NATIVE Americans On the Plains

Plains Indians Many tribes lived in the Great Plains for centuries Some were farmers and hunters, but many were nomads, following the buffalo Most Plains Indians formed bands of 500 people Ranchers, miners, and farmers moved in and broke treaties that guaranteed certain land to the Plains Indians

The Dakota War The first major fight between Native Americans and settlers began in 1862 The Dakota people had agreed to live on a reservation in exchange for annual payments Many of the payments never reached the Dakota people By 1862 the Dakota lived in poverty and faced starvation When Chief Little Crow asked traders to provide food on credit, the traders refused

The Dakota War Chief Little Crow, agreed with the council to lead an uprising He wanted to wage war against soldiers He was unable to keep angry Dakota from slaughtering hundreds of settlers When the fighting had ended, 307 Dakota were sentenced to death Lincoln later reduced that number to 38

Red Cloud’s War The Lakota were a nomadic tribe that controlled hunting grounds from the Black Hills to the Bighorn Mountains They were not pleased with the encroachment of settlers The army tried to suppress the Lakota and eventually built forts along the Bozeman Trail In 1866, Crazy Horse, a Lakota leader, tricked Captain William Fetterman and 80 soldiers to apprehend a “small raiding party” The group was ambushed and it became known as Fetterman’s Massacre By 1868 the army abandons its posts along the trail

Sand Creek The Cheyenne and Arapaho people in Colorado had clashed with settlers who were searching for silver and gold By 1864, around 200 settlers had been killed The territorial governor of Colorado ordered Native Americans to surrender at Fort Lyon Chief Black Kettle brought hundreds of Cheyenne to negotiate The fort’s commander did not have the authority to negotiate peace and told them to camp at Sand Creek

Sand Creek What happened next has different accounts Some say Colonel John Chivington attacked the Native Americans without warning Others say there was a brutal battle that lasted for two days In the end 14 soldiers died and somewhere between 70 and 600 Native Americans were killed The event became known as the Sand Creek Massacre

Plan for Peace Because of the battles with the Native Americans on the Great Plains, Congress formed the Indian Peace Commission in 1867 The commission proposed two large reservations on the Plains, one in the north and one in the south The goal of the reservations were to separate the Native Americans from American citizens The plan was doomed from the start, because the treaties could not ensure that either the Native Americans or the settlers would abide by them