THE CONTESTED PLAINS

I. The Rifle and the Peace Pipe.A. Red Cloud’s War.B. The Great Peace Commission and its

Treaties.C. The Aftermath of Sand Creek.D. Crow, Arikara, and Pawnee Scouts.

II. The “Peace Policy” and the End of Military Resistance on the Plains.

A. Phil Sheridan and His Tactics.B. The Red River War, 1874.C. The Great Sioux War, 1876-77.

III. The End of the Indian Wars.

I. The Rifle and the Peace I. The Rifle and the Peace Pipe.Pipe.

A. Red Cloud’s War.A. Red Cloud’s War.

Lakota ExpansionLakota Expansion

Lakota Dominance Lakota Dominance 1800-1870s1800-1870s

Lakota Raiding PartySitting Bull

Red Cloud’s War

Fetterman Massacre

December 21, 1866

B. The Great Peace B. The Great Peace Commission and its Commission and its

Treaties.Treaties.

The Doolittle Report.The Doolittle Report. Indians were in rapid

decline because of contact with whites and their vices.

White encroachments were the cause of nearly all Indian-white conflict in the West.

Reservations offered the only solution to save the Indian.

Civilian authorities, not the military, should oversee the assimilation of Indians on the reservations.

Sen. James R. Doolittle

Peace Commission of 1867-Peace Commission of 1867-1868.1868.

Fort Laramie Council

C. The Aftermath C. The Aftermath of Sand Creek.of Sand Creek.

Smoldering Conflict

Julesburg, Colorado attacked twice in retaliation for Sand Creek.

Treaty of the Little Arkansas in October 1865.

Rumors of renewed hostility lead to Winfield Scott Hancock’s campaign in Spring 1867.

Medicine Lodge Creek Treaty in October 1867.

Sand Creek Massacre, November 29, 1864

Battle of Beecher’s Island

September 17, 1868

Summit SpringsJuly 11, 1869

D. Crow, Arikara, and D. Crow, Arikara, and Pawnee Scouts.Pawnee Scouts.

Wolves for Blue Soldiers

Throughout the history of the Indian Wars numerous Native groups chose to act as scouts for the United States.

On the Great Plains the most famous came from three peoples. In each case they had long standing conflicts with the expanding Lakotas and their allies.

Outlet for Warrior culture as well as pay are also factors.

Bloody Knife, Arikara

Crow Scouts at the Little Bighorn

White-Man-Runs-Him, Hairy Moccasin, Curly, and Goes Ahead visit battlefield, 1913.

Custer’s Crow Scouts in 1908 Edward S. Curtis Photograph.

North’s Pawnee Scouts

James R MurieCaptain Jim

John Buffalo John Box High Eagle Seeing Eagle

Belly Osborne

Surviving Pawnee Scouts, 1911

Phil Sheridan and his Senior Officers

Destruction of the Buffalo

Site of Marias or Baker Massacre

January 23, 1870

B. The Red River B. The Red River War, 1874.War, 1874.

The Red River War

Kiowa Illustration of Buffalo Wallow Fight

C. The Great Sioux C. The Great Sioux War, 1876-77.War, 1876-77.

Seventh Cavalry Expedition in Black Hills, 1874

Sitting Bull, Hunkpapa Lakota

Gall, Lakota

TwoMoons, CheyenneRain in the FaceLakota

Lakota Prisoners after Battle of Slim Buttes

III. The End of the III. The End of the Indian Wars.Indian Wars.

Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce War

1877

The Flight of the Nez Perce

Camp Grant Massacre, April 30, 1871

Photo of Trial in Tucson

Geronimo meets with Gen. George Crook.

Geronimo (right) and Apache Warriors