-
Sand Creek Massacre
The most infamous incident of the Indian Wars. Starting in the 1850's, the gold and silver rush in the Rocky Mountains brought thousands of white settlers into the mountains and foothills. Dislocating and angering the Cheyennes and Arapahos who lived on the land, the Pike's Peak Gold Rush in 1858 brought the tension to a boiling point. The Indians soon began to attack and the violence increased. The American soldiers won the war. -
Fetterman Massacre
This was the bloodest incident. Army troops were manning a fort on the Bozeman Trail, used by prospectors to reach gold mines in Montana. A Sioux military leader, Crazy Horse, acted as a decoy and lured the troops into a deadly trap. He tricked the fort's commander into sending a detachment of about 80 soldiers in pursuit. -
Treaty of Fort Laramie
The struggle over land has defined relations between the U.S. government and Native Americans and is well documented in the holdings of the National Archives. This treaty was to bring peace between the whites and the Sioux who agreed to settle within the Black Hills reservation in the Dakota Territory. -
1874 Discovery
In 1874, Custer led an army expedition to check on the rumors and confirmed that there was gold, "from the grass roots down." Prospectors swarmed into the area. The Sioux protested against the trespaccers. Instead of protecting the Sioux's rights, the government tried to buy the hills. Sitting Bull refused to sell the land. -
Battle of Little Bighorn
The Sioux and Cheyenne warriors gathered along the Little Bighorn River. The United States Army was ordered to round up warriors and move them to reservations. Custer wanted the glory of leading a major victory. He divided his regiment and attacked the Native Americans. -
Ghost Dance
Wovoka claimed that the Sioux could regain their former greatness if they performed a ritual known as the Ghost Dance. The Ghost Dance was a way for the Sioux to express their culture that was being destroyed. They decided to ban the dance and the police killed Sitting Bull. -
Wounded Knee
The went there to collect the Sioux's weapons. No one knows how the fighting started, but when the first shot rang out the army responded with fire. More than 200 Sioux and 25 soldiers were killed. Wounded Knee marked the end of armed conflict between whites and Native Americans.
