Treaty: Medicine Lodge, 1867
This treaty was actually three treaties in one, with the Comanche, Kiowa-Apache, the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho. In reality, the treaties never took effect and had little impact on the conflicts between the Army and Natives in the West.
In July, 1867, Congress established the Indian Peace Commission to determine ways and means of ending the conflict with the Plains tribes. The Commission established which tribes it deemed friendly and which tribes it deemed hostile, and slated those people for deportation to reservations in Indian Territory. It did determine, however, that the government had not treated the various tribes honestly and fairly and that much of the conflict had been preventable. It called for more of the same, treaties ceding more land from the western tribes. The Commission called a treaty parley with the interested tribes for Fort Larned, Kansas. When the commissioners, including William T. Sherman (yes, that Sherman), Alfred H. Terry, Samuel F. Tappan and John B. Sanborn, among others arrived at Fort Larned, they found Black Kettle of the Cheyenne, Little Raven of the Arapaho, and Satanta of the Kiowa, who were willing to hear them out. The Natives wanted to hold the meetings in a sacred place, on their turf, and suggested a ceremonial ground near the Medicine Lodge River, hence the name of the collective treaty.
Negotiations began in October, 1876. On October 21, 1867, the first treaties with the Kiowa, Comanche and Plains or Kiowa-Apache were signed. The tribes gave up an aggregate of 60,000 square miles of traditional hunting range in exchange for a 3 million acre reservation in Oklahoma. The reservation was much smaller than the homeland they were used to. Among the chiefs and leaders who signed this treaty were, for the Kiowa, Satank, Satanta, Black Eagle, Kicking Eagle, Stinking Saddle, Woman's Heart, Stumbling Bear, One Bear, Crow, and Bear Lying Down. Comanche leaders were Ten Bears, Painted Lips, Silver Brooch, Standing Feather, Gap in the Woods, Horse's Back, Wolf's Name, Little Horn, Iron Mountain, Dog Far. Kiowa Apache leaders included Wolf Sleeve, Poor Bear, Bad Back, Brave Man, Iron Shirt and White Horn.
The Cheyenne and Arapaho people already had a treaty, the Little Arkansas Treaty of 1865, which assigned them land in Oklahoma and Kansas. On October 28, 1867, they signed a treaty which cut that land in half. Cheyenne leaders signing included Bull Bear, Black Kettle, Little Bear, Spotted Elk, Buffalo Chief, Slim Face, Grey Head, Little Rock, Curly Hair, Tall Bull, White Horse, Little Robe, Whirlwind, Heap of Birds. Arapaho chiefs and leaders included Little Raven, Yellow Bear, Storm, White Rabbit, Spotted Wolf, Little Big Mouth, Young Colt, Tall Bear. All the natives were promised schools and materials to build homes and barns. No one stopped to consider that Plains Natives weren't agrarian like some of the eastern tribes.
The treaties called for ratification by 3/4 of the men of each tribe. As most of these tribes were decentralized, consensus was almost impossible to achieve. The tribes never ratified the treaties and condemned some of the leaders who signed them. The tribes themselves did not consider themselves bound by the treaties and continued to live and hunt on their home range. Warfare would continue until the tribes were forcibly sent to Oklahoma. Then, in 1887, the Dawes Act which granted allotment of Indian land slashed the overall amounts of tribal lands into a fraction of what these treaties had promised. The Medicine Lodge Treaties weren't worth the paper they were printed on.
In July, 1867, Congress established the Indian Peace Commission to determine ways and means of ending the conflict with the Plains tribes. The Commission established which tribes it deemed friendly and which tribes it deemed hostile, and slated those people for deportation to reservations in Indian Territory. It did determine, however, that the government had not treated the various tribes honestly and fairly and that much of the conflict had been preventable. It called for more of the same, treaties ceding more land from the western tribes. The Commission called a treaty parley with the interested tribes for Fort Larned, Kansas. When the commissioners, including William T. Sherman (yes, that Sherman), Alfred H. Terry, Samuel F. Tappan and John B. Sanborn, among others arrived at Fort Larned, they found Black Kettle of the Cheyenne, Little Raven of the Arapaho, and Satanta of the Kiowa, who were willing to hear them out. The Natives wanted to hold the meetings in a sacred place, on their turf, and suggested a ceremonial ground near the Medicine Lodge River, hence the name of the collective treaty.
Negotiations began in October, 1876. On October 21, 1867, the first treaties with the Kiowa, Comanche and Plains or Kiowa-Apache were signed. The tribes gave up an aggregate of 60,000 square miles of traditional hunting range in exchange for a 3 million acre reservation in Oklahoma. The reservation was much smaller than the homeland they were used to. Among the chiefs and leaders who signed this treaty were, for the Kiowa, Satank, Satanta, Black Eagle, Kicking Eagle, Stinking Saddle, Woman's Heart, Stumbling Bear, One Bear, Crow, and Bear Lying Down. Comanche leaders were Ten Bears, Painted Lips, Silver Brooch, Standing Feather, Gap in the Woods, Horse's Back, Wolf's Name, Little Horn, Iron Mountain, Dog Far. Kiowa Apache leaders included Wolf Sleeve, Poor Bear, Bad Back, Brave Man, Iron Shirt and White Horn.
The Cheyenne and Arapaho people already had a treaty, the Little Arkansas Treaty of 1865, which assigned them land in Oklahoma and Kansas. On October 28, 1867, they signed a treaty which cut that land in half. Cheyenne leaders signing included Bull Bear, Black Kettle, Little Bear, Spotted Elk, Buffalo Chief, Slim Face, Grey Head, Little Rock, Curly Hair, Tall Bull, White Horse, Little Robe, Whirlwind, Heap of Birds. Arapaho chiefs and leaders included Little Raven, Yellow Bear, Storm, White Rabbit, Spotted Wolf, Little Big Mouth, Young Colt, Tall Bear. All the natives were promised schools and materials to build homes and barns. No one stopped to consider that Plains Natives weren't agrarian like some of the eastern tribes.
The treaties called for ratification by 3/4 of the men of each tribe. As most of these tribes were decentralized, consensus was almost impossible to achieve. The tribes never ratified the treaties and condemned some of the leaders who signed them. The tribes themselves did not consider themselves bound by the treaties and continued to live and hunt on their home range. Warfare would continue until the tribes were forcibly sent to Oklahoma. Then, in 1887, the Dawes Act which granted allotment of Indian land slashed the overall amounts of tribal lands into a fraction of what these treaties had promised. The Medicine Lodge Treaties weren't worth the paper they were printed on.
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