Through the summer and fall of 1864, Black Kettle worked through whatever channels were available to negotiate a peaceful resolution.

He made contact with military commanders, communicated through Fort Lyon, and eventually brought a delegation of chiefs — including both Cheyenne and Arapaho leaders — to meet with Governor Evans and General Samuel Curtis in September 1864.

The council at Camp Weld produced a document signed by Evans and Chivington in which the Cheyenne and Arapaho chiefs present agreed to report to Fort Lyon to make peace with the military commander there.

This agreement was a limited one — it did not fully clarify the terms of peace, did not guarantee protection, and was subsequently interpreted by Evans and Chivington in ways that were not consistent with what Black Kettle and the other chiefs believed they had agreed to.