Show red ned men and white ite meet once more on medicine lodges lodge s historic ground ka kansas jisa celebrates the seven seventieth anniversary of the peace treaty that helped open to settlement an empire in the west hy by X ELMO SCOTT WATSON N tile THE spot where red 0 ON men and white once hold held one of the m most ost important coun councils ails in the history of the great west white mon men and red will soon bo be meeting to celebrate the event which took place there nearly three quarters of a century ogo ago the place is in barber county kansas where elm creek joins the medicine river ond and there on october 0 6 7 and a 8 the modern city of medicine lodge is st staging aging a pageant which re enacts the signing of the medicine lodge pence peace treaty of october 1867 joining in the ce celebrate lebrat celebration ion Is a delegation of indians from oklahoma Che Arapah oos oes manches Oo Co kio was and apaches descendants of the red signers of the treaty A troop of the seventh cavalry from fort alley kan will also be there because soldiers of this regiment helped escort the white commissioners to the treaty ground this treaty was a consequence of the now new peace policy inaugurated augu rated during the administration of president andrew johnson it was more a policy of necessity one of choice cli olce the govern ny if I 1 war policy adopted to put an end to the indian andian raids that devastated the frontier after the civil I 1 war had been a failure so tho the great white father in Wasi washington lington after his military had failed to whip his erring red children decided to conquer them with kindness at least leas this his advisers who were advocates of the new peace policy told him that it could be done that way k accordingly col jesse H leavenworth cn en worth agent for the klowas and manches Co was instructed by nathaniel greeno greene taylor commissioner of indian affairs to try to bring together all the hostile southwestern tribes for a pence peace council Lealon leavenworth worth called upon george bent the halfbreed freedson bre edson son of the founder of bents fort on the arkansas to use ills his influence with his mothers peo ae pl erthe e as well as the other tribes to get them to assemble 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 lold ald them of his orders and asked them to name a place where they would meet with commissioners who were coming from washington toma tomake kea a treaty after some soma delay the indians designated the junction of elm creek and the medicine river here a 0 great grove of elm arees trees provided a favorite camping place where they could drink and bathe in the lie healing waters of the medicine Mc dicino and allow their ponies to graze on the sweet native grasses which carpeted the valleys in the meantime thomas murphy superintendent of I 1 indian af f faira mirafor aira for that district had arrived at fort larned lamed where great quantities of supplies were being shipped for distribution at the 4 6 NI W f GEN W S HARNEY council these included a herd of beef cattle cattie much coffee sugar flour aud dried fruits and a vast amb amount orf of blankets and clothing chion had been left over nver front from the civil war and which the war de vart beat agreed to turn over to the indian department for distribution boits charges so for more than ft a month sir air mule teams we were r e engaged in hauling hattling this material from fort larned lamed to the treaty grounds As the indians gathered there they liiv found murphy on hand to wel welcome catie them early in october ke be reported report bd that lodges were it 01 A gi 4 x r T p az JA AW the peace treaty monument in melichie Me dichie lodge han already pitched along the two streams and that ho he expected more than indians indiana to be present by the time the commissioners arrived they reached medicine lodge on october 14 A congress of notables famous as is the medicine lodge treat treaty v in western history it would bo be memorable for the tha number of notables who had a part in it if for no other reason among those who helped in th the preliminary work were kit carson careon the renowned scout and guide jesse chisholm the half breed cherokee whose name is immortalized in the most famous of if all cattle trails col A G boone grandson of the efte immortal daniel william matthewson the original buffalo bill black blac k bea beaver er the tha celebrated delaware indian scout and a 0 number of other frontier characters of lesser f fame ame 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 13 handerson Henders Hc ozi of missouri A S H white secretary gen alfred 11 terry gen C C ci augur gen W L harney gen john B sanborn and col 8 F tappan general augur was added to the commission to take tho the place of gen W T sherman who was recalled to washington before the party att fort larned sherman it will be recalled was credited with that frank it if brutal declaration thal the only good indian is a dead one 90 presumably general harney subscribed to that sentiment too twelve years earlier ho he had won a reputation as a successful indian fighter by attacking tho camp of little thunder a friendly brulo brule sioux chief and by killing nearly a hundred men women and children both varney harney and sanborn had been members of another commission which included william wilham bent and kit carson and which had made a treaty with these same tribes at the mouth of the little arkansas in octoba october er 1865 since neither the wh whites tes nor the indians had kept this treaty both of these generals can aan be forgiven it if they were cynical as to the value of making another here at Med medicine leine lodge other witnesses entitled to tho the same cynicism were gov samuel J crawford awford of kansas ex gov J P root and senator E b G ross who also present at medicine lodge within a year some of these red warriors would be raiding through kansas mill killing ng settlers burning their homes and carrying women and childr children en away into captivity and governor crawford would resign his office to lead tho nineteenth kansas cavalry in an expedition against the hostiles ho stiles and then ironically enough this expedition led by gen george A custer would attack a camp of the on the banks of the washita river in oklahoma where they had a perfect right under the terms of the medicine lodge treaty to be and ana kill their chief black kettle and with him 13 men 10 women and 9 child children ren other witnesses to the treaty were mal maj E W wynkoop superintendent perin murphy colonel leavenworth and col J K rankin representing the indian department part ment and john smith and george bent who acted as interpreters terp reters in addition there was present also a considerable press gallery composed of representatives from the leading newspapers pers of the country outstanding irig among these was henry M stanley correspondent for the new york tribune who later became famous oa as an african explorer when james gordon bennett of the herald seit him to the dark continent to find livingstone A photographer willis also accompanied tho the party and two ot of the leading national weeklies were represented by special artists john D howland later prominent in colorado history was there for harpers and james ea E taylor well known tor for hs ha spirited drawings of incidents in tho indian campaigns of the next fews years represented frank lesliea Le Los liels among the indian leaders were such famous chiefs as little raven spotted wolf yellow bear storm powder face and ice of the Arapah oes black kettle bull bear tall bull and grey head of the satanta Sa tanta sa tank stumbling bear and kicking bird of the klowas young bear ten bears and pain painted ted lips of the Co manches and wolf slee sleeve ve poor bear iron shirt and crow of tile 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 tha medicine river they taking any chances on another sand creek I 1 in fact despite the commissioners military escort of somo some men three troops of the seventh cavalry two companies of infantry and a battery of gatling galling guns the indians were so numerous that they might well have exacted revenge for that mas massacre sacro if they had been so minded A Thill thrilling ling spectacle two weeks later they staged a demonstration which probably caused the white men some uneasiness one of the teamsters who had been freighting supplies from fort larned lamed was billy dixon later famous as a participant ma ak 4 K CHIEF LITTLE RAVEN in the ahe adobe walls and ana buffalo wallow fights during the war of 1874 75 ho he describes the demon station as follows 1 I shall never forget that morning at a distance of about two miles from our camp was the crest of a low swell in the plains tho the background was blue sky a blue curtain that touched the brown plains for a moment I 1 was dumbfounded at the sight of what was rising over that crest and flowing with commotion toward us it was a glittering fluttering gaily colored mass of barbarism the flower and perfection of the war strength of the plains indian tribes the resplendent warriors armed with sill oil their equipment and adorned with all the regalia of battle seemed to be rising out gut of the earth their number was estimated at but I 1 cannot vouch for its accuracy 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 the they y could be heard chanting and singing having arrived within a quarter ofa of a mile of our camp the indians charged like a whirlwind their gun the charge was ras abruptly halted end and the indians stood ot at rest waiting for tho the ne nc got lations to begin the conference confer and distribution of gifts dragged along for two weeks finally after tho the terms of tho the proposed treaty had been fully explained to the indians the blown comanche and apache chiefs signed it on october 21 and the and Arapah oes on october 28 the indians agreed to accept reservations in what is now oklahoma although retain ing the privilege of hunting buffolo buffalo in kansas as far north as the arkansas river to refrain from further attacks on tho the whites and to withdraw all opposition to the construction of railroads and ot other her 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 occupation of tho the tribes I 1 the reservations designated in the treaty to provide certain annuities for these tribes for a period of 30 years and to establish agencies schools etc ate for their use however congress was slow in ratifying the treaty and it was more than a year before some of its provisions were carried out ang angered ed by this delay and seeing in it another evla evia W A V achler SATANTA dence of the white mans bad faith war vor part parties les 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 tha region tho 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 control his young braves who wished to win honor on the war trail then too as george bird grinnell has pointed out in his book tho the fighting the giving of a few presents and the signing of treaties by a f few ew chiefs would not appease tho the indians whose livelihood the buffalo was being destroyed and driven away the tha 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 car to the settlers demands that military force be used against the marauders importance of the treaty so the pence peace that was made at medicine lodge proved to be a hollow one and another ten years was to elapse before the indians were anally conquered and forced to remain within the bounds of their reservations however the medicine lodge treaty was important because it gave the white man a basis for his claims to the right to tb settle western kansas and certain parts of colorado new mexico and arizona and it cleared the way for the completion of the union pacific railroad and building the santa fe when tho the iron horse entered this vast empire the buffalo was doomed and that meant the end of the indian also tall bull of the would lead a few more raids against tho the hated whito 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 Ki the orator cf the plains would light fight vainly vain y against the fate that was overtaking his people and die in a texas prison a suicide little raven great chief of the arapahoe Arapah Arap ahoo oos would bow to the inevitable and end his days peacefully on the reservation to him by the great white father but before that ahat came about the land over which ills his tribesmen had roamed for centuries would bo be coming into the union as the now new state of colorado and within a few years scars more arizona new mexico and oklahoma once the hunting grounds of the tribes who at medicine lodge would bo joining colorado in the sisterhood of states 0 western newspaper union |