PPT 8

Overview

  • The transcript covers major conflicts between the United States and Indigenous nations in the American West, focusing on Apache and Navajo experiences in the Southwest, the Plains Indian Wars, policy shifts under Grant’s administration, and culminating in legal actions in 1980. It combines biographical notes on leaders, descriptions of battles and campaigns, treaty developments, relocation besides killings, and cultural concepts relevant to Indigenous and US government interactions.

Key Concepts and Terminology

  • Wasichu: the term for White people used in the Plains/Great Plains region (referenced on Page 14).

  • Dinetah: the Navajo homeland; Dine (the people).

  • The Blessing Way: Navajo songs and rituals about living in harmony with all things.

  • The Enemy Way: Navajo rituals associated with countering enemy forces.

  • Llano Estacado: The Staked Plains; a geographical region in the Texas panhandle and eastern New Mexico.

  • Palo Duro Canyon: a major Canyon on the southern High Plains, part of the Llano Estacado region.

  • Native American Church (Peyote Church): a later movement associated with Quanah Parker and broader Native religious practice.

Early Conflicts and Apache-Native Relations in the Southwest (1850s–1860s)

  • 1851: Beating of Mangas Coloradas, leader of the Eastern Chiricahua Apaches (aka Mimbreno Apaches).

  • 1851– The broader Apache region (Apacheria) and ongoing longstanding tensions with Mexico.

  • 1853: Peace achieved; Apaches allow Butterfield Stage Line to pass through their territory.

  • 1861: Bascom Affair – Lt. George Bascom executes Cochise’s brother and two nephews; escalates tensions and leads to the retort phrase “Cut the Tent.”

  • Civil War context: US withdraws; Confederates invade NM; Col. John Baylor’s plan to lure Apaches in for talks, kill all the adults, sell the children; Confederates driven out before this plan could be carried out.

  • 1862: Battle of Apache Pass – approximately 500500 Apaches in a two-day fight; artillery wins the day; Mangas Coloradas wounded; US commander Gen. James Carleton.

Carleton’s Campaigns and the Fate of Mescalero and Navajo Populations (1862–1868)

  • Oct. 12, 1862: Carleton orders to kill Indian men on sight where possible; women and children to be fed at Fort Stanton until further instructions; “If the Indians send in a flag and desire to treat for peace, say you have no power to make peace; you are there to kill them wherever you can find them.”

  • Mescaleros sent to Bosque Redondo (the Bosque Redondo Reservation).

  • Mangas Coloradas dies; Cochise refuses to surrender and continues raiding miners and soldiers for a decade.

  • Geronimo returns to Sonora, Mexico, and continues fighting against Mexicans.

The Long Walk and Navajo Relocation (1864–1868)

  • The Long Walk: Navajo (the Dine) relocation from Dinetah to Bosque Redondo; 8,000 Navajos captured by Kit Carson; forced to walk ~400400 miles in winter to a reservation; Bosque Redondo becomes a harsh living environment; Navajos housed with Mescalero Apaches; raided by Comanches; by 1868, Navajos return home.

  • The Blessing Way and The Enemy Way are part of Navajo ritual life during this period.

  • The Navajo return home in 18681868.

The Plains Indian Wars: Sand Creek, Red Cloud’s War, and the Northern Plains Treaties (1860s–1868)

  • The Plains are furious about the Sand Creek Massacre, pushing Cheyennes and Arapaho to join Lakotas in the Black Hills region.

  • Lakota sub-groups: Brulé, Oglala, Hunkpapa, Minneconjou, Sans Arc, Sihasapa (Black Feet), O’ohe Nunpa.

  • Red Cloud’s War (1866–1868): Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho vs. U.S. forces in the Powder River country, spanning Wyoming and Montana regions.

  • Key leaders: Red Cloud (Oglala Lakota), Roman Nose (Cheyenne), Hump (Minneconjou Lakota), Crazy Horse (Oglala Lakota), American Horse (Oglala Lakota).

Fetterman Fight and Wagon Box Fight (1866–1867)

  • Fetterman Fight (Dec. 1866): Captain William J. Fetterman boasted he could ride roughshod through the Sioux Nation with 80 men; result was a disastrous defeat for the U.S. forces (a reminder of skilled Lakota-Cheyenne tactics).

  • Wagon Box Fight (Aug. 1867): 26 soldiers and 6 civilians vs. an estimated 300–1,000 Indians; notable for the 1866 Springfield rifle (breech-loading) giving advantages to U.S. forces in firepower.

Treaties and Reductions in Plains Territory (1867–1868)

  • Southern Plains: Medicine Lodge Treaty (1867) concedes lands in Kansas and Colorado and sets up a system moving tribes to Indian Territory.

  • Northern Plains: Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) recognizes that Red Cloud’s War was provoked by miners; Black Hills are recognized as Lakota land; Bozeman Trail is closed; Lakota, northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho guaranteed hunting rights in the Northern Plains.

  • The 1868 agreement ties into the broader federal strategy of relocating tribes to designated territories while preserving some hunting rights in exchange for peace.

  • 7th Cavalry is active; notable leaders: Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer; family ties noted: brother Tom won two Medals of Honor; also, Captain Benteen and Major Reno are involved in subsequent battles.

  • 1868: Battle of the Washita – Red Cloud’s enemy, Black Kettle’s Cheyenne band, attacked in Indian Territory; significant for demonstrating the reach of U.S. cavalry power.

Post-Treaty Resistance and the Grant Peace Policy (late 1860s–1870s)

  • Grant’s Peace Policy (1871): “Wars of extermination are demoralizing and wicked.” The patronage system for Indian agents ends; Quakers appointed as replacement; Ely S. Parker (one of the Iroquois) appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

  • Wasichu policies shift toward civil administration and a preference for negotiated peace through less militarized means.

Modoc War (1873–1874)

  • Location: Modoc War in Northern California; Modocs and Klamath Indians moved to Oregon reservations; modx leaders: Captain Jack (Kintpuash), Hooker Jim, Curly Headed Doctor.

  • General Canby is sent to retrieve them; Modocs retreat to lava beds and declare, in effect, “Hell with the fires out.”

  • Captain Jack persuades Hooker Jim and Curly Headed Doctor to murder Canby in a peace parley; Winema (Toby Riddle), a Modoc interpreter, warned Canby and saved several others.

  • After a massive Army retaliation, Hooker Jim and Curly Headed Doctor switch sides and offer to help the Army catch Captain Jack; Captain Jack is executed.

Red River War and Adobe Walls (1871–1874)

  • Red River War: Kiowa cross the Red River into Texas, attacking wagon trains; notable chiefs: Satank, Satanta, Big Tree; in transit, some chiefs are arrested; Satank killed; Kiowa and Comanche raids increased; Sherman (Union general) furious; pressure for control of the Southern Plains.

  • Adobe Walls (First Battle, 1864): Comanche, Kiowa, and Kiowa-Apache vs. U.S. Cavalry under Kit Carson; U.S. retreat.

  • Adobe Walls (Second Battle, 1874): Several hundred Comanches, Kiowas, Cheyennes, and Arapahos against 28 buffalo hunters including Bat Masterson; U.S. forces win decisively.

Quanah Parker and Cynthia Ann Parker

  • Quanah Parker: a prominent Kwahadi Comanche leader; later becomes a bridge figure with U.S. political and religious movements; he later becomes associated with Teddy Roosevelt and the Native American Church Movement (Peyote Church).

  • Cynthia Ann Parker: notable figure in Comanche history, captured as a child, later a symbol of cultural conflict and assimilation pressures.

The Llano Estacado, the Staked Plains and the Great Steppe Borderlands

  • Llano Estacado and Palo Duro Canyon: major geographic features that shape battles and migrations in the Texas panhandle.

  • Amarillo, Lubbock, Abilene: major settlements in the region that become part of the postwar economic and political landscape.

Walking the Corn Road and Resistance Shifts (Late 1870s)

  • Satanta re-imprisoned; he learns to fly (metaphorically indicating a change in strategy or outlook).

  • Quanah Parker collaborates with Theodore Roosevelt; Parker founds the Native American Church Movement (Peyote Church).

  • The narrative notes a decline or end of sustained armed resistance from Southern Plains Indians after this period.

The Northern Plains and the Black Hills Controversy (1874–1876)

  • Northern Pacific and Union Pacific railroads accelerate white encroachment; Lakota enemies include Pawnee, Crow, and Shoshone groups in the region.

  • Paha Sapa (the Black Hills) is a central site of contention; 1874 marks Custer’s expedition and renewed mining interest by non-Indians.

  • Miners flood Black Hills; federal arrest of miners; local courts release them; U.S. makes offers to buy the Black Hills; Lakota resist.

  • The U.S. ultimatum to leave the Black Hills by January 31, 1876; many Indians resist or delay; some relocate to Black Hills to join kin, despite the order.

The 1876 Northern Plains Campaigns: Three-Pronged Movements and the Great Sioux War (1876–1877)

  • 1876 campaigns converge in three main columns around the Sioux campaign theater: northern Plains, central plains, and southern plains theaters.

  • June 1876: Powder River Campaign; Crook is joined by 350 Crow and Shoshone; more Sioux pour into the area; a tense powwow atmosphere develops as the campaign unfolds.

Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and the Rosebud and Little Bighorn Campaigns (1876)

  • Sitting Bull: Hunkpapa religious leader; organizes religious ceremony including the Sun Dance and the vision of the grasshopper.

  • Battle of the Rosebud (June 17, 1876): Gen. George Crook vs. Crazy Horse; Crook declares victory but Indian forces halt his advance, and effectively take his column out of action for several days.

  • Buffalo Calf Road Woman (a Cheyenne) rescues her brother at Rosebud; she comes in sight and rallies Cheyenne forces to turn the tide of the battle.

  • The Little Bighorn (June 25–26, 1876): The 7th Cavalry under Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer (with Maj. Marcus Reno and Captain Frederick Benteen) faces a vastly larger force of Sioux, Lakota, and Cheyenne warriors; estimates of hostiles in the area vary, with several thousand Indigenous fighters present; about 268268 U.S. troopers killed in the fighting.

Aftermath of the Little Bighorn and Reprisals (1876–1877)

  • Centennial public sentiment in the United States leads to a stronger crackdown on “agency” Indians; Red Cloud and others are arrested; Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie replaces Custer and defeats northern Cheyennes under Dull Knife in November 1876; those Cheyennes are moved to the Southern Cheyenne reservation in Indian Territory.

  • May 1877: Sitting Bull leads band into Canada; Sept. 1877: Crazy Horse surrenders and is killed; Jan. 1878: Dull Knife leads a mass Cheyenne escape and heads to their northern homeland.

Legal and Policy Endgame: U.S. v. Sioux Nation and 1980s Reconsideration

  • United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians (1980): Supreme Court case addressing land claims related to the Black Hills and Sioux treaties; result relates to ongoing legal arguments about sovereign rights and compensation for unfulfilled treaty obligations.

Notable Figures to Remember

  • Mangas Coloradas: leadership of Eastern Chiricahua Apaches; wounded and killed in actions that affected Apache resistance.

  • Cochise: Apache leader who engaged in early resistance and later negotiated; involved in Bascom Affair with long-lasting consequences.

  • Geronimo: prominent Apache leader who continued resistance into Sonora/Mexico during the later campaigns.

  • Red Cloud: Lakota leader of Red Cloud’s War; key strategist of the resistance against U.S. military incursions.

  • Crazy Horse: Lakota war leader; central to battles like Rosebud and Little Bighorn; ally of Sitting Bull.

  • Sitting Bull: Hunkpapa Lakota spiritual leader and military leader during the Great Sioux War.

  • Roman Nose, Hump, American Horse, Red Cloud, Black Kettle: other leadership figures across the Plains campaigns.

  • Kit Carson, Ranald S. Mackenzie, Captain Jack (Kintpuash): key military figures in the Modoc War and broader campaigns.

  • Cynthia Ann Parker, Quanah Parker: figures symbolizing the complex interactions of capture, adaptation, and leadership in Comanche history.

Important Dates to Remember (selected)

  • 18511851: Beating of Mangas Coloradas.

  • 18531853: Peace temporarily established in Apacheria; Butterfield Stage Line passes through Apache territory.

  • 1861,18621861, 1862: Bascom Affair; Apache Pass battle; Mangas Coloradas wounded.

  • 1862−18641862-1864: Long campaigns in NM; Bosque Redondo becomes the Navajo relocation site; 1864 movement of Navajo to the Bosque Redondo reservation via forced march ~400400 miles.

  • 1866−18681866-1868: Red Cloud’s War; Fetterman Fight (Dec. 18661866); Wagon Box Fight (Aug. 18671867).

  • 1867−18681867-1868: Medicine Lodge Treaty (Southern Plains) and Fort Laramie Treaty (Northern Plains).

  • 1871−18741871-1874: Grant’s Peace Policy; Modoc War; livestock and conflict dynamics; the rise of the Native American Church movement later on.

  • 1874−18761874-1876: Black Hills gold rush and mining encroachment; three-pronged campaigns; Battle of the Rosebud; Battle of the Little Bighorn in 18761876.

  • 1877−18781877-1878: Sitting Bull’s and Crazy Horse’s fates; Cheyenne escape; mass displacement continues.

  • 19801980: United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians adjudicated by the Supreme Court.

Connections to Foundational Principles and Real-World Relevance

  • The conflict patterns illustrate a broader pattern of American expansionism, settler colonialism, and policy shifts from military conquest to relocation and assimilation policies.

  • The transition from punitive campaigns to negotiated treaties and the Grant administration’s Peace Policy reflect evolving ideas about governance, federal authority, and the role of civilian oversight in Indian affairs.

  • The Centrality of Land, Resources, and Mobility: mining interests (Black Hills, etc.), railroad expansion, and cattle/pioneer settlements drive much of the conflict dynamics.

  • Cultural and Spiritual Dimensions: Blessing Way and Enemy Way rituals, Sun Dance, and the role of leaders (Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse) highlight the deep spiritual and cultural significance of land and sovereignty.

  • Ethical and Legal Implications: orders like Carleton’s 1862 directive to kill Indian men raise questions about wartime ethics, civilian protections, and the long-term consequences for Indigenous communities.

  • Real-World Outcomes: the Red River War, the destruction of some Indigenous resistance, relocation to reservations, and the long-term legal struggles culminating in 1980 demonstrate a long arc of policy, sovereignty, and redress that continues to shape U.S.–Indigenous relations today.

Appendix: Visual and Geographic References Mentioned

  • Bosque Redondo Reservation (New Mexico)

  • The Long Walk (Navajo relocation route)

  • Llano Estacado (Staked Plains)

  • Palo Duro Canyon (within Llano Estacado)

  • Black Hills (Paha Sapa)

  • Fort Laramie (Fort Laramie Treaty site)

  • Little Bighorn Battlefield (Custer’s Last Stand site)

  • Adobe Walls (sites in the Texas panhandle and Plains region)

  • Northern and Southern Plains theaters (Powder River, Bozeman Trail corridors)

Summary of Outcomes and Legacy

  • The era from the mid-19th century into the late 1870s involved intense conflict, relocation pressures, and significant policy shifts in U.S. governance toward Indigenous nations.

  • The Little Bighorn remains a pivotal symbol of Native resistance and military miscalculations, while the subsequent campaigns and legal actions highlight the long arc of sovereignty, rights, and compensation debates that extend into contemporary times.

  • The 1980 Supreme Court decision embodies ongoing disputes over land, treaty obligations, and Indigenous sovereignty, underscoring the enduring complexity of the U.S. relationship with Indigenous nations.