The Indian Wars

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The Indian Wars
AHII Unit 1 Part A Conflict
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1st Treaty of Fort Laramie

• 1851
• 8 Native American groups agreed to specific
  limited geographic boundaries in return for the
  US government promising to honor those boundaries
  forever

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Settlers Move Into the Great Plains

• Deprived natives of their hunting grounds
• Ignored treaties signed by US government
• Forced the Indians to move further west
• Occasionally, Indian groups would resist or
  retaliate

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The Buffalo

• Plains Indians relied on the buffalo as their
  primary source of food, clothing, shelter
• As more settlers entered the plains, the buffalo
  hunting grounds were disturbed

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The Buffalo Start to Disappear

• Settlers killed animals to protect their crops
• Professional hunters killed many for their hides
  which were popular in the east
• Sport hunters killed many just for fun
• Railroad companies hired sharpshooters to kill
  buffalo to keep them from blocking the tracks
• The US Army killed many to deprive the Indians of
  food and force them onto the reservations

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Dakota Sioux Uprising

• Dakota Sioux had agreed to stay on a reservation
  in Minnesota
• US government had agreed to pay annuities to
  Indians on the reservation
• Corrupt traders and officials often cheated
  Indians out of their annuities
• In 1862, Congress delayed paying the annuities
  due to the Civil War, resulting in widespread
  hunger among the Sioux

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Chief Little Crow

• Asked traders to sell the Sioux food on credit
  until the annuities were paid
• Traders refused one replied let them eat grass
  or their own dung
• In desperation, the Sioux took up arms
• Little Crow tried to limit the violence, but
  angry Indians killed hundreds of white settlers
  before federal troops arrived

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Sioux Uprising Ends

• Military courts sentenced 307 Dakota Sioux to
  death, but President Lincoln reduced the number
  to 38
• Many of the Sioux left Minnesota and took refuge
  in the Dakota Territory

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Sand Creek Massacre (1864)

• US forced Cheyenne to give up lands promised to
  them by treaty
• Cheyenne retaliated by attacking settlements in
  Colorado
• Colorado governor ordered the Cheyenne to
  surrender at Ft. Lyon or face the consequences
• Cheyenne under Chief Black Kettle arrived at Ft.
  Lyon to negotiate a peace treaty and made camp at
  Sand Creek
• US forces attacked the unsuspecting Cheyenne,
  killing about 270, including women and children
  in retaliation for the Cheyennes earlier attacks
  on settlers

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Lakota Sioux Vow to Defend Their Territory

• After the trouble with the Dakota Sioux, US Army
  began to patrol into the Great Plains to prevent
  other Sioux from organizing
• The nomadic Lakota Sioux were determined to
  defend their territory against incursion by both
  white settlers and the Army
• Several conflicts ensued

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Red Cloud

• 1822 1909
• Lakota Sioux
• Led Sioux in Red Clouds War (1866-68)
• Later traveled to Washington and met with Pres.
  Grant
• Did not take part in later Sioux uprisings,
  instead pursuing more peaceful efforts

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Fetterman Massacre (1866)

• Capt. William Fetterman and 80 soldiers were
  lured out of their fort along the Bozeman Trail
  in Wyoming by Lakota Chief Red Cloud
• They walked into an ambush and were wiped out by
  the Lakota

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Indian Peace Commission

• Formed by Congress in 1867, toured the Great
  Plains
• Concluded problems were due to incursions by
  whites into Indian territory
• Proposed creating 2 large reservations on the
  plains which would be managed by agents of the
  Bureau of Indian Affairs
• US Army would be given full authority to deal
  with Indians who did not move to the reservations
• Plan didnt work due to resistance from the
  Indians

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2nd Treaty of Ft. Laramie (1868)

• Also called the Sioux Treaty of 1868
• Guaranteed the Lakota ownership of the Black
  Hills in the Dakotas, as well as hunting rights
  elsewhere
• Gold miners would violate the treaty, triggering
  later uprisings
• The Lakota sued the US government in 1980 for
  violation of this treaty, winning 120 million in
  damages Lakota refused the money and continue to
  press for return of their lands

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Crazy Horse

• 1840 1877
• Lakota Sioux
• Took part in the Fetterman Massacre
• Later led the Sioux in the Battle of Little Big
  Horn in 1876
• After surrendering to US troops in 1877, he was
  shot while resisting his guards

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George Armstrong Custer

• 1839 1876
• Civil War veteran
• Graduated last in his class at West Point
• Flamboyant officer whose career was marked by
  scandals and a failed effort to accept command of
  the Mexican Army under Benito Juarez
• Sent to fight Indians to get him away from
  Washington

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Battle of Little Big Horn

• Custers Last Stand
• June 25, 1876
• Custer launched a cavalry attack on a group of
  2500 Sioux Cheyenne warriors
• The Indians repulsed the attack, then surrounded
  Custers detachment and killed him and all 210 of
  his men
• Last major Indian victory

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The Ghost Dance

• Lakota had finally relented in 1877 and settled
  on a reservation under Chief Sitting Bull
• Lakota had begun performing a ritual known as the
  Ghost Dance, a celebration of a hoped-for day
  when the white settlers would disappear, the
  buffalo would return, and all of the Indians
  dead ancestors would come back
• In 1890, federal agents ordered an end to the
  Ghost Dance, but the Lakota ignored the order

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Sitting Bull

• 1831 1890
• Holy man, and one of the Sioux leaders at Little
  Big Horn
• Sitting Bull was blamed for the Lakotas defiance
  over the Ghost Dance and ordered arrested
• Police were sent to arrest Sitting Bull, but his
  supporters resisted his arrest a gun battle
  broke out and Sitting Bull and 13 others were
  killed

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Wounded Knee

• Angered over Sitting Bulls death, the Ghost
  Dancers left the reservation, breaking their
  treaty agreement
• US troops pursued
• Dec. 29, 1890 the two groups met at Wounded Knee
  Creek, resulting in a battle
• 25 US soldiers and about 200 Lakota (mostly
  women, children, and the elderly) died

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Chief Joseph the Nez Perce

• Nez Perce refused to give up their assigned
  reservation in Idaho in 1877
• US Army threatened to forcibly relocate them
  violence broke out and the Nez Perce fled, trying
  to reach Canada
• Retreated 1300 miles and got within 30 miles of
  Canadian border before being cut off by the Army
  and surrendering
• Forced to relocate to the Indian Territory
  (Oklahoma)

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Helen Hunt Jackson

• 1830 1885
• Wrote A Century of Dishonor (1881)
• Exposed the shameful way the US government and
  Army had treated the Indians, chastised Congress
  to make amends
• Created concern for the plight, led Congress to
  try to find a new approach to Indian relations

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The Dawes Act of 1887

• Sponsored by Sen. Henry Dawes of Massachusetts
• Abolished tribal organizations
• Broke up communally held reservation land by
  allotting each Indian head of household 160 acres
  for farming single adults received 80 acres,
  children each received 40 acres
• Remaining reservation land was sold to white
  settlers with the money going into a trust set
  aside for Native Americans

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Assimilation

• Dawes Act was a failure
• Land allotted was of poor quality
• Indians had little interest or experience in
  farming, didnt want to be assimilated into
  American-style of life
• Many sold their allotments
• Didnt like loss of reservation land to white
  settlers
• Agents put in charge were often corrupt or biased
• Indian problem was solved by the decrease in
  Indian population due to hunger and disease

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Reservations Today