Chapter VII: Part 7

According to the Kiowa story, a war party led by Tóñp'ódal-kyä`tó, "Lame-old-man," met a small train in charge of a few Americans close to South Canadian river (_Gúădal P'a_, "Red river"), a short distance below the entrance of a southern creek, which they call _T'ä´ñpeä´ P'a_, "Skunkberry-bush river," about opposite the present town of Lathrop, in the panhandle of Texas. They call Americans _Hâñpóko_, "Trappers," for the reason that the first Americans known to the tribe were trappers. Texans are considered as of a different nation, and are distinguished as _Tehä´neko_ from the Spanish _Tejano_. In this instance the Americans were traveling eastward, and as the place was remote from any regular trail the Indians were at a loss to know why the whites were there. The Kiowa attacked the train, killed several of the party, and captured the money, with the loss to themselves of but one man, Gúi-kóñgya. They found a few coins upon the ground, but this being the first money they had ever seen, they did not know its proper use, and so beat the coins into disks to be fastened to straps worn attached to the scalp lock, and hanging down behind (hence the name for money, _â´dal-hâñ´gya_, literally "hair metal"). After leaving the place they met some Comanche, who already knew the use of money, and on hearing the story told them the value of the silver pieces, upon which the Kiowa returned and searched until they succeeded in finding a large quantity. From this it appears that whatever trade the Kiowa had previously carried on with the Spanish settlements had been by barter in kind, as was usual along the Indian frontier in the early days. This was some time before the beginning of regular intercourse with Americans.

Gregg, the author of a most valuable account of the early Santa Fé trade, passed over the same ground a few years later and gives full details of the affair with its tragic sequel. His description of the location agrees with the Indian statement, and his account explains also how the whites happened to be traveling in such an unfrequented place. The Kiowa statement was obtained without any reference to Gregg.

It was somewhere in this vicinity that a small party of Americans
experienced a terrible calamity in the winter of 1832-3 on their
way home, and as the incident had the tendency to call into play
the most prominent features of the Indian character, I will digress
so far here as to relate the facts.

The party consisted of twelve men, chiefly citizens of Missouri.
Their baggage and about ten thousand dollars in specie was packed
upon mules. They took the route of the Canadian river, fearing to
venture on the northern prairies at that season of the year. Having
left Santa Fé in December, they had proceeded without accident thus
far, when a large body of Comanches and Kiowas were seen advancing
towards them. Being well acquainted with the treacherous and
pusillanimous disposition of these races, the traders prepared at
once for defence; but the savages, having made a halt at some
distance, began to approach, one by one or in small parties, making
a great show of friendship all the while, until most of them had
collected on the spot. Finding themselves surrounded in every
direction, the travelers now began to move on in hopes of getting
rid of the intruders, but the latter were equally ready for the
start, and mounting their horses kept jogging on in the same
direction. The first act of hostility perpetrated by the Indians
proved fatal to one of the American traders named Pratt, who was
shot dead while attempting to secure two mules which had become
separated from the rest. Upon this the companions of the slain man
immediately dismounted and commenced a fire upon the Indians, which
was warmly returned, whereby another man of the name of Mitchell
was killed. By this time the traders had taken off their packs and
piled them around for protection, and now falling to work with
their hands they very soon scratched out a trench deep enough to
protect them from the shot of the enemy. The latter made several
desperate charges, but they seemed too careful of their own
personal safety, notwithstanding the enormous superiority of their
numbers, to venture too near the rifles of the Americans. In a few
hours all the animals of the traders were either killed or wounded,
but no personal damage was done to the remaining ten men, with the
exception of a wound in the thigh received by one, which was not at
the time considered dangerous.

During the siege the Americans were in great danger of perishing
from thirst, as the Indians had complete command of all the water
within reach. Starvation was not so much to be dreaded, because in
case of necessity they could live on the flesh of their slain
animals, some of which lay stretched close around them. After being
pent up for thirty-six hours in this horrible hole, during which
time they had seldom, ventured to raise their heads above the
surface without being shot at, they resolved to make a bold sortie
in the night, as any death was preferable to the death which
awaited them there. As there was not an animal left that was at all
in a condition, to travel, the proprietors of the money gave
permission to all to take and appropriate to themselves whatever
amount each man could safely undertake to carry. In this way a few
hundred dollars were started with, of which, however, but little
ever reached the United States. The remainder was buried deep in
the sand, in hopes that it might escape the cupidity of the
savages, but to very little purpose, for they were afterward seen
by some Mexican traders making a great display of specie, which was
without doubt taken from this unfortunate cache.

With every prospect of being discovered, overtaken, and butchered,
but resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible, they at
last emerged from their hiding place and moved on silently and
slowly until they found themselves beyond the purlieus of the
Indian camps. Often did they look back in the direction where from
three to five hundred savages were supposed to watch their
movements, but much to their astonishment no one appeared to be in
pursuit. The Indians, believing, no doubt, that the property of the
traders would come into their hands, and having no amateur
predilection for taking scalps at the risk of losing their own,
appeared willing enough to let the spoliated adventurers depart
without further molestation.

The destitute travelers having run themselves short of provisions,
and being no longer able to kill game for want of materials to load
their rifles with, they were very soon reduced to the necessity of
sustaining life upon the roots and the tender bark of trees. After
traveling for several days in this desperate condition, with
lacerated feet and utter prostration of mind and body, they began
to disagree among themselves about the route to be pursued, and
eventually separated into two distinct parties. Five of these
unhappy men steered a westward (_sic_) course, and after a
succession of sufferings and privations which almost surpassed
belief, they reached the settlements of the Creek Indians, near the
Arkansas river, where they were treated with great kindness and
hospitality. The other five wandered about in the greatest state of
distress and bewilderment, and only two finally succeeded in
getting out of the mazes of the wilderness. Among those who were
abandoned to their fate and left to perish thus miserably, was a Mr
Schenck, the same individual who had been shot in the thigh, a
gentleman of talent and excellent family connections, who was a
brother, as I am informed, of the Honorable Mr Schenck, at present
a member of congress from Ohio (_Gregg, 2_).

The Kiowa had undoubtedly attacked the traders, believing them to be their enemies the Texans, instead of Americans, as the place was outside of what were then the limits of the United States, and over a hundred miles from the trail usually traveled by the American traders to Santa Fé. This is apparent from Gregg's experience in 1839 in nearly the same place. While proceeding up the Canadian with an escort of dragoons they fell in with a large party of Comanche, and after a doubtful preliminary talk, in which the Comanche very pointedly refused to smoke the proffered pipe, the officer began to speak of the advantages of peace and friendship, and invited some of their headmen to visit the great chief at Washington and make a treaty.

But they would not then converse on the subject. In fact, the
interpreter inquired, "Are we not at war? How, then, can we go to
see the _Capitan Grande_?" We knew they believed themselves at war
with Mexico and Texas, and probably had mistaken us for Texans....
Upon this we explained to them that the United States was a
distinct government and at peace with the Comanche. On this
explanation the chiefs said they were glad to see Americans in
their country and hoped more of them would come (_Gregg, 3_).

SUMMER 1833

_Ĭmk`ódaltä-dé Pai_, "Summer that they cut off their heads." This picture commemorates one of the most vivid memories of the older men of the tribe--a wholesale massacre by the Osage, who cut off the heads of their victims and deposited them in buckets upon the scene of the slaughter. Set-t'an, the author of the calendar, was born in this summer. The picture of a severed head with bloody neck and a bloody knife underneath is sufficiently suggestive. The absence of the usual figure of the sun-dance lodge shows that no dance was held this summer, owing to the fact that the Osage captured the _taime_ medicine at the same time. The massacre occurred just west of a mountain called by the Kiowa _K`ódaltä K`op_, "Beheading mountain," on the headwaters of Otter creek, not 2 miles northwest from Saddle mountain and about 25 miles northwest from Fort Sill.

It was in early spring and the Kiowa were camped at the mouth of Rainy-mountain creek, a southern tributary of the Washita, within the present limits of the reservation; nearly all the warriors had gone against the Ute, so that few, excepting women, children, and old men, were at home. One morning some young men going out to look for horses discovered signs of Osage and immediately gave the alarm. According to one story, they found a buffalo with an Osage arrow sticking in it; according to T'ébodal and other old men, they came upon the Osage themselves and exchanged shots, wounding an Osage, but with the loss of one of their own men killed. On the alarm being given, the Kiowa at once broke camp in a panic and fled in four parties in different directions--one party toward the west, another toward the east, and two other bands, among whom was T'ébodal, then a boy, went directly south toward the Comanche. Three of these escaped, but the fourth, under A`dáte, "Island-man," thinking the pursuit was over, stopped on a small tributary of Otter creek, just west of the mountain.

Early in the morning, almost before it was yet light, a young man (whose grandson was present during T'ébodal's narration) went to look for his ponies, when he saw the Osage creeping up on foot. He hastily ran back with the news, but all the camp was still sleeping, except the wife A`dáte, who was outside preparing to scrape a hide. Entering the tipi, he roused the chief, who ran out shouting to his people, "_Tsó bätsó! Tsó bätsó!_"--To the rocks! To the rocks! Thus rudely awakened, the Kiowa sprang up and fled to the mountain, the mothers seizing their children and the old men hurrying as best they could, with their bloodthirsty enemies close behind. The chief himself was pursued and slightly wounded, but got away; his wife, Sémätmä, "Apache-woman," was taken, but soon afterward made her escape. One woman fled with a baby girl on her back and dragging a larger girl by the hand; an Osage pursuing caught the older girl and was drawing his knife across her throat when the mother rushed to her aid and succeeded in beating him off and rescued the child with only a slight gash upon her head. A boy named Äyä, "Sitting-on-a-tree" (?), was saved by his father in about the same way, and is still alive, an old man, to tell it. His father, it is said, seized and held him in his teeth, putting him down while shooting arrows to keep off the pursuers, and taking him up again to run. A party of women was saved by a brave Pawnee living in the camp, who succeeded in fighting off the pursuers long enough to enable the women to reach a place of safety.

The warriors-being absent, the Kiowa made no attempt at a stand; it was simply a surprise and flight of panic-stricken, women, children, and old men, in which everyone caught was butchered on the spot. Two children were taken prisoners, a brother and sister--about 10 and 12 years of age, respectively--of whom more hereafter. The Kiowa lost five men killed and a large number of women and children; none of the Osage were killed, as no fight was made. When the massacre was ended, the enemy cut the heads from all the dead bodies, without scalping them, and placed them in brass buckets, one head in each bucket, all over the camp ground, after which they set fire to the tipis and left the place. When the scattered Kiowa returned to look for their friends, they found the camp destroyed, the decapitated bodies lying where they had fallen, and the heads in the buckets as the Osage had left them. The buckets had been obtained by the Kiowa from the Pawnee, who procured them on the Missouri and traded them to the southern tribes. For allowing the camp to be thus surprised the chief, A`dáte, was deposed, and was superseded by Dohá, or Doháte, "Bluff," better known as Dohásän, who thenceforth ruled the tribe until his death, thirty-three years later.

Among the victims of the massacre was a Kiowa chief who had been present the previous winter at the attack on the American traders. His friends buried with him a quantity of silver dollars which had formed his share of the spoil on that occasion. An old woman, the last remaining person who knew the place of sepulture, died a few years ago.

In this affair the Osage also captured the _taíme_ medicine, already described, killing the wife of the _taíme_ keeper as she was trying to unfasten it from the tipi pole to which it was tied; her husband, Ansó te, escaped. In consequence of this loss, there was no sun dance for two years, when, peace having been made between the two tribes, as will be related farther on, the Kiowa visited the Osage camp, somewhere on the Cimarron or the Salt fork of the Arkansas, and recovered it, afterward giving a horse in return for it. Dohásän, who conducted the negotiations, asked the Osage about it and offered a pinto pony and several other ponies for it. The Osage said that they had it, and went home and brought it, but in token of their friendship refused to accept more than a single pony in return. On this occasion both _taíme_ images were captured, together with the case in which they were kept.

Two points in connection with this massacre deserve attention. First, the Osage war party was on foot; this, as the Kiowa state, was the general custom of the Osage and Pawnee, more especially the latter, who are sometimes called _Domáñk`íägo_, "Walkers," by the Kiowa, and was occasionally followed by other tribes, including also the Kiowa. Grinnell states that the Blackfeet always went to war on foot (_Grinnell, Blackfeet, 2_). There was an obvious advantage in the practice, as a foot party could more easily travel and approach a hostile camp without attracting observation, relying on themselves to procure horses to enable them to return mounted. T'ébodal, when a young man, was twice a member of a large Kiowa war party which went out on foot. The Kiowa say that the Pawnee in particular went afoot on war expeditions, and more recently when they visited other tribes for the purpose of a social dance, in the latter case always returning with large numbers of ponies given them by their entertainers (see summer 1851 and winter 1871-72). Gregg says that small war parties of the Pawnee were accustomed to rove on foot through every part of the plains, even to the Mexican frontier, but generally returning mounted on captured horses. When, on one occasion, his train was attacked upon the upper Canadian, he says:

It was evidently a foot party, which we looked upon as another
proof of their being Pawnees, for these famous marauders are well
known to go forth upon their expeditious of plunder without horses,
although they seldom fail to return well mounted (_Gregg, 4_).

Dunbar says that Pawnee runners have been known repeatedly to travel over 100 miles in twenty-four hours or less, going at a swinging trot, without stopping on the way for sleep or food (_Clark, 11_).

Secondly, it is to be noted that the Osage beheaded the Kiowa without scalping them. This, the Kiowa say, was a general Osage practice; in fact, according to the Kiowa, the Osage never scalped their enemies, but cut off the heads and left them unscalped upon the field. They kept tally of the number killed, however, and when an Osage warrior had killed four he painted a blue half circle, curving downward, upon his breast. So far as Kiowa knowledge goes, no other tribe of the plains practiced the custom of beheading, but all of them scalped their enemies. It seems certain, however, that the Dakota at an early period had the same custom, as they are called "Beheaders" in several Indian languages, while their name is indicated in the sign language by drawing the hand across the throat to signify the same thing. Clark says:

In former times the Sioux Indians, if they had time, cut off the
heads of their slain enemies and took them to their first camp
after the fight, where the entire scalp was taken off. To make it
particularly fine, they kept on the ears with the rings and
ornaments. In case a woman had lost some of her kin by death, and
her heart was, as they say, _bad_, she was at times allowed to go
with the war party, remaining in the camp established near the
point of attack. The head of a slain foe would be given to her, and
after removing the scalp she would make her heart _good_ by
smashing the skull with a war club (_Clark, 12_).

Among other tribes, as well as the Osage, especially in the north, the number of enemies slain or other brave deeds performed was sometimes indicated by the style of body paint or dress adornment. Among the Kiowa the number of transverse stripes upon a woman's legging indicates the scalps or _coups_ won by some warrior kinsman.

WINTER 1833-34

_D'ä´-p'é'gyä-de Sai_, "Winter that the stars fell." This winter takes its name from the memorable meteoric display which occurred shortly before daylight on the morning of November 13, 1833. It was observed throughout North America, and created great excitement among the plains tribes, as well as among a large part of our own population; the event is still used as a chronologic starting point by the old people of the various tribes. It is pictorially represented on most of the Dakota calendars discussed by Mallery in his valuable work on the Picture Writing of the American Indians. Set-t'an was born in the preceding summer, and the small figure of a child over the winter bar indicates that this is his first winter or year; the stars above his head represent the meteors.

The Kiowa say it occurred in the winter season, when they were camped on a small tributary of Elm fork of Red river, within the present Greer county, Oklahoma. The whole camp was asleep, when they were wakened by a sudden light; running out from the tipis, they found the night as bright as day, with myriads of meteors darting about in the sky. The parents aroused the children, saying, "Get up, get up, there is something awful (_zédălbe_) going on!" They had never before known such an occurrence, and regarded it as something ominous or dangerous, and sat watching it with dread and apprehension until daylight. Such phenomena are always looked upon as omens or warnings by the ignorant; in Mexico, according to Gregg, it was believed to be a sign of divine displeasure at a sacrilegious congress which had recently curtailed the privileges of the church, while in Missouri it was regarded by some as a protest from heaven against the persecution of the Mormons then gathered near Independence (_Gregg, 5_).

SUMMER 1834

The figure is intended to commemorate the return of the girl captured by the Osage in the massacre of the preceding summer. The tipi above the female figure, with which it is connected by a line, indicates her name, Gunpä´ñdamä, Medicine-tied-to-tipi-pole(-woman) (see the glossary, _Gunpä´ñdamä_). She was restored to her friends by a detachment of the First dragoons from Fort Gibson. Although this occurred in the summer, the season is not indicated by the usual figure of the medicine lodge, for the reason that, the _taíme_ being still in possession of the Osage, there was no sun dance held that year. It is omitted also in the picture for the preceding summer, the _taíme_ having been captured early in the spring.

As the return of this girl was the object of the first American expedition up Red river, and the beginning of our official and trading relations with the Comanche, Kiowa, Wichita, and affiliated tribes, it merits somewhat extended notice. The expedition and subsequent council are noted in the report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1834 (page 240), and are described at length in the journal of Lieutenant Wheelock (_Greer, 1_), and in the letters of the artist Catlin, who accompanied the party and painted the first pictures ever made of any of these tribes. The resulting treaties of 1835 and 1837 are noted in the Commissioner's reports for these years (_Report, 74_). The first Indian story of the occurrence is here given:

After the massacre at _K`ódaltä K`op_, already described, the Osage returned to their own country, where there was a soldier camp (i. e., Fort Gibson), bringing with them the Kiowa girl Gunpä´ñdamä (Medicine-tied-to-tipi-pole) and her brother, taken at the time of the massacre. The woman captured at the same time had escaped and made her way back to her people. At Fort Gibson the soldiers told the Osage that as they and other Kiowa were all alike Indians they should be friends. They then bought the two captive children from the Osage and proposed that some of the Osage should return with them (the soldiers) to the Kiowa country, there to give back the children to their friends and invite the Kiowa to come down to the fort and make a permanent treaty of peace and friendship between the two tribes. The Osage agreed, and accordingly a large party of soldiers, accompanied by a number of Osage, with the girl Gunpä´ñdamä, set out for the Kiowa country. The little boy had been killed by a sheep before starting. With them went also the famous trader, Colonel Auguste Chouteau, called "Soto" by the Kiowa, the first American trader known to the Kiowa, Wichita, and associated tribes. Up to this time the Kiowa had been at war with the Osage and had no knowledge of our government, and these dragoons were the first United States troops they had ever seen. The soldiers first met the Comanche, who told them that the Kiowa were near the Wichita village at the farther end of the mountains. When the troops arrived at the village, the Kiowa were afraid and kept at a distance until they saw the girl, which convinced them that the soldiers were their friends. The girl was given back to her people, and at the request of the soldiers a number of Kiowa, including the head chief, Doháte, returned with them and the Osage to the camp at Fort Gibson. They do not remember whether any of the Apache went. There the soldiers entertained the Kiowa with food, coffee, and sugar, and gave them blankets and other presents. A treaty of peace was made between the Kiowa and soldiers (i. e., Americans), and the Osage and other Kiowa were invited to trade with Chouteau, who promised to bring goods to their country. Since that time the two tribes have been friends. Hitherto the Kiowa had never had any traders in their country, but after this peace a regular trade was established. The first trader, whom they call Tóme or Tóme-te (Thomas?) came soon afterward and built a trading post on the west side of Cache creek, about 3 miles below the present Fort Sill; but he did not stay long.

Dohá, Doháte, or Dohásän (Bluff or Little-bluff), the head of the tribe at the time of this expedition, had superseded A`dáte, who had been deposed as a punishment for having allowed his people to be surprised and massacred by the Osage. In his youth Dóha had been, known, as Äanóñte. He was the fourth head chief of the tribe from the time of the treaty with the Comanche, the order of succession being Políăkya (Harelip), alias Kágiätsé (Thick-blanket); Tsóñbohón (Feather-cap), A`dáte, and Dohásän. He continued to be recognized as head chief until his death in 1866. The name is hereditary in the family, which is one of the most prominent in the tribe, and has been borne by this chief--distinguished as Old Dohásän--by his nephew, who died at an advanced age at Anadarko in the winter of 1893-94, and by his son. The older men state that the father of the great Dohásän was also called Dohá, and that his son, after assuming the same name, was known as Dohásän, (Little-bluff) for distinction. He is spoken of as Doháte as frequently as Dohásän.

According to one informant, at the time of the Osage massacre Chouteau had a trading post about a day's journey east of the present Fort Sill, and the Kiowa went to him and told him of their misfortune, whereupon he went to Fort Gibson and induced the soldiers to rescue the captives from the Osage and return them to their friends. This is perhaps a confusion of events. The trading post referred to was at Chouteau spring, on the east side of Chouteau creek which flows into the South Canadian from the east, about 5 miles northeast of the present town of Purcell, Indian Territory. It does not appear, however, to have been established until after, and as a result of, this expedition.

The expedition is described in detail by the artist Catlin, who accompanied it and was present at the council on its return. As the Comanche, Kiowa, and Wichita lived so remote from the frontiers, they had not yet been brought into official connection with the United States, and consequently had several times, as we have seen, come into collision with small parties of Americans on the borders of their country. The government had for some time been desirous of entering into treaty relations with them, more especially as the plan of colonizing the eastern tribes in the western country had been put into operation. As the Osage, who were already in treaty relations with the government, had several captives taken from the more western tribes, it was decided to purchase these prisoners and send them home under military escort as a token of the friendly intentions of the government, with an invitation to the chiefs of those tribes to come to the military post and make a treaty with the United States, the Osage, and the immigrant tribes.

Accordingly, the two Kiowa children and two Wichita children, captives, were purchased from the Osage and brought to Fort Gibson; unfortunately, the little Kiowa boy was killed near the post shortly after by a blow from a ram. An expedition of the First dragoons was organized, under command of General Leavenworth, to restore the children to their parents and open communication with their tribes. The troops, numbering about four hundred, left Fort Gibson toward the end of June, 1834, taking with them the three children and accompanied by about thirty of the Osage, Cherokee, Delaware, and Seneca tribes, together with the artist Catlin, and, according to the Indian account, Chouteau and perhaps another trader. Their interpreter was a Cherokee with a "very imperfect" knowledge of Spanish, through which language he hoped to open communication with Spanish-speaking Indians among the tribes visited; his ignorance probably accounts for the atrocious names and etymologies given by Catlin. The march in the heat of summer proved so severe that by the time the command reached the junction of Washita and Red rivers about one third of the number, including the commanding general, were prostrated; the remainder, constantly dwindling, pushed on in charge of Colonel Henry Dodge, keeping a general northwest course along the divide between the two streams. They were considered to be within the Comanche country after crossing the Washita.

Having traveled about two weeks, they one day discovered a large party of Comanche several miles ahead, sitting quietly on their horses watching the movements of the advancing troops, and holding, their long lances in their hands, the blades glistening in the sun. As the cavalry advanced toward them the Indians retreated to another ridge. This was repeated several times, until at last, says Catlin--

Colonel Dodge ordered the command to halt, while he rode forward
with a few of his staff and an ensign carrying a white flag. I
joined this advance, and the Indians stood their ground until we
had come within half a mile of them and could distinctly observe
all their numbers and movements. We then came to a halt, and the
white flag was sent a little in advance and waved as a signal for
them to approach, at which one of their party galloped out in
advance of the war party on a milk-white horse, carrying a piece of
white buffalo skin on the point of his long lance in reply to our
flag.... The distance between the two parties was perhaps half a
mile, and that a beautiful and gently sloping prairie, over which
he was for the space of a quarter of an hour reining and spurring
his maddened horse and gradually approaching us by tacking to the
right and left like a vessel beating against the wind. He at length
came prancing and leaping along till he met the flag of the
regiment, when he leaned his spear for a moment against it, looking
the bearer full in the face, when he wheeled his horse and dashed
up to Colonel Dodge with his extended hand, which was instantly
grasped and shaken. We all had him by the hand in a moment, and the
rest of the party seeing him received in this friendly manner,
instead of being sacrificed, as they undoubtedly expected, started
under full whip in a direct line toward us, and in a moment
gathered like a black cloud around us.... The warrior's quiver was
slung on the warrior's back, and his bow grasped in his left hand
ready for instant use if called for. His shield was on his arm; and
across his thigh, in a beautiful cover of buckskin, his gun was
slung, and in his right hand his lance of fourteen feet in length.
Thus armed and equipped was this dashing cavalier, and nearly in
the same manner all the rest of the party (_Catlin, 4_).

When the purpose of the expedition had been explained to them, the Comanche said that their great village was a few days farther ahead, and abandoning their war expedition, they turned and escorted the troops to their camp. According to statements made by old men of the tribe to Horace P. Jones, post interpreter at Fort Sill, this Comanche village in 1834 was situated on Chandler creek, close to its junction with Cache creek, about ten miles north of the present Fort Sill. The artist gives a glowing account of the surrounding country and of their reception by the Comanche.

Having led us to the top of a gently rising elevation on the
prairie, they pointed to their village at several miles distance,
in the midst of one of the most enchanting valleys that human eyes
ever looked upon. The general course of the valley is from
northwest to southeast, of several miles in width, with a
magnificent range of mountains rising in distance beyond, it being
without doubt a huge spur of the Rocky mountains, composed entirely
of a reddish granite or gneiss, corresponding with the other links
of this stupendous chain. In the midst of this lovely valley we
could just discern amongst the scattering shrubbery that lined the
banks of the water courses, the tops of the Comanche wigwams and
the smoke curling above them. The valley for a mile distant about
the village seemed speckled with horses and mules that were grazing
in it. The chiefs of the war party requested the regiment to halt
until they could ride in and inform their people who were coming.
We then dismounted for an hour or so, when we could see them,
busily running and catching their horses, and at length several
hundreds of their braves and warriors came out at full speed to
welcome us, and forming in a line in front of us, as we were again
mounted, presented a formidable and pleasing appearance. As they
wheeled their horses, they very rapidly formed in a line and
dressed like well-disciplined cavalry. The regiment was drawn up in
three columns, with a line formed in front, by Colonel Dodge and
his staff, in which rank my friend Chadwick and I were also
paraded, when we had a fine view of the whole manoeuvre, which
was picturesque and thrilling in the extreme.

In the center of our advance was stationed a white flag, and the
Indians answered to it with one which they sent forward and planted
by the side of it. The two lines were thus drawn up face to face
within 20 or 30 yards of each other, as inveterate foes that never
had met; and to the everlasting credit of the Comanches, whom the
world had always looked upon as murderous and hostile, they had all
come out in this manner, with their heads uncovered, and without a
weapon of any kind, to meet a war party bristling with arms and
trespassing to the middle of their country. They had every reason
to look upon us as their natural enemy, as they have been in the
habit of estimating all pale faces; and yet instead of arms or
defences, or even of frowns, they galloped out and looked us in our
faces, without an expression of fear or dismay, and evidently with
expressions of joy and impatient pleasure, to shake us by the hand,
on the bare assertion of Colonel Dodge, which had been made to the
chiefs, that we came to see them on a friendly visit.

After we had sat and gazed at each other in this way for some half
an hour or so, the head chief of the band came galloping up to
Colonel Dodge, and having shaken him by the hand, he passed on to
the other officers in turn and then rode alongside of the different
columns, shaking hands with every dragoon in the regiment; he was
followed in this by his principal chiefs and braves, which
altogether took up nearly an hour longer, when the Indians
retreated slowly toward their village, escorting us to the banks of
a fine, clear stream and a good spring of fresh water, half a mile
from their village, which they designated as a suitable place for
our encampment (_Catlin, 5_).

While there the artist painted the pictures of the chief men of the tribe, together with camp scenes. The pictures form a part of the Catlin gallery in the National Museum at Washington, District of Columbia. In his usual incorrect style, he estimated the population of the tribe at thirty thousand to forty thousand. It may possibly have been one-tenth of that number.

After a few days the command, guided by some of the Comanche, started for the Wichita village lying farther to the west. After four days' march, keeping close along the base of the mountains, they reached the village, which was situated on the northeast bank of the North fork of Red river, about 4 miles below the junction of Elm fork, and within the present limits of the reservation. It was close to the mouth of Devil canyon, with the river in front and the mountains behind. It was an old settlement site of the Wichita, having been occupied by them as far back at least as about the year 1765 (_Lewis and Clark, 8_). Catlin thus describes it:

We found the mountains inclosing the Pawnee [i.e., Pawnee Pique, or
Wichita] village, on the bank of Red river, about 90 miles from the
Comanchee town. The dragoon regiment was drawn up within half a
mile or so of this village and encamped in a square, where we
remained three days. We found here a very numerous village
containing some five or six hundred wigwams, all made of long
prairie grass thatched over poles which are fastened in the ground
and bent in at the top, giving to them in distance the appearance
of straw beehives, as in plate 173 [figure 68 herein], which is an
accurate view of it, showing the Red river in front and the
"mountains of rocks" behind it. To our very great surprise we have
found these people cultivating quite extensive fields of corn
(maize), pumpkins, melons, beans, and squashes; so, with these aids
and an abundant supply of buffalo meat, they may be said to be
living very well (_Catlin, 6_).

The picture by Catlin gives a good idea of the location and a tolerable idea of the peculiar conical grass houses of the Wichita, who have always been noted as an agricultural tribe. As usual, however, he has grossly overestimated their number, attributing to the village five or six hundred houses, and to the Wichita and Kiowa eight to ten thousand population. It is very doubtful if the two tribes, with all their affiliated bands, ever numbered a total of twenty-five hundred. The Wichita village may have had, all told, seventy or eighty houses. When the author examined the ground, in 1893, the circular depressions where the houses had stood were still regular in shape and plainly visible. According to Wichita information, the village was called Kĭ´tskûkătû´k, a name which seems to refer to its situation beside the mountain, and was abandoned soon after 1834, when the tribe removed to a new location, where Fort Sill is now located. From there they again removed to Rush spring, about 25 miles farther east, where Marcy found them in 1852. The mountains immediately about the site of the village visited by the dragoons are still known to the Kiowa as _Do`gúat K`op_, "Wichita mountains," the name not being applied by them to the more eastern portion of the range.

The meeting with the Wichita threatened at the start to be hostile. Having learned that they had in their possession a captive white boy, Colonel Dodge demanded that he be surrendered. They repeatedly denied having any knowledge of the boy or the circumstances attending his capture until, being convinced by the sight of their own children brought back by the dragoons that the intentions of the white visitors were friendly, they produced him.

An order was immediately given for the Pawnee and Kiowa girls to be
brought forward. They were in a few minutes brought into the
council house, when they were at once recognized by their friends
and relatives, who embraced them with the most extravagant
expressions of joy and satisfaction. The heart of the venerable
chief was melted at this evidence of the white man's friendship,
and he rose upon his feet, and taking Colonel Dodge in his arms
and, placing his left cheek against the left cheek of the colonel,
held him for some minutes without saying a word, whilst tears were
flowing from his eyes. He then embraced each officer in turn in the
same silent and affectionate manner, which form took half an hour
or more before it was completed.

From this moment the council, which before had been a very grave
and uncertain one, took a pleasing and friendly turn, and this
excellent old man ordered the women to supply the dragoons with
something to eat, as they were hungry. The little encampment, which
heretofore was in a woeful condition, having eaten up their last
rations twelve hours before, were now gladdened by the approach of
a number of women who brought their "back loads" of dried buffalo
meat and green corn, and threw it down amongst them. This seemed
almost like a providential deliverance, for the country between
here and the Comanchees was entirely destitute of game and our last
provisions were consumed.

The council thus proceeded successfully and pleasantly for several
days, whilst the warriors of the Kiowas and Wicos [Wacos], two
adjoining and friendly tribes living farther to the west, were
arriving, and also a great many from other bands of the Comanchees,
who had heard of our arrival, until two thousand or more of these
wild and fearless-looking fellows were assembled, and all, from
their horses' backs, with weapons in hand, were looking into our
pitiful little encampment of two hundred men, all in a state of
dependence and almost literal starvation, and at the same time
nearly one-half the number too sick to have made a successful
resistance if we were to have been attacked (_Catlin, 7_).

The result of the council was that a large delegation from the allied tribes returned with the troops to Fort Gibson, where arrangements were made for the subsequent treaties of 1835 and 1837, as already described, which mark the beginning of the modern history of the Kiowa, Comanche, Wichita, and affiliated bands.

The Wichita, as well as the Kiowa, still remember this friendly meeting. Nasthoe, a Wichita chief, in giving testimony in 1894 in regard to the location of the old village, said: "I was told that the white people and the Osage and the Kidi-ki-tashe [Wichita] came to that old village, where they lived and brought that girl and boy, and inside of one of those tipis they had made a feast among themselves, and the soldiers had fired their guns around there. The meaning of that was a peace" (_Greer County, 1_).

While with this expedition Catlin painted a number of portraits, the first on record from these tribes. He has this to say of his Kiowa subjects:

The head chief of the Kioways, whose name is Teh-toot-sah [Dohásän,
see page 175], we found to be a very gentlemanly and high-minded
man, who treated the dragoons and officers with great kindness
while in his country. His long hair, which was put up in several
large clubs and ornamented with a great many silver brooches,
extended quite down to his knees. This distinguished man, as well
as several others of his tribe, have agreed to join us on the march
to Fort Gibson, so I shall have much of their company yet, and
probably much more to say of them at a future period. Bon-son-gee
(The New Fire) [Bohón-kóñkya, Black-cap], is another chief of this
tribe, and called a very good man; the principal ornaments which he
carried on his person were a boar's tusk and his war whistle, which
were hanging on his breast. Quay-ham-kay (The Stone Shell) is
another fair specimen of the warriors of this tribe ...
Wun-pan-to-mee (The White Weasel) [Gunpü´ñdamä´,
Medicine-tied-to-tipi-pole], a girl, and Tunk-aht-oh-ye (The
Thunderer), a boy, who are brother and sister, are two Kioways who
were purchased from the Osages, to be taken to their tribe by the
dragoons. The girl was taken the whole distance with us, on
horseback, to the Pawnee village, and there delivered to her
friends, as I have before mentioned; and the fine little boy was
killed at the fur trader's house, on the banks of the Verdigris,
near Fort Gibson, the day after I painted his portrait, and only a
few days before he was to have started with us on the march. He was
a beautiful boy of nine or ten years of age, and was killed by a
ram, which struck him in the abdomen, and knocking him against a
fence, killed him instantly. Kots-a-to-ah (The Smoked Shield) is
another of the extraordinary men of this tribe, near 7 feet in
stature, and distinguished not only as one of the greatest
warriors, but the swiftest on foot in the nation. This man, it is
said, runs down a buffalo on foot, and slays it with his knife or
his lance as he runs by its side! (_Catlin, 8_).

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXVI

BÓHON-KÓÑKYA, "QUAYHAMKAY," GUNPÄÑDÂMÄ, AND "KOTSATOAH" (AFTER CATLIN)]

Two of those mentioned by Catlin--Dohásän and Bóhón-kóñkya--were signers of the first Kiowa treaty, in 1837, and are still well remembered, as is also the girl, Gunpä´ñdamä´. The other names are too badly mangled to be identified, and the memory of the swift runner seems to have utterly perished.

WINTER 1834-35

_Pá-tón Ehótal-de Sai_, "Winter that Bull-tail was killed." He was killed by the Mexicans. The figure above the winter sign has a blood spot upon the body to represent the wound, while the erect cue from the head indicates his name.

The Kiowa had made their winter camp on the Washita, when a war party set out against the _Toñhéñ-t'a`ká-i_ (Mexicans of the waterless country), or Chihuahuans. Having started late, they camped all winter at a mountain toward the southern edge of the Staked plain, known as _Déngyä-kóñ K`op_, or "Black-ice mountain." One morning in the early spring, while several men were out looking for their ponies, they were suddenly surrounded by the Mexicans and all killed, including Pa-ton, who was shot through the body. Their comrades saw the fight from a distance, but, being outnumbered and therefore afraid to come near to help them, they got away as soon as they could.

SUMMER 1835

_Donpä K`ádó_, "Cat-tail rush sun dance." This was the first sun dance held by the Kiowa after the recovery of the _taíme_ from the Osages, already narrated, and is thus distinguished because it was held at a place where a great many cat-tail rushes (_Equisetum arvense_) were growing on the south bank of North Canadian river, at the Red hills, about 30 miles above the present Fort Reno, Oklahoma. The soft white portion of the lower part of the stalk of this rush is eaten raw by the Indians with great relish. The picture above the medicine lodge represents the _taíme_ _bíĭmkâ-í_ or rawhide box in which the _taíme_ is kept.

It was immediately after this dance that a war party of Kiowa made the raid far down toward the coast in which they captured Bóiñ-edal (Big-blond), now the oldest captive in the tribe. This man, sometimes known to the whites as Kiowa Dutch, was born in Germany and is now, according to his own account, about 70 years of age. He remembers having gone to school in Germany as a small boy, and came to this country, when about 8 or 9 years of age, with his father, stepmother, and an elder brother. He describes the place where they located as being a small settlement on a large river, up which ships could sail, where there were alligators and trees with long moss, and which was within a day's ride of the sea. The people were engaged in raising cotton, his family being the only Germans. From other evidence it seems to have been about Matagorda or Galveston bay, showing that the Kiowa carried their raids in this direction even to the coast. Within a year of their coming, and before he had learned English, a Kiowa war party attacked the settlement at night, carried off himself, his mother, and his brother, and probably killed his father; his mother was taken in another direction and he never saw her again; she was afterward ransomed by Tométe, the trader already mentioned; his brother committed suicide during the cholera epidemic of 1849; Bóiñ-edal is still with the tribe. As his name indicates, he is a typical German in appearance, and still remembers a few words of his mother language, besides having a fair knowledge of English and Spanish, although he does not remember his own name or birthplace. It was about the same time that the Comanche raided Barker's fort, on the Navasota, in eastern Texas, and carried off the girl Cynthia Parker, who afterward became the mother of Quanah, the present chief of the tribe. The story of these captives may have a hundred parallels among the three confederated tribes.

[FIG. 71--Winter 1835-36--Big-face killed]

WINTER 1835-36

Tó`-edalte (Big-face) was shot through the body and killed by the Mexicans while on a raid into old Mexico. This is Set-t'an's statement, which is borne out by the picture of a man, whose name is indicated by the figure of a big head or face above. Other informants, however, deny any knowledge of such a man, and in the notes accompanying the Scott calendar he is called Wolf-hair. The gunshot wound is indicated in the ordinary way.

SUMMER 1836

_Gui P a K`ádó_, "Wolf-river sun dance." The figure of a wolf or coyote above the medicine lodge indicates that the dance was held on _Gui P a_ or Wolf river, i. e., Wolf-creek fork of the North Canadian. Soon after the dance the Kiowa moved to another camp north of the Arkansas, while the Kiñep band went on to pay a social visit to the Crows and buy from them ermine and elk teeth for ornamenting their buckskin shirts and the dresses of the women. After they had gone, those who remained behind were attacked in their camp by the whole Cheyenne tribe, but the Kiowa threw up breastworks and defended themselves until their assailants were compelled to retire.

WINTER 1836-37

_K`íñähíate Ehótal-de Sai_, "Winter that K`íñähíate was killed." K`íñähíate ("Man") was killed in an expedition against the _Ä´-t'á`ká-i_, "Timber Mexicans," or Mexicans of Tamaulipas and the lower Rio Grande. The tribe was camped on upper Red river at the time. The name is indicated by a small figure of a man above a similar larger figure, with which it is connected by a line, the death wound being indicated on the lower figure. No better illustration of the wide range of the Kiowa could be given than the fact that while one band was thus raiding in Mexico another, as we have just seen, was visiting upon the upper Missouri.

SUMMER 1837

_Säk`ota Ä´otón-de Pai_, "Summer that the Cheyenne were massacred," or _Á`k`ádo Pai_, "Wailing sun-dance summer." The figure is the conventional Indian symbol for a battle, with the party attacked defending themselves behind breastworks thrown up in the sand, and the arrows flying among them; below the main figure is another of a man wearing a war bonnet. Compare the battle pictographs from the Dakota calendars as given by Mallery (figure 75).

At the time of the fight the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache were camped upon a small tributary of Scott creek (_Pohón-ä P'a_, "Walnut creek"), an upper branch of the North fork of Red river, southward from the present Port Elliott in the panhandle of Texas. It was in early summer, and they were preparing for the sun dance; a young man was out alone straightening arrows when he saw two men creeping up, with grass over their faces. Thinking they were Kiowa deer hunters, he advanced to meet them, when they fired and wounded him and his horse; he fled back to camp and gave the alarm, and Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache rushed out in pursuit. They soon came up with a small party of the enemy, who proved to be Cheyenne. The Kiowa and their allies killed three of them there, and following the fugitives killed several others; continuing along the trail down the north side of the creek to a short distance below its junction with Sweetwater, they came upon the main camp of the Cheyenne, who dug holes in the sand and made a good defense, but were at last all killed except one, who strangled himself with a rope to avoid capture. The bodies of the dead Cheyenne, 48 in number, were scalped, stripped, and laid along the ground in a row by the victors. Six Kiowa were killed, including the grandfather of the present Lone-wolf. T'ébodal, the oldest man now in the tribe, was engaged in this encounter.