Several photographs taken in the 1860s show Cheyenne leaders at treaty councils and in Washington, and some of these photographs may include Black Kettle, though identification is uncertain in several cases.

The documentary record of his life — the treaty texts, the council minutes, the military reports, the congressional testimony — is more substantial.

This paper trail is one of the reasons his story is recoverable in the level of detail that it is.

The treaty of Medicine Lodge, for example, was covered by journalists who attended the council.

Their dispatches, published in eastern newspapers, included extensive accounts of the proceedings and specific quotes from the chiefs who spoke.

The fragment of Black Kettle’s speech that survives comes from this journalistic record.