In the concluding part of my last letter, speaking of the treaties with the Comanches and Kiowas made at the mouth of the Little Arkansas, and I asserted that Satanta, a party to that treaty, now refused to accede to its provisions relative to going on the limited reservation, &c. But I now find that at least one member of the present Commission, who was also a member of that which negotiated the treaties of October, 1865, believes that Satanta is justified in his course, since the terms of the treaty as published are not what Satanta and his nation agreed to. The Kiowas and Comanches, says this Commissioner, ceded the country between the Arkansas and Cimerone Rivers and the Red Fork of the Arkansas conditionally; it was ceded for the occupancy of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes. It was not a cession to the United States; it was a cession to the two tribes last mentioned. This was well understood. But while this treaty was under consideration in the Senate, it was, upon the motion of a Kansas Senator, so altered as to leave no sign of the purpose for which the territory was ceded. As the treaty now reads, the land is surrendered absolutely to the United States--a thing to which the Kiowas never agreed. Hence their protests. And at the same time one must admit that these protests would almost dwindle down to a mere quibble, if the Cheyennes and Arapahoes would execute their treaty of 1865, by which the land ceded by the Kiowas was set apart as their reservation. Let them go on it and Satanta would have no equitable or excuse for refusing to comply with the treaty. But if the Cheyennes decline, certainly the Kiowas and Comanches should retain the land.

    Among the statements recently presented to the Commission is a supplemental one prepared by the Governor of Kansas, whom I believe to be honest. He specifies numerous Indian outrages committed at various times, reiterates his charges against the Osage agent, Snow, and accuses J. H. Leavenworth, the Comanche and Kiowa agent, of dishonesty, of selling arms and ammunition to hostile Indians, &c. Senator Ross is confident of Leavenworth's guilt, and promises to prove it. One would be disinclined to believe these charges, as yet unsubstantiated, no matter whence they come, but, unfortunately, two dismissals from the army for irregularities weaken one's faith in the man. The Governor demands, almost, his removal in case the present no-policy policy is persisted in.

    The Commission proceeded to the council-place about half-past ten o'clock on Sunday, and arrived there only to find the ground vacant. Not an Indian was in sight. So the Commissioners betook themselves to discussing the provisions of the proposed treaty. While thus occupied a delegation of Osages made their appearance, they having arrived that morning. These Indians looked differently from any I had seen. The hair, instead of being unshorn, was cut quite short, and, on the top of the head, is bristled up into a comb, extruding from the forehead to the nape of the neck. They are greatly addicted to red paint, are stouter than the Cheyennes, and have differently shaped faces. They had almost been out of provisions for a couple of days, and were jaded and worn by their long march.
    After shaking hands, "Little Bear," the Osage Chief, said, through his Indian interpreter, that their agent, Snow, the individual whose alleged misdeeds have been spoken of, had forbidden them to come, but that they had, and he expected his people to follow. He had come to hear what the Commission had to say, since they sent for him. They had been on the Arkansas, and over on the Salt Plain, and their ponies' feet were worn out and were mocasined. Some of their prominent Chiefs had not come on account of the distance, and the Agent had stopped half of the Indians from coming.
    They were told where to camp, orders were given to furnish them beef and flour, and they were informed that the Commission would speak with them at a future day.

    After a long delay, the fault whereof was assumed by the Commissioners, who admitted that they had been late, the Comanches and Kiowas came in, and "Ten Bear," a Comanche, made the first speech. My heart, said he, is filled with joy when I see you here, as the brooks fill with water when the snows melt in the spring; and I feel glad, as the ponies do when the fresh grass starts in the beginning of the year. I heard of your coming when I was many sleeps away, and I made but few camps before I met you. I knew that you had come to do good to me and to my people. I looked for benefits which would last forever, and so my face shines with joy as I look upon you. My people have never first drawn a bow or fired a gun against the whites. There has been trouble on the line between us, and my young men have danced the war dance. But it was not begun by us. It was you who sent out the first soldier and we who sent out the second. Two years ago, I came up upon this road, following the buffalo, that my wives and children might have their cheeks plump and their bodies warm. But the soldiers fired on us, and since that time there has been a noise like that of a thunder storm, and we have not known which way to go. So it was upon the Canadian. Nor have we been made to cry once alone. The blue dressed soldiers and the Utes came from out of the night when it was dark and still, and for camp-fires they lit our lodges. Instead of hunting game they killed my braves and the warriors of the tribe cut short their hair for the dead. So it was in Texas. They made sorrow come in our camps, and we went out like the buffalo bulls when the cows are attacked. When we found them we killed them and their scalps hang in our lodges. The Comanches are not weak and blind, like the pups of a dog when seven sleeps old. They are strong and far-sighted like grown horses. We took their road and we went on it. The white women cried and our women laughed.
    But there are things which you have said to me which I did not like. They were not sweet like sugar, but bitter like gourds. You said that you wanted to put us upon a reservation, to build us houses and make us medicine lodges. I do not want them. I was born upon the prairie, where the wind blew free and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures and where everything drew a free breath. I want to die there and not within walls. I know every stream and every wood between the Rio Grande and the Arkansas. I have hunted and lived over that country. I lived like my fathers before me and like them I lived happily.
    When I was at Washington the Great Father told me that all the Comanche land was ours and that no one should hinder us in living upon it. So why do you ask us to leave the rivers, and the sun, and the wind, and live in houses? Do not ask us to give up the buffalo for the sheep. The young men have heard talk of this, and it has made them sad and angry. Do not speak of it more. I love to carry out the talk I get from the Great Father. When I get goods and presents I and my people feel glad, since it shows that he holds us in his eye.
    If the Texans had kept out of my country, there might have been peace. But that which you now say we must live on is too small. The Texans have taken away the places where the grass grew the thickest and the timber was the best. Had we kept that, we might have done the things you ask. But it is too late. The white man has the country which we loved, and we only wish to wander on the prairie until we die. Any good thing you say to me shall not be forgotten. I shall carry it as near to my heart as my children and it shall be as often on my tongue as the name of the Great Father. I want no blood upon my land to stain the grass. I want it all clear and pure, and I wish it so that all who go through among my people may find peace when they come in and leave it when they go out.
    Satanta then said that when the Commissioners came to issue the annuities he would like to get all that was due him, with no little bits cut off. He wanted nothing kept back. Then Satanta pulled up from his seat the reluctant Black Eagle, who drew back like a young man invited to the piano. Finally he arose, dressed in an old bed-gown of calico and a night-cap of the same, and said all the Comanches, &c., were glad of heart to see the Commissioners. He wanted Leavenworth to issue his goods. Here he ended his harangue and sat down.
    The Kiowas said that they had nothing more to say. "Ten Bear," for the Comanches, observed that the young men had not been to Washington. He had, and had there learned to manage things. Hence he would speak for them.
    Senator Henderson in reply, said that the Commissioners had listened to what had been said and had considered it well. They were glad to hear the Indians express confidence in them, and to hear them promise to follow the good road. What the Commissioners said might be unpleasant, but if they followed it, it would be for their good. Through Satanta they had said they desired to hold the country south of the Arkansas. By the treaty of the Little Arkansas they had received in their country the Cheyennes and Arapahoes--
    Satanta here interrupted to say that he wanted two agents for his people. His people had two hearts, and did not think alike. He had no objection to Colonel Leavenworth, or any Commissioner, but he thought it would be for the good of the tribe to have two agents. He would take himself and the Kiowas, who would follow him, and have Tappan, the sutler at Larned, for their agent. The other Kiowas could follow Leavenworth and the Comanches. He would like to have Tappan for his agent.
    "Ten Bear" lifted up his voice again, and said that he had never broken his word. Leavenworth, like himself, was an old man. He loved him, and so did his people. While he lived he would like to have Leavenworth for his agent; when he was dead it mattered not. What Leavenworth promised he did, and so they loved him. They know him better than any one else. When there was talk of trouble they went to him, and he made it all straight. When the Cheyennes broke out, he, in accordance with Colonel's instructions, tried to pacify them, but in vain. A new agent was like an untamed mustang. They preferred to keep a trained horse, rather than take a new one and break him in.
    Satanta whittled during this talk and said nothing. He with his immense head and powerful face, certainly formed the chief feature the occasion.
    Senator Henderson then continued: But it was agreed that the Comanches and Kiowas could hunt up to the river. The Commission was still willing. They did not like the medicine lodge of the whites, but did like buffalo, the chase, and the ways of the fathers. That was not objected to, but the buffalo would not last forever. They were disappearing, and the Indians must know it. When that day came, the Indian must leave his father's road, or suffer and probably die. [Laughter.] The change might make them better. The Commission wanted them to live and offered a way. The whites were settling up all the good land, and had reached the Arkansas. When they came they drove out the buffalo. The whites were many and they few. They might kill some, but others would take their places. At last many red men would have been killed and the rest made homeless. The Commission had come to prevent that. They were their best friends and wished to give them good lands before the whites should occupy it all. On that home a house would be built to hold the goods given them. Thither they could go when cold and hungry. Doctors would be sent them, and blacksmiths, as well as farmers to teach them to grow corn, and mills to grind it. Each year everyone would be furnished a suit of clothing. They were not asked to stop hunting. They could roam south of the Arkansas, as of old, but they must have a place to call their own, and a house for goods, etc. There must be a place for the agent to live, and one where those who wished to farm could do so. They should have a spot to bury their dead. They need not stay there, except when they pleased. It did not hinder their hunting. It was proposed to make that home on the Red River and around the Wichita Mountains. The papers had been prepared. There they wanted a house built. The next day they wanted the Chiefs to meet them at the camp and sign the papers.

    Satanta was informed that his request would be considered, and the council broke up.
    The papers referred to are a treaty with the Comanches and Kiowas, not making territorial acquisitions, but entering into details as to the time, place and manner of their going upon an agricultural reservation. The time is substantially when they please. The government is to furnish them the persons and articles mentioned in Senator Henderson's speech, and, until they feel inclined to settle, they can roam.
    The only events of the afternoon were Satanta's lying complaints that he had not received all his goods, and a terrible wind storm which threatened to blow everything away. At the same time the prairies were burning on several sides, and the smoke obscured the light and filled the tents with blinding vapor. The cattle were driven in upon the camp and everything was in momentary confusion. The only result was that the weather changed and it became intensely cold.
    On Wednesday morning the Kiowas and Comanches, Chiefs and warriors, about fifteen in number, met and signed the treaty or, to speak more liberally, touched the tip of a pen held in the hand of some one else. They were, I believe, satisfied with the conditions of the treaty as finally agreed upon. The cession of the buffalo country is a thing to which they will never consent. To force from them, for settlement, the land south of the Arkansas, would, by peace measures, be impossible.
    The scene of signing the treaty was not a peculiarly impressive one. There was a tent filled with painted Indians, and a few white men. There was a translating of clauses, a series of discussions, and finally the eccentric signing referred to. The treaty is a good one, if the Indians will carry out its provisions. But in the meantime the Cheyennes do not come in. Querriere was sent after them on Sunday night, and it is reported, that they will be in tomorrow. In that case we shall probably leave on Wednesday.
    After the treaty had been signed, the goods brought as presents were distributed among the Indians. The Chiefs first gave the directions to their subs and they proceeded to distribute. This done, the whole medley of men, women and children appeared, riding double and treble; babes with hats and overcoats on; women accoutred in masculine gear, and men bedizened and happy. Infinite wolf-dogs hovered around, and ponies with entangled lariats kicked and plunged. Even the falling rain did not disturb the Indians in their devotion to the goods. Tomorrow the delayed annuity goods will be distributed.
    I subjoin the names of the signers, since it shows Indian taste in their selection:
    Sa-tan-ta, or "White Bear."
    Sa-tank, or "Sitting Bear."
    Watakonk, or "Black Eagle."
    Pawnee, or "Poor Man;"
    Ta-ki-bull, or "Stinking Saddle Cloth;"
    Kaw-pe-ah, or "Plumed Lance;"
    Settem-ka-yah, or "Bear Runs Over a Man;"
    Ton-a-en-ko, or "Kicking Eagle;"
    Zip-ki-yan, or "Big Bow;"
    Queil-park, or "Lone Wolf;"
    Bo-wah-quas-sah, or "Iron Shirt;"
    Bo-yah-wah-to-yeh-be, or "Iron Mountain;"
    Parry-wah-say-mer, or "Ten Bears;"
    Ho-to-yo-koh-wot, or "Over the Buttes;"
    Pocha-naw-quoip, or "Buffalo Hump;"
    Ta-ha-yer-quoip, or "Horse's Back;"
    Queen-un-e-vah, or "Eagle Drinking;"
    Ma-ye-tin, or "Woman's Heart;"
    Lil-pa-go, or "One Bear;"
    Tip-e-na-voc, or "Parted Lips;"
    Sa-ah-yo, or "Dog Fat;"
    Ar-te-es-tis, or "Little Horn;"
    Hoe-meer, or "Go in the Woods;"
    Cear-chi-ne-ka, or "Standing Feather;"
    E-Sin-con-na-cu, or "Wolf's Name;"
    Kap-ho-hone, or "Crown."

    In the afternoon "Little Robe," "Minnimik," "Gray Beard" and "Sand Hill," Cheyenne Chiefs, made their appearance, and were fed and clothed by the Good Samaritans now encamped on the Medicine Lodge Creek. After supper they were taken to the office tent and talked to.
    "White Robe" had missed Querriere, the messenger, but thought he might hurry up the Cheyennes a little. When he got back there would be something more definite. He thought that when the bands heard of the haste of the Commission, they might some way get in sooner. He, himself, intended to stay. The soldiers were all together, and no runners would leave. They were all coming in in a body. It had taken them longer to collect the nation than they thought. All the Chiefs had been busy since leaving the camp of Colonel Murphy. The Chiefs begged for delay. Their people must see the great Chiefs sent from Washington to do them good. If necessary, one could be sent back immediately, if there were anything more to be said than the last runner bore.
    The Chiefs were informed that the Commission would use its influence to induce the other tribes to remain. If they wanted to see all the Commissioners, they must come in within four days.
    "Little Robe" replied that he had no doubt the Commissioners were in a hurry, and, so were his people, since they had dropped off one day from the number usually occupied in making medicine. He had given his promise to the nation to represent the case, and had done so. His people wanted to see all together; but if they could not, why so be it.
    "Black Kettle," also present, pledged his word that all would be in in six days. He knew the Chiefs on one side and the Commissioners on the other were right. Both sides--his people and the Commission--were coming nearer and nearer together, and soon they could shake hands.
    "Little Robe" said that his people were fully satisfied. They had no doubts. They wanted to embrace the Commission and make a lasting peace.
    The Commissioners simply replied that they were glad to see them, and wanted to know when their people would be in.
    "Little Robe" said it might be four or five nights before his people could get in--not longer. They were in a hurry to come, but they had begun their ceremonies and must finish. He had been called on by the men of the nation, all in one village, to come as a delegate and state their wishes. They wished the Commission not to be in a hurry. They would prefer the other nations to be detained until they should come. They wanted a general talk, and to say something to them in the presence of the Commission.
    From statements of the Chiefs made to other parties, it appears that it took them some time to agree upon the place and time for renewing the medicine for their arrows, &c. One day had been passed in this occupation, and it would, certainly, require two more. It is also said by them that they have definitely decided for peace, and have adopted and are discussing certain laws regulating their internal affairs and intended to protect the quiet that is to be.
    The talk with the Apaches and Arapahoes will be held to-morrow.

Source:

Unknown, "The Indians, The Conference of the Peace Commission with the Southwestern Tribes, Second Day of the Council," Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois, Tuesday, 29 October, 1867, Page 2.