INDIAN TREATIES OF 1865
INDIAN TREATIES OF 1865 Hundreds of Cheyennes, Arapahos, Kiowas, Apaches, and Comanches camped not far from here in 1865 to negotiate peace with the U.S. government. Both sides at the Little Arkansas council hoped their new treaties would put an end to the hostilities. Less than a year earlier, a Colorado volunteer militia had attacked a peacefulCheyenne and Arapaho village near Sand Creek, Colorado, slaughtering about 400 men, women, and children.
'My people have never first drawn a bow or fired a gun against whites. There has been trouble on the line between us, and my young men have danced the war dance. But it was not begun by us.”—Ten Bears, Comanche
Although the U.S. Senate failed to ratify the agreements, the peace held for about 18 months until Gen. Winfield Hancock led 1,400 soldiers from Fort Larned on a campaign against the Cheyennes and Arapahos. Two years after the Little Arkansas council, the same parties signed new treaties at Medicine Lodge Creek, 76 miles southwest of here. Those agreements also failed to stop the wars on the plains.
Note: This sign was replaced in 2012.
North Broadway, Sedgwick County
West side of street, 0.25 miles north of W 61st St N, Park City
Plaque via Kansas Historical Society, and is used with their permission. Full page