Читать книгу The Calendar History of Kiowa Indians (Illustrated Edition) - James Mooney - Страница 47

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In the summer of 1854 the Kiowa, Comanche, Apache, Cheyenne, and others of the plains tribes, organized a great expedition for the purpose of exterminating the immigrant tribes in eastern Kansas, whose presence was beginning to be felt in an ominous decrease of the buffalo. Although this was perhaps the largest war party ever raised by the plains Indians south of the Sioux country, being estimated to number 1,500 warriors, they were ingloriously defeated with heavy loss by a party of Sauk and Fox numbering hardly a hundred, the result being due to the fact that the latter were armed with long-range rifles, while their enemies had only bows and arrows. Almost every old man of the Kiowa now alive was in this battle, which is famous among all the tribes of the southern plains (see the calendar).

In the same year, according to Clark, a party of 113 Pawnee was cut off and slaughtered almost to a man by an overwhelming force of Cheyenne and Kiowa (Clark, 19). There is no record of this engagement on the calendars, although several minor encounters with the Pawnee are noted about this time.