P
encourage Indians to assimilate into white society,
the act will have little impact because few Indians
will opt to take up homesteads under its terms.
White hunters exterminate the southern
buffalo herds.
In a matter of years, professional buffalo hunters
have killed so many buffalo on the southern Plains
that the once-great herds native to the region are
nearly extinct (see entry for 1871). Between 1872
and 1874, the height of the buffalo hunt, whites
slaughter more than 5 million of the animals. (By
comparison, the Plains Indians who depend on the
buffalo for their survival hunt just over 1 million
during the same period.) Some hunters shoot more
than they can skin, infuriating Indians by leaving
the animals’ bloody carcasses to rot. Even those who
skin them often leave the rest to rot. The Indians
traditionally used every part of the buffalo. The ex-
termination of the buffalo has been supported by
some officials, including the secretary of the inte-
rior, as a means of destroying traditional Plains
Indian culture.
“Twelve hundred men were
employed in the construction
of the [Kansas Pacific Railroad].
The Indians were very trouble-
some, and it was difficult to
obtain fresh meat for the hands.
The company therefore con-
cluded to engage expert hunters
to kill buffaloes.... During my
engagement as hunter for the
company, which covered a pe-
riod of eighteen months, I killed
4,280 buffaloes.”
—William “Buffalo Bill” Cody on
his career as a professional
buffalo hunterMay 3Kiowa chief Kicking Bird dies under
mysterious circumstances.
Kicking Bird, who is considered the principal chief
of the Kiowa by the United States, is found dead,
possibly poisoned by his political enemies. Long an
advocate of peaceful relations with the U.S. gov-
ernment, Kicking Bird had been asked by federal
officials to identify Kiowa war leaders who had
participated in the Red River War (see entries for
JUNE 27, 1874, and for SEPTEMBER 28, 1874).
These men are soon exiled to Florida, where they
are imprisoned for three years at Fort Marion (see
entry for MAY 21, 1875).MayThe Comanche under Quanah Parker
surrender.
Comanche leader Quanah Parker, after four years
of fighting and weeks of negotiation, leads his 400
men to Fort Sill in Indian Territory and surren-
ders to U.S. Army colonel Ranald Mackenzie. The
meeting between the former adversaries is cordial.
Perhaps in an attempt to ingratiate himself to
Mackenzie, Parker, whose followers long terror-
ized Texas settlers with their raiding, reminds the
colonel that his white mother had been a Texan
(see entries for MAY 19, 1836, and for DECEMBER
1860). Throughout the encounter, the Comanche
displays his considerable talents as a diplomat—
skills that will make him an extremely effective
leader as his people adjust to reservation life and
to dealing with Indian agents and other white
authorities.May 21Plains Indian prisoners arrive at Fort
Marion.
After surrendering to the U.S. Army, 72 Kiowa,
Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors are sent to Fort
Marion, a prison in St. Augustine, Florida. Con-
sidered the most dangerous Indians of the southern