Red Men and White Meet Once More
on Medicine Lodge's Historic Ground
Kansas Celebrates the Seventieth Anniversary of the Peace Treaty That Helped
Open to Settlement an Empire in the West
By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
ON THE spot where red
men and white once held
one of the most important
councils in the history of the
Great West, white men and
red will soon be meeting to
celebrate the event which
took place there nearly three
quarters of a century ago.
The place is in Barber coun
ty, Kansas, where Elm creek
joins the Medicine river, and
there on October 6, 7 and 8
the modern city of Medicine
Lodge is staging a pageant
which re-enacts the signing
of the Medicine Lodge peace
treaty of October, 1867.
Joining in the celebration
is a delegation of Indians
from Oklahoma ? Cheyennes,
Arapahoes, Comanches, Kio
was and Apaches, descend
ants of the red signers of the
treaty. A troop of the Sev
enth cavalry from Fort Riley,
Kan., will also be there be
cause soldiers of this regi
ment helped escort the white
commissioners to the treaty
ground.
This treaty was a consequence
of the new "peace policy" in
augurated during the administra
tion of President Andrew Johnson.
It was more a policy of necessity
than one of choice. The govern
ment's "war policy," adopted to
put an end to the Indian raids that
devastated the frontier after the
Civil war, had been a failure. So
the "Great White Father" in
Washington, after his military had
failed to whip his erring red chil
dren, decided to conquer them
with kindness. At least, his ad
visers who were advocates of the
new "peace policy," told him that
it could be done that way.
Accordingly, Col. Jesse H. Leav
enworth, agent for the Kiowas
and Comanches, was instructed
by Nathaniel Greene Taylor, com
missioner of Indian affairs, to
try to bring together all the hos
tile southwestern tribes for a
peace council. Leavenworth
called upon George Bent, the half
breed son of the founder of Bent's
Fort on the Arkansas, to use his
influence with his mother's peo
ple, the Cheyennes, as well as the
other tribes, to get them to as
semble at a Wichita village near
the mouth of the Little Arkansas
river. At a conference there
with some of the leading chiefs
of the five tribes, Leavenworth
told them of his orders and asked
them to name a place where they
would meet with commissioners
who were coming from Washing
ton to make a treaty. After some
delay the Indians designated the
junction of Elm creek and the
Medicine river. Here a great
grove of elm trees provided a
favorite camping place where
they could drink and bathe in the
healing waters of the Medicine
and allow their ponies to graze
on the sweet native grasses which
carpeted the valleys.
In the meantime Thomas Mur
phy, superintendent of Indian af
fairs for that district, had arrived
at Fort Larned where great quan
tities of supplies were being
shipped for distribution at the
GEN. W. 8. HARNEY
council. These included a herd of
beef cattle, much coffee, sugar,
flour and dried fruits and a vast
amount of blankets and clothing
which had been left over from the
Civil war and which the War de
partment agreed to turn over to
the Indian department for distri
bution to its charges. So for more
than a month six-mule teams
were engaged in hauling this ma
terial from Fort Lamed to the
treaty grounds.
As the Indians gathered there
they found Murphy on hand to
welcome them. Early in October
he reported that 431 lodees were
The Peace Treaty Monument In Medicine LodfC, lu.
already pitched along the two
streams and that he expected
more than 5,000 Indians to be
present by the time the commis
sioners arrived. They reached
Medicine Lodge on October 14.
A Congress of Notables.
Famous as is the Medicine
Lodge treaty in western history,
it would be memorable for the
number of notables who had a
part in it, if for no other reason.
Among those who helped in the
preliminary work were Kit Car
son, the renowned scout and
guide; Jesse Chisholm, the half
breed Cherokee whose name is
immortalized in the most famous
of all cattle trails; Col. A. G.
Boone, grandson of the immortal
Daniel; William Matthewson, the
original "Buffalo Bill"; Black
Beaver, the celebrated Delaware
Indian scout; and a number of
other frontier characters of lesser
fame.
The commission itself, headed
by N. G. Taylor, United States
commissioner of Indian affairs
and chief exponent of the "peace
policy," was composed of Senator
John B. Henderson of Missouri,
A. S. H. White, secretary. Gen.
Alfred H. Terry, Gen. C. C. Au
gur, Gen. W. L. Harney, Gen.
John B. Sanborn and Col. S. F.
Tappan.
General Augur was added to the
commission to take the place of
Gen. W. T. Sherman, who was re
called to Washington before the
party left Fort Lamed. Sherman,
it will be recalled, was credited
with that frank, if brutal, decla
ration that "the only good In
dian is a dead one."
Presumably General Harney
subscribed to that sentiment, too.
Twelve years earlier he had won
a reputation as a successful In
dian fighter by attacking the camp
of Little Thunder, a friendly
Brule Sioux chief, and by killing
nearly a hundred men, women
and children.
Both Harney and Sanborn had
been members of another peace
commission, which included Wil
liam Bent and Kit Carson and
which had made a treaty with
these same tribes at the mouth
of the Little Arkansas in October,
1865. Since neither the whites
nor the Indians had kept this
treaty, both of these generals can
be forgiven if they were cynical
as to the value of making another
here at Medicine Lodge.
Other Witnesses.
Entitled to the same cynicism
were Gov. Samuel J. Crawford
of Kansas. ex-Lieut. Gov. J. P.
Root and Senator E. G. Ross, who
were also present at Medicine
Lodge. Within a year some of
these red warriors would be raid
ing through Kansas, killing set
tlers, burning their homes and
carrying women and children
away into captivity and Governor
Crawford would resign his office
to lead the Nineteenth Kansas
cavalry in an expedition against
the hostiles. And then, ironically
enough, this expedition, led by
Gen. George A. Custer, would at
tack a camp of the Cheyennes on
the banks of the Washita river in
Oklahoma (where they had a per
fect right, under the terms of the
Medicine Lodge treaty, to be) and
kill their chief. Black Kettle, and
with him 13 men. 16 women and
9 children.
Other witnesses to the treaty
were Maj. E. W. Wynkoop, Su
perintendent Murphy, Colonel
Leavenworth and Col. J. K. Ran
kin, representing the Indian de
partment. and John Smith and
George Bent, who acted as in
terpreters. In addition there was
present also a considerable "press
gallery" composed of represent
atives from the leading newspa
pers of the country. Outstanding
among these was Henry M. Stan
ley. co ires pod en t for the New
York Tribune, who later became
famous as an African explorer
when James Gordon Bennett of
the Herald sent him to the Dark
Continent to "And Livingstone."
A photographer named Willis also
accompanied the party and two
of the leading national weeklies
were represented by "special art
ists." John D. Howland, later
prominent in Colorado history,
was there for Harper's and James
E. Taylor, well known for hs
spirited drawings of incidents in
the Indian campaigns of the next
fews years, represented Frank
Leslie's.
Among the Indian leaders were
such famous chiefs as Little Ra
ven, Spotted Wolf, Yellow Bear,
Storm, Powder Face and Ice of
the Arapahoes ; Black Kettle, Bull
Bear, Tall Bull and Grey Head
of the Cheyennes; Satan ta, Sa
tan k, Stumbling Bear and Kicking
Bird of the Kiowas; Young Bear,
, Ten Bears and Painted Lips of
the Comanches ; and Wolf Sleeve,
Poor Bear, Iron Shirt and Crow
of the Apaches.
Although Black Kettle, Bull
Bear and the other Cheyenne
chiefs were present to talk with
the representatives of the "Great
White Father," their main camp
was pitched several miles up the
Medicine river. They weren't
taking any chances on . another
Sand Creek! In fact, despite the
commissioners' military escort of
some 6,000 men ? three troops of
the Seventh cavalry, two com
panies of infantry and a battery
of Gatling guns ? the Indians were
so numerous that they might well
have exacted revenge for that
massacre if they had been so
minded.
A Thrilling Spectacle.
Two weeks later they staged a
demonstration which probably
caused the white men some un
easiness. One of the teamsters
who had been freighting supplies
from Fort Lamed was Billy Dix
on, later famous as a participant
CHIEF LITTLE RAVEN
in the Adobe Walls and Buffalo
Wallow fights during the war of ?
1874-75. He describes the demon
station as follows:
"I shall never forget that morn
ing. At a distance of about two
miles from our camp was the
crest of a low swell in the Plains.
The background was blue sky ? a
blue curtain that touched the
brown Plains. For a moment I
was dumbfounded at the sight of
what was rising over that crest
and flowing with commotion to
ward us. It was a glittering,
fluttering, gaily colored mass of
barbarism, the flower and perfec
tion of the war strength of the
Plains Indian tribes. The resplen
dent warriors, armed with all
their equipment and adorned with
all the regalia of battle, seemed
to be rising out of the earth. Their
number was estimated at 15,000,
but I cannot vouch for its accu
racy.
"As they came into plainer
view, the Indians spread their
ranks wider and wider, to create
as profound an impression as
possible, and inspire us deeply
with their power. Now they could
be beard chanting and singing.
Having arrived within a quarter
of a mile of our camp, the Indians
charged like a whirlwind, firing
their guns. The charge was ab
ruptly baited, and the Indiana
stood at rest, waiting (or the ne
gotiations to begin."
The conference and distribution
of gifts dragged along for two
weeks. Finally, after the terms
of the proposed treaty had been
fully explained to the Indians, the
Kiowa, Comanche and Apache
chiefs signed it on October 21 and
the Cheyennes and Arapahoes on
October 28. The Indians agreed
to accept reservations in what is
now Oklahoma, although retain
ing the privilege of hunting buf
falo in Kansas as far north as
the Arkansas river, to refrain
from further attacks on the
whites and to withdraw all oppo
sition to the construction of rail
roads and other roads and the
building of forts in the western
country.
In return the government sol
emly promised to "set apart for
the undisturbed use and occupa
tion of the tribes" the reservations
designated in the treaty, to pro
vide certain annuities for these
tribes for a period of 30 years and
to establish agencies, schools,
etc., for their use. However, con
gress was slow in ratifying the
treaty and it was more than a
year before some of its provisions
were carried out. Angered by this
delay, and seeing in it another evi
nniiiiiw ..'ii-MB'-isagmwBtr}.-; - m
CHIEF SATANTA
dence of the white man's bad
faith, war parties from some of
the tribes resumed their raids in
Kansas and in Texas.
Even if the government had
lived up to the letter of its agree
ment, it is doubtful if peace would
have prevailed throughout the re
gidh. The authority of chiefs
over their followers was slight,
at best, and a leader who may
have wished to live at peace with
the whites could not always con
trol his young braves who wished
to win honor on the war trail.
Then, too, as George Bird Grinnell
has pointed out in his book, "The
Fighting Cheyennes," "the giving
of a few presents and the signing
of treaties by a few chiefs would
not appease the Indians, whose
livelihood, the buffalo, was being
destroyed and driven away." The
clash of conflicting interests was
inevitable, and when it came,
nothing could restrain the Indians
from raiding the settlements and
the government could not turn a
deaf ear to the settlers' demands
that military force be used against
the marauders.
Importance of the Treaty.
So the "peace" that was made
at Medicine Lodge proved to be
a hollow one and another ten
years was to elapse before the
Indians were finally conquered
and forced to remain within the
bounds of their reservations. How
ever, the Medicine Lodge treaty
was important because it gave the
white man a basis for hii claims
to the right to settle western Kan
sas and certain parts of Colorado,
New Mexico and Arizona, and it
cleared the way for the comple
tion of the Union Pacific railroad
and building the Santa Fe.
When the "iron horse" entered
this vast empire, the buffalo was
doomed and that meant the end
of the Indian, also. Tall Bull of
the Cheyennes would lead a few
more raids against the hated
white men, then die at the Battle
of Summit Springs in Colorado
two years after he had signed the
Medicine Lodge treaty. Satanta
of the Kiowas, the "Orator of the
Plains," would fight vainly
against the fate that was overtak
ing his people and die in a Texas
prison, a suicide. Little Raven,
great chief of the Arapahoes,
would bow to the inevitable and
end his days peacefully on the
reservation alloted to him by the
"Great White Father." But be
fore that came about, the land
over which his tribesmen had
roamed for centuries would be
coming into the Union as the new
state of Colorado and within a few
years more Arizona, New Mexico
and Oklahoma, once the hunting
grounds of the tribes who signed
at Medicine Lodge, would be join
ing Colorado in the sisterhood of
states.
Ask Me O
n mi
A Quiz With
Answers Offering
Another ? "
Various Subjects
1. How much wood will a giant
Sequoia tree yield?
2. How many persons out of a
million will live to be one hun
dred years old?
3. Who was the first American
to receive the Nobel prize for
peace?
4. How fast can currency be
counted?
5. Where is the oldest painting
of the Virgin and Child in exist
ence?
0. Does it cost more to educate
a child in a city school than io,
? rural school?
7. When gold is hammered into
the thinnest gold leaf possible,
what color is it?
8. What is the definition of a split
infinitive?
Answers
1. A giant California Sequoia
tree yielded 3,000 posts, 650,000
shingles and 100 cords of firewood.
The upper one-third and the
branches of the huge tree were not
used.
2. It is estimated about thirty
in a million will live to this ad
vanced age.
3. Theodore Roosevelt, for his
efforts in bringing about the treaty
of peace between Japan and Rus
sia in 1905. It was awarded him
in 1906.
4. The expert counters of the
Department of the Treasury have
counted approximately as many
as 40,000 new notes a day, and
25,000 old ones.
5. The oldest painting of the
Virgin and Child in existence,
done about 150 A. D., is on a wall
in the famous Priscilla catacombs
in Rome.
6. The average cost to educate a
child in a rural school in the
United States is $53.31 a year,
and the average in a city school is
about $96.18.
7. In this condition it appears
green by transmitted light.
8. A split infinitive is one in
which an adverb is introduced be
tween the word "to," and the
verb form, such as "to largely de
crease." The word "to" as used
with the infinitive is not to be
classed as a preposition; it is an
integral part of the infinitive and
hence should not be separated
from the verb form.
Achievement of Peace
YOU may either win your
' peace or buy it; win it, by
resistance to evil; buy it, by
compromise with evil. Yn
may buy your peace with si
lenced consciences; you may
buy it with broken vows? boy
it with lying words? buy it with
base connivances ? buy it with
the blood of the slain, and the
cry of the captives over heraV
spheres of the earth, while yon
sit smiling at your sereaa
hearths, muttering continually
to yourselves, "Peace, peace,"
when there is no peace; but
only captivity and death for
you.
W? Humans
In going throug i life we often be
wail our misfortunes, but seldom
dwell upon our blessings; the ill
ness is reckoned to a day, the bad
debt to computed to a cent, the
sleepless night is spoken of with
deep self-commiseration; but wm
forget to reckon the many months
of our health; we take as a thing
of course, and not worth mention
ing, that we enjoyed hours of calm
and refreshing sleep undisturbed
even by a dream. ? Warn ego
Times.
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