Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty

The Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty were agreements made on October 21, 1867 and October 28, 1867, in Medicine Lodge Kansas signed between the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Comanche, and the Apache tribe. The treaty was meant to bring peace to the Great Plains by uprooting the Native Americans and relocating them to reservations to steer them away from European-American settlement. The Medicine Lodge held traditional values already to the Cheyenne tribe, as a result, the selection for the peace treaty would be located at the Medicine Lodge to emphasize how vital the Medicine Peace Treaty signing was to the signatories.

Prior to this agreement, the United States federal government had begun expanding westward and the Central Plains tribes (the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache) stood in opposition to expansion. In 1867, Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock set out on an expedition to convince Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Kiowa tribes that he “was able to punish any of them who may molest travelers across the plains, or who commit other hostilities against the whites.”[1] However, the pot of conflict stirred even more instead. Cheyenne Natives fled before Hancock reached their village. As a result, Hancock’s military burned 132 Cheyenne lodges. The expedition failed to bring peace to the area and caused retaliation from both sides.

Peace needed to happen between the American colonizers and Native tribes. In October of 1867, the Peace Commission, which consisted of multiple generals including Terry, Harney, Sanborn, and Auger made their way to Kansas to settle the conflict between American colonizers and the tribes. The military also assigned a representative, Commissioner Taylor, to represent the interests of the Indian Bureau. The treaty signing happened between the federal government of the United States and five Native tribes: the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache.

The main reason for the Peace Treaty was for the government declare tribal members as citizens of the United States, and to establish governance over them. The desire for the United States to "civilize" Native Americans and make them a part of their community was already in existence. However, the significance of the Medicine Peace Treaty was that it was an outline of how the government would continue to colonize Native Americans into their view of civilization. This included assigning Native tribes to “permanent homes” that the treaty described as reservations. Three treaties were signed at Medicine Lodge creek. The first treaty was between the Kiowa and Comanche Tribes. The second treaty conjoined the Plains Apache on the same day with the Kiowa and Comanche. Lastly, the third treaty was between the Arapaho and Cheyenne. The promises made by the Native Americans based on the treaty were, to withdraw all opposition to the construction of the Pacific railroads, relinquish their claims lying between the Platte and Arkansas, and withdraw to reservations set apart for them. In return, the tribes were to receive reservation land, supplies, and rights to hunt south of the Arkansas river. There was to be zero expansion between the Arkansas river and the southern boundary of Kansas.

However, neither side upheld their promises, and both failed numerous articles in the treaties. Due to westward expansion, white colonizers were coming closer and closer to these reservations. As a result, these reservations became smaller and smaller. The agreements between the tribes and the government unraveled completely. They caused uproar in the House of Representatives against the Senate over the control of the treaty-making with the five Native American Tribes. Also, while this political revolt was occurring, the supplies that the U.S. Government had promised the Native Americans, were continually delayed, which caused starvation within tribes. 

The first official effort to celebrate the Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty was in 1926 by Sergeant I-See-O. He was a part of the Kiowa tribe and attended the signing of the treaty as a young boy. Sergeant I-See-O made the executive decision, with the help of the Kiowa records, that the official site of the signing of the treaty was located between Elm Creek and the Medicine River. The Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty is now a celebration of the history and heritage since 1867. The first celebration occurred at an amphitheater south of what is now the city of Medicine Lodge. The celebration consisted of a pageant written by Dr. F. L. Gilson that reenacted the treaty signing performed by descendants of the original tribal signers. The pageant had so much success that since 1926, there have been twenty-seven presentations of the reenactment of the Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty. In September 2023, there will be a Peace Treaty festival containing an Intertribal Powwow, rodeos, Historical night shows, peace treaty parades, and pageants that take place each year in the month of September. These events give outsiders a small glimpse of Native-American traditions and the significance of the Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty. 

Pusey, Allen. "Medicine Lodge Treaty is Signed." ABA Journal, (2012). Accessed November 4, 2022.

“Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty Festival - September 2022.” n.d. Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty. Accessed November 4, 2022. https://peacetreaty.org/.

“Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty.” n.d. Www.americaslibrary.gov. Accessed November 4, 2022. https://www.americaslibrary.gov/es/ks/es_ks_medicine_1.html

Dixon, David. A Scout with Custer: Edmund Guerrier on the Hancock Expedition of 1867. Kansas History - Autumn 1981, vol. 4, no. 3. Published January 1st, 1978.