I-See-O

I-See-O (Kiowa: Áiséñ:aui), also known as Tahbonemah, (c. 1849 to 1927) was a Kiowa-American soldier who served as an officer in the United States Army for nearly fifty years in the Seventh Cavalry and was the few remaining active duty U.S. Army Indian Scouts upon his death in 1927.

I-See-O enlisted in 1889 and served alongside future General Hugh L. Scott, teaching him the intricacies of indigenous warfare and Native American sign language. I-See-O quickly gained a reputation as a diplomat during his early service in the American Indian Wars, keeping the peace among the Native American nations in the Indian Territory during the Ghost Dance religious movement of 1889-90. He continued his service as a personal courier to General Nelson A. Miles for several years and re-enlisted at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1897. In 1915, the United States Congress passed a law in recognition of his service making him an active duty sergeant for life. I-See-O continued his service at Fort Sill until his death in 1927.

Naming and early life I-See-O was born in the ancestral Kiowa homeland along the Central Great Plains in the Indian Territory in the area of modern-day Fort Larned National Historic Site in Kansas. In 1867, he witnessed the treaty negotiations between the Kiowa and the United States near the Medicine Lodge River. The negotiations at Medicine Lodge resulted in three treaties between the United States and three Native American nations: the Kiowa, the Comanche, and the Plains Apache. The Americans dispatched treaty negotiators, known as the Indian Peace Commission, to negotiate treaties with these nations for the purpose of acquiring vast amounts of land and forcing them onto reservations in Indian Territory. The lead American negotiator was General William Tecumseh Sherman. The Kiowa were represented by a delegation led by Satank, Satanta, and Kicking Bird. The negotiations ended with the signing of the Medicine Lodge Treaty on October 21, 1867; however, the treaty failed to bring peace to the region and only resulted in an increase in American settlers pouring into the region. This led to an armed resistance movement across the Southern Plains and I-See-O joined Lone Wolf and Comanche war leader Quanah Parker in resisting the United States across the Southern Plains for the next seven years. After a military defeat in the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon, Lone Wolf ended the Kiowa resistance and surrendered to American military officials at Fort Sill on February 25, 1875. I-See-O was among those in Lone Wolf's party when he surrendered. Late in his life, I-See-O was able to identify the exact location where the Medicine Lodge Treaty was negotiated and signed for a commission which wanted to build a monument to the event.

I-See-O re-enlisted in the United States Army Indian Scouts for three years on February 26, 1897, as a private and served under future U.S. Army Chief of Staff First Lieutenant Hugh L. Scott.

Awards

+United States decorations and medalsIndian Campaign MedalSpanish War Service MedalMexican Border Service MedalWorld War I Victory Medal