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





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



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






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





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





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



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






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
Cheyenne’s earlier attacks on settlers




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






1822 – 1909
Lakota Sioux
Led Sioux in Red Cloud’s
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



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






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 didn’t work due to resistance from the Indians

nd




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






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






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






Custer’s 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
Custer’s detachment and killed him and all 210 of his men
Last major Indian victory




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 Indian’s dead ancestors would come back
In 1890, federal agents ordered an end to the Ghost
Dance, but the Lakota ignored the order





1831 – 1890
Holy man, and one of the
Sioux leaders at Little Big
Horn
Sitting Bull was blamed for the Lakota’s 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





Angered over Sitting
Bull’s 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





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)





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





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








Dawes Act was a failure
Land allotted was of poor quality
Indians had little interest or experience in farming, didn’t want to be assimilated into
“American-style” of life
Many sold their allotments
Didn’t 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