Kiowa

The Battle of Adobe Walls

A bit of frontier history, told to the narrator by the men who made it. EDWARD CAMPBELL LITTLE Drawings by Harvey T. Dunn The Kansas buffalo hunters invaded the Texas Panhandle and the Llano Estacado in force in the spring of 1874; in five months it is said they slew a hundred thousand bison. The deserted Adobe Walls, a station established by Spanish friars, French Canadian hunters or General Howe’s soldiers, was selected as the rendezvous for these hunters, who came from Dodge City, one hundred and seventy-five miles away.  Three ‘ business houses’ and a blacksmith shop gave token … Read more

1868

<< Previous  Next>> Central Plains Are Alive Prehistoric Man and Great Britain Mar 23 1868 Daily Colonist   The Daily Kansas Tribune Lawrence, Kansas Apr 10, 1868 Considerable excitement was created in town on Sunday, by the appearance of a herd of buffalo on the opposite side of the creek, west of the city. There was mounting in hot haste, a short run, a sure aim, and several bison fell. The sport is exciting in the extreme, and, when once indulged in, an opportunity to repeat the dose is never missed. — Hays City Advance   The Emporia Weekly News  Emporia, Kansas … Read more

1875

<< Previous  Next>> The Decline of the Buffalo.  Chicago Daily Tribune Chicago , Illinois Jan 2 1875  BUFFALO ROCK This was formally a part of the main north bluff, from which it became detached during some great natural convulsion, perhaps in the Glacial or Draft epoch. The rock is St. Peter’s Sandstone, overlaid with a thin bed of good coal, and above the usual Drift series. It’s surface covers some 80 acres. The canal and the railroad run through the deep natural cut between it and the main bluff. It is a prominent landmark, and is interesting as being the … Read more

Kiowa

Santana Kiowa War Chief Of all the white people’s activities in Indian country none enraged and disheartened the Native Americans more than the destruction of their buffalo. Hide hunter Billy Dixon reminisced that the annihilation “lay at the very heart of the grievances of the Indian against the white man in frontier days.” At the Medicine Lodge Treaty Council of 1867, the great Kiowa chief Satanta complained bitterly about the army’s shooting of his buffalo. “A long time ago this land belonged to our fathers,” lamented Satanta, “but when I go up to the river I see a camp of … Read more