Kiowa and Comanche warriors killed seven teamsters and then went back to Indian Territory and supposed sanctuary. General William T. Sherman arrested Satank, Satanta, and Big Tree on the reservation and ordered them returned to Texas for trial. Satank committed suicide, but Big Tree and Satanta were convicted and sent to prison in Huntsville. The Salt Creek episode illuminates such themes as the reservation system, the use of law on the frontier, and the resistance of Native Americans to European values. It is more illustrative, though, to compare the western mining frontier of the 1870s-1900 with the oil exploration frontier in Texas from 1900 to 1930.
Interesting comparisons abound.