Conflict on the Great Plains

By hfxneallaudenslager

  • Homestead Act of 1862

    Homestead Act of 1862
    Congress gave 160 acres of land to settlers who paid a fee and lived on the land for 5 years. This caused farmers to move to the Great Plains to get some land. This bought bought thousands of settlers, including women and immigrants.

  • Fetterman Massacre

    Fetterman Massacre
    Because of the Homestead Act, many settlers were taking the Native Americans' land. This made them angry and willing to fight. The Fetterman Massacre was a battle in which the Native Americans won. The American Army was in a fort, when a Native American called Crazy Horse acted as a decoy, and then the Army sent 80 troops to go and attack. The Native Americans set up an ambush, and killed the whole 80 troops.

  • Treaty of Fort Laramie

    Treaty of Fort Laramie
    The Americans did not want to fight the Native Americans anymore, so they held a conference at Fort Laramie in 1869 at present day Wyoming. They gave the Sioux Indians the Black Hills, a sacred place to them, in return for peace between American and the Native Americans.

  • Discovery of 1874

    Discovery of 1874
    Rumors of gold in the Black Hills were circulating, so a guy named George A. Custer and a group of Americans came searching the Sioux hunting grounds to search for gold. Gold was found, which made tons of other Americans search for gold. This angered the indians because they were intruding on their reservations, and also their sacred lands, so the Americans asked the government for U.S Army protection. This caused even more tension between the Americans and the Native Americans

  • Battle of Little Bighorn

    Battle of Little Bighorn
    Tired of their land being used by the Americans, the Native Americans gathered together and made a band of warriors.The U.S army was told to put the Native Americans to move the Native Americans to reservations. General Custer led his troops to charge the Native Americans, but were outnumbered, and him and his all of his troops lost their lives.

  • Ghost Dance

    Ghost Dance
    The Sioux Indians went to a prophet to try to heal their diminishing culture. This prophet told them to do a ritual called the Ghost Dance. The reservations officials became alarmed of this ritual, and figuring Sitting Bull was in charge of the ritual, they arrested Sitting Bull. Resisting arrest, the police shot Sitting Bull. This was significant because he was the leader of the tribe, and it scared the Native Americans.

  • Wounded Knee

    Wounded Knee
    Scared of Sittin Bull's death, the Sioux Indians ran away to a creek called Wounded Knee. One day the army came to get the Indians' weapons. Although no one knows how it started, the Native Americans and the Army started fighting. The Army won the battle. This ended the fighting between the Americans and the Native Americans. The Native Americans have given up.