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1986

CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC RESILIENCE AMONG THE KICKAPOO INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST

Joseph B. Herring

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Herring, Joseph B., "CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC RESILIENCE AMONG THE KICKAPOO INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST" (1986). Great Plains Quarterly. 929. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/929

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JOSEPH B. HERRING

When white explorers encountered them in discontented in their new homes, however, their Wisconsin homeland, the Kickapoo and after a brief and restless stay most of them Indians lived in separate and widely scattered journeyed south to Texas, Mexico, and the bands. I Although individuals referred to them­ Indian Territory, where other tribal members selves as Kickapoos and identified with the had already settled. major tribal group, over time the dispersed An environment radically different from bands adopted additional cultural traits suit­ the green, rolling land of their Wisconsin able to different regions and conditions. Envi­ forefathers greeted the Kickapoos as they ronmental factors, proximity to white settlers, moved south. The plains and prairies of missionary pressure, and interaction with Oklahoma and Texas were rich in buffalo and other tribes all produced a drift toward cultur­ other game, but the deserts and mountains al pluralism. south of the Rio Grande presented formidable Although noted for their conservatism, the obstacles to those seeking economic suste­ Kickapoos were willing to adopt material nance. Comanches, Apaches, and other indig­ culture traits that were to their advantage. enous tribes, moreover, were not anxious to This trend intensified after a portion of the share their hunting or gathering grounds with tribe settled in Kansas in 1833 as a result of intruders from the North. Compounding a President Andrew Jackson's Indian removal difficult situation were the hordes of buckskin­ policy. A great number of the Kickapoos were clad whites who arrived in the Southwest in increasing numbers as the nineteenth century Joseph B. Herring is assistant professor of history at progressed, pushing Indians off their lands and Kansas Newman College. His article "Indian killing the game on which they depended. Intransigency in Kansas: Government Bureaucracy Under these circumstances, the Indians of vs. Mokohoko's Sacs and Foxes" won the 1985 these regions found their customary ways of Bert Fireman Prize in Western Historical life disrupted and their usual sources of food Quarterly. disappearing. Kickapoos, however, prospered where others stagnated or failed. Gradually [GPQ 6 (Fall 1986): 263-275.) modifying and adapting their traditional cul-

263 264 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 1986

FIG. 1. Nineteenth Century Kickapoo geog­ raphy. Drawn by Rick Floyd. tural and economic practices, they took advan­ obtain otherwise-from achieving their aims. tage of every opportunity to make their way in "There is hardly a [white] family to be found the Southwest. ... who have not to mourn the loss of one or more of their members by [the] hand of those KrCKAPOO CUSTOMS AND WAYS Indians," was a common refrain of the era.' By the mid-nineteenth century various The southern Kickapoos' primary needs Kickapoo bands had settled along the Canadi­ were to feed, clothe, and protect their families; an and Washita rivers in the Indian Territory, like few others during the nineteenth century, near the Red, Sabine, Trinity, and Brazos their warriors were equal to the task. Rarely rivers in Texas, and also in the Mexican states did settlers or soldiers, Comanches or Apaches of Coahuila and Chihuahua. Like other keep the resolute Kickapoos-who often Algonquian-speaking peoples, the Kickapoos robbed and plundered for what they could not were hunters, gatherers, and horticulturalists. KICKAPOO INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST 265

During the spring and summer they lived in While the prophet's people farmed and pre­ villages, planted crops, and carried out tribal ferred to stay in their permanent village, activities. The rest of the year the bands split Kishko's Indians clung to their native customs into smaller family units to hunt buffalo, deer, and refused to settle down to live as farmers. and other game-sometimes ranging hundreds Proud and independent, they frequently left of miles from their semipermanent villages. their villages for areas where hunting and Always on the move, they owned only what trading were good. White visitors, noting the they could transport easily, and in emergencies differences between the two groups, under­ they could pack and move an entire village in standably regarded Kishko's band as less minutes. At least one government agent "civilized." A Presbyterian missionary ob­ sought to decrease the Kickapoos' mobility by served that Kishko's Kickapoos "get drunk and converting them to Euro-American material­ gamble," while few of the prophet's band ism. If individuals acquired a desire for posses­ indulged in such "habbets or wickedness. "4 sions, the agent reasoned, it would "lessen Indian agent Richard Cummins, on a tour of their naturally restless, nomadic propensities the villages, found most of Kishko's tribesmen by surrounding them with property which in a "deplorably drunken condition." Cum­ they cannot readily move."] Such efforts to mins decided to stay to make sure the situation alter the Kickapoos' attitude toward property did not deteriorate further. To his dismay the failed, however, during the 1800s. merriment continued. "During the night I Described by Arrell Gibson and other could hear them whooping in every direction," scholars as among the most culturally conser­ Cummins related. He hurried to Fort Leaven­ vative of North American Indians, the Kicka­ worth for help to put an end to such behavior.5 poos often gathered aI'ound influential leaders. Throughout the century, agents frequently Bands numbered between fifty and four hun­ reported that the southern bands were too dred persons, while the population of the drunk to function coherently. Whiskey drink­ entire tribe in 1850 has been estimated at ing was but one of several Kickapoo amuse­ fifteen hundred. Usually preferring to live as ments deplored by whites, who viewed horse far as possible from frontier settlements, the racing, ball games, card games, and other Kickapoos were particularly hostile to Anglo­ forms of gambling equally with jaundiced eyes. American intruders into their territory. Many When Arkansas newspaperman J. M. Wash­ times the various bands chose to move rather bourne met the Kickapoo chief Tecumseh in than risk confrontation with a flood of white the Texas Cross Timbers, he carried "a most I settlers into their lands. savage looking war~tick." When asked what he Chief Kishko and four hundred followers, used the stick for, Tecumseh replied that he who moved from Missouri to Kansas, were played poker with it. "It is a long, red, crooked typical of the Kickapoos who refused to live stick," reported Washbourne, "with a man's near white settlers. Early in 1833, abiding by head carved upon it, and grim looking as a terms of their removal treaty, these people death head, and ornamented with Buffalo established a village on the Missouri River a hair, beads, and paint. "6 Washbourne assumed short distance from Fort Leavenworth. They that if the chief failed to win, he scared his built bark wigwams and lived off the land, opponents out of their winnings. Quite likely planting crops, constructing tables and chairs, Tecumseh simply gave a silly answer to a silly and making beds out of rushes that grew along question. river bottoms. In Kansas a Methodist missionary la­ One mile downriver the prophet Kenekuk mented that evil men "furnish them with and his untypically peaceful Vermillion Kicka­ cards," and wondered, "ought there not be poo followers had also recently arrived and some regulations prohibiting such things to were adapting to their new surroundings. the Indians?". When a steamboat docked near 266 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 1986

Fort Leavenworth, a passenger noted that and a bear crossed the newsman's path during Kishko's Kickapoos who came on board en­ his sojourn in the area, game was scarce, joyed tobacco and brandy. "They played cards making survival difficult for people who lived with great enthusiasm and even passion," the by hunting.9 traveler related, "and remained on board very The Kickapoos prospered, nevertheless. late that night; and three young Indian women Latecomers to regions long claimed by other remained on board all night ... with the Indians, Spaniards, and increasing numbers of consent of the chief of the tribe."? Anglos, they strove to establish themselves. Kishko and his Kickapoos soon became They quickly won a reputation as expert disenchanted with Kansas, for the new domain horsemen, hunters, and cunning raiders who was "not equal to his expectations" and was took full advantage of their opportunities. less than half the size of their former range in Whites learned to fear the Kickapoos, for they Missouri. The Kickapoos also objected to the frequently plundered settlements and killed growing numbers of white settlers in the area those who resisted. and blamed the Indians' drunken condition on Attired in their beaded buckskin leggings, white traders who provided the "wicked their blankets, breechcloths, colorfully rib­ water." Another grievance was the presence of boned shirts, vests, moccasins, and assorted Kenekuk's band, whose interference had jewelry, the Kickapoos appeared strikingly caused tribal factionalism to flare. "Our young gallant to some observers. Writer John Treat men and chiefs do not agree as they did some Irving was fascinated by the "gaudily dressed time ago," one Kickapoo admitted. "Some figures with their tin trinkets glistening in the wish one thing, some another. Some would go sunbeams, and their bright garments fluttering to the prairie, where there is game. Some in the wind, as they galloped over the prairie." would stay and raise corn. We are like fish, we Equally impressed was Captain Randolph B. jump at whatever is thrown."B Marcy; while in the Cross Timbers, he saw a Their indecision did not last long. In the group of Kickapoo hunters who were "fine­ fall of 1833, only a few months after their looking, well-dressed young men, with open, arrival, a disgruntled Kishko and some of his frank and intelligent countenances."10 followers packed their possessions and de­ Not everyone shared Irving and Marcy's parted. Others followed as time passed so that view of the Kickapoos, for some men consid­ by 1840 most had rejoined kinfolk who had ered them "more savage" than other Indians. migrated earlier to Indian Territory, Texas, One government official wrote that they were and Mexico. "poorly clad when clad at all, and they present These people who once called the wood­ rather a wild and sorry appearance." They lands of Wisconsin home adapted with surpris­ were, nevertheless, a "most remarkable curios­ ing ease to the prairies and deserts of the ity" when seen in their traditional dress. A Southwest, even though the new terrain visitor to Kickapoo country wrote that "their appeared harsh and uninviting to some Indi­ color is reddish-brown; their face is irregular, ans as well as to whites. Newspaperman often horribly colored with bright red paint; Washbourne, for one, noted that the Texas their hair is cut to a tuft upon the crown of the Cross Timbers were "nothing but scattered head and painted various colors." Wash­ tracts of low, scrubby oaks, with now and then bourne reported from his camp on the Trinity an elm and knotted and knarled with briars River in 1846 that the "very dirty and very and grapevines and crossed with thousands of greedy" Kickapoos were "as ugly a set of men ravines." Washbourne looked over the coun­ as their hunting grounds are." Washbourne, try to the west and beheld "the most unpictur­ angry that his guests had devoured all of his esque, unenchanting prairie" that he had ever provisions and drunk all of his coffee, was seen. Although a few "very wild" deer, horses, disinclined to portray them charitably. Kicka- KICKAPOO INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST 267 poo women, he added, were "hideous looking ways. As one contemporary observer noted, beings, nothing fair about them." Journeying the Kickapoos were "extremely suspicious of through the same region some years before, a any change, and anything that is new, or that more open-minded Jose' Marra Sanchez found they are not familiar with. "14 that the Kickapoos appeared "more fierce than Despite the claims of several nineteenth­ other Indians, revealing in their manner a century commentators that the homeless Kick­ certain pride which is their characteristic."ll apoos simply roamed the countryside, turning The Kickapoos' proud demeanor and their "their attentions to the chase," the Indians superior and condescending attitude bemused fully recognized the value of land with abun­ and surprised whites like Washbourne and dant game and rich soil. They considered Sanchez, but others acknowledged their physi­ certain land theirs, and they resented trespass­ cal prowess and bravery. On one occasion, a ers who usurped their resources. Preferring chief of the Mexican Kickapoos served as guide tribal to individual ownership of land, they to some American travelers. He soon tired of also denounced the government's insistence the party's slow pace, walked on ahead, and on allotment. Even those who had lived for reached the destination a full day before the years on Kansas and Oklahoma reservations Americans. As they straggled in, one ex­ refused to accept allotments. As one Kickapoo hausted traveler marveled at the chief's stami­ chief astutely put it, "The world was made for na and ability to withstand "scorching sun and all to live in, and the white man has no right to heated air on the open plains-such as we encroach in the hunting-grounds of the red never before experienced."12 man, and has no right to cut the land up into Many men were irked by the Kickapoos' little squares."15 arrogance and refusal to be intimidated. In 1850 special government agent John N. Rollins WARFARE AND DIPLOMACY encountered a Kickapoo band near the Llano River in Texas. When Rollins accused them of The Kickapoos were ever ready to defend trespassing and ordered them back to their fertile and profitable territory from others, country north of the Red River, they laughed even from Indians who claimed the land. In and informed him that Indian agent Robert 1841, for example, those living along the Boggy Neighbors had "often told us the same thing, River in southeastern Oklahoma scoffed at and we have never been hurt, and may be you Choctaw demands that they leave Choctaw lie." They ignored his orders and threats. hunting grounds. Bragging that they could Americans trying to persuade Mexican Kicka­ easily defeat all Indian foes, the Kickapoos poos to return to their reservations in the promised "they would make bullets whistle United States were met by "stupid grunts" before they would leave."16 from all but one eloquent warrior. "My heart Soon after arriving in the Southwest in the is touched," he said, "but as for myself god is 1830s and 1840s, these former forest dwellers my Captain-the world my Camping ground, had earned a reputation for fierceness. To and I am at liberty to go where I choose-so provide game for their families, Kickapoo that I trespass not upon others."13 hunters needed to traverse a far-reaching Cultural conservatives in comparison to territory. Realizing that indigenous tribes other Algonquian peoples, the Kickapoos already claimed the hunting grounds in Okla­ considered the preservation of their basic homa, Texas, and northern Mexico, they beliefs . and customs vital. Although they initially attempted to negotiate the hunting borrowed useful aspects of the white man's rights in those areas, sending messengers of material culture such as guns and metal peace to the Pawnees, Apaches, Lipans, Wa­ implements, they consistently resisted efforts coes, and other tribes. In March 1841 an army by agents and missionaries to change their surgeon at Fort Towson observed that Kicka- 268 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 1986 poo emissaries had delivered "the wampum were more coercive than diplomatic. When and red hatchet"-peace or war-to the Co­ they captured a Pawnee horse thief in March manches and other tribes. The mighty Co­ 1845, the Kickapoos tortured and killed him. manches rejected Kickapoo overtures, The Arkansas Intelligencer reported that "the however, and warned them not to enter their Kickapoos cut off the arm of the Pawnee lands. War parties prowled the countryside in Maha, and keeping the hand as trophy, ate the search of Kickapoo trespassers. Cherokee balance of the flesh from the shoulder down to agent P. M. Butler reported in May 1845 that the wrist; thereby denoting their abiding Comanche and Pawnee warriors regularly hostility to the Pawnee Mahas." A Kickapoo "revenge themselves on all straggling parties delegation bore the dead man's hand to the caught out in the Prairie without regard to Pawnee villages on the Platte River to nego­ color other than those of their league."I? tiate a peace settlement.21 Not surprisingly, the When Kickapoo hunting parties were at­ Pawnees avoided further confrontations. tacked, they retaliated with a vengeance. White men also learned not to take Kicka­ Armed with bows and arrows, revolvers, poo threats lightly. A few years after Texas lances, and rifles, Kickapoo war parties won independence from Mexico in 1836, searched for more numerous enemies; the officials of the new republic attempted to force "intelligent, active, and brave" tribesmen had all Indians in the eastern districts to move little fear of fighting, "provided the odds are north to Indian Territory. The Kickapoos not more than six to one against them. "18 objected, and, encouraged by Mexicans eager In 1845 an attack under Kickapoo chief to recover Texas, began a campaign of retalia­ Little King convinced the numerous Coman­ tion against the Texans that lasted into the ches of the futility of futher violence, and they 1880s. sought peace with the newcomers. An uneasy Nineteenth-century records are full of truce was concluded between the tribes, and reports of Kickapoo atrocities in Texas. In late by June 1845 agent William Armstrong report­ October 1838, for example, the republic's ed that the Kickapoos were able to keep the president-elect, Mirabeau B. Lamar, received peace and protect weaker tribes from Coman­ word from Nacogdoches that "one of the most che attacks. The Kickapoos "generally under­ shocking [and] barbarous massacres" had stand the language and character of the taken place. Indians had attacked the house of Comanches," wrote Armstrong, "and could a settler whose friends and relatives were negotiate with them" better than most anyone gathered for a visit. In the ensuing melee, the else on the frontier. 19 men became separated from the women and After settling affairs with the Comanches, children, each group barricaded in different the Kickapoos turned their attention to other parts of the house, but the invaders broke foes, especially the hated Pawnees, who con­ down the doors. The report to Lamar detailed stantly harassed their camps and stole their the gruesome results: "Six matrons were either livestock. Early in 1845, Kickapoo warriors killed and mangled directly or wounded and friendly Creeks began attacking parties of ... the little children were thrown into the Pawnees on the prairies. As hostilities inten­ flames in which they kindled alive, or their sified, agent Armstrong worried that a general bodies dashed out against the walls of the war would ensue, since every Kickapoo attack house." After plundering the premises, the "resulted in the death of one or more of the raiders set fire to it. When they left, they took Pawnees." Armstrong wanted to call a general the settler's herd of horses with them. A short Indian council to settle the dispute diplomati­ time later, a large number of Kickapoos rode cally.20 into an Indian camp in Houston County, The Kickapoos undoubtedly desired a bragging that they were responsible for the truce with their enemies, but their methods raidY KICKAPOO INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST 269

A punitive expedition under Commander before retaliatory expeditions could overtake T.]. Rusk set out after the marauders, who them. Agent reports of the 1840s and 1850s had gathered at a place called "the Kickapoo blamed the Kickapoos for repeated raids. In a Town." The militia attacked and killed several letter of 5 February 1841, Chickasaw agent Indians at the village, but the raiding party A. M. M. Upshaw advised his superiors that had already left. Learning of Rusk's approach, the principal occupation of the Kickapoo the raiders slipped out of the camp with the intruders in the area was "to run into the women, children, and loot. In November they Republic of Texas, kill and rob the inhabitants were seen crossing the Red River into Indian and then flee into the Choctaw nation where TerritoryY they kill the cattle and hogs and steal the There among the peaceful Creeks, Choc­ horses" of those Indians. Upshaw added that, taws, and Chickasaws, the Kickapoos enjoyed while he was "no alarmist," federal dragoons sanctuary from their Anglo enemies. The should be called in to prevent a possible situation was ideal for tribesmen interested in outbreak of war.24 stealing horses from isolated ranches to the Years later, Texas Indian agent Robert S. south. From their base camps in Indian Neighbors made similar charges against the Territory, small bands of raiders could plunder Kickapoos, who "exist as renegades, and are in Texas and return across the Red River under no control." Neighbors pointed out that

FIG. 2. Kickapoos in Mexico circa 1865. Lithograph, artist unknown. Courtesy Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth. 270 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 1986

the Indians had committed murders and stolen white men noted that the Indians "opened "a considerable number of horses" near Fort with revolvers, afterwards when in close Belknap during the summer of 1854. Two quarters used lances, and finally long range years later, Governor J. W. Throckmorton guns from a mountain nearby."Z) beseeched the Commissioner of Indian Affairs When the Kickapoos recognized the futility to do something about the Kickapoos living of violence, they would resort to other tactics south of Eagle Pass in Mexico. "Immense herds to protect their customs and needs. Masters of of cattle and horses have been driven off, and delay and deception, they often cited religious our outside counties have been depopulated," reasons to stall government Indian agents the governor reported, "with great loss to the trying to buy tribal lands. Despite heavy unfortunate people who had no other homes." pressure from agents, a band chief named Throckmorton warned that unless federal Mecina once refused to sign a land cession authorities acted soon border settlers "will treaty because the action might offend the cross the Rio Grande, and break up the camp Great Spirit. "I thought the Great Spirit was of these Indian robbers. "25 mad," Mecina related, "because there was a The isolated farmers and ranchers along shaking of the earth and I thought it was the Texas-Mexico border were, however, no because the red skins was such fools to sell match for the Kickapoos. Descended from their lands." After conferring with Mecina, veterans of the Revolutionary War and the agent Richard Graham concluded that the War of 1812, the Kickapoos were hardened Indians' love for their home was so strong that guerrilla fighters equally adept in contempo­ they would leave only if forced to by military rary field tactics. Although they preferred to action.2s avoid battle when seriously outnumbered, they fought furiously when attacked. In Jan­ KICKAPOO ECONOMY uary 1865 a Kickapoo band crossing Texas set up camp at Dove Creek to wait out a Mecina might have exaggerated the Kicka­ snowstorm. Suddenly attacked by a force of poos' attachment to a specific territory, but four hundred Confederate soldiers, the Kicka­ their need for unhindered access to land was poos took cover and returned fire. Their important. They had always supported them­ orderly defense soon drove the Texans into selves by hunting, supplementing their diet by retreat. Twenty-six whites lost their lives and raising corn, squash, and beans, and by scores were wounded-ample indication of gathering whatever wild plants were available Kickapoo fighting ability. This defeat led to an near their current camps. While the Kansas official investigation by Confederate authori­ Kickapoos adopted the white man's ways, the ties into the conduct of the officers in com­ southern bands continued the traditional mand of the troopS.26 practices. Women planted crops, tended the Similar reports of Kickapoo fighting prow­ fields, and harvested the beans and seeds that ess abounded during the nineteenth century. grew along the riverbanks; men rode the plains On 4 July 1865 a group of Texans engaged and prairies in search of buffalo, deer, bear, some Kickapoos in battle near the Frio River. and other game. Their great skill as hunters Using formal military tactics, the Indians was often acknowledged. One story tells of formed a "half-moon and charged," killing and some travelers camping in the Cross Timbers wounding several of the whites. Two years who were startled out of their sleep by two rifle later, at the head of the Concho River, a shots from the nearby woods. Tense moments Kickapoo war party attacked a group of white passed before two peaceful Kickapoos emerged men traveling through the region. "The charge from the dense brush, "one behind the other, was bold, and would have done no discredit to mounted on excellent horses, and each carry­ the best of troops," wrote one participant. The ing one deer killed." In a similar testimony to KICKAPOO INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST 271 their skill, Captain Marcy remarked that ried the chiefs son, Burleson could not meet Kickapoos were "well armed with good rifles, the high price set by his hosts. Joseph A. in the use of which they were very expert, and Durand, another visitor to Mexico, found the there are no better hunters or warriors upon Kickapoos, Lipans, and Mescaleros working the border. They hunt altogether on horse­ together in the plunder and captive trade. back, and after a party of them has passed "The Kickapoos are the worst of the lot," through a section of the country, it is seldom Durand charged. They made frequent forays that any' game is left in their trace."29 across the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass, and so The hunt held both economic and ceremo­ many women and children were kidnapped nial importance for the tribe. Meat was the from isolated Texas ranches that "life and primary source of food; hides were used to property are insecure," asserted Durand. "It is make clothing and ceremonial paraphernalia. worse than playing monte." Border settler Surplus skins were traded for guns, knives, and Albert Turpe was so irate when he found a other items at places like Fort Washita and blue-eyed, brown-haired girl in a Kickapoo Edward's Trading House in Indian Territory camp that he attempted a daring rescue. He and at Torrey's Trading House in Texas. failed, and barely escaped with his life, swim­ In addition to swapping skins and furs at ming to safety across the Rio Grande "under a trading posts, the Kickapoos, who seemed to shower of arrows."J! appear at the right place at the right time, As men like T urpe learned, the Kickapoos acted as merchants and middlemen between were relatively safe south of the border. Bands whites and Indians in a brisk traffic that near Santa Rosa were on friendly terms with included whiskey, guns and ammunition, Mexican citizens and merchants, who were stolen horses, and even human captives. From grateful that the Kickapoos kept hostile tribes Kansas to Mexico the Kickapoos proved like the Apaches from attacking the town. The "exceedingly sharp" traders, and it took a wily Mexicans resented American attempts to man to best them in any deal. Mounted on persuade the Kickapoos to return to their their swift ponies, Kickapoo raiders ran off reservations in the United States. with the children, slaves, and livestock of their The Kickapoos had good cause for wanting Indian enemies and hapless Texas settlers. to stay in Mexico, for they sold their plunder They bartered their stolen goods to the mighty at a good profit in Santa Rosa. This was Comanches or to the Mexicans south of the pointed out in 1869 by the American commer­ Rio Grande. Exchanges were consummated so cial agent at Piedras Negras, William Schu­ quickly that authorities could rarely catch the chardt, who protested to U.S. Secretary of Indians with incriminating evidence. A typical State Hamilton Fish that the Indians enjoyed complaint of Kickapoo depredations was gov­ the protection of the Mexican government. As ernment agent Upshaw's report of 13 Septem­ long as the warriors "find a ready market for ber 1840. Upshaw charged that Kickapoos the fruits of their robberies," wrote Schu­ invading Chickasaw country had "stolen some chardt, "they will never willingly quit" ha­ fine horses, and some negroes: two negro men rassing the Texans. The agent informed Fish have been stolen from Blue River in the last that the crafty Kickapoos contracted for their ten days."JO plunder in advance of their raids."They pro­ Captives were often sold or held for cure arms, ammunition, and all necessaries ransom, but some became members of the they need to conduct the forays," Schuchardt tribe. When frontiersman John R. Burleson continued, "with the assurance of a sure visited Mexican Kickapoo camps in the early market on their return, or rather with the 1870s, he saw· a captive German boy and an expected spoil already sold before their depar­ American woman. He tried to purchase the ture." He went on to lament that, although woman's freedom, but because she had mar- Mexican laws forbade the sale of stolen goods, 272 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY. FALL 1986 they were "like all other laws relative to rights hunters, scouring the Oklahoma countryside of foreigners, nearly a dead letter."12 in search of game, often stole cattle from Texas American agent J. D. Miles, who arrived in herds being driven north to Kansas cow­ the same area in May 1871, found the situation towns. 14 unchanged. Miles discovered that Kickapoo Indian agents admonished their superiors trade was vital to the local economy, and when to provide the Kickapoos with food and he tried to get the Indians to return to the money or they "will surely give trouble, of United States he ran into considerable opposi­ which they are fully capable." In the fall of tion from town residents. Aside from econom­ 1874, agent William Nicholson announced ic considerations, Mexicans knew that if the that "we may confidently expect raids into Kickapoos left the Comanches and Apaches Texas-or other mischief' if rations for the tribe would return and the townspeople would "be did not arrive soon. Agreeing with this assess­ exposed to all the horrors of the arrow and the ment, agent John H. Pickering warned early scalping knife." Miles was not surprised when, the following year that the Kickapoos "were a on the second day of his visit, Santa Rosa bold, smart, cunning and superstitious people, officials distributed fifty-two head of cattle and and it is imperative to a successful manage­ several bushels of corn to the Indians. His ment" that the government appease them with mission seemed doomed as "sharp words" and annuities. Pickering noted that the new arri­ "bitter" feelings flared among the Kickapoos in vals were already exercising a bad influence the heat of the debate over removal. Most of over the Sacs and Foxes and other tribes in the them hated Anglos and disdained living in the area. J5 restricted confines of a reservation. "We have Despite their notoriety, the Kickapoos 'fearful odds' to work against," Miles wrote his caused their new neighbors less trouble during superiors, "therefore, don't expect too much the following years. By August 1877 agent Levi from us." Because Miles was not able to Woodard reported that they had "done re­ produce papers to prove his authority to markably well, considering their restless dispo­ negotiate, even those willing to leave became sition," for they had planted crops and were suspicious, and the Kickapoos decided to raising cattle and hogs. Although they still remain in Mexico. 11 preferred their traditional wigwams to houses, In 1873, however, the Kickapoos' secure the agent predicted that they would soon existence was shattered. Responding to repeat­ begin building more permanent homes. Wood­ ed pleas from victims of Kickapoo forays, ard hoped the Kickapoos would eventually Colonel Ranald Mackenzie and troops of his abandon their "superstitious" beliefs and hab­ Fourth Cavalry Regiment crossed into Mexico its for "Christianity and civilization." They and attacked the unsuspecting Indians in their still refused to perform manual labor and sanctuary. Capturing many women and chil­ insisted on frequent visits to other tribes "for dren, Mackenzie held them hostage until most the purpose of exchanging or 'smoking ponies,' of the remaining Kickapoos agreed to emigrate a practice demoralizing, expensive, and useless, to Indian Territory. as it inclines to stimulate their nomadic Despite their defeat and forced removal to disposition and foster their indifference in Oklahoma, the Kickapoos were not so easily regard to the value of property and goods, tamed. By November 1874 the presence of which are ostensibly gifts, but in reality doubly Kickapoo families at scattered sites about paid for."36 thirty-five miles from the Sac and Fox agency Like others before him, Woodard greatly made local officials uneasy. As one pointed underestimated the Indians' acumen in eco­ out, the Kickapoos lived in an isolated region nomic matters. The Kickapoos realized that "known to be infested with outlaws and their independent disposition forced the gov­ thieves." His fears were justified. Kickapoo ernment to part with money and goods. Whilt KICKAPOO INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST 273 peaceful tribes had their annuities cut off, the have learned to be wary of the white man's potentially troublesome Kickapoos were hand­ platitudes. They have yet to move to their new somely rewarded. Throughout the 1870s and lands and many of them remain skeptical; 1880s, Kickapoo leaders accepted the oxen, others willingly accept assistance from well­ wagons, plows, and other items that apprehen­ intentioned philanthropists. Most continue to sive government officials sent them. Expressing exist as they have for generations-proud and gratitude for the offerings, the chiefs continual­ independent Kickapoos-Indians who stead­ ly demanded more. Pleading poverty and fastly refuse to be made over into imitation threatening to return to Mexico if their white men. requests were denied, they constantly bad­ gered agents for handouts. They realized better NOTES than anyone that collecting annuities, hunting and selling skins and furs, and stealing horses 1. Kickapoo customs and tribal history are to trade were much easier and more satisfying discussed in Arrell M. Gibson, The Kickapoos: Lords than the rigorous and uneventful existence of of the Middle Border (Norman: University of Okla­ homa Press, 1963), pp. 1-51; Charles Callender, the yeoman farmer. 37 Richard K. Pope, and Susan M. Pope, "Kickapoo," in Handbook of North American Indians, ed. by Bruce CONCLUSION C. Trigger, vol. 15: Northeast (Washington: Smith­ sonian Institution, 1978), pp. 656-67; Robert E. Although recalcitrant, the Kickapoos real­ Ritzenthaler and Frederick A. Peterson, The Mexi­ can Kickapoo Indians Westport, Conn.: Greenwood ized that attacks on settlements would bring Press, 1970), pp. 23-89; Felipe A. Latorre and army retaliation, and such incidents dimin­ Dolores L. Latorre, The Mexican Kickapoo Indians ished greatly during the 1880s. But the Kicka­ (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1976), pp. poos remained true to their traditions well into 26-361; and Alfonso Fabila, La Tribu Kikapoo de the twentieth century. Despite the unceasing Coahuila (Mexico: Secretaria De Educacion Publica, 1945), pp. 35-94. efforts of agents and missionaries, they refused 2. Medina County (Texas) Judge H. 1. Richards to change their ways and conform to the to Governor J. W. Throckmorton, 25 February precepts of the dominant white society. Many 1867, Texas Indian Papers, 1860-1916, ed. by James eventually returned to Mexico, where they M. Day and Dorman Winfrey, vol. 4 (Austin: Texas lived isolated from the outside world, except State Library, 1961), p. 167. 3. Levi Woodard to Commissioner of Indian when they returned to the United States to Affairs E. A. Hayt, 20 February 1878, National work in harvests. Eventually the water needed Archives, Letters Received, Sac and Fox Agency, to irrigate their Mexican lands was poisoned Microcopy 234, Roll 742. National Archives sources by an American corporation, and today many hereafter cited as N.A., Letters Received etc., M234, of them live in extreme poverty in a squatter's Roll 742. 4. John Dunbar and Samuel Allis, "Letters camp near the international bridge at Eagle Concerning the Presbyterian Mission in the Pawnee Pass, Texas. By January 1985 fund-raising Country, near Bellevue, Nebraska, 1831-1841," efforts by Catholic and Protestant church Kansas Historical Society Collections 14 groups enabled the tribe to purchase 125 acres (1915-1918): 693. of south Texas land for a new home. At a 5. Richard Cummins to Commissioner of Indi­ an Affairs Elbert Herring, 30 September 1835, ceremony on 8 January, the Kickapoos listened N.A., Letters Received, Fort Leavenworth Agency, as land acquisition committee chairman Rev. M234, Roll 300. Jim McCloud told them: "This land will 6. For Washbourne's report see the Arkansas belong to you and your children and your Intelligencer (Van Buren), 7 February 1846. children's children for as long as the flowers 7. Reverend N. Talbott to John C. Spencer, 28 bloom and the rivers flow."38 January 1843, N.A., Letters Received, Fort Leaven­ worth Agency, M234, Roll 302. The steamboat The Kickapoos have heard similar words passenger was a count from Milan, Italy, noted in before many times in their history, but they Francesco Arese, A Trip to the Prairies and in the 274 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 1986

Interior of North America (1837-1838) (New York: 22. D. H. Campbell to M. B. Lamar, 22 Octo­ Cooper Square Publishers, 1975), pp. 65-66. ber 1838, in The Papers of Mirabeau Bounaparte 8. Gibson, The Kickapoos, pp. 111-12; "Council Lamar, ed. by Charles A. Guluk, Jr., vol 2 (Austin: of Henry Ellsworth with the Kickapoo," 2 Septem­ A. C. Baldwin & Sons, 1922), p. 264; "Statement of ber 1833, N.A., Letters Received, Western Superin­ Elias Vansickle," 23 January 1839, Senate Executive tendency, M234, Roll 921. Documents, 32nd Congress, 2nd session, doc. 14, 9. Arkansas Intelligencer, 7 February 1846. serial #660. 10. John Treat Irving, Indian Sketches, Taken 23. T. J. Rusk to Colonel Bowles (Cherokee During an Expedition to the Pawnee Tribes ... , vol. 1 Chief), 20 October 1838; Lamar Papers 255; H. (Philadelphia: Cary, Lea, and Blanchard, 1835), pp. McLeod to Lamar, 1 December 1838; Lamar Papers 79-80; Marcy is quoted in Adventures on Red River, vol. 2: 309. ed. by Grant Foreman (Norman: University of 24. A. M. M. Upshaw to General M. Arbuckle, Oklahoma Press, 1937), p. 131. 5 February 1841, N .A., Letters Received, Western 11. William Armstrong to Commissioner of Superintendency, M234, Roll 923. Indian Affairs T. Hartley Crawford, 30 September 25. Robert S. Neighbors to Commissioner of 1845, N.A., Western Superintendency, M234, Roll Indian Affairs George Manypenny, 16 September 923; J. D. Miles to Central Superintendent of 1854, House Executive Documents, 33rd Congress, Indian Affairs Enoch Hoag, 7 June 1871, N.A., 2nd session, 1854, serial #777; Throckmorton to Letters Received, Kickapoo Agency, M234, Roll Commissioner of Indian Affairs D. M. Cooley,S 373; Ferdinand Ernst, "Edwardsville, Vandalia, and November 1866; Texas Indian Papers 4: 125; Throck­ the Sangamon Country," in Prairie State: Impressions morton to Cooley, 6 December 1866; Texas Indian of Illinois, 1673-1967, By Travelers and Other Observ­ Papers 4: 127. ers, ed. by Paul M. Angle (Chicago: University of 26. Gibson, The Kickapoos, pp. 203-7. Chicago Press, 1968), p. 74; Arkansas Intelligencer, 7 27. John S. Ford, "The Fight on the Frio, July 4, February 1846; Jose' Marta Sanchez, "A Trip to 1862," Texas Historical Association Quarterly 1 (Octo­ Texas in 1828," Southwest Historical Quarterly 29 ber 1897): 118-20; W. C. Dalrymple to Throckmor­ (April 1926): 280. ton, 7 March 1867; Texas Indian Papers, 4: 175. 12. Miles to Hoag, 7 June 1871, N.A., Letters 28. Richard Graham to Superintendent of Received, Kickapoo Agency, M234, Roll 373. Indian Affairs at St. Louis William Clark, 15 13. Kickapoo statement to Rollins in Mildred P. January 1825, N.A., Letters Received, St. Louis Mayhall, Indian Wars of Texas (Waco: Texian Press, Superintendency, M234, Roll 747. 1965), p. 92; Mexican Kickapoo statement in 29. Sanchez, "A Trip to Texas," p. 280; Marcy "Extracts from Official Mexican Papers," 1 Septem­ quoted in Gibson, The Kickapoos, p. 171. ber 1868, in Texas Indian Papers 4: 274. 30. William Nicholson to Commissioner of 14. Woodard to Hayt, 3 April 1878, N.A., Indian Affairs E. P. Smith, 14 November 1874, Letters Received, Sac and Fox Agency, M234, Roll N.A., Letters Received, Sac and Fox Agency, 742. M234, Roll 740; Upshaw to Armstrong, 13 Septem­ 15. "Depredations on the Frontier of Texas," ber 1840, N.A., Letters Received, Western Superin­ House Executive Documents, 43rd Congress, 1st tendency, M234, Roll 923. session, 1873-1874, serial #1615, p. 23. 31. "Depredations on the Frontier," House 16. Armstrong to Crawford, 26 May 1841, Executive Documents, serial #1615, pp. 10, 17, and N.A., Letters Received, Western Superintendency, 23. M234, Roll 923. 32. William Schuchardt to Secretary of State 17. William J. Jones to H. L. Heiskell, 4 March Hamilton Fish, 1 July 1869, N.A., Letters Received, 1841; Armstrong to Crawford, 8 June 1845; P. M. Kickapoo Agency, M234, Roll 373. Butler to Armstrong, 18 May 1845, N.A., Letters 33. Miles to Hoag, 7 June 1871 and Miles to Received, Western Superintendency, M234, Roll Hoag, 13 July 1871, N.A., Letters Received, Kicka­ 923. poo Agency, M234, Roll 373. 18. Quoted in Gibson, The Kickapoos, p. 171. 34. Woodard to Nicholson, 31 March 1876, 19. Arkansas Intelligencer, 30 August 1845; Arm­ N.A., Letters Received, Sac and Fox Agency, strong to Crawford, 8 June 1845, N.A., Letters M234, Roll 741; Gibson, The Kickapoos, p. 275. Received, Western Superintendency, M234, Roll 35. Nicholson to Smith, 14 November 1874 and 923. John H. Pickering to Smith,S March 1875, N.A., 20. Armstrong to Crawford, 8 June 1845. Letters Received, Sac and Fox Agency, M234, Roll 21. Arkansas Intelligencer, 15 March 1845; Arm­ 740. strong to Crawford, 30 September 1845, N.A., 36. Woodard to Nicholson, 27 August 1877, Letters Received, Western Superintendency, M234, House Executive Documents, 45th Congress, 2nd Roll 923. session, 1877-1878, serial #1800, p. 502. KICKAPOO INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST 275

37. Woodard to Hayt, 9 April 1879 and J. Kickapoos, pp. 274-81. Hertford to Hayt, 10 June 1879 and John Shorb to 38. Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 January 1985 Hayt, 2 September 1879, N.A., Letters Received, and 13 January 1985. Sac and Fox Agency, M234, Roll 743; Gibson, The