The Indian Trial

Kiowa and Comanche raids on the Southern Plains in 1870-71 terrorized settlers. The raids culminated in the Warren Wagon Train Massacre and the arrest of Satank, Santanta, and Big Tree by General William Tecumseh Sherman. The Jacksboro Indian Trial led to a confrontation between the state of Texas, the federal government, the Kiowa Nation, Comanches, and Cheyennes. This narrative history explores the Little Arkansas and Medicine Lodge Treaties and factions within the Kiowa Nation.