USA > Oklahoma > A standard history of Oklahoma; an authentic narrative of its development from the date of the first European exploration down to the present time, including accounts of the Indian tribes, both civilized and wild, of the cattle range, of the land openings and the achievements of the most recent period, Vol. II > Part 4
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country. There is not so much good land here as they imagine. And unquestionably, the climate is unhealthful for northern people. Nor is it for the interest of Kansas as a state to have this country opened now. Her senators should oppose it strenuously. If there were half the amount of good land they imagine, Southern Kansas would lose 20,000 people at once by having it opened. It is now a waste as regards them. Before the war, it was their great region of cattle trade and supply and, ere long, it will be again. At pres- ent we have a national use for the Indian Territory.
"Our true policy is to secure these people in their homes, and make them our agents to deal with the wild tribes on the plains. Much has been done already, and more will be, to set the race
CHOCTAW CAPITOL, TUSKAHOMA
forward in civilization. Half civilized and barbarous tribes are being slowly reached through the medium of their more advanced brethren. The nations here are already moving in the matter, and a little assistance only is needed to enable them to reach and nego- tiate with all the wild tribes of Northern Texas and New Mexico. I am hopeful enough to believe that, with a proper policy, all the tribes in the same latitude, except possibly the Apaches, might ' eventually be made citizens of this territory.
"The treatment and fate of aboriginal races has varied greatly under different governments. The Romans absorbed and Roman- ized when possible; otherwise they removed and relocated them. When the Teutonic race overran Western Europe, the Celtic aboriginals mostly disappeared; but, in certain districts, from special local causes, or from a more humane policy on the part of the conquerors, remnants survived; and in portions of Scotland,
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the Erse districts of Ireland, Brittany and Celtiberia, are flourish- ing communities to this day, little islands of Celts in an ocean of Teutons. We alone have no fixed policy looking toward the saving and reclamation of any part of the native race. Writers, states- men and theorists have made haste to assume that they were a 'doomed race,' and the Government has followed the exact policy to practicalize that theory. We have sent them our worst men and most destructive practices, and have systematically broken faith whenever it seemed profitable to do so. Here only has a policy, something near sensible and just been pursued, and the results are not discouraging. Let it be improved and extended, and we may reasonably hope the Indians of all the southern terri- tories may be gathered here; that an aboriginal community of 200,000 may grow into a high civilization: and, in due time, we may have a real native American state, a progressive and pros- perous State of Oklahoma."
CHAPTER LI
RESTLESS RED MEN ON THE RESERVATIONS
The Indians of the tribes of the Southern Plains, including the Comanches, Kiowas, Plains Apaches, Cheyennes and Arapahoes, who ranged over the region extending from the Colorado (of Texas) and Pecos valleys, on the south and west, to those of the Repub- lican and Platte rivers, on the north, were all forced to take up their residence upon the reservations in 1869, with the exception of several comparatively small bands which remained hostile and sought refuge on or around the Staked Plains. But, though they had been driven upon the reservations by the military power of the Government, they were far from being reconciled to any course which interfered with their ancient habit of roving at will. True, they were permitted to leave their reservations at stated times to hunt the buffalo herds for the purpose of securing meat and skins for tanning into robes or to be used for covering their lodges, but each time they went in search of the buffalo they found fewer of them and also found more white hunters in the field killing them, all of which had a tendency to add to the discontent and anger of the Indians. Under such conditions, it was not strange that it was difficult to control them during the first years of effort that was put forth by the Government to confine them to the reservations to which their respective tribes had been assigned. Added to this, was the pernicious influence of a class of dissolute or renegade white men-fugitives from justice, gamblers, horsethieves and whisky smugglers, who skulked on or around the Indian reserva- tions, where they plied their nefarious avocations and spread the vices of civilization without any of its virtues.
The report of the Government peace commissioners, who nego- tiated the treaties with the various tribes of the Plains during the summer and autumn of 1867, which was submitted to the President of the United States in January, 1868, briefly reviews the history of the relations between the Government and those tribes up to that time.1 Certainly, no one can accuse Generals William T. Sherman,
1 Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1868, pp. 26-50.
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William S. Harney, Alfred H. Terry and Christopher C. Augur, and their colleagues on that commission, of being sentimentalists, yet that report is a recital of broken treaties and of aggressions by the whites that no one can deny or discount. In summing up this story of repeated injustice to the people of the Indian race and in submitting recommendations for the adoption of a rational policy for the solution of the then perplexing "Indian question," the commissioners gave expression to the following significant words :
"Naturally, the Indian has many noble qualities. He is the very embodiment of courage. Indeed, at times, he seems insensible of fear. If he is cruel and revengeful, it is because he is outlawed and his companion is the wild beast. Let civilized man be his companion, and the association warms into life virtues of the rarest worth. Civilization has driven him back from the home he loved; it has often tortured and killed him, but it never could make him a slave. As we have so little respect for those we did enslave, to be consistent, this element of Indian character should challenge some admiration."
The wars with the Cheyenne and other tribes of Indians which followed the Chivington massacre, in Colorado, in 1864, and the destruction of their village by order of General Hancock, in 1867, had the effect of convincing the Government that it was the part of wisdom and economy to prevent further outbreaks if possible. Acting under authority conferred by the Indian Appropriation Act of April 10, 1869, President Grant appointed a commission consist- ing of some of the most eminent men in American civil life, to act with the Department of the Interior in an advisory capacity in supervising the administration of Indian affairs.2 During the latter part of the following summer a committee consisting of mem- bers of this "Board of Indian Commissioners," as it was termed, visited the Arapahoes and Cheyennes, most of whom were then encamped near Camp Supply, and the Kiowas, Comanches and
2 The members of the board of Indian commissioners first ap- pointed were William Welsh, of Philadelphia; John V. Farwell, of Chicago; George H. Stuart, of Philadelphia; Robert Campbell, of St. Louis ; William E. Dodge, of New York ; E. S. Tobey, of Boston ; Felix R. Brunot, of Pittsburgh ; Nathan Bishop, of New York; and Henry S. Lane, of Indiana. Vincent Colyer, of New York, was ap- pointed later to succeed Mr. Welsh, who resigned. Messrs. Brunot, Bishop and Dodge formed the committee that visited Oklahoma.
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other tribes in the vicinity of Fort Sill.3 Early in the previous spring, Vincent Colyer, an agent of a voluntary association of New York philanthropists which had been formed for the betterment of the Indians, and who subsequently was appointed as a member of the Board of Indian Commissioners, visited the Cherokee, Creek and Seminole nations and the various tribes which were then gath- ered at Fort Sill and at the Wichita Agency, on the Washita.4
There was much to beget a feeling of discontent. A year after they had retired to their reservations, they not only found the buffalo decreasing and the white hunters increasing, but Congress in its wisdom had seen fit to cut the appropriations for supplies. The Indians reasoned that they had been more generously dealt with immediately after quitting the war-path than they had after keeping the peace, hence, that, as a business proposition, going to war occasionally was more profitable than remaining at peace. Then, too, clandestine "traders" were alternately supplying them with guns and ammunition and whisky, and, anon, stealing their horses. Meanwhile, the irreconcilable bands, such as the Qhahada Comanches, were always taunting the peaceably disposed members of their respective tribes with cowardice. Under such conditions there was small cause for wonder that it was difficult to control some of the Indians. During the summer of 1870, small bands of Cheyennes, Comanches and Kiowas were engaged in hostile depre- dations. Several white men were killed and others wounded, in the vicinity of Fort Sill, and many horses and mules were stolen. Some of the members of the last mentioned tribes also raided the frontier settlements in Texas.
The Cheyennes were quiet during the year 1871. In the summer of that year a delegation of Indian chiefs from the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Wichita tribes visited New York and Boston, appear- ing in public meetings held at Cooper Union, at New York, and in Tremont Temple, at Boston, where several of them made short addresses.5 The Kiowas were very unruly, at that time, and in
3 Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1869, pp. 51-69.
4 Ibid., pp. 70-88.
5 Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1871, pp. 30-40. The members of the delegations of visiting chiefs were Little Raven, Powder Face and Bird Chief, of the Arapahoes; Little Robe and Stone Calf, of the Cheyennes; and Buffalo Good, of the Wichitas. Distinguished citizens of New York City and Boston appeared on the platform with the Indians at these meetings. One of the speakers at the Boston meeting was Wendell Phillips, whose address was an eloquent tribute to the character of the Indian.
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the latter part of May, Agent Tatum found it expedient to request Colonel Grierson, the post commander at Fort Sill, to arrest several of the Kiowa leaders who had taken an active part in a recent raid into Texas. General Sherman, the commander of the army, was at Fort Sill at the time. Satanta, a chief who had long been dis- tinguished for his warlike disposition, openly boasted of having led the raid, in the course of which a wagon train had been attacked and captured and seven white men killed. Together with Satank and Big Tree, he was arrested and held for trial on the charge of murder." A few days later, Col. Ranald S. McKenzie, of the Fourth U. S. Cavalry, with a strong military escort, prepared to remove the prisoners to Fort Richardson, Texas, near which post the Kiowas under the leadership of these chiefs had attacked the wagon train. Satanta and Big Tree rode in one wagon and Satank, who was so refractory that he had to be shackled, rode in another, with two soldiers to guard him." George Washington, the Caddo chief, was riding by the side of the wagons as they left Fort Sill. When but a short distance from the post, Satank called to George Washington and said :
"I want to send a little message by you to my people. Tell my people that I am dead. I died the first day out from Fort Sill. My bones will be lying on the side of the road. I wish my people to gather them up and take them home."
6 When Satanta came in to draw rations, Agent Tatum asked him who was responsible for the recent raid in Texas. Satanta's boasting reply was: "Yes, I led in that raid. I have repeatedly asked for arms and ammunition, which have not been furnished. I have made many 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. More recently I was arrested by the soldiers and kept in confinement several days. But that is played out now. There is 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 100 of my warriors to Texas, whom I wished to teach how to fight. I also took the chiefs, Satank, Eagle Heart, Big Bow, Big Tree and Fast Bear. We found a mule train, which we captured and killed seven of the men. Three of our men were killed but we are willing to call it even. It is all over now and it is not necessary to say much more about it. We don't expect to do any raiding around here this summer; but we expect to raid in Texas. If any other Indian claims the honor of leading that party, he will be lying to you. I led it myself."
7 "Our Red Brothers, " pp. 116-21.
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Satanta, too, sent a message to his people, equally brief and ex- plicit, though not so desperate. It was as follows :
"Tell my people to take the forty-one mules that we stole from Texas to the agent, as he and Colonel Grierson requires. Don't commit any depredations around Fort Sill or in Texas."
Then Satank began to chant his death song and, turning his back to the guards, he pulled the shackles from his wrists, tearing the skin from his hands in the process. He then produced a butcher-knife from beneath his blanket, though he had been twice searched by the soldiers, and with it started for the guards, both of whom jumped from the wagon, leaving their guns. Satank picked up one of these and began to load it but fell, pierced by several bullets fired by other guards, and died in a few minutes. He was buried at Fort Sill, his own people declining to receive the remains for burial. Satanta and Big Tree were placed on trial before a Texas court, charged with murder. They were con- victed and sentenced to be hanged. Agent Tatum asked that the sentence be commuted to life imprisonment, his petition being supported also by Colonel Grierson, General Sherman and the trial judge. The governor of Texas granted the request. The Kiowas were cowed for a time, ceased raiding, restored some stolen stock and surrendered several white captives. They always demanded to be rewarded for bringing in captives (it having been the custom to exact a heavy ransom for the release of white prisoners) but Agent Tatum was firm on that point, no more rewards ever being paid for such transactions after he took charge of the Agency at Fort Sill.
In 1871, and again, in 1872, the inter-tribal council at Okmulgee sent a delegation to hold a peace council with the wild tribes living in the western part of the Indian Territory. The Kiowas were very reluctant to take part in such gatherings, some of their leaders boldly proclaiming that they had no intention of giving up raiding. In the latter part of the summer of 1872, Capt. Henry E. Alvord,8
8 Henry E. Alvord was born at Greenfield, Massachusetts, in 1844. He was educated at Norwich University and entered the vol- unteer military service as a private in 1862, and was rapidly pro- moted, being major of the Second Massachusetts Cavalry at the close of the war. From 1866 to 1872 he was a captain in the regular army. He then engaged in farming in Virginia; became interested in agricultural education; taught agriculture in Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maryland. He was presi- dent of the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1894- 5, resigning the position because of his disapproval of partisan
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of Virginia, and Prof. Edward Parrish, of Philadelphia, were sent as special commissioners to inspect the work of the agencies of the Kiowas, Comanches and Plains Apaches, of the Wichitas, Caddoes and affiliated tribes, and of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes, to hold councils with the peoples of those tribes and to induce each to desig- nate representatives to join a delegation which the commissioners planned to take back with them when they returned to Washington. Unfortunately, Professor Parrish was confined to his bed with an attack of typhoid fever soon after arriving at the Fort Sill Agency, where he died. Captain Alvord was therefore left to continue the projected negotiations alone.
Immediately after the conclusion of the council between the representatives of the tribes which had participated in the gather- ing at Okmulgee and their "plains brethren," the latter went into council with Captain Alvord. Most of the tribes professed to be friendly and readily consented to send representatives to Washing- ton. In the council, which was held near Fort Cobb, on the 6th and 7th of September, Captain Alvord plainly told the Indians that the Government would effectually stop their raiding into Texas. On the second day of the council, speeches or talks were made by twenty-eight of the chiefs and head men of the various tribes, nearly all of whom entered denials on the part of their people and blamed the Kiowas and Quahada Comanches for all recent hostilities. Finally, Tabinanaka, the chief of one of the Comanche bands, whom Captain Alvord described as "a chief of fine physique, unmistakable talents and great power," arose and addressed the assemblage. Disclaiming all sympathy with the practice of raiding and committing atrocities in the settlements and his desire to avoid and prevent conflicts with the white people, he frankly stated his wish to roam the Plains for the present, his unwillingness to enter into closer relations with the Government, his opposition to en- croachments upon or invasions of the country claimed by him and his people and his intention, in event of hostilities, of joining any Indians who might be resisting the United States troops. Then, turning to the assembled chiefs, he continued :
"I am your kinsman and friend, but I cannot in silence hear you throw upon the Kiowas, the Quahadas and their associate Comanches, all the blame for depredations committed, claim inno-
officiousness on the part of the governing board. He was then selected by Secretary J. Sterling Morton, of the department of agri- culture to organize the dairy division in that department, and served as chief of the same until his death, which occurred in 1904.
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cence for yourselves and promise the good behavior of your people. I see here but three tribes, whose young men, at least, have not been present, and equally guilty with our people and the Kiowas, in more or less of the forays of the last two years, and they are the Arapahoes, the Caddoes and the Delawares. The Cheyennes and Osages have also acted with us, and, as to your promises, you could not control your young braves if you would, and you do not attempt it."
Few Kiowas were present at the council but another council was held with them two weeks later. They were induced to select delegates to go to Washington only after Captain Alvord promised that the delegates should be permitted to meet Satanta and Big Tree on their way thither. Even then, at the last hour, several of the Kiowa delegates took flight. Fearing a general stampede, Captain Alvord started immediately for Atoka (then the terminus of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway) with a delegation of twenty chiefs and head men, representing the Comanches, Kiowas and Plains Apaches. Great tact and diplomacy were necessary to prevent some of them from turning back, even then, but, having secured a special car for his charges, he landed them safely in St. Louis, whither, by previous arrangement, the imprisoned chieftains, Satanta and Big Tree, were brought to meet them. (This meeting could have been held at Atoka but it was not deemed the part of wisdom to hold it there lest some of the delegation make an attempt to escape and return to their people without completing the journey to Washington.) The meeting between the members of the dele- gation with Satanta and Big Tree took place at the Everett House, in St. Louis, and was described by Captain Alvord as "a most impressive and affecting occasion." The delegation contained a number of the leading chiefs, including Mow-o-way, of the Comanches, and Lone Wolf, of the Kiowas. Their long rides upon the railroad trains and their visits to St. Louis, Cincinnati and Washington were, of course, events which were ever memorable in their lives.
Captain Alvord's report ยบ was enlightening and his recom- mendations were of a decidedly practical nature. He entered into considerable detail in discussing the various phases of the problem of clothing and subsisting the Indians by the several agencies which he visited and was very severe in some of his criticisms. As an
9 The full text of Captain Alvord's report appears in the An- nual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1872, pp. 128-48.
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instance of his concise comments and suggestions the following, concerning the issue of beef, may be quoted :
"The ration of beef will do where the Indians have access to game in abundance, but it is not sufficient for the subsistence of an active Indian. It is recommended as a matter at once of justice and economy that the agents be authorized to double the ration of beef for each quarter of the year to such bands as entirely refrain in participation in hunting parties during the last preced- ing quarter of the year.
"The present method of issuing beef on the hoof, sometimes weighing, but commonly estimating the weight, and never giving exactly the correct amount, is the cause of much discontent. The Indians always take their allowance of beef, and, when not sup- plied with buffalo, none is wasted; but often a good allowance of meat is on hand, and then the beeves are killed and frequently only the hide and choice pieces are taken away. The hides are now generally lost or traded by the Indians for very little. The way they butcher the becf issued to them is revolting and must tend to foster their barbarous tastes. For these reasons it is recommended that hereafter, except in the hottest weather, all beef be properly dressed and issued from the block. This might be arranged with the contractor, as at military posts; but if not, the change need create no increase of expenditure, as the hides alone will repay the cost of the additional employes necessary."
But suggestions for improvement, and in the interest of increased efficiency, or for economy met with but scant considera- tion at the hands of officials who were hopelessly entangled in de- partmental red tape. Likewise, the mouldy flour, and half-rotten tobacco, and shoddy clothing, which he found had been furnished by dishonest contractors for issue to the Indians, gave evidence of the existence of a condition which might be challenged by such an honest and courageous investigator but the influence of crooked commercialism was too potent in congressional and departmental circles to be seriously disturbed thereby.
Ever since the establishment of the reservation for the Co- manches and Kiowas, the Quahada band of Comanches had persist- ently refused to be governed by the treaty or to go near the tribal agency. Unprincipled white traders from New Mexico supplied them with arms and ammunition. They openly ridiculed those of the other bands of their own people and of other tribes which con- sented to settle on reservations and boasted that they would not visit the agency until the soldiers fought and conquered them. Taking
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them at their word, Colonel Mckenzie, who was in command at Fort Richardson, Texas, marched against them in the fall of 1872, sur- prised their village and attacked it. Most of the warriors fled, leav- ing the village with the women and children to be captured. The village and its contents were burned and the women and children of the Quahada Band were taken to Fort Richardson and held as prisoners. The Quahada chiefs and warriors thereupon visited the tribal agency at Fort Sill for the first time. As was suspected, mem- bers of every other Comanche Band were found with the Quahadas, as also some Kiowas.
The Kiowas and Comanches were all on their good behavior dur- ing the winter of 1872-3, the former because they hoped to secure the release of their imprisoned chiefs and the latter because they were anxious to secure the liberation of the captive women and children of the Quahada Band. Captain Alvord had been au- thorized to promise the release of Satanta and Big Tree at the end of six months if the Kiowas would abstain from raids and other hostile acts during that time, but he did not deem it wise to do so under the conditions then prevailing, so he did not mention the mat- ter at all. While Lone Wolf and three other Kiowa chiefs were in Washington, with the delegation which accompanied Captain Alvord, they were promised that Satanta and Big Tree should be released if the Kiowas remained peaceful for six months. The cap- tivity of the women and children of the Qualiada Comanches afforded Agent Tatum a splendid opportunity to bring about the surrender of white captives who had been held in bondage by the Indians. The Quahadas only surrendered four prisoners at first, and, almost immediately, began to plead for the release of their cap- tive women and children who were held at Fort Richardson, . Texas. Having learned that they still held other prisoners, Agent Tatum wrote to Colonel Mckenzie, requesting the release of four of the Quahada women. As a result of his shrewdness in manipulating the matter, he was enabled to secure the release of seven white cap- tives and twelve Mexican prisoners during the last eight months of his service at the Fort Sill Agency. Prior to the time the Co- manches and Kiowas were forced to take up their abode upon the reservation which had been assigned to them, such prisoners, if rescued at all had to be ransomed at a cost varying from $100 to $1,500 each.
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