Kiowas Wanted No Part of Peace Plan
T EXAS History
Opposed to Kicking Bird’s policy of peaceful coexistence with the whites, dissident Kiowas punished their chief with a poisoned cup of coffee on May 2, 1875.
A nineteenth century authority on NorthAmerican Indians rated the Kiowas “the most predatory and bloodthirsty” of the prairie tribes. His opinion was influenced by the fact that in proportion to their comparatively small size, which never exceeded three thousand, they killed by far the most white trespassers.
The Kiowas made up for their lack of numbers with unmatched ferocity in combat and a delicate touch in the art of diplomacy. Red rivals they could not defeat in battle were cleverly converted into loyal allies.
After 50 years of inconclusive warfare, the Kiowas buried the hatchet with the Comanches in 1790. While the Comanches remained their closest comrades-in-arms, their list of formidable friends also included the Pueblos, Towakanis, Wacos, Wichitas and Crows.
Although a famous Indian fighter condemned them as “deceitful and unreliable and absolutely destitute of most of the chivalrous characteristics which distinguish the Comanche,” the Kiowas scrupulously observed the terms of an 1837 armistice with the U.S. government. But the inhabitants of independent Texas were considered fair game and continued to come under attack even after annexation.
In 1867 the void left by the death of Little Bluff, who ruled the Kiowas with an iron hand for 32 years, was filled by a brilliant adopted son. Born a Crow, Kicking Bird had been given to the Kiowas to raise in order to strengthen the long-standing ties between the two tribes.
Kicking Bird was a pragmatist. He viewed the triumph of the white race as an inevitability the red man was powerless to prevent. The Indian, he believed, had but two choices: adapt or die.
As a result, Kicking Bird agreed to the resettlement of his nomadic people on the aboriginal preserve known as the Indian Territory. However, keeping restless young warriors on the reservation proved to be an impossible task.
More often than not, Kicking Bird succeeded in talking headstrong braves out of raiding the isolated ranches and pioneer settlements south of the Red River. On those occasions the hotheads ignored his plea for peace, the patient chief cleaned up their mess by arranging for the return of stolen horses and the release of white captives.
Most of the time Kicking Bird even managed to restrain the bellicose Lone Wolf, a persistent proponent of perpetual war. He averted a bloodbath by persuading Lone Wolf to give up an impulsive plan to kidnap the visiting governor of Texas and the reservation schoolteacher.
But nothing could stop Santanta, Santank and Big Tree from leading scores of young Kiowas astray in 1871. When the unrepentant trio was convicted in a Texas court for the Salt Creek Massacre, Kicking Bird pacified their infuriated tribesmen and forestalled retaliation.
Washington rewarded the peacekeeper by officially recognizing him as the head chief of the Kiowas. But there was a catch. He had to finger all the troublemakers.
Kicking Bird complied by giving authorities a list of 75 incorrigibles, who were swiftly rounded up for deportation to Florida. On the eve of what would be for most a one-way trip, the despised collaborator addressed the sullen prisoners.
“My brothers, the time has come to say goodbye. I am sorry for you. But because of your stubbornness, I have failed to keep you out of trouble. You will have to be punished by the government. Take your medicine. It will not be for long. I love you and will work for your release.”
An enraged medicine man shouted, “You remain free, a big man with the whites. But you will not live long. I will see to that!”
The threat unnerved Kicking Bird and caused him to sink into a deep depression. Despite elaborate precautions taken to ensure his safety, he was haunted by a gnawing sense of imminent doom.
The conspirators infiltrated his personal staff and bribed a trusted Mexican servant into being the instrument of their revenge. He handed his unsuspecting master a cup of coffee laced with a fast-acting and fatal poison.
The reservation doctor could only shake his head and confirm the patient’s own diagnosis. There was no known antidote, and death would come in a matter of minutes.
Kicking Bird did not apologize for the controversial course he had chosen, and his last words were an eerie epitaph. “I am dying. I have taken the white man’s road. I am not sorry for it. Tell my people to keep in the good path. I am dying holding fast to the white man’s hand.”
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