U.S. History A War in the West Pg. 434 to 441

Indian Country By 1850 most American Indians lived west of the Mississippi River Treaty of Fort Laramie had guaranteed Indian land rights on the Great Plains

New treaties guaranteed Indians money and supplies in exchange for them moving onto reservations Bureau of Indian Affairs was the government agency responsible for managing American Indian issues

American Indians who willingly moved onto reservations found the U. S American Indians who willingly moved onto reservations found the U.S. government often failed to honor its treaties

Sioux attacked the Indian agency when a government agent refused to give them food Army troops soon ended the uprising and executed 38 Sioux for their actions Anger over inadequate supplies and broken treaties exploded into violence on the Santee Sioux reservation in 1862

Years of Struggle Many Plains Indians refused to live on the reservations 20,000 U.S. Army troops were assigned to confine the tribes to the reservations

Cheyenne chief Black Kettle decided to make peace with the U.S. On the way, his group camped along Sand Creek Located in Colorado Territory

U.S. Army colonel John M. Chivington and some 700 Colorado volunteers arrived at the camp while the Cheyenne men were away hunting Black Kettle raised the U.S. flag above his lodge as a sign of peace

U.S. troops opened fire on the camp Some 200 of Black Kettle’s group, mostly women and children, died in the Sand Creek Massacre

News of the Sand Creek Massacre swept across the Plains, prompting raids by the Arapaho and Cheyenne U.S. government created a peace commission to end the fighting

Little Bighorn Government violated the 1874 Treaty of Fort Laramie by sending an army expedition into the Black Hills to search for gold Gold was discovered and the U.S. government attempted to negotiate a new treaty with the Sioux Sioux refused

Sitting Bull emerges as an important leader of Sioux resistance Mocked American Indians who had willingly moved to reservations Had a vision in which he saw soldiers and their horses upside down

Sitting Bull interpreted the vision to mean all the U. S Sitting Bull interpreted the vision to mean all the U.S. soldiers would die U.S. Indians fought U.S. soldiers at the Battle of the Rosebud and gained confidence they could fight the U.S. Army

General George Armstrong Custer orders an attack on a large Indian encampment along the Little Bighorn River Divided his men to attack from three sides

The final attack lasted less than an hour, leaving Custer and every soldier in his battalion dead Battle of Little Bighorn proved to be the last victory for the Sioux

The Ghost Dance Religious movement started by Wovoka, a Paiute Indian Featured a dance designed to bring Indian ancestors back to life

Wovoka also claimed the Ghost Dance could bring about the return of buffalo herds and traditional ways of Indian life Some Sioux wore “Ghost Shirts” they thought could stop bullets

When the Ghost Dance spread to Standing Rock Reservation, the military ordered the arrest of Sitting Bull, who had joined the movement A skirmish broke out and 14 Indians, including Sitting Bull, were killed

Wounded Knee Sioux fled to the West after Sitting Bull’s death Made camp along Wounded Knee Creek Colonel James Forsyth surrounded the camp

Troops ordered the seizure of Indian rifles Troops were reinforced with four Hotchkiss guns Soldiers were not satisfied by the number of guns turned in

Soldiers began to search tepees Shots rang out and troops began to fire with Hotchkiss guns At least 150 Sioux and about 30 U.S. soldiers were killed

End of Resistance Apache leader Geronimo fled U.S. troops in the New Mexico and Arizona territories with about 75 followers Group raided settlements

Geronimo surrendered briefly in 1884 and accepted reservation life Escaped with more than 130 followers and resumed raids in 1885

Geronimo surrendered when he was outnumbered on September 4, 1886 Sent with his followers to Florida as prisoners of war Marked the end of armed resistance