Wars and Massacres

• Dakota Sioux bands, including Little Crow's, signed a treaty and agreed to move onto reservations


  1851
• Little Crow's War


  1862
• Agreement


  24 million acres of Dakota Sioux land for $1.4 million, yearly payments of $80,000 and security for his people
• Before the treaty, the Dakota Sioux built up a lot of debt. The treaty stated they had to pay back $200,000 before they received any money. They refused.
• The reservations could not produce enough food for the winter, if they hunted, they were refused their annuity
• The Agency that ran the reservation cheated the Dakota Sioux, buying provisions that were inedible
• Crops started to fail, the Agency didn't help and they refused to let them buy food on credit
• The Dakota Sioux started to steal from the warehouses, burned down agency buildings and attacked settler's towns.
• Little Crow didn't agree with attacking innocent people but the young warriors continued – 600 settlers/soldiers were killed
• Little Crow and his followers fled. 400 were put on trial but President Lincoln insisted that only 38 should be executed
• Many moved onto the Crow Creek reservation, many starved and Little Crow was killed
• Gold prospectors began crossing Cheyenne and Arapaho land. Many wanted PIs to be moved onto reservations


  1858
• Sand Creek Massacre


  1864
• Chiefs, including Black Kettle agrees to move onto a reservation
• Young warriors (Dog Soldiers) rejected the treaty and remained on their old lands
• Black Kettle, government officials and army commanders tried to reach an agreement after years of attacks.
• Black Kettle set up a camp at Sand Creek, believing they would protected by the army
• The territory's governor John Evans was determined to 'kill and destroy' hostile PIs. He appointed Colonel Chivington to do the job
• Chivington led 700 cavalry troops to Black Kettle's camp.
• He claimed he fought a great battle against 1,000 warriors but this was not true
• The camp surrendered but Chivington and his men massacred 130 men, women and children
• Black Kettle escaped and spread the news to other tribes
• Many survivors and tribes in the area ended up moving onto reservations, which kept reducing in size
• Red Cloud's War


  1866-68
• Red Cloud was the chief of the Lakota Sioux
• Gold was discovered in Montana and many used the Bozeman Trail, crossing Lakota Sioux hunting grounds
• Lakota Sioux carried out a number of attacks on these prospectors
• The Bozeman Trail broke the Fort Laramie Treaty
• The government called Red Cloud and other chiefs to discuss a new treaty to allow people to travel safely on the trail in return for gifts and to not disturb the hunting grounds
• Before the discussions took place, the army already bought materials to set up forts along the trail
• Red Cloud was angry that the discussions were never going to mean anything and the government already had a plan
• Red Cloud believed the Lakota Sioux had to choose between fighting or starving. He chose to fight
• Many supported Red Cloud, including Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse
• They started attacking soldiers and workers building the forts
• It involved nearly 3000 PI warriors fighting 700 US soldiers
• Captain Fetterman was sent in to protect the soldiers but fell for the trap and were ambushed by PIs
• The Battle of the Little Bighorn/The Great Sioux War


  1876
• In 1874, an expedition led by General Custer went to the Black Hills to protect railway surveyors and find out if gold was present, this broke Fort Laramie Treaty
• Custer reported that the area was rich in gold and caused a vast influx of miners, which the US army was helpless to prevent from invading the territory
• The Sioux refused the government offer to buy the Black Hills as they were sacred to them as they were the place where their nation began