while Kicking Bird worked to calm his tribesmen as the three chiefs were transferred to Fort Richardson. The difficulties of 1871 placed Kicking Bird in a top leadership position, and he was recognized as the leading Kiowa peace chief by the U.S. government and a large portion of the Kiowa as well. Efforts towards conciliation, 1871–73 Over the next two years Kicking Bird worked to obtain the release of Satanta and Big Tree. He participated in numerous assemblies as a representative of the Kiowa alongside Guipago, and promised to restore peace among the Kiowa. He demonstrated his good intentions by returning white prisoners to the Wichita agency and discouraging his people from taking the war path. However, with tensions still soaring after the arrest of Satanta, Big Tree, and Satank, Kicking Bird was able to achieve little success. Kicking Bird engaged in numerous activities to placate Texas governor Edmund J. Davis, who was strongly opposed to releasing Satanta and Big Tree. Many Kiowas followed his example and acknowledged that peace was the only viable option for release. The Kiowas returned captives and livestock without ransom, and even offered to rescue captives from other tribes. For his conciliatory work among the tribes, Kicking Bird received a silver medal. In some instances, Kicking Bird threatened not only his own warriors but war parties from other tribes as well in order to stop the raiding. During a June 1873 sun dance, Kicking Bird personally prevented a major Indian outbreak. Discouraged about Satanta and Big Tree's imprisonment, many chiefs clamored for a multitribal assault on the outside forces. Kicking Bird spoke against military action and urged patience. The excitement abated, and the chiefs agreed to wait. This meeting was maybe the closest the Plains tribes would ever come to a multi-tribal assault. Finally, on October 7, 1873, Satanta and Big Tree were released, a result of Guipago's straightforward explanation to Indian agent James Haworth that the patience of his Kiowa warriors, as well as his own, was wearing thin after the Kiowa had lived up to their promises by remaining peaceful in the summer of 1873. According to his apologists, Kicking Bird's skillful negotiation in the release of Satanta and Big Tree earned him the loyalty of nearly two-thirds of his tribesmen. Head chief Kicking Bird's adeptness as a peace leader could not prevent his tribe's immense dissatisfaction with conditions on the reservations, and,