Following the American Civil War, Congress and others debated about the best way to bring peace to the West (primarily the Great Plains area). General Alexander McCook announced that there were only three basic alternatives for federal Indian policy: (1) preserve the area west of the Kansas settlements and east of California for Indians alone; (2) place Indians on reservations and use the military to keep them there; or (3) exterminate them.
With regard to Indian reservations, Republican Senator Thomas Tipton from Nebraska stated that the only wise Indian policy involved placing Indians on “reservations guarded around by bayonets; reservations over the limits of which the Indians shall not pass … reservations with walls as high as necessary, and with pitfalls as deep as necessary.”
There were some people, acknowledging that the United States had a large, well-trained, and battle-tested army, who advocated a military solution in which war would be fought against the Indians until they were either exterminated or until they had settled peacefully on reservations established by the government.
Congress debated whether Indian nations should be approached through negotiations or through the use of military force. In general, the view of using negotiations rather than force prevailed with proponents citing the huge cost of warfare with the Plains Indians. One Senator estimated the cost of killing an Indian at $1 million, while others felt that it would take 10,000 soldiers at least three years to “pacify” the Plains. The alternative to exterminating the Indians seemed to be to consolidate them on large reservations, out of the way of “progress” (and railroad lines), and then to “civilize” them with Christianity.
In 1867, Congress established an Indian Peace Commission of three generals and four civilians to negotiate settlements with the hostile Indians. The Peace Commission would try to bring together the warring tribal leaders, to determine the causes of their unrest, and to negotiate treaties with them. Historian Duane Schultz, in his book Month of the Freezing Moon: The Sand Creek Massacre, November 1864, writes:
“The charter of the Indian peace commission was ambitious, nothing less than a permanent peace with the hostile tribes and the removal of all Indians to reservations far from roads and railroads.”
Initially, these reservations were to be large enough to allow the Indians to continue to support themselves with hunting, but as they became more proficient as farmers, the size of the reservations was to be reduced. The government was also to provide the Indians with missionary instruction in Christianity. Non-Indians were to be excluded from the reservation, except for those employed by the government. Briefly described below are some of the different peace councils that were held 150 years ago in 1872.
Grand Council
During the first part of the nineteenth century, the United States had forced many Indian nations to leave their homelands and to relocate west of the Mississippi River in what is now Oklahoma. Following the Civil War, the tribes formed the Grand Council to discuss common concerns.
In 1872, the Grand Council met at Okmulgee. The tribes in attendance included Choctaw, Creek, Cherokee, Seminole, Wyandotte, Ottawa, Seneca, Eastern Shawnee, Quapaw, Caddo, Camanche, Wichita, Sac and Fox, and Delaware. Among the items discussed were the recent raids against the Chickasaw. As a result, there was a call for a council with the Plains tribes at Fort Cobb.
Kiowa
In Texas, a Kiowa war party attacked an American farm on the Brazos River, killing three and capturing three children. The Indian Office realized that if the raids were to continue, the United States would mount a full-scale war against the Kiowa. In order to bring peace to the region, they called for a Peace Commission.
Indian Peace Commission
In Oklahoma, the Indian Peace Commission held general council at Fort Cobb with representatives of the Grand Council and several Plains tribes. Attending the meeting were Chilly McIntosh, Micco Yahola, and Micco Hutchee representing the Creek Nation; James Vann, Eli Smith, and Daniel H. Ross representing the Cherokee Nation; John Jumper and Fushutchee Harjo representing the Seminole nation; Coleman Cole, and J.P. Folsom representing the Choctaw Nation. Also attending were Black Beaver (Delaware), Warloup (Caddo), George Washington (Caddo), Tosawa (Comanche), Little Robe (Cheyenne), and Arapaho leaders Little Raven, Spotted Wolf, and Big Mouth.
In an article in Chronicles of Oklahoma, Andrew Denson reports:
“Missing at the council’s opening, however, were the people whose actions had occasioned the meeting, the Kiowas and their allies, and that raised the possibility that the council would sputter out before it truly began.”
However, word reaches the council that the Kiowa are coming but are concerned about troop movements indicating that the council might be a trap. Finally, after several days, a group of Kiowa, Kiowa-Apache, and Comanche come into the council.
The Kiowa chiefs at the council included Lone Wolf (who spoke formally for the Kiowa), Kicking Bird, Woman’s Heart, Son of the Sun, Running Bear, and White Horse. Both Lone Wolf and Kicking Bird had opposed the recent raids.
The Comanche chiefs at the council included Esihabit, Ten Bears, Iron Mountain, Quitsquip, Horse Back, and Red Food.
The council had three basic goals: (1) the return of the three children captured by the Kiowa; (2) the formation of a delegation to visit Washington, D.C.; and (3) the encouragement of peace in the region.
Kiowa chief Lone Wolf told the council that he was ready for peace, but first he wants the release of Satanta. He told the council:
“Let us see his face and we will surrender the captives, all the government property—everything, and pledge ourselves to white and red jointly in a peace which shall never be broken by us.”
In 1870, a Kiowa and Comanche war party led by Satanta and others had attacked a wagon train. The Army arrested Satanta and took him to Texas to stand trial for murder. His attorney challenged the state’s right to try the Indians because they were wards of the government and under federal jurisdiction. A jury composed of local merchants and leading citizens found Satanta guilty and sentenced him to hang.
While the council was in session, a Comanche war party captured about 20 horses from some Chickasaw farms. These horse raids angered the delegates from the Five Civilized Tribes.
Arizona
In Arizona, General Oliver Otis Howard, who is described as America’s Christian General, agreed to attempt to contact Chiricahua Apache leader Cochise without a military escort. Howard and four others lit a ring of five fires to show that five men have come in peace. Eventually two boys appeared at the Americans’ camp and led them to a secluded mountain valley containing an Apache camp. That evening, Cochise appeared in the camp.
For ten days Howard and Cochise bargained. Howard wanted the Apache to settle on a reservation on the Rio Grande, but Cochise asked to keep the Chiricahua homeland at Apache Pass. Historian Robert Utley, in his book A Clash of Cultures: Fort Bowie and the Chiricahua Apaches, reports:
“Eventually Howard bowed to Cochise’s wish to remain in his home country and proposed a reservation embracing a large part of the Chiricahua Mountains and the adjoining Sulphur Springs and San Simon Valleys.”
Under the agreement, the Chiricahua were to police themselves without army supervision.
Many high-ranking members of the U.S. Army, including Generals Crook and Schofield, were not happy with the agreement. In an article in The Indian Historian, D.C. Cole writes:
“The military was particularly incensed by the exemption of the reservation from military supervision.”
However, the Department of the Interior confirmed the site, and the reservation was established by Presidential Executive Order.
Idaho
In Idaho, a special commission created by the Secretary of the Interior met with the Shoshone and Bannock of the Fort Hall Reservation. The commission soon found that the major problem in the area was the “annoyance” which the American settlers felt regarding “roving Indians”. The commission reported that the people of Idaho had a general dislike of Indians.
Arizona
In Arizona, General Oliver Otis Howard called a peace conference with more than 1,000 Kwevkepaya Yavapai and Apache to quell animosity in the region. Also attending the conference were 19 Tohono O’odham and 40 Pima. The spokesmen for the Yavapai included Pawchine, Sygollah, Wehabesuwa, and Sekwalakawala. All agreed that hostilities should be ended. The Yavapai and the San Carlos Apache promised to help the Americans chase down those who resisted the American invasion.
Indians 101
This series presents Indian topics twice each week (Tuesdays and Thursdays). More about nineteenth-century peace councils and treaties from this series:
Indians 201: The 1854-1855 Western Washington Treaties
Indians 101: The First U.S. Treaties with the Navajo
Indians 101: American Lies and the Treaty of Fort Laramie
Indians 101: The 1837 Winnebago Treaty
Indians 101: Treaty Rock and the Coeur d'Alene Indians
Indians 101: Chehalis Treaties and Reservations
Indians 101: Cherokee Treaty Claims
Indians 101: A Chippewa Treaty