that focused on cultivating friendly relationships with whites. He rose to prominence in his late 20s and was acknowledged as a promising young Kiowa in 1859 by James Brice, who wrote "Kicking Bird was said to be a good Indian by white men that knew him and would some day become influential with his people and the government." Kicking Bird was noticeably absent from Kiowa peace treaties of the late 1850s and early 1860s, most likely because he had yet to earn his status as a Kiowa chief. It was not until 1865, around the age of 30, that Kicking Bird would become a Kiowa sub-chief. A series of clashes between the Plains tribes and white settlers, such as the Sand Creek Massacre, induced peace talks in 1865. It is during this period of diplomacy between whites and Indians that Kicking Bird began to make his mark in a peaceful leadership position. He first emerged into public consciousness when he signed the Little Arkansas Treaty in 1865. He was especially active in returning white captives as evidence of good intentions while the terms of the Little Arkansas Treaty were being discussed. The Little Arkansas Treaty moved the major Plains Indians Tribes to reservations which were never entirely established, and which were later reduced in size by the Treaty of Medicine Lodge; also, promised annuities were never distributed. These two issues would have long-lasting implications that Kicking Bird and other Kiowa chiefs would wrestle with in the following years. Later life (1865–75) Political involvement After Dohasan's death in 1866, Satanta (White Bear), Guipago (Lone Wolf), and Kicking Bird became locked in an intense rivalry for leadership of the Kiowa. War leaders Guipago (named by Dohasan himself as his heir) and Satanta were the clear favorites over the younger Kicking Bird (Tene-angopte), but it was apparent that Kicking Bird, together with medicine-man No Mocassins (Napawat), was the foremost advocate for peace, taking up Dohasan's role as peace leader of the Kiowas. His calm and conciliatory demeanor facilitated an open relationship with whites, who admired him for his skills as an orator and diplomat. At Fort Dodge in 1866, commanding officer Henry Douglas stated that "Kicking Bird was the most reliable of all the Indians." Kicking Bird's first actions as sub-chief were for peace, but he was primarily concerned with the annuity situation. When the Kiowa had moved onto the reservations, they had