Battles for the West

Cochise – Chiricahua Apache

Image: www.chiricahuaapache.org

Fort Tularosa

Apache Pass

The Great Plains

Spread of horsesamong tribes of the Great Plains

Tipi

Representation of sioux tip by Karl Bodmer c. 1833

Rise of nomadic hunting tribes (esp. the Sioux) at the expense of sedentary village tribes (Mandan, Arikara, and Hidatsas)

Great Sioux Nation:3 dialects: Dakota (Santee), Nakota (Yankton and

Yanktonai), and Lakota (Teton).

Arikara, Mandan, and Hidatsa

• Sedentary villages vulnerable to:– Attacks by Lakotas– Epidemics

• Estimated population around 1780: 10,000 Arikiras, 7,000 Mandans, 7,000 Hidatsas

• Est. pop. in 1804: 2,500 Arikaras, 1,500 Mandans, 2,100 Hidatsas

• After 1837 smallpox epidemic among Mandans: 23 men, 40 women, 65 children left

Passing through ‘Indian Territory’

Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851)

North Dakota State Government: www.ndstudies.org

Indian Peace Commission

• 1868 report recognized that Indian Wars resulted from U.S. government’s mistreatment of Indians

• Proposed solution: relocation of plains tribes

Medicine Lodge Treaties (1867)

Satank (Sitting Bear)

Portrait by William S. Soule, 1870. Smithsonian.

Arapaho camp with buffalo meat drying near Fort Dodge, KS.Photograph by William S. Soule, 1870. Arapaho Project: University of Colorado

Buffalo hides

Buffalo skulls

Arapaho camp with buffalo meat drying near Fort Dodge, KS.Photograph by William S. Soule, 1870. Arapaho Project: University of Colorado

Colorado Gold Rush

• 1858: Gold discovered near Denver• 1859-1860: 40,000 miners invade the land of

5,000 Arapahos and Cheyennes• Dog Soldiers = militant groups of Cheyennes

and Arapahos• John Chivington = leader of Colorado militia– Sand Creek Massacre 1864

Sand Creek Massacre (1864)

Painted on elk hide by Eugene Ridgely (Northern Arapaho, grandon of a survivor). Arapaho Project, University of Colorado.

www.ndstudies.org

Red Cloud (1822-1909)

Portrait by D.F. Barry, 1892. National Museum of the American Indian.

Crazy Horse (c.1840-1877)

Spotted Tail (1823-1881)

Photo by D.F. Barry, c. 1880. Library of Congress.

Second Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868)

www.republicoflakotah.com

Black Hills gold rush

• 1874:– army accompanies geologists to confirm gold

• 1875:– U.S. offers to buy the black hills from the Lakota– Army stops guarding the territory– Indians ordered to relocate near agencies

• 1876:– 10,000-15,000 natives gather to defend the hills

Battle of the Little Big Horn Sitting Bull = ‘Custer’s Last Stand’ (June 1876)

1877 cession of the Black Hills

Red Cloud Agency(Oglala Lakota)

Spotted Tail Agency(Brulé Lakota)