Treaty Between The United States Of America And The Camanche And Kiowa Tribes Of Indians

SANBORN, JOHN B., KIT CARSON, ET AL, [COMMISSIONERS]

Publication: Government Printing Office, 1866, Washington

First edition. Folded 8" x 12 1/2" sheets, 8 pp. This is one of two treaties signed by the United States with indigenous nations of the plains on the banks of the Little Arkansas River in Kansas. One treaty was with the Cheyenne and Arapaho on October 14, 1865. The other treaty is this present treaty which was concluded on October 18, 1865, with ratification advised on May 22, 1866, and proclaimed by President Andrew Johnson on May 26, 1866. U.S. Commissioners present included John B. Sanborn, William S. Harney, Thomas Murphy, Kit Carson, William W. Bent, Jesse H. Leavenworth, and James Steele and Native Signatories included leaders from the Comanche, Kiowa, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Apache tribes.The Little Arkansas Treaty, negotiated near the confluence of the Little Arkansas and Arkansas Rivers in present-day Wichita, Kansas, came after the end of the Civil War, during a period of increasing conflict between settlers moving west and Native American tribes defending their lands. The U.S. government sought peace with Plains tribes to protect settlers and secure railroad routes. Key provision of the treaties was aimed at establishing lasting peace between the U.S. and the signatory tribes. Hostile acts were to be settled through arbitration rather than violence. Any crimes committed by tribe members were to be addressed by U.S. authorities. The tribes agreed to relinquish claims to lands outside designated reservations, though they retained hunting rights south of the Arkansas River as long as buffalo remained abundant. The tribes consented to the construction of railroads through their territories, provided they did not pass over their reservations. The tribes pledged not to attack settlers, travelers, or military expeditions, and to return any white captives. Despite the intentions of the treaties, many provisions were not implemented. The promised reservations were never established, and the U.S. government failed to fulfill compensation for past wrongs, such as the Sand Creek Massacre. The treaties' lack of enforcement led to renewed hostilities and were effectively superseded by the Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1867. This official copy of the Little Arkansas treaty with the Comanche and Kiowa was apparently part of a small edition, perhaps only enough for the use of the negotiating parties. Eberstadt Indian Treaties 40 says: "In this treaty made at the Council Ground in the Little Arkansas River, Kit Carson provides for the possession by the Comanche and Kiowa of a vast Texas Reservation, with reservations. Ostensibly the treaty gave the Indians the panhandle." Edges mildly tanned and two tiny chips to the fore-edges of the title page, else a very good copy. Housed in a brown cloth and chemise clamshell case with quarter leather spine and titles stamped in gilt on the spine.