Increasing conflict on the Plains

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A is the Santee (Dakota) Sioux rising in Minnesota in 1862 (Little Crow's War). B is the Sand Creek Massacre (29 November 1864).

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One problem was that the gold seekers took over land that had been promised to the tribes. The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 had given the Cheyenne and Arapaho the land between the North Platte and the Arkansas rivers, but in 1858-59 perhaps 100,000 prospectors rushed into it, and towns such as Denver were built on Indian camping grounds. The government did nothing to remove them. Instead, in the Fort Wise Treaty of 1861, some chiefs were pressed into giving up most of their land in exchange for a small reservation at Sand Creek, which many Cheyenne refused to accept.

A second problem was the damage to their food supply. The miners and travellers cut down the trees along the rivers, used up the grass and water and killed or drove away the buffalo and other game. This made it harder for the Cheyenne and Arapaho to feed themselves, and growing hunger and anger led to raids and the Colorado war of 1864.

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Interpretation A argues that concentration failed because the Plains Indians would not change their way of life. There is some truth in this. The Plains peoples were nomadic buffalo hunters, and boundaries drawn in 1851 cut across the way they had always followed the herds. The government insisted on dealing with head chiefs, but Plains bands were independent, and young men won honour by raiding, so no chief could guarantee peace. Raids between tribes, and by groups such as the Cheyenne Dog Soldiers, did continue. However, A blames only the Indians and ignores the many ways the treaty was broken by the other side.

Interpretation B argues that the government broke the treaty, and my knowledge strongly supports this. The Senate cut the annuities from 50 years to 10, and goods were often late, poor or stolen by corrupt agents. When the Pikes Peak gold rush brought perhaps 100,000 prospectors into land guaranteed to the Cheyenne and Arapaho in 1858-59, the government did not protect the tribes as promised; Denver was built on their land, and in the Fort Wise Treaty of 1861 some chiefs were pressed to give most of it up. B is weaker in suggesting the Indians played no part, because raids did happen.

Overall, B is more convincing. A identifies a real weakness in the policy, but the decisive reason it collapsed was the government's choice to allow the gold rush and then rewrite the treaty in the settlers' favour at Fort Wise. The Indians' way of life made concentration difficult; the government's actions made it impossible.

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Fetterman's own mistakes were an important reason for the disaster. He was a Civil War veteran who had little experience of fighting on the Plains, and he had contempt for the Lakota as fighters; he is reported to have boasted that with 80 men he could ride through the whole Sioux nation, and he criticised Colonel Carrington for being too cautious. On 21 December 1866 he was sent out of Fort Phil Kearny to relieve a wood train under attack. According to Carrington, his orders were not to pursue beyond Lodge Trail Ridge, but he followed a small group of warriors over the ridge, and his cavalry and infantry became separated. With only about 80 men, he was badly exposed once he left the protection of the fort.

However, the tactics of Red Cloud and his allies were also crucial. Red Cloud had united Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors against the Bozeman Trail forts, and for months they had attacked wood trains and travellers, learning exactly how the soldiers reacted. A skirmish earlier in December had shown that soldiers would chase decoys. On 21 December a decoy party, traditionally said to include Crazy Horse, attacked the wood train and then pretended to retreat, while perhaps 1,500-2,000 warriors waited hidden beyond the ridge. Once the soldiers crossed, they were surrounded and all 81 were killed, probably in less than an hour.

Overall, the tactics of Red Cloud and his allies were the more important reason. Fetterman's overconfidence made the trap easier to spring, but the plan was designed precisely to draw out an overconfident officer, and it had been prepared over weeks. The numbers involved meant that any force of 80 men that crossed the ridge would probably have been destroyed. Some historians also argue that the evidence of Fetterman's disobedience came mainly from Carrington, who had reasons to blame him. Fetterman made the mistake, but it was the skill and planning of the Lakota and their allies that turned a mistake into a total defeat.