Changes

{{Mediawiki:kindleoasis}}

__NOTOC__

The tribes which inhabited the southern plains of the United States, aptly called the “Buffalo Indians,” all originated in another region of North America. As the 19th century progressed, these groups of people were well adapted and thrived in their environment. The middle of the century; however, proved to be increasingly challenging to the Native American tribes as the U.S. government sought to contain, if not eliminate, these nomadic hunters in order to exploit the region and its resources for the advancement of westward expansion. In 1865 the American Civil War had at last come to an end, thus allowing for an increased military presence in Texas and the Southern Plains region. Further, the intercontinental railroad was completed in 1868, which increased the rate of the transportation of goods to the East and migrant settlers to the West.

== South Plains Tribes ==

The tribes that composed the South Plains Indians were the Kiowa, Comanche, Cheyenne, and Arapaho. Each of these groups migrated to the region out of necessity. The Comanche migrated south from the North Plains region of the United States near the onset of the 18th century. Following soon after was the Kiowa tribe. Before the arrival of the Kiowa, the Comanche enjoyed the abundance of fertile hunting grounds the southern plains had to offer and immediately became hostile towards the Kiowa upon their arrival. Over the years, the two tribes engaged in territorial fighting until in 1795 they agreed to form the Kiowa-Comanche Confederation.<ref>Haley, 1.</ref>

== Buffalo Hunters ==

In 1870, a new process was developed for tanning hides, thereby making hunting a lucrative endeavor. It was in that year that Josiah Wright Mooar departed his New England home in pursuit of converting buffalo hunting into a lucrative business. Coinciding with the new tanning process was the increased interest in using buffalo hides as sleigh blankets in the eastern states. Mooar came to realize the monetary potential in hides. With the help of his brother, he negotiated a contract to provide 2,000 hides and be compensated $3.50 for each.<ref>Haley, 21-22.</ref>

== Enabling Treaty Violations ==

Hunting buffalo had become a wildly popular means by which to make a living and the number of hunters pouring into Dodge City grew at an exponential rate. Renowned hunter William “Billy” Dixon wrote that “During the fall and winter of 1872 and 1873, there were more hunters in the country than ever before…I feel safe in saying that 75,000 buffaloes were killed within sixty or seventy-five miles of Dodge.”<ref>Frederick S. Barde,'' Life and Adventures of “Billy” Dixon of Adobe Walls, Panhandle, Texas'' (Guthrie, OK: Cooperative Publishing Co., 1914), 109-110.</ref>The result of such voracious hunting was the decimation of the animal north of the Arkansas River.

The white men inched their way down through Kansas and into Indian Territory one river at a time. The initial southern hunting boundary of the Medicine Lodge Treaty was the Arkansas River; what the hunters called the “Dead Line.” After crossing the Arkansas, they moved in order to the Cimarron, Canadian, and finally the Red River. The U.S. Army turned the other way when they saw the trespassing, hunting, and poaching of what, by treaty, belonged to the Native Americans. By 1873, the tribal leaders realized they were unable to prevent the hunters from infringing on their territory, thus they elected to remain on the reservations rather than hunt on their own land. Factions within tribes began to quarrel as most sought peace while a growing number of war chiefs and young warriors began to emerge. Actions of the hunters exacerbated the path to war in 1873 when they scouted the Texas panhandle.

Cries for war were increasing at Darlington and agent Miles grew concerned. He wrote that “‘The Chiefs are very much provoked and discouraged…and express the fear that, should nothing be done…and another raid be maid upon them, that it will be impossible for them to restrain their young men from making a like raid on the frontier of Kansas.’”<ref>Quoted in Haley,45</ref>Again, nothing was done to punish the white criminals and the robberies and poaching continued.

Native American chiefs were also aware of the trickery being enacted by the thieves, which increased the call for war. By spring 1874, hungry South Plains tribes had been infringed upon, neglected, stolen from, and framed for murders of which they were innocent. Their increased anger and hatred of white hunters and the U.S. government had been simmering for years and at last reached the boiling point when hunters established a settlement on the Texas panhandle.