Big Bow (1833"Big Bow."
''Texas State Historical Association.'' Retrieved 21 June 2012.–c. 1900) was a

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and e ...

war leader during the 19th century, an associate of

Guipago Guipago (Gui-pah-gho, or ''Lone Wolf he Elder' '' Alone among the Wolves '') (c. 1820 – July 1879) was the last Principal Chief of the Kiowa tribe. He was a member of the Koitsenko, the Kiowa warrior elite, and was a signer of the Little Arkan ...

and

Satanta Satanta can refer to: * Satanta (Kiowa leader), a leader of the Kiowa people * Satanta, Kansas Satanta is a city in Haskell County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,092. Every year there is a ce ...

. Big Bow's name in

is Zepko-ette, also spelled Za-ko-yea. He was born in Elk Creek in

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...

in 1833. He was active in the Southern Plains, in the present day states of

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

, and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. Big Bow raided native and non-native settlements and took part in the Warren Wagon Train Raid, on May 18, 1871 on Salt Creek Prairie in Texas, along with

Satank Satank (Set-angya or Set-ankeah, translated as chief Topinabee A quiet Sitting Bear) was a prestigious Kiowa warrior and medicine man. He was born about 1800, probably in Kansas, and killed June 8, 1871. An able warrior, he became part of the Ko ...

, Satanta,

Mamanti Mamanti ("He Walking-above", "Sky Walker"), also known as Swan (c. 1835–July 28, 1875) was a Kiowa medicine man.

Tsen-tainte White Horse (Kiowa: Tsen-tainte, unknown c. 1840/1845–1892) was a chief of the Kiowa. White Horse attended the council between southern plains tribes and the United States at Medicine Lodge in southern Kansas which resulted in the Medicine L ...

(

White Horse A white horse is born predominantly white and stays white throughout its life. A white horse has mostly pink skin under its hair coat, and may have brown, blue, or hazel eyes. "True white" horses, especially those that carry one of the dominant ...

Ado-ete Big Tree (Kiowa: Ado-ete (ca. 1850–1929), was a noted Kiowa warrior and chief. He was a loyal follower of the fighting chiefs party (led by Satank, Satanta, and Guipago), and conducted frequent raids upon other tribes and white settlers, ofte ...

( Big Tree), Fast Bear, Yellow Wolf, Eagle Head. But Satanta, while asking the Indian Agent on the Kiowa-Comanche Reservation for ammunition and supplies, bragged that he had led the war party at Salt Creek Prairie, and told Satank and young war leader

( Big Tree) were there too; he didn't call the names of Mamanti,

(

), Fast Bear, Yellow Wolf, Eagle Head, so they weren't arrested. On April 20, 1872 Zepko-ete and Tsen-tainte, with about one hundred of their Kiowa warriors and Comanche allies, attacked a government wagon train at Howard Wells station, along the San Antonio - El Paso trail, killing 17 Mexicans and kidnapping a woman; two companies (A and H) of 9th Cavalry from Fort Clark, led by capt. N. Cooney and lt. F. R. Vincent, got the Indians, but were forced to retreat after suffering two casualties (lt. Vincent himself, deadly wounded, and a "Buffalo Soldier"; ten Indians (four in the assault on the wagon train and six in the fight against the "Buffalo Soldiers") were reported to have been killed. Big Bow joined

and the Comanche under Quanah and made a name for himself in the Comanche Campaign and the

Red River War The Red River War was a military campaign launched by the United States Army in 1874 to displace the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Native American tribes from the Southern Plains, and forcibly relocate the tribes to reservati ...

; he was one of the last to surrender (following

Tene-angopte Kicking Bird, also known as Tene-angop'te, "The Kicking Bird", "Eagle Who Strikes with his Talons", or "Striking Eagle" (1835 - May 3, 1875) was a High Chief of the Kiowa in the 1870s. It is said that he was given his name for the way he fought h ...

's advice), in January 1875, to the United States, before Guipago's surrendering on February 25, 1875. Committed to anti-white ideals and a path of resistive violence, Big Bow refused to sign the Treaty of Medicine Lodge in 1867, which relocated the Kiowa and Comanche to live together on a reservation in western Oklahoma and Texas. Although failed, Big Bow also participated in the Battle of Adobe Walls, a violent struggle in an attempt to push invaders out from hunting buffalo on their tribal lands. His defiance and frustration against the white-washing of his land and traditions revealed itself through his violent endeavors and actions. So committed to bloodshed to fight for his beliefs, Thomas Battey, a Quaker missionary close to the tribe, commented on his ferocious countenance.Anderson, Allen H. "Big Bow." Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association, 12 June 2010. Web. 02 Dec. 2015. Determined to preserve his lands, he was devoted to violence as an enforcer. When the Kiowas were forced onto their

reservation __NOTOC__ Reservation may refer to: Places Types of places: * Indian reservation, in the United States * Military base, often called reservations * Nature reserve Government and law * Reservation (law), a caveat to a treaty * Reservation in India, ...

in 1875,

didn't include him in the number of Kiowa chiefs and warriors to be deported to Fort Marion, Florida, and Big Bow and his family settled near

Rainy Mountain Rainy Mountain is a rounded hill standing northwest apart from the main Wichita Mountains in Kiowa County, Oklahoma. It was a prominent landmark for the Plains Indians on the southern plains. Rainy Mountain Creek, flowing northeastward from Rain ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Bow Kiowa people Native American leaders 1833 births 1900s deaths Year of death uncertain 19th-century Native Americans

See also

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References