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

Kiowa Kiowa ( ) or Cáuigú () people are a Native Americans in the United States, 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 Colora ...

war leader during the 19th century, an associate of

Guipago Guipago or Lone Wolf the Elder (, ; – 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 Arkansas Treaty in 1865. Background The Kiowa flourish ...

and

Satanta Satanta (IPA: eˈtʰæntə (Set'tainte ( éʔ.tˀã́j.dè or ''White Bear'') ( – October 11, 1878) was a Kiowa war chief. He was a member of the Kiowa tribe, born around 1815, during the height of the power of the Plains Tribes, probably ...

. Big Bow's name in

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

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

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

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Big Bow raided native and non-native settlements and took part in the

Warren Wagon Train Raid The Warren Wagon Train raid, also known as the Salt Creek massacre, occurred on May 18, 1871. Henry Warren was contracted to haul supplies to forts in the west of Texas, including Fort Richardson, Fort Griffin, and Fort Concho. Traveling down t ...

, on May 18, 1871 on Salt Creek Prairie in Texas, along with

Satank Satank (Set-angya or Set-ankeah, translated as 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 Koitsenko (or Kaitsenko, '' ...

, Satanta, Mamanti, Tsen-tainte (

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 w ...

Ado-ete Big Tree, Kiowa: Ado-eete (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, ...

( 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, Tsen-tainte (

), 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 tribes from the Southern Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of flatland in Nort ...

; he was one of the last to surrender (following Tene-angopte'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 in 1875, Tene-angopte 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 in

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References

Kiowa people 1830s births 1900s deaths Year of death uncertain 19th-century Native American leaders {{Oklahoma-stub

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