to dissuade the Indians from their hostile intent.

While the dance was in progress Pa-kóñkya ("Black-buffalo") "stole" the wife of Guibadái, "Appearing-wolf," in retaliation for which the injured husband killed seven of Pa-kóñkya's horses and took a number of others, in accordance with the tribal custom; he threatened also to kill the seducer, so that the _Toñkóñko_ Dog-soldiers had to interfere. The killing of the horses or the seizure of the property of the offender by the injured husband is the regular tribal punishment for such offenses, but in extreme cases, as in this instance, the Dog-soldiers interfere. The same event is recorded on both calendars, the Set-t'an picture being sufficiently suggestive, while the Anko calendar has above the medicine pole the figure of a horse's head struck by a bullet, with another head below it to represent the woman.

WINTER 1873-74

_Set-t'aiñte Tsän-de Sai_, "Winter of Set-t'aiñte's return." The notable event of this season was the return of Set-t'aiñte from prison October 8, 1873. The figure above the winter mark on the Set-t'an calendar shows Set-t'aiñte, distinguished by his red headdress, coming into his tipi, which was conspicuous by being painted entirely red, with red streamers at the ends of the poles. The red marks above the tipi are intended to represent his return footprints. The event is noted at length in another place.

The Anko calendar commemorates the killing in Mexico of two "sons" (i. e., a son and a nephew) of Lone-wolf, rudely indicated below the winter mark by a human figure wearing a _k`ódalpä_ or shell breastplate, with several flying bullets at the side.

Battey, who was in the Kiowa camp when the news arrived, has this entry in his diary under date of January 13, 1874:

This is a day of wailing in our camp. News arrived this morning of
the death of two Kiowa braves, the one a son of Lone-wolf, the
other of Red-otter [_Ápeñ-gúădal_] Lone-wolf's brother. They were
killed while on a raid in Mexico. Lone-wolf's son was wounded in
the knee a year ago last summer while raiding in Texas, and came
near losing his life. This, it seems, did not satisfy his thirst
for blood, and the Kiowa determining to raid no more in Texas, he,
the past autumn, went into Mexico, where it appears he has been
killed. The camp resounded with the death wail, the song of
mourning for the unreturning braves mingled with the war whoop.
This was revived at stated intervals for several days (_Battey,
21_).

According to information given by the Indians to Battey, Lone-wolf's son, with a few other young Kiowa warriors, had accompanied a raiding party of Comanche into Mexico. On their return they were attacked at a night camp by Mexican troops and the two Kiowa were killed. The remaining Kiowa at once returned home with the news, but the Comanche crossed the Rio Grande into Texas and began a series of raids on Nueces river, when they were attacked by soldiers and several killed. The rest started for home, but meeting another party of Comanche, they turned back with them and were again attacked by the troops, losing, in both encounters, twenty-two killed. A desire to avenge these losses had much to do with the ferment among them which led to the outbreak in the following summer; they also tried to make it appear that the Kiowa had been raiding in Texas when killed, in order to involve that tribe with themselves, although it seems beyond question that the Kiowa were killed in Mexico and had not been engaged in the Texas raids.

Lone-wolf went to Mexico to bury the body of his son, the sun dance having been postponed in the meantime, and it is said that on finding it he knelt down beside it and vowed to avenge his death with the life of a white man. A lot of government horses were soon afterward stolen from Fort Concho (or Clark?), in Texas, and it was charged that this was done by Lone-wolf and his party on their return, although they denied it. The killing of his son was the chief reason assigned by Lone-wolf for his part in the outbreak which followed (_Battey, 22_; _Report, 91_).

SUMMER 1874

_Tsó`kakánă-de K`ádó_, "Sun dance at the end of the bluff." The dance was held at a place called _Tsó`kakán_, "end of the bluff," on the south side of the North fork of Red river, above the junction of Elm fork, at a mountain called by the Kiowa the "Last mountain," in Greer county, Oklahoma. On the Anko calendar the bluff is indicated by a projection from one side of the medicine pole.

At this dance Set-t'aiñte, in thanksgiving for his release from prison, gave his famous _zébat_, or medicine arrow-lance, to Ä´`to-t'aiñ, "White-cowbird," brother of the chief Sun-boy, thus resigning his own chieftainship in favor Ä´`to-t'aiñ. There were only two lances of this kind in the tribe, both being regarded as medicine lances, the other belonging to Tän-gúădal (see winter 1868-69).

WINTER 1874-75

_Gí-edal Ehótal-de Sai_, "Winter that Big-meat was killed." The southern plains tribes, including a large part of the Kiowa, went out together on the warpath. After the fight at the Wichita agency, at Anadarko, in August, 1874, as previously detailed, the Comanche warriors who were implicated fled to the Staked plain, and the Kiowa to the head of Red river, with the troops in pursuit. While there a small party of the Kiowa went on a horse-stealing raid into New Mexico, resulting in an encounter, in which they killed two men, captured a woman, and ran off several horses. On their return they stopped to rest in the mountains, and were stretched at ease telling stories when they were suddenly attacked by the soldiers. Gi-edal was mortally wounded at the first fire, but propped himself against a rock and succeeded in killing one soldier and wounding another before he died. Another Kiowa was killed also, but the troops were finally repulsed. The Set-t'an calendar shows Gi-edal, who is distinguished by buffalo horns on his war-bonnet, wounded, with the blood gushing from his mouth.

At the close of the outbreak, a number of warriors were selected and sent to confinement at Fort Marion, Florida. The figure on the Anko calendar is intended to represent Fort Sill, with the imprisoned Kiowa warriors confined before being sent to Florida.

SUMMER 1875

_K`ioñ-Toñ K`ádó_, "Love-making spring sun dance." It was held at a spring in a bend on the north (reservation) bank of North fork of Red river, a few miles from _K`ób-akán_, "Last mountain" (Mount Walsh, in Greer county). As conditions were yet unsettled on account of the outbreak, the Kiowa were escorted on this occasion by a body of troops.

The spring takes its name from the fact that on one occasion, while the Kiowa were encamped there, some young men "stole" two girls who had gone to the spring for water. On the Anko calendar the place is identified by a figure of a woman above the medicine pole.

WINTER 1875-76

In this instance the same event is recorded on both calendars by means of the figure of a ram or goat in connection with the winter mark.

In the various engagements during the last campaign and at the final surrender, several thousand ponies and mules had been taken from the Indians. These were sold under direction of Colonel Mackenzie, who determined to invest the proceeds in sheep and cattle for the benefit of the Indians, with the idea of changing their habits from hunting to pastoral. A detachment of troops, accompanied by several Kiowa and Comanche, was sent to New Mexico, where they purchased thirty-five hundred sheep and goats, with which they returned in November, 1875, the flock being driven by Mexican herders. Many died on the journey, and the remainder arrived in poor condition, but recuperated in the spring, when they were distributed to those Indians deemed most deserving. Stumbling-bear received one hundred, and others smaller flocks. Six hundred cattle were also purchased from the same fund and distributed in the same manner (_Report, 92_).

Just previous to the outbreak the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache, with the few of the Delaware tribe living among them, were officially reported to have over sixteen thousand horses and mules. At the close of the troubles they had only six thousand remaining, having lost ten thousand within a little more than a year. They had also a small number of cattle before the outbreak, but no sheep (_Report, 93_).

This was the first general attempt by the Kiowa to raise stock (except horses). Although at the start the experiment promised well, the herds were soon reduced by neglect, killing for food, etc., and in a few years the last animal was gone. It is said that some of the sheep escaped to the Wichita mountains, where for several years they roamed wild.

SUMMER 1876

_Iyúgúa P'a Pähä´dal K'ádó_, Sun dance at the fork of Maggot (Sweetwater) creek, or _Paí-tälyí-de Tseñko Edásémk`opa-de K`ádó_, "Sun dance when Sun-boy's horses were stolen." This dance was held at the junction of Sweetwater creek and the North fork of Red river, on the western line of the reservation. While it was in progress some Mexicans stole all of Sun-boy's horses. After the dance the Kiowa pursued the thieves, but their horses gave oat, and they failed to recover the stolen animals. On both calendars the event is indicated by means of figures representing horse tracks near the medicine lodge.

Dó-héñte, "No-moccasins" ("Tohaint" of Battey) had died in the preceding fall and had been succeeded as _taíme_ priest by Set-dayá-iti, "Many-bears," who made this dance. He was the uncle of Set-dayiá-iti, who was killed by the Ute, and the cousin ("brother") of Taímete, who afterward had charge of the _taíme_.

WINTER 1876-77

This winter is distinguished on the Set-t'an calendar by the killing of the woman A`gábaí, "On-top-of-the-hill," by her husband Íăpa, "Baby," in the Kiowa camp, which at that time was a short distance below Fort Sill. The figure shows the woman above the winter mark, with a character intended for a cliff beside a river (the wavy line) to indicate her name. Although the killing occurred in summer, it was some time after the sun dance, and hence is marked as happening in winter. The woman was sick and promised Íăpa, who was considered a doctor and was then unmarried, that if he would make her well she would marry him; he succeeded in curing her and she married him, but soon after left him, and for this he stabbed her.

The incident is thus noted by Agent Haworth in his official report:

A young man in a mad fit killed his wife. On hearing of it, I
called a council of Kiowa chiefs and asked them to take some action
about it. I explained to them the penalties the white man's law
inflicted for such terrible crimes. After a short consultation they
decided they would do with him whatever I said--kill him, if I said
so. They said, however, that he was young and foolish and did not
know the white man's laws or road, but they would arrest him as
soon as he could be found and bring him to me, and I could do with
him as I desired. Two of their number, Dangerous-eagle and
Big-tree, about nine oclock the same evening brought him to my
house, having made the arrest themselves. I sent them on with him
to the guard-house, where he was confined for several months, most
of the time with ball and chain, working around the garrison in
full view of his people. After his arrest they made the request
that, in consideration of his ignorance of the white man's laws,
his life be spared. I told them he would not be hurt, but the
arrest was made without any promises of mercy being exacted or
made, no soldiers being required, and done simply on my suggestion
or request (_Report, 94_).

Anko's calendar commemorates the fact that he, with about twenty other Kiowa braves, enlisted as scouts this year at Fort Sill, remaining in the service two or three years. The figure below the winter mark shows a man holding a gun and wearing a peculiar variety of hat then used by the scouts. The first Kiowa scouts were enlisted at the time of the surrender in 1875.

SUMMER 1877

_Dä´-mä´tánä´ P'a K`ádó_, "Star-girl-tree river sun dance," or _Á`gat-hódal K`ádó_, "Measles sun dance." This dance took place within the present Greer county, Oklahoma, on Salt fork of Red river, called by the Kiowa the "Star-girl-tree river," from a noted tree which originated from a sapling used in a medicine sacrifice to the "Star girls" or Pleiades. On this occasion the troops accompanied the Kiowa on their buffalo hunt and afterward escorted them to the place selected for the dance.

This summer is noted for an epidemic of measles, which is said to have killed more children in the tribe than the measles epidemic of 1892. It is represented on both calendars by a human figure covered with red spots, above the medicine lodge. Strangely enough there is no notice of this epidemic in the report of the agent for this year, which may perhaps be accounted for by the fact that he was himself prostrated by sickness which occasioned his retirement in the following spring. From the report of the agent for the Cheyenne and Arapaho, however, we learn that the epidemic broke out among the latter tribes in April, and in spite of the best efforts of the physician, killed two hundred and nineteen children, so that almost every family was in mourning. In happy contrast to the more recent experience of the Kiowa, the government school was temporarily turned into a hospital, with the teachers for nurses, so that although seventy-four children were sick at the same time, not one died (_Report, 95_).

WINTER 1877-78

_K`op-taíde-do-tsédal-de Sai_, "Signal-mountain winter." During this winter a part of the tribe camped near Mount Scott, while the remainder camped west of Fort Sill, at the foot of Signal mountain, called by the Kiowa "the mountain with a house built upon it," referring to a stone lookout station built during the last Indian outbreak. The figure on the Set-t´an calendar is sufficiently suggestive of a house upon a mountain.

Anko records the fact that he hunted buffalo this winter on Elk creek (on upper Red river), called by the Kiowa _Dónä´-i P'a_, "Pecan river." The rounded figure below the winter mark is intended to represent a pecan nut.

This winter is noted for an epidemic of fever, which is mentioned in the report for 1878. In the fall of 1877, under Agent Haworth, as an inducement to the Indians to abandon their roaming habit, the government built houses for ten prominent chiefs of the three tribes, including Stumbling-bear, Gaápiatañ (Heidsick), Guñsádalte (Cat), and Sun-boy, of the Kiowa, and White-man and Taha, of the Apache. These were the first Indian houses ever built upon the reservation, excepting two erected by the military. At first the new owners continued to live in the tipis, which they preferred from long usage, but by the further gift of beds and chairs they were induced to go into the houses. An attempt to get the Indians to cut the logs and do a part of the work themselves under instruction seems to have been a failure. The houses were reasonably good frame structures of three rooms, having doors, glass windows, and substantial double fireplaces and chimneys of stone; they cost $600 each (_Report, 96_). In 1886 there were nine Kiowa families living in houses (_Report, 97_), but a few years later most of these dwellings were vacant or occupied by white renters, the Indian owners being again in the tipis.

SUMMER 1878

_Adăldä K`ádó_, "Repeated sun dance." This is the second recorded instance of this kind, the first having occurred in 1842. On the Set-t´an calendar it is indicated by the figure of two adjoining medicine lodges, and in the Anko calendar by a double-forked medicine pole. The two dances were held on the North fork of Red river. Part of the Kiowa had gone to the plains on the western part of the reservation to hunt buffalo, while the others remained at home. Each party, unknown to the other, promised to make a sun dance, in consequence of which one dance was held at the regular period, after which the leaves were renewed and another dance was held for another four days. On this occasion also the buffalo hunters, who made one sun dance, were escorted by a detachment of troops as a protection and as a precaution against their committing depredations (_Report, 98_).

WINTER 1878-79

The event noted for this winter on both calendars is the killing of Ä´to-t'aíñ, "White-cowbird," the man to whom Set-t'aiñte had given his medicine lance five years before, thus resigning his chieftanship to him (see summer 1874). On the Set-t'an calendar it is indicated by a human figure painted red and with the red headdress, both characteristic of Set-t'aiñte, above the winter mark, and with the medicine lance or _zébat_ in front. On the Anko calendar it is indicated by the figure of the arrow-lance below the winter mark. By a curious coincidence Set-t'aiñte himself committed suicide in a Texas prison about the same time.

Ä´to-t'aíñ was the brother of the chief Sun-boy, and on account of his relationship and the dignity conferred upon him by Set-t'aiñte, if not for his personal merits, was a prominent man in the tribe. On account of having this lance he was also known as Zébä-dó-k`ía, "Man-who-has-the-arrows," i. e., "Arrowman." He was killed by Texans while with a party who had gone, by permission of the agent and accompanied by an escort of troops, to hunt buffalo on upper Red river in what is now Greer county, Oklahoma; the Texans shot him through the body and both arms, scalped him, and cut off a finger upon which was a ring. The hunt occurred in the winter season, but the buffalo were now so nearly exterminated that it was practically a failure and the Indians suffered much in consequence. The killing with its sequel is thus noted in the official report:

Captain Nolan, commanding the company of troops who were escorting
the Indians while on the hunt, had, in view of the scarcity of
buffalo, allowed parties, each accompanied by a squad of soldiers,
to go off from the main camp to points where it was said straggling
droves of buffalo could be found. While a Kiowa man was one day a
short distance from the camp of one of these parties and alone he
was run onto by a company of Texas state troops, shot down, killed,
and scalped. A few moments after this grand military feat was
performed the little Indian camp was discovered, and they were just
in the act of covering themselves with additional glory by charging
it and butchering the squaws and pappooses when the squad of
colored troops presented themselves, mounted on the bare backs of
their horses, having had no time to saddle them, and the warlike
band disappeared. Upon the return of the Indians to the agency a
request was made that the Texans who murdered the Kiowa should be
arrested and punished by the authorities, expressing at the same
time no intention of avenging his death themselves. It seems that
after waiting some time and concluding that nothing could or would
be done by the authorities, a party of young Kiowas, headed by the
brother of the murdered man, quietly left their different camps,
dashed hurriedly across the line into Texas, killed and scalped a
white man they met in the road, and returned as secretly to their
camps, apparently feeling that they had avenged the death of their
brother and friend by this taking of one scalp.

A party of troops was sent after this avenging party immediately on learning of this last killing, but so quietly had they proceeded that no trace of them could be found or any definite information procured on which to base measures for their punishment. The white man killed was named Earle, and the agent expresses his belief that if proper satisfaction had been made in the first place by punishing the murderers of the Kiowa or making presents to his family according to the Indian custom, the avenging party would not have entered Texas on their deadly mission (_Report, 99_).

SUMMER 1879

_Tséñ-píä K`ádó_, "Horse-eating sun dance." It is indicated on the Set-t'an calendar by the figure of a horse's head above the medicine lodge. This dance was held on Elm fork of Red river, and was so called because the buffalo had now become so scarce that the Kiowa, who had gone on their regular hunt the preceding winter, had found so few that they were obliged to kill and eat their ponies during the summer to save themselves from starving. This may be recorded as the date of the disappearance of the buffalo from the Kiowa country. Thenceforth the appearance of even a single animal was a rare event. The official report says:

In the month of June last a portion of each band was permitted to
go to the western part of the reservation to subsist themselves
awhile on buffalo, deer, etc, as the supplies for the year had been
so nearly expended it was not seen how they could all be fed until
those for the next year were received. But again they failed to
find game sufficient to feed themselves, and the Kiowa, who while
out were engaged in their annual medicine dance, suffered some with
hunger. I think their failures in finding buffalo the past year,
and their consequent suffering while out, will have a good effect
in causing them to abandon their idea of subsisting in this way and
to look to their crops and stock for a support. It is a fact worthy
of note that the reports of the agents show the value of the robes
and furs sold by the Indians now belonging to the Kiowa, Comanche,
and Wichita agency for the year 1876 amounted to $70,400; for 1877,
$64,500; for 1878, $26,375; while in 1879 only $5,068 was received,
showing that buffalo hunting is not a thing of profit as it once
was; and, besides, the most serious drawback to the Indians is the
lack of the buffalo meat which at one time helped to subsist them,
and which, added to the insufficient rations furnished by the
government, kept them partly comfortable. As that supply is cut
off, the Indian must go to work and help himself or remain hungry
on the rations furnished (_Report, 100_).

The Anko calendar records the fact that while the Kiowa were driving away their issue of beef cattle some mischievous boys, shooting at the cattle with their arrows, accidentally shot another boy in the shoulder, but not fatally. In giving this explanation it was evident that Anko did not want to mention the boy's name, probably because he was now dead.

WINTER 1879-80

_Tä´kágyä Sai_, "Eye-triumph winter." The name and story furnish a curious illustration of Indian belief. Káäsä´nte, "Little-robe" (or Little-hide), with two or three others, had gone to the North fork of Red river to look for antelope. According to another story they went to look for their old enemies, the Navaho, who, it seems, although now removed to their former reservation in western New Mexico, still occasionally penetrated thus far. Among them was a man named Pódodal (a variety of bird), who claimed to understand the language of owls, a bird believed by the Kiowa to be an embodied spirit. While resting one night in camp this man warned Little-robe not to go to bed, but to round up the ponies and keep watch over them, for an owl had told him that the Navaho would try to steal them that night. During the night Pódodal fired at something in the darkness, and on looking in the morning they found the trail of a man, and blood drops, which they followed for a long distance, but at last gave up the pursuit. That night the owl again came and told Pódodal that the wounded Navaho was lying dead beyond the point where they had turned back, and that he (the owl) would go and fetch him.

On rising in the morning Pódodal saw some strange-looking object lying on the ground in the lodge, and on examining it it proved to be the eye of a dead Navaho. On the advice of Pódodal they then abandoned the hunt and returned to the Kiowa camp, on a small branch of Apache creek (_Sémät P'a_), an upper branch of Cache creek. They carried with them the eye, hung at the end of a pole after the manner of a scalp, and danced over it as over a scalp on arriving at the camp on the small stream, since called _Tä´-kágyä P'a_, "Eye-triumph creek" from this circumstance.

It should be added that there were some skeptics who laughed at the whole story and declared that the eye was that of an antelope which Pódodal had secretly shot.

On the Set-t'an calendar the event is indicated by a figure intended to represent a scalp at the end of a pole, carried by a man wearing a striped robe to indicate his name, Little-robe. On the Anko calendar there is a representation of a scalp on a pole under the winter mark.

SUMMER 188O

This summer there was no sun dance, perhaps on account of failure to find buffalo, and instead of the medicine lodge the summer is indicated on the Set-t'an calendar by the figure of a leafy tree above a square figure, which is explained as meaning that the author of the calendar stayed at home, the lines being intended to show a space inclosed in a fence after the manner of a white man's farm. A similar device is several times used for the same purpose in later years. Under date of September 1, 1881--a year later--the agent says:

Last year I was encouraged in the belief that the Indians under my
charge were rather disposed to lay aside these ideas and
ceremonies, from the fact that very little was heard of their
medicine men during the year, and the Kiowas failed to hold their
annual "medicine dance." The latter part of this year, however,
from some cause, their medicine men have been unusually active, as
I learn has been the case at other agencies, and the Kiowas have
recently returned from the western part of their reservation, where
they held their annual dance (_Report, 101_).

The Anko calendar records the death of a chief named Päbóte, "American-horse." He was a man of unusual height and size, hence his name, which signifies literally an animal taller than the average. He was buried in a coffin by the whites at the agency nearly opposite Fred's store. On the calendar the square figure below the picture of the man, and connected with it by a line, is intended to represent the coffin.

On first explaining the calendar, in 1892, Anko evaded the mention of this man's name, in accordance with the Kiowa custom which forbids naming the dead, but three years later consented to do so. The same objection was frequently encountered, but finally overcome in regard to other names on the calendars.

WINTER 188O-81

For this winter the Set-t'an calendar has a house over the winter mark, but he could not remember whose house it was intended to represent. In Captain Scott's notes it is said to be Paul Set-k'opte's new house, but Set-k'opte did not return from the east until 1882. It is probably intended to represent a new house built for another, Paul Zoñtam, who returned from the east in 1881 as an ordained Episcopal minister.

The Anko calendar records the visit of a large party of Pueblo Indians from New Mexico, indicated by a human figure below the winter mark with the hair bunched up in Pueblo fashion. There were about a hundred of them and they stopped at various camps of the Kiowa and Apache, remaining some time. This was the last time the Pueblos ever visited these tribes. In the following fall Big-bow returned their visit.

SUMMER 1881

_K`ádó Sä' lä´ti_, "Hot-sun dance," or _Dóguătal Sáomhäpä-de K adó_ "Sun dance when blood came up from the young man." It was called the "hot sun dance" from the fact that it was held late in August, instead of in June as usual, the delay being due probably to the difficulty of finding a buffalo for the purpose; after a long search a solitary bull was found. The dance was held on North fork of Red river, a short distance beyond the end of the mountains.

The close upright lines between the forks of the medicine pole on the Anko calendar he explains to indicate the heat, probably from the Indian gesture sign for fire, made by holding the hand with thumb and fingers together pointing upward, and separating them with a quick motion, the concept being the upward motion of the sparks and smoke.

The suggestive figure on the Set-t'an calendar records an incident which gives another name to this sun dance, a young man, the adopted son of Poor-buffalo, having been attacked by hemorrhage. He was called Măsá`te, "Six," from the fact that he had six toes on each foot; his brother, Bóhé, still living, is said to have six fingers on each hand, Such instances of malformation are at least as rare among Indians as among whites.

WINTER 1881-82

_Ĭmdádóá-de Saiá_, "Winter when they played the _dó-á_ medicine game." This winter is noted for a great _dó-á_ game played under the auspices of two rival leaders, each of whom claimed to have the most powerful "medicine" for the game. The game was played in the winter camp on the Washita, near the mouth of Hog creek, the Kiowa leader being Pa-tepte, "Buffalo-bull-coming-out," alias Dátekâñ, now dead (see summer 1882), while his opponent was the Apache chief and medicine-man Dävéko. The Kiowa leader was recognized distinctively as having "medicine" for this game, and it was said that he could do wonderful things with the "button," making it pass invisibly from one hand to another while he held his hands outstretched and far apart, and even to throw it up into the air and cause it to remain there suspended invisibly until he was ready to put out his hand again and catch it; in other words, he was probably an expert sleight-of-hand performer. His Apache rival, Dävéko, is known as a medicine-man as well as a chief, and is held in considerable dread, as it is believed that he can kill by shooting invisible darts from a distance into the body of an enemy. On this occasion he had boasted that his medicine was superior for the _dó-á_ game, which did not prove to be the case, however, and as the Kiowa medicine-man won the victory for his party, large stakes were wagered on the result and were won by the Kiowa. It is said that this was a part of Pa-tepte's effort to revive the old customs and amusements on a large scale. The game was witnessed by a large concourse, all dressed and painted for the occasion. The picture on the Set-t'an calendar is very suggestive.

The name _dó-á_ signifies the "tipi game," from _do_, tipi or house, and _a_, a game, because, unlike most of their games, it is played inside the tipi, being essentially a game for the long nights when the whole tribe is assembled in the winter camp. A similar game is found among nearly all our wild tribes; it is played by both sexes, but never together. In its general features it resembles our game of "hunt the button," the players forming a circle around the fire in the tipi, one-half of them playing against the others, sitting facing them on the opposite side of the fire. The leader of one party then takes the _k`íäbo_ or button, a short piece of stick wrapped around the middle with a strip of fur and small enough to be concealed in the hand. Putting his closed hands together, he raises his arms above his head, clasps them across his chest or puts them behind his back, endeavoring to pass the _k`íäbo_ from one hand to another, or from his own hand to that of his next partner, without being perceived by any of the opposite party, all the while keeping time to the movements of his hands with one of the peculiar _dó-á_ songs, in which the members of his party join.