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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. -
1850
In the 50's, the government change their policy and treaties that defined specific boundaries for each tribe. -
Massasscre at Sand Creek
One of the most tragic events occurred with an attack at dawn on November 29th, 1864. The attack had an outcome of 150 inhabitants, 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. -
Sitting Bull
The Sioux agreed to live on a reservation along the Missouri River was forced on the leaders of the Sioux in 1868. Sitting Bull, leader of the Hunkpapa Sioux, had never signed it. -
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. -
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 hang all warriors and to bring back all women and children." With such tactics, the army crushed resistance on the southern plains. -
Custers 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 Dawse Act
Congress passed the Dawes Act aiming to "Americanize" the Native Americans. The act broke up the reservations and gave some of the reservation land to 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.
