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Sand Creek Massacre
Colonel John Chivington was sent by governor John Evans to make peace with the Indians. After a summer of small battles, the Cheyenne and Arapahos were ready for peace. Indian representatives met with Evans and Chivington to make peace. On Nov. 29, the Indians approached Chivington's camp to surrender and make peace. Instead of accepting the surrender, Chivington commanded his soldiers to attack, killing Indians unmercifully. Elders, children, women, and babies were killed. Only a few escaped. -
Fetterman Massacre
While Army troops were manning a fort along the Bozeman Trail, a Sioux military leader known as Crazy Horse acted as a decoy to lure soldiers into a trap. The fort's commander was decieved and sent a detachment of 80 soldiers to pursue the indians. Little did the soldiers know that hundreds of Indians were waiting to ambush them. The Indians annihilated the whole detachment. This was the bloodiest incident among the series of attacks by the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians from 1865-1867. -
Treaty of Fort Laramie
During the spring of 1868, a conference was held at Fort Laramie, for the Sioux Indians and white settlers to come up with a way to make peace. The conference resulted in a treaty, but that treaty was broken by General George A. Custer leading an expedition with gold miners into the Black Hills in 1874. When the miners discovered gold, they began to move into the Sioux hunting grounds. This angered the Sioux, and they attacked Custer's detatchment. -
1874 Discovery
Colonel George A. Custer led an army expedition in the Black Hills to mine for gold. There had been a rumor that there was gold in the area. Custer, the army, and the Sioux indians were all a part of the 1874 Discovery. The army was mining on Sioux land, and the Indians did not appreciate it. -
Battle of Little Bighorn
Also known as Custer's Last Stand, the Battle of Little Bighorn occured near the Little Bighorn River. The battle was between a Lakota-Northern Cheyenne combined force led by Sitting Bull and the 7th Calvary regiment of the United States Army. During the battle, five of the seventh's companied were wiped out, and Colonel George Custer and his two brothere were killed. It was a great victory for the Lakota-Northern Cheyenne Indians. -
Ghost Dance
The Ghost Dance was a dance used by the Native Americans to express their anger about their culture being destroyed. It was also called a Circle Dance. Indian reservation officials banned the dance. During a scuffle, the chief Sitting Bull was shot by police because they believed that he was the leader of the dance. The Ghost Dance movement played a role in instigating the Wounded Knee Massacre. -
Wounded Knee Massacre
Hundreds of Lakota Sioux ran away in fear following Sitting Bull's death. They gathered at the Wounded Knee creek in Southwestern South Dakota. A pistol shot rang out from an unknown location, and the fighting started between the U.S. army and the Indians. The army came to collect the Sioux's weapons. More than 200 Sioux and 25 soldiers were killed. Wounded Knee was the end of battles between whites and Native Americans. The indians were defeated.
