Dignity Not Included

It was America's 100 year anniversary but the nation was in a sober mood.  The defeat and death of Custer at Little Bighorn put a damper on the celebrations.  To the public, Custer had been the dashing Indian-fighting hero of the West.  The victorious Indians found their victory celebrations brief as well as nearly 1000 northern Cheyenne on their way to join Sioux chief Crazy Horse, were beaten back in July 1876 by Col. Wesley Merritt and the 5th Cavalry at a place called War Bonner Creek.  The defeated Cheyenne turned back to the Red Cloud Agency and ended their campaign.

The Army was too large now and cumbersome to chase the scattered tribes so they took measures to control the Indians instead.  On October 23, Red Cloud and his warriors were forced to disarm their camp at the Red Cloud Agency.  To add to their humiliation, General Crook told Red Cloud the United States no longer recognized him as a Sioux chief.  The army seized all the Indians arms and their ponies as well.  The ponies were later sold to buy cows for the Indians instead.

Congress decided to force the Sioux to give up the Black Hills and if they refused, they would no longer get any food.  Surprisingly, a few chiefs signed the treaty, despite the terms, including giving up all hunting rights outside the new reservation area.  Many Indians remained defiant.  Crook planned a winter campaign to "finish off the Indians."  In late October 1876 Col. Nelson Miles succeeded in tracking down Sitting Bull and his Sioux warriors at Cedar Creek in Montana.  Two day later, 2000 Sioux surrendered, but Sitting Bull escaped into Canada. 



Next time...Another great warrior's end
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On January 29, 1861, Kansas, deeply divided over the issue of slavery, was granted statehood as a free state in a gesture of support for Kansas’ militant anti-slavery forces, which had been in armed conflict with pro-slavery groups since Kansas became a territory in 1854.

The Winter War of Terror

Taking advantage of the Indian's temporary immobility in the winter months, U.S. soldiers moved across the plains in snow, mounting surprise attacks on unsuspecting tribes, not even allowing them the opportunity to surrender.  If the women and children weren't deliberately killed, they were left to starve or freeze after their men, their village and their horses were destroyed. 

The aim of this terror was not only to kill the Indian, but to destroy the entire culture of the nomadic lifestyle.  Some were prompted by conscience to condemn the military as a bunch of butchers, but no one was able to devise a more effective mean of accomplishing the goal of what had become known as the "winning of the West."

Among those U.S. Army soldiers were the black soldiers who had been recently freed after the Civil War from slavery.  They were called "blacks in blue" by the military and "buffalo soldiers" by the Indians.  The regimental crest of the black cavalry, organized in 1866, was the buffalo.  The were commanded by white officers but won praise from some such as William T. Sherman who said they are  "trustworthy and as brave as the occasion calls for."

The artist Frederic Remington, who was with the black troops in Arizona, reported that "they may be tired and they may be hungry, but they do not see fit to augment their misery by finding fault with everybody and everything.  They are charming men with whom to serve is an honor."  The black soldier fought many battles with the Indians, and unlike the white soldier, did so with low desertion rates.  They made a career of being a soldier, often bearing a heavy burden of racial discrimination.  Their supplies were inferior quality, their assignments, the least desirable.  Yet like the Indian, the black soldier proved a stronger and better fighter than the U.S. Army had ever thought possible.

Next time...A Red Cloud over Dakota
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Today in Pioneer History: "On January 11., 1908, Theodore Roosevelt designated more than 800,000 acres of the Grand Canyon area into a national monument. “Let this great wonder of nature remain as it now is,” he declared. “You cannot improve on it. But what you can do is keep it for your children, your children’s children, and all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American should see.”

An Witting Ally

It seemed that the US Army as reduced as it was in the post Civil War plains, was incapable of subduing the warrior tribes of the frontier, but they had a ally, one they didn't even realize...the Indian himself.

Most Indians, with the exception of the Apache, fought the Army as if they were fighting just another tribe competing for temporary control of hunting grounds.  Each time the Army backed off of battle, the Indians assumed permanent and total victory.

The Indian's highly individualistic societies of hunting men and warriors weren't adapted to fight a modern army whose intentions were permanent take over.  The animosities of old between tribes kept coalitions against the white man short-term.  Ancient tribal hatred was stronger than hate of the white man's intrusion.

Unity within a tribe of any kind was even difficult.  Each brave was his own master, free to join any band of warriors and to seek accommodations with whites as he chose.  General Cook, for instance, made effective use of friendly Apache in hunting down hostiles within the Apache nation. 

In older times when warfare on the plains was an inter tribal affair, personal glory remained the crown of Indian warriors.  The "coup" was to ride up to a few Army soldiers and tap them on the shoulders with the coup stick before vanishing into the prairie - that was considered a great victory.  But modern Army soldiers didn't fight for glory or fun, they fought to win a continent and the civilization in it.  To achieve their aims, the Army launched both massive expeditions and small, swift striking forces against the Indian tribes.

During the winter months the warriors and their families were temporarily immobile.  Food was scarce, the weather was fierce and they needed to conserve food and supplies.  They found it inconceivable that the white man would or could even fight in winter, so they made little provision for the defense of their camps.  It was their fatal mistake...

Next time...A Winter War of Terror
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Today in Pioneer History: "On January 8, 1867,  Congress overrides President Andrew Johnson’s veto of a bill granting all adult male citizens of the District of Columbia the right to vote, and the bill becomes law. It was the first law in American history that granted African-American men the right to vote. 

Broken Promises, Broken Arrows

November 1868 brought Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Calvary to a Cheyenne camp on the Washita River.  The Indians didn't take much to fighting in the winter so the village, with Black Kettle as resident didn't sight the Army until it was too late.  At dawn on November 26th, Custer  and his men attacked the camp and killed 100 Indians, including Black Kettle. 

Warriors from nearby camps heard the battle cries and forced Custer to retreat with his Indian captives, but he left 19 men under Major Joel Elliott behind.  Cut off from the main unit, the men were quickly surrounded and killed.  Custer was commended by his superiors.for his bold actions...(I am not a Custer fan btw!) and his victory seemed to have crushed the southern plains Indian rebellion.  In March 1869, Gen. Philip Sheridan reported that "the tribes were living quietly on the reservations."  Not for long...

A new threat arose from the Kiowa who were raiding the Texas Panhandle - their traditional hunting grounds..  Kiowa and Comanche had agreed to leave Texas in 1867 for reservations originally given them and resettle on barren land in Indian Territory!  (can't make this up)  In 1871, fed up with the white man's broken promises, they rebelled under Chief Satanta.  Satanta was a long-time foe of the US Army who had fought Kit Carson at Adobe Walls before.

Satanta boldy showed up at Fort Sill after a wagon train raid and boasted of having killed seven men.  Instead of rations, he was arrested, tried for murder in a Texas court and sentenced to hang until the Bureau of Indian Affairs appealed to the governor and Satanta was paroled in 1873.  Satanta then joined Comanche Quanah Parker and 700 warriors in another battle at Adobe Walls on June 27, 1874.  Against the Sharp shooting rifles of the Army, the Indians held their own for a good while.

The Kiowa and Comanche continued raids across southern plains but slowly weakened.  Satanta surrendered to prison in October 1874, where he died by suicide four years later. 

Next time...The Army's Logistics and Tactics
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On December 28, 1869,  the Knights of Labor, a labor union of tailors in Philadelphia, hold the first Labor Day ceremonies in American history. The Knights of Labor was established as a secret society of Pennsylvanian tailors earlier in the year and later grew into a national body that played an important role in the labor movement of the late 19th century.