American History II, Note Set #2: The War Against the Plains Indians
I.
The Indian Wars
a. 1st Treaty of Ft. Laramie (1851): Plains Indian groups agreed to limited boundaries in return for the
government promising to honor those boundaries forever
b. American Settlers Move into the Great Plains
i. Ignored treaties signed by US government
ii. Forced the Indians to move further west
iii. Began killing the buffalo
1. Plains Indians relied on the buffalo as their primary source of food, clothing, & shelter
2. As more settlers entered the plains, the buffalo hunting grounds were destroyed
a. Farmers killed buffalo to protect their crops
b. Professional hunters killed buffalo for their fur or for sport
c. Railroad companies killed buffalo to keep them from blocking the tracks
d. The US Army killed buffalo to deprive the Indians of food and force them onto
the reservations
c. Dakota Sioux Uprising (1862)
i. Dakota Sioux had agreed to stay on a reservation in Minnesota in return for annual payments by
US government
ii. During the Civil War, Congress delayed paying Sioux, resulting in widespread hunger
iii. Chief Little Crow asked traders to sell the Sioux food on credit; traders refused
iv. In desperation, the Sioux became violent and killed many of the traders and some other settlers
v. Military courts sentenced 307 Dakota Sioux to death; President Lincoln reduced the number to
38
vi. Many of the Sioux left the Minnesota reservation and took moved to the empty Dakota Territory
d. The Sand Creek Massacre (1864)
i. US forced the Cheyenne tribe to give up lands promised to them
ii. Cheyenne retaliated by attacking settlements in Colorado
iii. Government ordered the Cheyenne to surrender or face the consequences
iv. Cheyenne arrived to negotiate a peace treaty and made camp at Sand Creek, Colorado
v. US forces sneak-attacked the Cheyenne, killing about 270, including women and children in
retaliation for the Cheyenne’s earlier attacks on settlers
e. The Lakota Sioux
i. Several conflicts occurred on the Great Plains between the US Army and the Sioux
1. The Fetterman Massacre (1866): Sioux ambushed and killed 80 Army soldiers
2. The Indian Peace Commission (1867), created by Congress proposed creating two large
reservations on the plains which would be managed by agents of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs and the Army; Native Americans rejected the plan
3. 2nd Treaty of Ft. Laramie (1868)
i. Guaranteed the Lakota ownership of the Black Hills in the Dakotas
ii. Miners violated the treaty after gold was discovered in the Black Hills
4. Battle of Little Big Horn (1876): also known as “Custer’s Last Stand”
a. US Army under George A. Custer launched an attack on a group of 2500 Sioux &
Cheyenne
b. The Indians repulsed the attack, then surrounded Custer and killed him and all
of his men
5. The Ghost Dance
a. The Sioux finally surrendered in 1877 and settled on a reservation under Chief
Sitting Bull
b. Sioux had begun performing a religious ritual known as the Ghost Dance, a
celebration of a day when the white settlers would disappear, the buffalo would
return, and all of the Indians’ dead ancestors would come back
c. In 1890, federal agents banned the Ghost Dance, but the Lakota ignored the
order
d. Sitting Bull was blamed for the Sioux's defiance and ordered arrested; while
"resisting" arrest he was shot and killed
e. The Wounded Knee Massacre
i. Angered over Sitting Bull’s death, the Sioux left the reservation,
breaking their treaty agreement; US Army went after them to force
them back onto the reservation
ii. Dec. 29, 1890: the Army caught the Sioux at Wounded Knee Creek,
resulting in a battle; 25 US soldiers and about 200 Lakota (mostly
women, children, and the elderly) died
iii. Last major battle of the Indian Wars
f. Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce
i. The Nez Perce tribe refused to give up their reservation in Idaho in 1877
ii. The US Army threatened to forcibly relocate them; violence broke out and the Nez Perce fled,
trying to reach Canada
iii. The Nez Perce led the Army on a 1300 mile chase and got within 30 miles of Canadian border
before being cut off by the Army and surrendering and being relocated to Oklahoma
g. Helen Hunt Jackson
i. Wrote the book A Century of Dishonor (1881)
ii. Exposed the way the US government and Army had treated the Indians, urged Congress to make
amends
iii. Created concern for the troubles faced by the Indians, led Congress to try to find a new
approach to Indian relations
h. The Dawes Act (1887): Congress' attempt to help the Native Americans by assimilating them into
American society
i. Law abolished all tribal organizations
ii. Broke up reservation land and gave each Indian household 160 acres for farming
iii. Any leftover reservation land was sold to white settlers and the money went into a trust set
aside for Native Americans
iv. The Dawes Act was a failure
1. The land given to the Indians was of poor quality
2. Indians had no interest or experience in farming, didn’t want to be assimilated into
American society
3. Indians resented the loss of their own culture (language, rituals, style of dress)
4. Many Indians sold their land
5. Government agents put in charge of the Indians were often corrupt or biased
v. Eventually, however, the government's Indian “problem” was solved by the decrease in Indian
population due to hunger, poverty and disease