Devil's Canyon in present-day Kiowa County, Oklahoma, is an archaeological site at the meeting of the canyon and the North Fork of the Red River, where a Wichita village once stood. The place is significant for a pivotal event on the southern plains: the first formal contact between the United States government and the Plains Indians. On July 21, 1834, U.S. troops commanded by Col. Henry Dodge escorted government officials there for a peace conference at the Wichita village. Its importance rests chiefly in this early meeting and its role in shaping relations between the federal government and Plains peoples.