Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty Site, Kansas
In the vast expanse of the southern plains, where the whispers of the wind carry tales of bygone eras, lies Medicine Lodge, Kansas, a place etched in history as the site of a pivotal, albeit ultimately tragic, attempt at reconciliation between the United States government and the Southern Plains tribes. In October 1867, this unassuming location became the stage for a grand assembly, a meeting of cultures that aimed to reshape the future of the American West. The Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty Site, Kansas, stands as a solemn reminder of the complex and often fraught relationship between the U.S. government and the Native American people.
The treaties concluded here, while intended to bring peace, served as a turning point in the government’s approach to its "Indian problem." No longer solely focused on removing Native Americans from areas of white settlement, the government sought to assimilate them into American society, to remake them in the "white man’s image." This shift marked a new era in Indian-white conflict, transforming it from a struggle for land into a struggle for cultural identity, a battle for the very soul of a people.
The impetus for the Medicine Lodge treaties stemmed from the escalating conflicts that followed the Civil War. As westward expansion gained momentum, fueled by surging emigration and the relentless advance of the railroads, clashes with the Plains tribes intensified. The U.S. Congress, weary of destructive and indecisive military campaigns, began to seek a peaceful resolution. The disastrous campaign of General Winfield Hancock in Kansas in the spring of 1867, for example, highlighted the futility of military solutions. Influenced by humanitarians and Indian Bureau officials, Congress established a special Peace Commission in July 1867, tasked with negotiating with the Plains tribes.
This commission, composed of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, prominent civilians, and Army generals, was charged with addressing the root causes of the conflict, ensuring the safety of frontier settlements and railroad construction, and implementing a program to "civilize" the Indians. The commission’s objectives were ambitious, idealistic, and ultimately, deeply flawed, reflecting a profound misunderstanding of Native American cultures and values. The location of the Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty Site, Kansas was a place that many believed would bring peace between the indigenous people of the area and the US government.
The commission initially planned to meet with the northern Plains tribes at Fort Laramie, Wyoming, before proceeding to negotiate with the southern groups. In August, the commissioners engaged in preliminary discussions with various tribes during a steamboat journey up the Missouri River from Omaha, Nebraska. However, en route to Fort Laramie, a conference with Sioux Chief Spotted Tail revealed the reluctance of the militant Sioux to participate in negotiations. Consequently, the Fort Laramie council was postponed, and the commission redirected its efforts to Fort Larned, Kansas, to meet with the Southern Plains tribes.
However, the Southern Cheyenne, wary of the military presence along the Arkansas River, refused to approach the fort. To accommodate their concerns, the commissioners agreed to negotiate at a location 70 miles south of the Arkansas River, near a sacred Native American site where Medicine Lodge River and Elm Creek converged. This confluence, a small natural basin, held significance for the tribes, adding a layer of spiritual importance to the proceedings. This area is now recognized as the Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty Site, Kansas.
On October 19, the commission party arrived at Medicine Lodge, presenting an impressive spectacle. A caravan of nearly 100 wagons, stretching for two miles, carried supplies and gifts intended to appease the tribes. Accompanying the commission were state officials, Indian agents, newspaper reporters, adventurers, and a military escort of 500 troops from the 7th Cavalry. The presence of such a large military force, while intended to provide security, undoubtedly contributed to an atmosphere of unease and intimidation.
Along the banks of Medicine Lodge River, thousands of Arapaho, Kiowa, Kiowa-Apache, and Comanche were camped. The exact number of Native Americans present is difficult to ascertain, with estimates ranging from 5,000 to 15,000, including the Southern Cheyenne, who arrived later. The negotiations themselves took place beneath a specially constructed brush arbor, a temporary structure erected in a clearing to provide shade and a semblance of formality. This brush arbor symbolized the attempt to bridge two vastly different worlds, a physical manifestation of the hopes and aspirations for a peaceful resolution.
On October 21, the Kiowa and Comanche signed one treaty, and the Kiowa-Apache signed another. The Southern Cheyenne arrived on October 27, and the following day, they and the Arapaho concluded a third treaty. These three treaties, while similar in their general provisions, aimed to relocate the tribes onto reservations in Indian Territory, now known as Oklahoma. This land included portions previously ceded by the Five Civilized Tribes due to their support for the Confederacy during the Civil War.
The Kiowa, Kiowa-Apache, and Comanche were to reside on a reservation between the Red and Washita Rivers in southwestern Indian Territory, while the Arapaho and Cheyenne were assigned a reservation to the northeast, between the Cimarron and Arkansas Rivers, south of the Kansas border. These reservations were formally established in 1869, with the Darlington Agency and Fort Reno overseeing the Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation and the Fort Sill Agency and Fort Sill controlling the Kiowa-Comanche Reservation.
In exchange for relinquishing their claims to vast territories outside the reservations, the United States promised to provide the tribes with educational, medical, and agricultural facilities, as well as food and other annuities. The government also guaranteed hunting rights to the five tribes in the area south of the Arkansas River. The Indians, in turn, pledged not to attack settlers or oppose railroad and military construction. These promises, however, would prove to be largely unfulfilled, contributing to further resentment and conflict.
The Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty Site, Kansas treaties were, in essence, a complex bargain, a desperate attempt to reconcile the irreconcilable. The government sought to confine the nomadic tribes to fixed territories, to transform them into settled agriculturalists, and to eradicate their traditional cultures. The tribes, faced with dwindling resources and relentless pressure from westward expansion, reluctantly agreed to the treaties, hoping to secure their survival and preserve some semblance of their way of life.
Immediately after the Medicine Lodge treaties were signed, the commissioners traveled to Fort Laramie, arriving on November 9. However, the treaties with the northern Plains tribes were not finalized until the following November. Despite these efforts, the treaties failed to bring lasting peace. Within a year, war broke out on the southern Plains, prompting General Philip Sheridan to launch his punitive winter campaign of 1868-69. The Medicine Lodge treaties, intended to usher in an era of peace and cooperation, ultimately became a prelude to further violence and dispossession.
Today, the area where the treaties were signed, located south and east of the modern town of Medicine Lodge, encompasses a tract of land that includes the swampy and heavily wooded confluence of Medicine Lodge and Elm Creeks. A dirt road, branching off South Main Street and paralleling Elm Creek, provides access to within approximately 50 yards of the confluence. While cultivated farmlands now line the northern side of Medicine Lodge Creek, the site retains a sense of its historical significance.
In Medicine Lodge, a 400-acre Memorial Peace Park stands as a testament to the events of 1867. Owned by the Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty Association, this natural amphitheater overlooks the Indian campgrounds and treaty-signing site. Since 1927, at five-year intervals, the citizens of Medicine Lodge have presented a pageant depicting the signing of the treaty and the subsequent settlement of the area. The Centennial Pageant, in particular, has involved as many as 1,200 participants, including descendants of the Plains Indians who gathered there a century before. A portion of the park is also home to a city golf course. The annual pageant at the Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty Site, Kansas is a big event.
The Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty Site, Kansas serves as a poignant reminder of a complex and often tragic chapter in American history. While the treaties themselves failed to achieve their intended goal of lasting peace, they remain a significant historical landmark, a place where cultures clashed, promises were made and broken, and the fate of the American West was irrevocably altered.