Volume 16 , Issue 31

Medicine Lodge Treaty 1867

There were a series of three treaty that were signed in October 1867 between the U.S. government and elements of the Kiowa, Comanche, Kiowa Apache, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes at Medicine Lodge Creek, Kansas.

The Medicine Lodge Treaty actually comprised three separate accords. The first was signed on October 21 with the Comanches and Kiowas, the second was signed that same day with the Kiowa Apaches and the third was signed on October 28 with the Cheyennes and Arapahos. The treaty was part of a larger government plan to reduce the size of Native American tribal lands and reservations throughout the West and was also a result of the August 1867 Indian Peace Commission, which had been created by the U.S. Congress in an effort to bring an end to various Native American wars in the region. The commission included leading civilians as well as top officers, among them Lieutenant General William T. Sherman, commander of the Division of the Missouri.

The peace talks, which came in the wake of Major General Winfield Scott Hancock's punitive campaign on the southern Plains, suggested a change in approach by the government from a purely military response to a more humanitarian solution to the bitter conflict. The treaties established two reservations in western Indian Territory, one for the Kiowas, Comanches, and Kiowa Apaches and the other for the Cheyennes and Arapahos. The treaties also included government promises to provide education and agricultural support in order to foster the Indians' conversion to sedentary farmers. Finally, the government promised army supervised annual distributions of clothing and other goods.

In return the Great Plains tribes yielded all rights to lands outside the reservations other than some hunting privileges. The tribes were no longer to oppose the construction of military posts and railroads on their traditional hunting range. Under the agreement, the Indians were not to threaten settlers or their property.

After initially refusing to sign the accord, chiefs representing the tribes finally agreed when they were threatened with force by the U. S. Army. In spite of the treaty, most members of the tribes involved declared that they would not abide by the agreements. Many claimed that their democratic societies required that 75 percent of a tribe had to agree to a treaty for it to be considered legally binging.

Even so, young warriors were not bound by agreements made by chiefs, and many leaders simply maintained that they had not agreed to anything. With the majority not recognizing the treaty, it never became operational. Although the government had entered a new phase, which would find fuller expression ate President Ulysses S. Grant's peace Policy, the military found this troubling and gave the change in direction little chance of success. In the end, the Medicine Lodge Treaty failed in almost every regard. Within weeks, both sides returned to fighting.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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