Rising Trouble on the Plains

Black Kettle escaped the carnage of Sand Creek and fled eastward into Kansas with a few of his braves.  The old Cheyenne Chief continued to stand for peace with the whites but few heeded his words.  A common feelings was more, "What do we live for? The white man has taken our country, killed our game, was not satisfied with that, but killed our wives and children.  Now no peace.  We have raised the battle until death," as one chief said to a white man.

The year of 1864 was not over and the Sand Creek tale had spread across the plains.  In December 2,000 Cheyenne, Sioux and Arapaho braves gathered along the banks of Cherry Creek in Colorado.
Their plan was retaliation.  Three years of warfare followed, where small Indian war parties went through the grasslands, raiding settlements and wagon trains, setting houses on fire and cutting down the pioneers as they went about their daily life.

The federal government was taken by surprise with the escalating violence.  Eastern humanitarians were outraged at the massacre of Sand Creek natives.  They called for an immediate halt to the hostilities, and in 1867 (3 years late!)  Congress authorized a peace commission to meet with the tribal representatives in order to "remove the causes of war; secure the frontier settlements and railroad constructions, and establish a system for civilizing the tribes."  This peace commission took place in the fall at Medicine Lodge Creek in Kansas with leaders of Kiowa, Arapaho, Cheyenne present.

The negotiations as usual, brushed over the fundamental misunderstandings with fine words, but this time the government was determined to find a solution.  The obvious white man's view was to resettle all the Indians permanently on fixed reservations.  There were two they had in mind - the Black Hills region for northern tribes, and the Indian Territory for the southern tribes.

The terms were similar to the 1851 Horse Creek treaty - the government would provide food and supplies in exchange for the tribes promising to permit the whites free passage through these territories, allow construction of roads and railroads, stop their raiding and remain on the assigned reservation except for hunting season.

It was not a treaty either side could uphold.  It robbed the Plains Indians of their free-roaming way of life, and imposed upon the government huge financial responsibilities.  The Indians had nothing left but to fight...in 1868 the grasslands from Kansas to Texas erupted.

Next time...Custer fights in Washita
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Today in Pioneer History: "On December  26, 1820, hoping to recover from bankruptcy with a bold scheme of colonization, Moses Austin meets with Spanish authorities in San Antonio to ask permission for 300 Anglo-American families to settle in Texas.

Sand Creek

There was one possible way to avoid an all out Indian war in Colorado.  In September 1864, a prominent Cheyenne chief named Black Kettle appeared in Denver to negotiate for peace with the territorial governor.  Black Kettle conceded that he could not control many of his young braves.  Black Kettle agreed to settle at Fort Lyon, in eastern Colorado, with those of his Cheyenne and Arapaho followers who opposed war.  The new commander at Fort Lyon insisted that Black Kettle camp on Sand Creek, some 40 miles from the fort since he had no orders from General Curtis.  Surprisingly, Black Kettle agreed.

At dawn on November 29, 1864, when Black Kettle's band of about 500, including more than 300 women and children, were settled beside the stream, a detachment of 700 of Chivington's (see previous posts) volunteers suddenly appeared.  With no warning or discussion, they went through the camp in a murderous spree.  The Indian leader tried to comprehend what was happening, raising the US flag, then a white flag of surrender. 

Chivington's orders were to "Kill and scalp all, big and little, nits and lice."  The troops killed every Indian who moved and then mutilated the bodies, saving parts as souvenirs of  their "bravery".  One group of squaws and children were cut down in the middle of surrender.  When a toddler was lost amid the chaos, he was made the object of target practice by the soldiers.  Flight was the only possible escape, and some did get away to spread the word that peace with the US was just not possible.

Denver celebrated Sand Creek as a great and noble victory until the truth slowly came out..."A cowardly and cold-blooded slaughter", said a shocked army judge.  But by then the damage was done and the West was being torn by a new and bitter round of Indian wars.

Again I ask you, who was the civilized culture?

Next time...Blood on the Grasslands
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Today in Pioneer History: "On December 18, 1843, Charles Dickens published "A Christmas Carol".
A Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!

Colorado Simmers

The mining towns and ranches in Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming and Montana Territories were still growing during the Civil War days, with the added influx of those dodging the army.  The whites wanted land and freedom - a piece of the western bonanza.  They didn't much care about Indian rights, or the survival of buffalo, the Indian food source.

The result of the government's inability or unwillingness to stop the whites' disrespect was predictable.  Indians, hungry and fearful of losing what little land they had left would certainly fight to retain their heritage.  The older chiefs had begun to lose the influence they had to the younger braves, and the Civil War was the beginning of the last and bloodiest Indian war in the West.  It was a war of small battles, one after the other, that didn't end until the tribes had nothing left.

The Arapaho and Cheyenne had signed over most of their hunting grounds shortly before the Civil War, something that angered the young braves.  In 1863, a band of Cheyenne warriors raided several small Colorado settlements.  In 1864 a family was murdered on their Colorado ranch, with their bodies placed on display in Denver by whites. (??)  Indian raids closed down the main road to the east, leaving Denver isolated and scared.

Rumors flew of wild attacks planned by the Indians throughout the city.  Cries of vengeance grew.  Volunteer riffraff under Col. John Chivington were just waiting for a fight.  Chivington was actually a former minister, hero of Glorieta Pass (See previous post) and had a great taste for battle - especially against the heathen Indians.  When his superior, Maj. Gen. Samuel Curtis declared, "I want no peace until the Indians suffer more," Chivington was more than happy to oblige. 

Next time...Sand Creek
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Today in Pioneer History: "On December 11, 1872, Buffalo Bill Cody, already appearing as a well-known figure of the Wild West in popular dime novels,  makes his first stage appearance in a Chicago-based production of "The Scouts of the Prairie".

In Search of Gold

Trappers in general as a rule were ignorant of minerals and not very curious about them either.  Even if they found golf or silver, the cost of carrying it to settlements over miles of primitive trails wasn't worth it.  Not until the California gold rush of 1849 and the improvement of transport did prospecting and mining become profitable enterprises in the West. 

In the trapper season of 1837-38 a man named Jack Ralston was with Captain Joesph Walker on the

trail.  Only one interesting story remains about this man in the 1860s near the Colorado River with Captain Walker once again.  Back on the original expedition with Walker in 1838, Ralston found a few large  lumpy pieces of yellow metallic looking substance sticking out of the rocks.  He showed the rest of the men who didn't really know what it was either so they stuffed pieces in their pockets as novelty items and they became worn pieces of dust...gold dust.

Some 20 years later when Ralston saw samples of gold, he realized what it was he had found and attempted to go back alone to find it.  When that failed he asked if Captain Joe was interested in leading a party to the site again - Captain Joe agreed. 
Next time...Apache!

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This Day in History:  On December 28, 1890,  in the tragic final chapter of America's long war against the Plains Indians, the U.S. Cavalry kills 146 Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.