WINTER 1871—72 (1872—73)
A part of the Kiowa camped during this winter on Ä´-gíăni P'a, "Long-tree creek," a branch of Elk creek of upper Red river. The name is indicated on the Anko calendar by the figure of a tree below the winter mark. The remainder of the tribe camped on the Washita, near Rainy mountain. During this winter the Kiowa were visited by a large party of Pawnee, who came to make peace. They came on foot and remained a long time, returning with many horses given them by their hosts. On the Set-t'an calendar the event is indicated by a representation of three characteristic Pawnee heads above the winter mark.
Fig. 151—Winter 1871—72 (1872—73)—Pawnee visit; camp on Long-tree creek.
This was the first friendly meeting within the memory of the two tribes. The Pawnee first came to the Wichita, their near relatives, and then announced their intention to visit the Kiowa to make a treaty of peace. The Kiowa debated the matter for some time, but finally agreed, and after the visit dismissed their guests with many presents of horses. The older men describe the identical horses which were given. In the fall of 1873 another large party of the Pawnee visited the Wichita and remained some time. On their return home they gave such an account of their experience that the entire tribe decided to remove to the south from Nebraska, where they were constantly harassed by the Dakota. The matter was brought to the attention of the government and a new reservation was selected for them in Indian Territory (Oklahoma), to which they removed in the spring of 1875 (Report, 90).
From the concurrent notices by Battey, Grinnell, and the Indian Commissioner, together with the statements of a number of Indians, it is plain that in this instance the author of the calendar has made an error in the date, which should be the winter of 1872—73. As the Indians tell it, the Pawnee came late in the fall, after the Kiowa had left Ä´gíăni P'a. The explanation may be in a confusion between the visit of the Pawnee and that of the Pueblos (see winter [1872—73]).
In regard to this Pawnee visit, which led to the removal of the tribe to Indian Territory, Grinnell says that in the summer of 1870 Lone-chief led a large party of the Pawnee southward to visit the Wichita. Again in the winter of 1871—72, the same chief, with a party, started on another visit to the Wichita, but for some reason turned back. The next winter (1872—73) in consequence of renewed inroads of the Dakota, the Pawnee were thrown into an unsettled condition and the question of removal to a safer situation began to be seriously discussed. It was finally decided to send a small party under Lone-chief and one or two others to the southern tribes to learn how these would look upon a general Pawnee migration into Indian Territory. The delegates visited the Oto, Kansa, Wichita, Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache, and were everywhere received in a friendly manner. The Pawnee then invited the chiefs of the various tribes to meet them at the Wichita camp, where the Pawnee speaker broached the proposition, stating that his people wished to be at peace and had made up their minds to come and live with their friends in the south.
They received a cordial invitation from all the chiefs of the different tribes, who said that they had good land and plenty of buffalo for them, and the result was that in 1873 the first party moved south and was followed by others, until in 1875 the whole tribe had removed from Nebraska to the Indian Territory (Grinnell, Pawnee, 1).
Grinnell is not entirely consistent with himself, but in another place says that the first expedition under Lone-chief took place "the following summer in August" of 1869 or 1870, and that it was on that occasion that the Pawnee visited and made peace with the Kiowa, and afterward visited the Comanche (Grinnell, Pawnee, 2).
The Quaker teacher, Battey, was with Kicking-bird in the Kiowa camp on Cache creek on the arrival of the Pawnee dancers, numbering forty-five, in March, 1873. He gives an extended account of their reception and performance: