Background
Before the Civil War, the western United States had been penetrated by U.S. forces and settlers via the Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon Trail, and as a result of the Mormon emigration to Utah and the settlement of California and Oregon.
Relations between American migrants and Native Americans were generally peaceful. In the case of the Santa Fe Trail, this was due to the friendly relationship between the Bents of Bent's Fort and the Cheyenne and Arapaho, and in the case of the Oregon Trail, to the peace established by the Treaty of Fort Laramie. Signed in 1851 between the United States and the Plains Indians and the Indians of the northern Rocky Mountains, the treaty allowed passage by migrants and the building of roads and the stationing of troops along the Oregon Trail.
The Pikes Peak Gold Rush of 1859 introduced a substantial white population into the front range of the Rockies, supported by a trading lifeline that crossed the central Great Plains. Increasing settlement following the passage of the Homestead Act and the building of the transcontinental railways following the Civil War further destabilized the situation, placing white settlers into direct competition for the land and resources of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountain West.
As in the East, expansion into the plains and mountains by miners, ranchers, and settlers led to increasing conflicts with the indigenous population of the West. Many tribes—from the Ute of the Great Basin to the Nez Perce of Idaho—fought Americans at one time or another. But the Sioux of the Northern Plains and the Apache of the Southwest provided the most celebrated opposition to encroachment on tribal lands. Led by resolute, militant leaders such as Red Cloud and Crazy Horse, the Sioux excelled at high-speed mounted warfare.
During the American Civil War, U.S. Army units were withdrawn from the West to fight the war in the East. They were replaced by the volunteer infantry and cavalry raised by the states of California and Oregon, by the western territorial governments, or by the local militias. These units fought the Indians, holding the West for the Union, and defeating the Confederate attempt to capture the New Mexico Territory.
Indian Wars and Conflicts During the Civil War
The series of conflicts in the western United States between Native Americans, American settlers, and the U.S. Army are generally known as the "American Indian Wars." Many of the most well-known of these conflicts occurred during and after the Civil War, until the closing of the frontier in about 1890. However, regions of the West that were settled before the Civil War, such as Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Oregon, California, and Washington, saw significant conflicts prior to 1860.
At least 310 battles were fought between settlers and Native Americans within Arizona's boundaries, the most of any state. Also, when determining how many deaths resulted from the wars in each of the American states, Arizona again ranked highest. At least 4,340 people were killed, including both settlers and Indians—more than twice as many as occurred in Texas, the second-highest-ranking state. The Apache caused most of the deaths in Arizona.
Chief Quanah Parker of the Kwahadi Comanche
Portrait of one of the great American Indian leaders during the American Indian Wars.
Great Sioux War of 1876
The Great Sioux War of 1876, also known as the "Black Hills War," was a series of battles and negotiations that occurred between 1876 and 1877 involving the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne and the United States.
The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, signed with the United States by Lakota and Northern Cheyenne leaders following Red Cloud's War, set aside a portion of the Lakota territory as the Great Sioux Reservation. The Black Hills region was reserved for their exclusive use. The treaty also provided unceded territory for Cheyenne and Lakota hunting grounds.
The growing number of miners and settlers encroaching on the Dakota Territory, however, rapidly nullified the protections. The U.S. government could not keep settlers out. In 1874, the government dispatched the Custer Expedition to examine the Black Hills. The Lakota were alarmed at his expedition. Before Custer's column had returned to Fort Abraham Lincoln, news of their discovery of gold was telegraphed nationally. Prospectors, motivated by the economic panic of 1873, began to trickle into the Black Hills in violation of the Fort Laramie Treaty. This trickle turned into a flood; thousands of miners invaded the Black Hills before the gold rush was over.
In May 1875, Sioux delegations headed by Spotted Tail, Red Cloud, and Lone Horn traveled to Washington, D.C., in an eleventh-hour attempt to persuade President Ulysses S. Grant to honor existing treaties and stem the flow of miners into American Indian territories. The U.S. leaders said that Congress wanted to pay the tribes $25,000 for the land and have them relocate to Indian Territory (in present-day Oklahoma). The delegates refused to sign a new treaty with these stipulations.
Launching the Fight for the Black Hills
Concerned about launching a war against the Lakota without provocation, the government instructed American Indian agents in the region to notify the various non-treaty bands to return to the reservation by January 31, 1876, or face potential military action. The U.S. agent at Standing Rock Agency expressed concern that this was insufficient time for the Lakota to respond, as deep winter restricted travel. His request to extend the deadline was denied. On February 8, 1876, General Sheridan telegraphed Generals Crook and Terry, ordering them to commence their winter campaigns against the "hostiles." The Great Sioux War of 1876–1877 had begun.
Wounded Knee Massacre
Major battles for the Black Hills included the Battle of the Rosebud, Battle of the Little Bighorn, Battle of Slim Butte, and the Fort Robinson Massacre. However, the most renowned, as well as the most brutal of the battles over the Black Hills, is the massacre that took place at Wounded Knee.
The Wounded Knee Massacre happened on December 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek (Lakota: Čhaŋkpé Ópi Wakpála) on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. On the day before, a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment, commanded by Major Samuel M. Whitside, intercepted Spotted Elk's band of Miniconjou Lakota and 38 Hunkpapa Lakota near Porcupine Butte and escorted them five miles westward to Wounded Knee Creek, where they made camp.
On the morning of December 29, the troops went into the camp to disarm the Lakota. One version of events claims that during the process of disarming the Lakota, a deaf tribesman named Black Coyote was reluctant to give up his rifle, claiming he had paid a lot for it. A scuffle over Black Coyote's rifle escalated and a shot was fired, which resulted in the 7th Cavalry opening fire indiscriminately from all sides, killing men, women, and children, as well as some of their own fellow troops. The few Lakota warriors who still had weapons began shooting back at the attacking troops, who quickly suppressed the Lakota fire. The surviving Lakota fled, but the U.S. Calvary pursued and killed many who were unarmed.
By the time the massacre was over, at least 150 men, women, and children of the Lakota Sioux had been killed and 51 wounded (4 men and 47 women and children, some of whom died later); some estimates placed the number of dead at 300.
Mass grave at Wounded Knee
A mass grave for Wounded Knee Massacre victims.