The populations that had built immunity to the specific disease environments of the open Plains faced different disease pressures in the concentrated populations of the reservation communities.

Comanche and Kiowa populations declined significantly in the reservation period.

The Fort Marion incarceration of approximately seventy-two leaders — selected by the Army as the most dangerous and responsible for resistance — removed the most experienced community leadership from the agencies at exactly the moment when that leadership was most needed.

The men who were sent to Fort Marion were the men who knew the most, had the most authority, and were most capable of navigating the transition to reservation life.

Their removal compounded the difficulty of the transition for those they had led.