The Kiowa began in move into the Texas Panhandle around 1790 to 1800 from along the Arkansas and Canadian rivers in a region now included in the states of Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. In many ways the Kiowa displayed a typical Plains culture, they were among the most predatory and warlike peoples of their region and had an elaborate and effective military organization. The Kiowa came closer to developing a written language than the majority of Native American peoples, having a system of pictographic signs that were painted on deer, antelope, and buffalo hides and were used as primitive calendars and as chronological records of events. The Kiowa Indians were, along with the fighting Cheyennes, the most feared and hated of the Plains Indian tribes.

After constant warfare with whites, they were subdued by U.S. Army troops under Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer in 1868 and were settled with much difficulty on a reservation in Oklahoma. In 1874 they broke out of the reservation and resumed active warfare with white settlers in the vicinity; they were subdued, however, in the following year, with the loss of all their horses and armaments and the deportation of a number of their chiefs and warriors to Florida. Since that time they have largely remained in Oklahoma. In 1901 they were granted U.S. citizenship. The descendants of the Kiowa numbered 9,421 in 1990.

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