and their contemporaries resorted to looting and plundering throughout the Plains, which undermined Kicking Bird's efforts towards peace. On January 15, 1870, a body of Kiowas under Satanta intercepted a Texas herd driven by Jacob Hershfield and robbed the drovers of money and supplies before killing some 150-200 head of cattle. Kicking Bird arrived on the scene and defused the situation. Hershfield accounted that had it not been for Kicking Bird, he and his men would have died. Kicking Bird received intense criticism for his close relationships with white people and his renunciation of hunting and advocation of farming. The ranks of warring chiefs Satanta and Guipago swelled in comparison and Kicking Bird lost much tribal support. When the Kiowas hosted a sun dance to celebrate the Summer Moon of 1870, many warriors talked of staying out on the Plains instead of living on reservations with inadequate annuities. Kicking Bird spoke strongly against this and urged that the tribes cultivate friendly relations with the whites and continue to live on reservations. Though a chief, Kicking Bird received much scorn during the sun dance from young Kiowas, and the lack of respect was evident. They said "he had been a great warrior before the white men penned him up on the reservation. Now he talked like a woman." Battle of Little Wichita River Responding to claims that he was a coward and had become effeminate, Kicking Bird assembled a war party and invited some of his chief critics and worst tormentors to participate - Guipago, Tsen-tainte (White Horse), and Satank. Kiowa Old Man Horse accounted "Chiefs hostile to him said to him, ‘Kicking Bird, if you don't quit opposing us, we are going to kill you.' He said, ‘Alright go ahead.' ‘Kicking Bird,' they said, ‘you are nothing but a low-down unrecognized man, no longer a chief.' Kicking Bird said, ‘It may be true, but I am trying to put you in a good road which will be a protection for the lives of the women and children.'" Kicking Bird expressed his regret at having to prove himself in battle, but acquiesced nonetheless. In July 1870, his war party, some 100 strong, crossed the Red River into Texas and confronted a Kansas-bound herd in Montague County, Texas, taking horses, mules, blankets, and other property. A few of his braves broke away from the war party and captured a mail stage at