County of site: Barber County
Location of site: US-160, Memorial Peace Park, 1 mile east of Medicine Lodge
Marker at site erected by: Kansas Historical Society and State Highway Commission
"You think that you are doing a great deal for us by giving these presents to us, but we prefer to live as formerly." - Buffalo Chief, 1867.
Marker text:
Medicine Lodge Peace Treaties
In October, 1867, Iowa, Comanche, Arapahoe, Apache and Cheyenne Indians signed peace treaties with the Federal government. 15,000 Indians camped nearby during the council, among them the famous chiefs Satanta, Little Raven, and Black Kettle. 500 soldiers acted as escort for the U.S. commissioners. Interest in this colorful spectacle was so widespread that Eastern papers sent correspondents, among them Henry M. Stanley, who later was to find Livingstone in Africa. While the treaties did not bring immediate peace they made possible the coming of the railroads and eventual settlement. The site of the council was at the confluence of Medicine river and Elm creek, a little southwest of Medicine Lodge. Every five years a treaty pageant is re~enacted in this amphitheater. In Medicine Lodge there is a commemorative monument on the high school grounds.
Several videos and article about the possibility of this being the last pageant can be viewed here Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty Pageant Home
"Seeking to bring about an end to the state of war instigated by Gen. Hancock’s destruction of the combined village west of Fort Larned, U.S. officials and several tribes including the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache agreed to meet at a site southeast of Fort Larned along Medicine Lodge Creek in October, 1867. The area was frequently used by the Cheyenne for religious purposes, and the spiritually-significant site was selected to emphasize the occasion's importance.
"As an offering of peace, the U.S. Government provided food for the thousands of people who gathered at the site. Fort Larned served as the supply depot for the Medicine Lodge Treaty proceedings, where food was amassed and driven by wagon to the site.
"Supply wagons from Fort Larned brought food and equipment to the Medicine Lodge Treaty site, feeding the thousands of people that had gathered there.
"The proceedings concluded with the signing of the Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1867. Among its provisions, the Medicine Lodge Treaty relegated the Cheyenne to lands south of Fort Larned. The treaty also allowed the tribes to collect annuities, or gifts, from the government. To the US government, gifts were less expensive than war.
"Though the treaty could be seen as a diplomatic victory for both sides, Captain Barnitz of the 7th Cavalry, who recorded the speeches during the negotiations, expressed his misgivings. "They have no idea that they are giving up, or that they have ever given up the country which they claim as their own…The treaty amounts to nothing, and we will certainly have another war sooner or later with the Cheyennes, at least, and probably with the other Indians…"
"Fort Larned was not quite ready to handle its increased diplomatic role. Post Commander Major Meredith W. Kidd wrote to Brig. Gen. McKeever on March 21, 1868, "Now that the Indians are moving about and frequently visiting this post, it seems to me to be necessary or at least prudent, to have an interpreter here for a few months."
"In August, 1868, Captain Barnitz observed the Cheyenne collecting annuities at Fort Larned, noting "The Cheyennes have been coming in to Fort Larned to day for their arms and munitions," which were to be used for hunting bison. However, Army officials were always concerned the weapons would be used against whites. Indeed, peaceful relations did not continue to the end of the year." ~ National Park Service