The Indian Wars including Little Crow's war (1862), Red Cloud's War (1865-1868) and the Great Sioux War ( 1876-1877)

Growing tensions

  • By the 1860s, the plains were unstable lands for settling

  • The Transcontinental railroad led to disrupted Native American lands and growing conflict and tension

  • Settlement after the Pike's Peak Gold Rush led to conflict over land and resources including grass and water

  • The government moved Native Americans onto reservations so as not to interfere with white settlement

 

Little Crow's War

  • 1862

  • Fought as a protest against the governmental policy towards the Sioux

  • Causes: Little Crow had signed a reservation agreement in 1861 in return for supplies from the US government however when the Dakota were starving in 1862, reservation agents refused to open up emergency stores

  • Events: In summer 1862, Little Crow led his warriors to attack white settlements and farms in Minnesota, killing around 500 settlers. The Minnesota soldiers attacked all of the Dakota in the area even if they had not taken part, rounding up men, women and children and taking them to prison camps

  • Aftermath: 26th December 1862, 38 Dakota were publicly hanged and hundred more were sent to prison

 

Red Cloud's war

  • 1865-68

  • Victory

  • Causes: In 1851, the Lakota signed a treaty with the US government who primed to respect their lands. In 1862, gold was discovered in a Lakota reservation and so miners started pouring in along the Bozeman trail. Some of the Lakota attacked these miners and the US government set up army forts on the Lakota land.

  • Events: Between 1866 and 1868, Red Cloud and his warriors fought against the US army until the US government was forced to admit defeat

  • Aftermath: The government signed a treat at Fort Laramie in 1868, recognising more land as Lakota territory and promising that no white settlers would come into this land

 

 

The Great Sioux war

  • 1876-77

  • Causes: In 1874, gold was discovered in the Black Hills of Dakota on Sioux land. The government attempted to buy the land however the Black Hills were sacred to them and therefore they did not want to sell them. The government ordered that all Sioux return from their hunting ground by January 1876. By spring, the band led by Sitting Bull had not yet returned so the army was sent to bring them back

  • Events: On 25 June 1876, General Custer attacked Sitting Bull's camp on the Bighorn. Custer and his 210 cavalrymen attacked the camp of 6000 and were defeated in only a few minutes

  • Aftermath: The US army continued to chase Sitting Bull and other Sioux. All Sioux bands were rounded up by the army and eventually the Sioux were forced to sell their land and move onto a smaller reservation