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The Great Plains Act
In 1834, the federal government had passed an act that designated the entire Great Plains as one enormous reservation, or land set aside for Native American tribes. -
Change in Policy
In the 1850's, however, the government changed its policy and created treaties that defined specific boundaries for each tribe. Most Navtie Americans spurned the government treaties and continued to hunt on their traditional lands, clashing with settlers and miners--with tragic results. -
Massacre At Sand Creek
One of the most tragic events occured with an attack at dawn on November 29th, 1864. The attack had an outcome of 150 inhacitants, mostly women and children. General S. R. Curtis, the U.S. Army commander, sent a telegram to militia colonel John Chivington. He then initiated the attack on the Cheyenne and Arapaho. -
Death On The Bozeman Trail
In December 1866, the warrior Crazy Horse ambushed Captain William J. Fetterman and his company at Lodge Trail Ridge. Over 80 soldiers were killed. Native American called this fight the Battle of the Hundred Slain. Whites called it the Fetterman Massacre. -
The Treaty of Fort Laramie
The sioux argeed to live on a reservation along the Missouri River was forced on the leaders of the Siouxin 1868. Sitting Bull, leader of the Hunkpapa Sioux, had never signed it. -
The Gold Rush
Within 4 years of the Treaty of Fort Laramie, miners began searching the Black Hills for gold. The Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho protested to no avail. Colonel George A. Custer reported that the Black Hills had gold "from the grass roots down," a gold rush was on. -
The Red River War
The U.S. Army responded to the war by herding people of friendly tribes onto reservations while opening fire on all others. General Philip Sheridan, a Union Army veteran, gave orders "to destroy their villages and ponies, to kill and hangall warriors and to bring back all women and children." With such tactics, the army crushed resistance on the southern plains. -
Custer's Last Stand
The Sioux and Cheyenne held a sun dance, during which Sitting Bull had a vision of soldiers and some Native Americans falling from their horses. When Colonel Custer and his troops reached the Little Bighorn River, the Native Americans were ready. Led by Crazy Horse, Gall, and Sitting Bull, the warriors--with raised spears and rifles--outflanked and crushed Custer's troops, and within an hour all of his men and Custer were dead. -
The Dawes Act
Congress passed the Dawes Act aiming to "Americanize" the Native Americans. The act broke up the reservations and gave some of the reservation landto individual Native Americans--160 acres to each head of household and 80 acres to each unmarried adult. The government would sell the remainder of the reservation to settlers. -
The Battle of Wounded Knee
The Seventh Cavalry--Custer's old regiment--rounded up about 350 starving and freezing Sioux and took them to a camp at Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota. The next day, the soldiers demanded that the Native Americans give up all their weapons. A shot was fired; the side is unknown. The soldiers opened fire with deadly cannon. The Seventh Calvary slaughtered as many as 300 mostly unarmed Native Americans, including several children.