Download THE MASSACRE AT SAND CREEK

THE MASSACRE AT SAND CREEK
The struggle would be violent. Despite numerous treaties,
the demand for native lands simply grew and grew to the
point at which rational compromise collapsed. Local
volunteer militias formed in the West to ensure its safe
settlement and development. The Native Americans were
growing increasingly intolerant of being pushed on to less
desirable territory.
The brutality that followed was as gruesome as any
conflict in United States history. Accelerated by the Sand
Creek Massacre, the two sides slipped down a downward
spiral of vicious battle from the end of the Civil War until
the 1890s.
Massacre
Library of Congress
Colonel John M.
Chivington attacked
an unsuspecting
village of Cheyenne
and Arapahoe Indians
camped on Sand
Creek.
Sand Creek was a village of approximately 800
Cheyenne Indians in southeast Colorado. Black Kettle,
the local chief, had approached a United States Army fort seeking protection for
his people. On November 28, 1864, he was assured that his people would not be
disturbed at Sand Creek, for the territory had been promised to the Cheyennes
by an 1851 treaty. The next day would reveal that promise as a baldfaced lie.
On the morning of November 29, a group called the Colorado Volunteers
surrounded Sand Creek. In hope of defusing the
situation, Black Kettle raised an American flag as a
sign of friendship. The Volunteers' commander,
Colonel John Chivington, ignored the gesture. "Kill
and scalp all, big and little," he told his troops. With
that, the regiment descended upon the village, killing
about 400 people, most of whom were women and
children.
The brutality was extreme. Chivington's troops
committed mass scalpings and disembowelments.
Chief Black Kettle
Some Cheyennes were shot while trying to escape, while others were shot
pleading for mercy. Reports indicated that the troops even emptied their rifles on
distant infants for sport. Later, Chivington displayed his scalp collection to the
public as a badge of pride.
Retaliation
When word spread to other Indian communities, it was agreed that the whites
must be met by force. Most instrumental in the retaliation were Sioux troops
under the leadership of Red Cloud. In 1866, Sioux warriors ambushed the
command of William J. Fetterman, whose troops were trying to complete the
construction of the Bozeman Trail in Montana. Of Fetterman's 81 soldiers and
settlers, there was not a single survivor. The bodies were grotesquely mutilated.
Faced with a stalemate, Red Cloud and the United States agreed to the 1868
Treaty of Fort Laramie, which brought a temporary end to the hostilities. Large
tracts of land were reaffirmed as Sioux and Cheyenne Territory by the United
States Government. Unfortunately, the peace was short-lived.
CUSTER’S LAST STAND
Another Broken Treaty
Gold broke the delicate peace with the Sioux. In 1874, a scientific exploration
group led by General George Armstrong Custer discovered the precious metal in
the heart of the Black Hills of South Dakota.
When word of the discovery leaked, nothing could stop the masses of
prospectors looking to get rich quick, despite the treaty protections that awarded
that land to the Sioux. Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, the local Indian leaders,
decided to take up arms to defend their dwindling land supply.
Little Big Horn
Custer was perhaps the most flamboyant and brash officer in the United States
Army. He was confident that his technologically superior troops could contain the
Native American fighters. Armed with new weapons of destruction such as the
rapid-firing Gatling gun, Custer and his soldiers felt that it was only a matter of
time before the Indians would surrender and submit to life on a smaller
reservation. Custer hoped to make that happen sooner rather than later.
His orders were to locate the Sioux encampment in the Big Horn Mountains of
Montana and trap them until reinforcements arrived. But the prideful Custer
sought to engage the Sioux on his own.
An artist's interpretation of the Battle of Little Big Horn
On June 25, 1876, he discovered a small Indian village on the banks of the Little
Big Horn River. Custer confidently ordered his troops to attack, not realizing that
he was confronting the main Sioux and Cheyenne encampment. About three
thousand Sioux warriors led by Crazy Horse descended upon Custer's regiment,
and within hours the entire Seventh Cavalry and General Custer were massacred.
The victory was brief for the warring Sioux. The rest of the United States regulars
arrived and chased the Sioux for the next several months. By October, much of
the resistance had ended. Crazy Horse had surrendered, but Sitting Bull and a
small band of warriors escaped to Canada.
Eventually they returned to the United States
and surrendered because of hunger.
Reactions Back East
Custer's Last Stand caused massive debate in
the East. War hawks demanded an immediate
increase in federal military spending and swift
judgment for the noncompliant Sioux.
Critics of United States policy also made their
opinions known. The most vocal detractor,
Helen Hunt Jackson, published A Century of
Dishonor in 1881. This blistering assault on
United States Indian policy chronicled
injustices toward Native Americans over the
past hundred years.
Crazy Horse
The American masses, however, were unsympathetic or indifferent. A systematic
plan to end all native resistance was approved, and the Indians of the West
would not see another victory like the Little Big Horn.
THE END OF RESISTANCE
The crackdown on Native Americans did not end with the pursuance of Custer's
attackers. Any tribes resisting American advancement were relentlessly hunted
by settlers and federal troops. The Lakota Sioux that fought for their lands were
decimated by yet another American tactic.
Decimation of the Buffalo
Travelers west were encouraged to kill any buffalo they encountered. Buffalo
robes became fashionable in the East, so profit-seekers slaughtered thousands
of bison simply for their hides. Others shot them for sport, leaving their remains
for the local vultures.
The army was even known to use Gatling guns on the herds to reduce their
numbers. The plan was effective. At the end of the Civil War, an estimated 15
million buffalo roamed the Great Plains. By 1900, there were only several
hundred, as the species was nearly extinct. The Sioux lost their chief means of
subsistence and mourned the loss of the animal, which was revered as sacred
according to tribal religion.
Chief Joseph and the Nez Percé
The year after Custer's infamous defeat, the Nez Percé Indians of Idaho fell
"I have heard talk and talk, but nothing is done.
Good words do not last long unless they amount
to something. Words do not pay for my dead
people. They do not pay for my country, now
overrun by white men. Good words will not give
my people good health and stop them from
dying. Good words will not get my people a
home where they can live in peace and take
care of themselves. I am TIRED of talk that
comes to nothing."
-Chief Joseph
victim to western expansion. When gold was discovered on their lands in 1877,
demands were made for over 90 percent of their land. After a stand-off between
tribal warriors and the United States Army, their leader Chief Joseph directed his
followers toward Canada to avoid capture. He hoped to join forces with Sitting
Bull and plan the next move from there.
Army officials chased the Nez Percé 1700 miles across Idaho and Western
Montana. As they neared the border, the army closed in and Chief Joseph was
forced to surrender. The entire tribe was relocated to Oklahoma where nearly
half of them perished from disease and despair.
Geronimo and the Apache Struggle
Warfare also raged across the American Southwest. The Apache tribe led one of
the longest and fiercest campaigns of all. Under the leadership of Geronimo,
Apache attackers assaulted settlers in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. The
army responded slowly but surely. Geronimo was relentlessly hunted, even
across the Mexican border.
Finally, after the army seized female Apaches and deported them to Florida and
deprived the warring tribesmen of a food supply, Geronimo was captured. His
1886 defeat marked the end of open resistance by Native Americans in the West.
Sooners Grab Oklahoma
The last land to be claimed by homesteaders was in Oklahoma. Previously
dubbed "Indian Territory" by the federal government, Oklahoma had been used
as a state-sized reservation of many
tribes ranging from the Nez Percé in
Idaho to the Cherokee of Georgia.
In 1889, the United States Government
decided to open two million acres of
land unassigned to any particular tribe
for homesteaders. At noon on April 22,
1889, the land was legally opened to
claim under the provisions of the
Homestead Act. Thousands rushed
across Oklahoma to grab a piece.
Highlighted by a few gunshots, former
Indian land was gobbled up in a matter
of hours.
This 1895 map shows many of the Native
American tribes which suffered forced
relocation to Oklahoma Territory.
By nightfall, Oklahoma City qualified as a city of 10,000 tent inhabitants. Those
who dared to stake a claim before it was legal were called Sooners, and the state
acquired its future nickname. Successful homesteaders rested that night in
triumph, leaving the Indians of the area to despair over yet another grand theft.
LIFE ON THE RESERVATIONS
After being forced off their native lands, many American Indians found life to be
most difficult. Beginning in the first half of the 19th century, federal policy dictated
that certain tribes be confined to fixed land plots to continue their traditional ways
of life.
The problems with this approach were
manifold. Besides the moral issue of
depriving a people of life on their historic land,
many economic issues plagued the
reservation. Nomadic tribes lost their entire
means of subsistence by being constricted to
a defined area. Farmers found themselves
with land unsuitable for agriculture. Many
lacked the know-how to implement complex
irrigation systems. Hostile tribes were often
forced into the same proximity. The results
were disastrous.
National Archives
Geronimo (on the right) and his son
waiting for a train that transported
them and other Apache prisoners to
Florida, in 1886.
The Dawes Act
Faced with disease, alcoholism, and despair
on the reservations, federal officials changed
directions with the Dawes Severalty Act of
1887. Each Native American family was offered 160 acres of tribal land to own
outright. Although the land could not be sold for 25 years, these new land owners
could farm it for profit like other farmers in the West.
Congress hoped that this system would end the dependency of the tribes on the
federal government, enable Indians to become individually prosperous, and
assimilate the Indians into mainstream American life. After 25 years, participants
would become American citizens.
The Dawes Act was widely resisted. Tribal leaders foretold the end of their
ancient folkways and a further loss of communal land. When individuals did
attempt this new way of life, they were often unsuccessful. Farming the West
takes considerable expertise. Lacking this knowledge, many were still dependent
upon the government for assistance.
Many 19th century Americans saw the Dawes Act as a way to "civilize" the
Native Americans. Visiting missionaries attempted to convert the Indians to
Christianity, although they found few new believers.
"Americanizing" the Indians
Land not allotted to individual landholders was sold to railroad companies and
settlers from the East. The proceeds were used to set up schools to teach the
reading and writing of English. Native American children were required to attend
the established reservation school. Failure to attend would result in a visit by a
truant officer who could enter the home accompanied by police to search for the
absent student. Some parents felt resistance to "white man education" was a
matter of honor.
In addition to disregarding tribal languages and religions, schools often forced the
pupils to dress like eastern Americans. They were given shorter haircuts. Even
the core of individual identity — one's name — was changed to "Americanize"
the children. These practices often led to further tribal divisions. Each tribe had
those who were friendly to American "assistance" and those who were hostile.
Friends were turned into enemies.
The Dawes Act was an unmitigated disaster for tribal units. In 1900, land held by
Native American tribes was half that of 1880. Land holdings continued to dwindle
in the early 20th century. When the Dawes Act was repealed in 1934, alcoholism,
poverty, illiteracy, and suicide rates were higher for Native Americans than any
other ethnic group in the United States. As America grew to the status of a world
power, the first Americans were reduced to hopelessness.
THE WOUNDED KNEE MASSACRE
The armed resistance was over. The remaining Sioux were forced into
reservation life at gunpoint. Many Sioux sought spiritual guidance. Thus began a
religious awakening among the tribes of North America.
Arrival of the "Ghost Dance"
Called the "Ghost Dance" by the white soldiers who observed the new practice, it
spread rapidly across the continent. Instead of bringing the answer to their
prayers, however, the "Ghost Dance" movement resulted in yet another human
travesty.
It all began in 1888 with a Paiute holy man called Wovoka. During a total eclipse
of the sun, Wovoka received a message from the Creator. Soon an Indian
messiah would come and the world would be free of the white man. The Indians
could return to their lands and the buffalo would once again roam the Great
Plains.
Wovoka even knew that all this would happen in the spring of 1891. He and his
followers meditated, had visions, chanted, and performed what became known
as the Ghost Dance. Soon the movement began to spread. Before long, the
Ghost Dance had adherents in tribes throughout the South and West.
Although Wovoka preached nonviolence, whites feared that the movement would
spark a great Indian rebellion. Ghost Dance followers seemed more defiant than
other Native Americans, and the rituals seemed to work its participants into a
frenzy. All this was disconcerting to the soldiers and settlers throughout the
South and West. Tragedy struck when the Ghost Dance movement reached the
Lakota Sioux.
Local residents of South Dakota demanded that the Sioux end the ritual of the
Ghost Dance. When they were ignored, the United States Army was called for
assistance. Fearing aggression, a group of 300 Sioux did leave the reservation.
Army regulars believed them to be a hostile force preparing for attack. When the
two sides came into contact, the Sioux reluctantly agreed to be tranported to
Wounded Knee Creek on Pine Ridge
Reservation.
A Final Tragedy
On the morning of December 29, 1890,
the army demanded the surrender of all
Sioux weapons. Amid the tension, a shot
rang out, possibly from a deaf brave who
misunderstood his chief's orders to
surrender.
The
Seventh
Cavalry
—
the
reconstructed regiment lost by George
Armstrong Custer — opened fire on the
Sioux. The local chief, Big Foot, was
shot in cold blood as he recuperated
from pneumonia in his tent. Others were
cut down as they tried to run away.
When the smoke cleared almost all of
the 300 men, women, and children were
dead. Some died instantly, others froze
to death in the snow.
This massacre marked the last
showdown between Native Americans
and the United States Army. It was
nearly 400 years after Christopher
Columbus first contacted the first
Americans. The 1890 United States
census declared the frontier officially
closed.
from USHistory.org
Congressional Medals of Honor were
awarded to many of the cavalrymen who
fought at Wounded Knee. Despite the
current view that the battle was a
massacre of innocents, the Medals still
stand. Some native American and other
groups and individuals continue to lobby
Congress to rescind these "Medals of disHonor."