Nov. 12, 1867: U.S. reconsiders war with Plains Indians
Fort Laramie, Wyoming.
135 years ago today, after more than a decade of ineffective military campaigns and infamous atrocities, a conference begins at Fort Laramie to discuss alternative solutions to the "Indian problem" and to initiate peace negotiations with the Sioux.
The United States had been fighting periodic battles with Sioux and Cheyenne tribes since the 1854. That year, the Grattan Massacre inspired loud calls for revenge, though largely unjustified, against the Plains Indians.
In 1854, at Sarpy’s point, eight miles east of Laramie, while a company of Mormons was passing a camp of Sioux of about one thousand lodges, a lame cow belonging to the company, became frightened and ran into the Indian camp where she was left.
Some of the Indians killed and ate her, which was reported at Fort Laramie. Lieutenant Grattan, with twenty-seven soldiers and an interpreter, responded to Sarpy’s point to arrest the Indian who killed the cow. That man refused to give himself up. Lt. Grattan then ordered his men to fire upon the Indians, which they did. The Indians counter-attacked and routed the soldiers, who were all killed but one…all this for the butchering and eating of an old and dried-up milk cow.
Sioux Chief Conquering Bear. He was known as a reasonable man who was willing to negotiate with the Army and government representatives. He was instantly killed in the first artillery salvo fired by Grattan's troops. The enraged Sioux thereupon counter-attacked and killed Lt. Grattan's entire force.
Full-scale war erupted on the plains in 1864, leading to vicious fighting and the inexcusable Sand Creek Massacre, during which Colorado militiamen killed at least 105 Cheyenne women and children who were living peacefully at their winter camp.
The Sand Creek Massacre (also known as the Chivington Massacre or the Battle of Sand Creek) occurred on November 29, 1864 in the Colorado Territory against a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho encamped on the territory's eastern plains.
The Colorado troops were led by Lt Col. John Chivington who had become popular in that state by widely and publicly declaring that Indians were incapable of living peacefully and would breach any treaty made with them. He further declared, the only answer was genocide.
John Chivington
The attack was initially reported in the press as a victory against a bravely-fought opponent. Within weeks, however, a controversy was raised about a possible massacre. Several investigations were conducted, two by the military; and one by the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, who declared:
Excerpted from the Official Enquiry"As to Colonel Chivington, your committee can hardly find fitting terms to describe his conduct. Wearing the uniform of the United States, which should be the emblem of justice and humanity; holding the important position of commander of a military district, and therefore having the honor of the government to that extent in his keeping, he deliberately planned and executed a foul and dastardly massacre which would have disgraced the verist [sic] savage among those who were the victims of his cruelty. Having full knowledge of their friendly character, having himself been instrumental to some extent in placing them in their position of fancied security, he took advantage of their inapprehension and defenceless [sic] condition to gratify the worst passions that ever cursed the heart of man.
"Whatever influence this may have had upon Colonel Chivington, the truth is that he surprised and murdered, in cold blood, the unsuspecting men, women, and children on Sand creek, who had every reason to believe they were under the protection of the United States authorities, and then returned to Denver and boasted of the brave deed he and the men under his command had performed.
After hours of fighting, the Colorado volunteers had lost only 9 men in the process of murdering between 200 and 400 Cheyenne, most of them women and children. After the slaughter, they scalped and sexually mutilated many of the bodies, later exhibiting their trophies to cheering crowds in Denver.
Chief Iron Kettle. He died at Sand Creek with his people, while clinging to a flagpole bearing the American flag in front of his tipi.
By 1867, the cost of the war against the Plains Indians, the Army's failure to achieve decisive results, and news of atrocities like those at Sand Creek turned the American public and U.S. Congress against the Army's aggressive military solution to the "Indian problem."
Concluding that peaceful negotiations were preferable to war, the attendees at the Fort Laramie conference initiated talks with the Sioux. The talks bore results the following year when U.S. negotiators agreed to abandon American forts on the Bozeman Trail in Wyoming and Montana, leaving the territory in the hands of the Sioux.
However, the promise of peace on the central plains was fleeting. Concern about wars between the different Indian tribes led the U.S. to renege on its promise to provide guns to the Cheyenne, and the angry Indians took revenge on Kansas settlements by killing 15 men and raping five women.
By late 1868, with the Civil War over, American soldiers were again preparing for war on the Plains. It just so happened that a Civil War cavalry officer named George Custer was available to come West and take part in the fun.
Originally Posted by OhU1
