Kiowas wanted no part of peace plan

Opposed to Kicking Bird’s policy of peaceful coexistence with the whites, dissident Kiowas punished their chief with a poisoned cup of coffee on May 2, 1875. A nineteenth century authority on North American Indians rated the Kiowas “the most predatory and bloodthirsty” of the prairie tribes. His opinion was influenced by the fact that in proportion to their comparatively small size, which never…