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Great Plains reservation- Place for Native Americans to live
With help of an act, the federal government designated the whole Great Plains into one reservation, where the Native Americans could live. -
Improvement of the previous act
The Government changed the act's policy and created treaties and boundaries for each tribe. The Native Americans however, didn't accepted those rules and kept doing, what they did before, such as hunting on their traditional lands and clashing with the settlers and the miners -
Massacre at Sand Creek
It is one of the most tragic events happened in 1864. Since most of Cheyenne assumed they were under protection of the government, they peacefully returned back to Sand Creek Reserve in the winter. General S. R. Curtis (the U.S. General in the West) couldn't stand the Native Americans, he send 200 warriors, that killed about 150 people that lived there, which majority was children and women. -
The Battle of the Hundred Slain / Fetterman massacre
In December of that year, the warrior named Crazy House ambushed Captain William J. Fetterman and his company at Lodge Trail Ridge. Over 80 soldiers were killed. -
The Compromise
The skirmishes continued until the government agreed to close the Bozeman Trail. As a return the Native Americans that belonged to the Sioux tribe, got the Treaty of Fort Laramie, in which they agreed to live in the reservation close to Mississippi River. sitting Bull however never signed it. Even though the Ogala and Brule Sioux did sign the treaty, they expected to be able to hunt on their traditional grounds. -
Gold rush
After the Treaty of Fort Laramie, the miners began to search gold in the Black Hills. After the Colonel George A. Custer reported, that gold is existant in the Black Hills, in 1874 , the gold rush begun. Red Cloud and Spotted Tail (two chiefs), again appealed to the government officials in Washington. -
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Red River War
In late 1868, the war broke out between the Kiowa and Comanche. Because of the six years of raiding between those two tribes, it led to the Red River War. The U.S. response to it: They sent all the peaceful people from the friendly tribes to the reservation, while shooting on the others.the orders were to destroy their villages and ponies, to hang all the warriors and to bring all thewomen and children in the safety. -
Custer's last stand
In June 1876, the Sioux and Cheyenne held a sun dance, while Sitting Bull had a vision of soldiers and Native Americans falling from their horses. The Native Americans were ready as soon as Custer and his troops reached the Bighorn River. The warriors were lead by Crazy Horse, Gall and Sitting Bull. The Native Americans flanked the enemy troops and Custer and killed them all including Custer within an hour. However by the end of 1876 the Sioux were beaten. -
The Dawes Act
In 1887, the Dawes Act was passed by the Congress to "Americanize" the Native Americans (the Native American children were forced to learn English). The act broke up reservations and gave some of the reservation land to Native Americans. 160 acres were given to each head of household and 80 each adult, that wasn't married. The government sold the rests of the reservation to settlers. The income was used by Native Americans to buy new implements for their farms. -
The Battle of Wounded Knee- The bitter end of the era
On December 1890, the seventh cavalry (it was Custer's regiment) rounded about 350 starving Sioux and took them to a camp in South Dakota called Wounded Knee Creek.The next day the soldiers took all the weapons that the Native Americans owned. A shot was fired and until today no one knows from which side.The soldiers opened a deadly fire with a cannon. In few minutes the army killed approximately 300 unarmed Native Americans ( some of them were children). This was the bitter end.
