The bison herds that made the plains economy viable were already being reduced by commercial hunting and were being eliminated from the reservation area.

The alternative — farming — required a completely different set of skills, equipment, and cultural knowledge, and the government support for that transition was insufficient.

The Indian agents who administered the reservation had enormous discretionary authority and limited oversight.

Corruption was common.

The specific agents assigned to the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho were of varying competence and integrity, and the result was a reservation experience that consistently fell short of what the treaty had promised.

The young warriors who continued raiding in Kansas were, in part, responding to the failure of the reservation system to provide adequate food and material security.