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= 1867 Indian Peace Commission =

Introduction
The Indian Peace Commission was a treaty that occurred in 1867, a treaty that was primarily between the United States Government and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians. Famed Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman served as one of the many peace commissioners. The primary function of the treaty was to allow for the removal of the Indians from their native lands and be relegated to much smaller boundaries, primarily in Oklahoma.

Events Leading up to Peace Commission
In 1865, Congress Commissioned James Doolittle to write a report concerning the health of the Indian tribes. The report was commissioned in part as a response to the actions of John Chivington's Colorado Volunteers, when they attacked and killed an otherwise peaceful band of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians. What Doolittle turned into the government reported of the "deterioration of the Indian condition" while also condoning the actions of John Chivington. On July 20th, the United States Congress assigned commissioners "to establish peace with certain hostile Indian tribes", led by N. G. Taylor and included William Tecumseh Sherman as one of the commissioners. As put by the commissioners, their original purpose was to "remove if possible the cause of war, To secure, as far as practicable, our frontier settlements and the safe building of our railroads looking to the Pacific; and  To suggest or inaugurate some plan for the civilization of the Indians."

The Peace Commission
The Peace Commission offered relocation to several tribes of Indians into what is current day Oklahoma. This area, which was previously thought to be little more than barren wasteland, was now needed to complete the railroads that would run through the area. The commissioners were appointed by president Andrew Johnson to seek out peace. The main peace talks took place at Medicine Lodge Creek towards the end of October. Previous talks in the preceding September proved to be unproductive at best, which lead to the October meeting. Present at the October meeting were Kiowas, Comanches, Plains Apaches, Kiowa Apaches, among others, over five thousand Indians in all that showed up for the talks. What was offered by the peace commissioners was for the Indians to move out of their ancestral home lands and into reservations created for them by the government. Senator Henderson, one of the commissioners, told the Indians, "what we say to you may at first be unpleasant, but if you follow our advice it will bring you good, and you will soon be happy". Henderson's claim was that because the whites were so rapidly overflowing the area by settling it that relocation was inevitable. The first groups to sign the treaty were the Kiowas and Comanches on October 21st, followed by the Apaches on October 25th. Finally, on October 28th, the Arapahos and parts of the Cheyennes signed the treaty on October 28th.

Aftermath
The signed treaty was not well received by all Indians who had attended the peace treaty. Many were fed up with the lies of the government. Others who had attempted to live the lifestyle that the Americans were asking got fed up, and did not want to continue to do so. After making peace with multiple Indian tribes in 1867, the peace commissioners continued on, this time to Fort Laramie, in 1868. The commissioners, as part of this latest treaty with the Sioux Indians, agreed to give up their forts along the Bozeman Trails, as well as guaranteeing hunting grounds for the Sioux. This treaty did establish the "Great Sioux Reserve". A somewhat strenuous peace existed, at least until the discovery of gold a few years after the treaty was established. However, the peace established during the 1867 negotiations proved to be short lived. Congress failed to act on many of the promises given, and forces led by William Tecumseh Sherman lashed out at Indians who they deemed to be "hostile". Many of the Indians who were present during those negotiations ended up in prison, or died in battle. Peace continued to prove elusive to all parties involved.