american west part 2- conflict across america Flashcards
Fort Laramie Treaty
-signed 17th September 1851 between US government and Indigenous people
-Plains Indians agreed to end fighting between the 8 nations, allow migrants to safely pass through their land, allow government to build roads through their land and construct military forts and pay compensation if any individuals or bands attacked migrants passing through
US government agreed to
-protect 8 nations from ‘depredations’ from US citizens, from attacks, raid or steals from the nations; pay an annuity of $50,000 for 50 years (later reduced to 10 years) in money for the first five years then in goods, food, livestock and farming equipment, delay payment of annuity if nations broke terms of the treaty
Consequences of the treaty/ causes of the Indian wars
-1858 gold was discovered in Rocky Mountains so Colorado Gold Rush began; 100,000 migrants travelled through the Cheyenne and Arapaho land, big new settlements grew up, which needed supplied with resources on overland trails, migrants demanded protection from the Indians attacks, this movement broke the US side of the treaty but the government did nothing
-from 1854, settlers moved onto plains of Kansas and Nebraska government did nothing
-Transport development- from 1858 overland mail coaches ran regularly from St Louis Missouri to San Francisco California, railroad surveyors began searching for the best routes across the Plains
-Indigenous leadership changes- didn’t follow a single leader and leaders changed with circumstance, faced with many challenges some bands followed leaders who thought war against Euro-Americans was best survival option, Chiefs who agreed to Treaty lost some influence
-Civil war 1861-1865- fought in Southern States as US army left west, Euro-American communities formed volunteer militias which had extreme ‘exterminator’ views and the US government did little to protect the Indigenous from murderous attacks
-Exterminator attitudes- many Euro-Americans in the west believed instead of negotiating with the Indigenous nations, they should be removed to allow US to expand, Indigenous people who resisted were killed, individuals with these views provoked most of the conflict in the Indian wars
Little Crows war (the Dakota war) 1862
causes;
-1861 Us government said Plains Indians were moved to speical areas called reservations, where they would receive money, rations and tools annually to enable them to farm as well as a school, reservations are also called ‘government policy of concentration’
-12,000 Santee Sioux’s living on a reservation had a hard life which got harder in June 1862 when the annual cash payment didn’t arrive and their crops were destroyed so they resorted to violence
Events;
-August 1862. over 30 settlers were killed and many hostages taken as Chief Little Crowe sent the Dakota warriors to fight, US sent 1400 troops to the Minnesota River Valley but Dakota resisted until a peace treaty was signed in September
-this happened because settlers poured into Minnesota and the population increased from 6000 in 1850 to 172,000 in 1860
Results;
-military court sentenced 300 Dakota men to death for their attacks on settlers, 38 were eventually hanged being the largest mass execution in US history
-2000 Santee Sioux were transferred to a new reservation where land was barren, water unfit to drink and food scarce, in first winter 400 died
Cheyenne war 1863-1867
causes;
-Cheyenne and Arapaho made serious attacks on miners, travellers and railways surveyors on their lands.
-1864, some Cheyenne came to an agreement to move to a smaller reservation, among these were Black Kettle and his followers
-same time as civil war so volunteer forces like Colorado militia were formed
Sand Creek Massacre
-they were camped at Sand Creek when attacked by Colonel Chvington and his Colorado militia. Initially hailed as a victory, came to be known as SCM as government enquiry found most of the 150 Indians dead were women, children and the elderly
Chivingtons men took scalps as trophies and concluded it was deliberately planned
-after peace agreement, some lived peacefully but many continued fighting, on 6th Jan 1865, over 1000 Arapaho Cheyenne and Sioux soldiers attacked Julesburg, the garrison of only 60 soldiers were able to hold out but area was plundered with Indians stealing cattle and horses
-Later in 1867, another Cheyenne band living off the reservation were attacked and defeated By General Cluster at the Battle of Washita, others continued living off the reservation, continued raiding and later still fought in Red Clouds war
Red Clouds War 1865=1868
Causes;
-In 1862, gold was found in Montana
new mining towns like Virginia sprung up as miners rushed along Bozeman Trail (Sioux land)
this broke the Fort Laramie Treaty again and the US government did nothing but encouraged it as by 1865 finances were exhausted by civil war
by end of US civil war, 2000 migrants used the trail each year
by 1865, thousands to Cheyenne, Arapaho and Lakota moved to the powdered River Basin determined to protect one of the last open spaces of hunting ground available to the Indigenous nations
-In 1866, the government opened peace talks with Red Cloud the Sioux leader, however at the same time the government ordered army to begin work on a chain of forts along the trail. Red cCloud broke off peace talks with them in disgust and attacked the army after discovering 700 US army troops were in Powdered River Basin without permission from the Lakota
By winter 1866, soldiers were under siege with in their forts, the Sioux weren’t strong enought to capture the forts but the attacked wood cutting parties and tried to lure them into a trap
Fettermans Trap (massacre)
Fort Phil Kearney commanded by Colonel Carrington who was inexperienced with warfare, didn’t want to pursue Indians too far away afraid of being lured into a trap as there were frequent skirmishes between troops and the Sioux in autumn 1866
21st December 1866 a detachment of 80 men led by Captain Fetterman were lured into a trap set by the Sioux and were all killed and mutilated
Red Cloud succeeded by preventing capture of Fort Phil Kearney ensuring it was surrounded by warriors so the army couldn’t move safely around the fort and travellers couldn’t use the Bozeman Trail which was a major achievement for Red Cloud as he kept together a force of several Sioux bands plus their Arapaho and Cheyenne allies, managed to keep them fighting through winter and had a vision of persuading the Crow, enemies of the Sioux to ally and although unsuccessful, he kept the US army on the defensive
Consequences of the Indian wars -Second Fort Laramie Treaty
-signed in 1868
-US agreed to Red Cloud’s demands for the Bozeman trail to be closed and the three forts along it removed
-enormous area of 48,000 square miles named ‘Great Sioux Reservation’ was guaranteed for use by Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation) forever, area included Paha Sapa (Black Hills)
-Except for authorised government officials, no one except Indigenous people could enter the reservation , never mind settle in it
-Although Indigenous nations gave up territory outside reservation, they were allowed to hunt on old territories
-In return, Indigenous nations would stay at peace with US citizens and end war with the USA
