The Indian Wars (1862-1868)

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Little Crow’s War (1862) and the Sand Creek Massacre (1864)

In the 1860s, Plains Indians and White Americans began to fight. The Indians lost most battles.

Little Crow’s War, 1862

Little Crow was the chief of a band of Dakota people in a reservation in the state of Minnesota.
Little Crow had visited the US President, James Buchanan at the White House in Washington in 1858.
In August 1862, the Dakota people were starving and had no food. They hadn't been delivered the food promised by the government.
On the 4th of August 1862, 500 Dakota people raided the food storage units overseen by the reservation agents. Later in August, Dakota people killed a group of white settlers, then staged attacks on American army forts.
Lots of the Dakota people were captured and executed. Little Crow fled and was killed in 1863.

The Sand Creek Massacre

Between 130 and 180 Indians from the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes are thought to have died in the Sand Creek Massacre.
When harvests had been bad, the Cheyenne led by Black Kettle and the Arapaho led by Chief Niwot had raided settlers to get food to survive. This raised tensions in the area with the local military and settlers.
Black Kettle negotiated an agreement with the US army for a peaceful resolution, but Colonel John Chivington, who had fought for the Union in the Civil War persuaded his superior officers to take a more aggressive approach.

29th November 1864

On the 29th November, Chivington and his 700 men raided a largely defenseless Cheyenne camp in Big Sandy Creek.
The Indians surrendered, but between 130 and 180 Plains Indians were killed.
At a Congressional committee, Chivington claimed to have killed between 500-600 warriors in the attack, instead of over 100 women and children.
Captain Silas Soule under Chivington tried to stop the attack but without success.

Red Cloud’s War (1866–68) and the Fort Laramie Treaty (1868)

Red Cloud's War was a turning point for the Indians because it resulted let to the new Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868.

The Bozeman Trail

The Bozeman Trail was founded by John Bozeman. It connected Fort Laramie and Virginia City (linking Fort Laramie with the gold discovered in the state of Montana).
Bozeman's route crossed through part of the Lakota Sioux's reservation, violating the Fort Laramie Treaty signed in 1851.

Red Cloud’s War, 1866–68

One of the Lakota Sioux chiefs, Red Cloud, attacked groups of miners following Bozeman's trail. Between 1864 and 1866, 3,500 miners are believed to have travelled along Bozeman's trail.
The American army planned to build forts to protect travellers on this route.
In retaliation, on the 21st December 1866, thousands of Sioux warriors ambushed a group of 76 American soldiers, led by William J. Fetterman.
Skirmishes continued between travellers and the Indians and the army and the Indians.

The Fort Laramie Treaty, 1868

After the conflicts, The US government stopped people travelling along the Bozeman Trail and reduced their military presence in the area.
Red Cloud's Lakota Sioux tribe moved to a new reservation.
The Treaty was agreed by both the Indians and the Americans.

1The Early Settlement of the West, c1835-c1862

1.1The Plains Indians: Beliefs & Way of Life

1.1.1The Plains Indians - Social Structure

1.1.2The Plains Indians - Way of Life

1.1.3End of Topic Test - Social & Tribal Structures

1.1.4Grade 9 - The Plains Indians

1.2Migration & Early Settlement

1.2.1The Oregon Trail & Gold Rush

1.2.2Manifest Destiny

1.2.3Major Migrations - Donner, Mormon & Farmer

1.2.4End of Topic Test - Migration and Early Settlement

1.2.5Grade 9 - The Early Settlement of the West

1.3Conflict & Tension

1.3.1Fort Laramie Treaty & Indian Appropriations Act

1.3.2Lawless Towns

1.3.3End of Topic Test - Conflict & Tension

2Development of the Plains, c.1862–c.1876

2.1The Development of Settlement in the West

2.1.1Causes of the American Civil War

2.1.2The American Civil War

2.1.3Homesteading & Railroads 1862-1876

2.1.4Continuing Law & Order Problems 1862-1876

2.1.5Ranching, Cattle & Cowboys 1862-1876

2.1.6End of Topic Test - Development of the Plains

2.2Changes in the Way of Life of the Plains Indians

2.2.1Impact of Railroads & Settlers 1862-1876

2.2.2Impact of the Peace Policy & Reservations

2.2.3The Indian Wars (1862-1868)

2.2.4End of Topic Test - Changes in the Way of Life

2.2.5Grade 9 - Development of the Plains

3Conflicts & Conquest, c.1876–c.1895

3.1Changes in Farming & Settlement

3.1.1Farming & the Cattle Industry 1876-1895

3.1.2The Exoduster Movement & Oklahoma Land Rush

3.1.3End of Topic Test - Exodusters, Land Rush & Cattle

3.2Conflict & Tension

3.2.1Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp and the Range Wars

3.2.2Little Big Horn, the Ghost Dance & Wounded Knee

3.2.3Destroying the Indian Way of Life

3.2.4End of Topic Test - Conflict and Tension

3.2.5Grade 9 - Conflicts & Tension

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