Federal Government

Indian Wars The expansion on to the Eastern Montana plains coincided with the end of the period in American history usually referred to as the Indian Wars. The so-called Indian Wars were the end game of a historic pattern that began with the first European settlers in the “New World”. ****“From Jamestown on, European colonization steadily pushed Native American civilization to the interior of the continent.” **** ----The California Gold Rush added white settlement to the west coast, effectively squeezing the Indian inhabitants on the Great Plains. It’s not surprising that when the dislocation continued it led to conflict. The 1860’s and 70’s are considered the time frame for the Indian Wars (although fighting had been going on since the early 17th century), and Montana plays a big part in that sad tale.

Federal Government Federal policy regarding Native Americans vacillated through the first century and a half of U.S. history, affecting Montana’s Indians along the way. Beginning in the 1830’s, the plan to place Indians on reservations turned modern day Oklahoma into “Indian Territory”. ------At first, reservations lands were held commonly by each tribe based on separate treaties signed with the U.S. government. This remained national policy for five decades. In 1887, Congress passed the Dawes Severalty Act, which was intended to create private ownership of that acreage. Also known as the “Allotment Act”, it provided individuals with a specified amount of land that varied from 40 to 160 acres depending on usage. (Surplus lands were then sold off, usually to white settlers, and usually at bargain prices.) Also, after twenty five years, the private Indian land could be sold, which often was the case. Dawes Act The Dawes Act fell in line with the second phase of U.S. policy, known as assimilation ( boarding schools were the cultural component of assimilation ). In 1924, the Snyder Act granted citizenship to all Native Americans, and in 1934 Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act, also known as the Indian New Deal. >>>>> This began the period autonomy whereby Indians were given sovereignty over their reservation lands. {Tribal governments, including courts, were set up and jurisdiction on Indian land became a joint deal between federal and tribal groups. It’s confusing, but even today there is an overlap between these jurisdictions.} Fort Laramie In 1851 the Treaty of Fort Laramie established the Pine Ridge Reservation. *****Centered in the Black Hills of South Dakota, the reservation extended through parts of Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, and North Dakota. During the 1860’s, fighting broke out on several occasions between Whites and Natives in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. “Both sides engaged in brutal attacks and retaliation upon each other.” Some noteworthy incidents included;  Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado 1864 that accounted for the death of over 500 Indians,  Fetterman Massacre in Wyoming in 1866 when nearly 100 Whites were killed,  Marias Massacre in January of 1870. (Detailed Below)

~At the Marias River that winter day, Colonel Eugene Baker stormed a friendly Blackfeet village while searching a band of warring Indians. (Baker ordered the attack even though he was informed by scouts that the encampment was friendly.) ---Chief Heavy Runner was one of the first to die in the assault that killed between 150 and 200 Natives. Survivors struggled through the snow and ice to reach Fort Benton, some 90 miles distant. The Blackfeet Tribe, once the feared controllers of Central Montana had been decimated by diseases in the preceding decades. Smallpox ravaged their villages in waves beginning in 1845. Subsequent outbreaks of pox as well as measles reduced Blackfeet strength to a fraction of its former level. Red Cloud’s War The 1851 treaty provided peace at Pine Ridge for a time, but white encroachment along the Bozeman Trail (an offshoot of the Oregon Trail) toward the Montana gold fields resulted in war. The biggest reason for this outside pressure was the discovery of gold in southwestern Montana. Known as Red Cloud’s War, this conflict lasted from 1866-68 and represented the most successful effort of Native Americans against the industrialized U.S. Army. After the war, the Bozeman Trail was closed and Indian land rights were guaranteed (although a much smaller area) by a second peace accord (the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868).

Black Hills The Natives were in a tough spot. Reservation life didn’t suit Indian cultural traditions, and the corrupt BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) did not provide the support promised in the agreements. ***** However, the old way of life was growing impossible in the late 19th Century…Railroads were dissecting the plains and the old hunting grounds, and the great bison herds were disappearing. -----In 1874 gold was discovered the Black Hills and the rush was on. The United States government didn’t really even try to prevent this violation of sovereign Indian land, and in 1875 a couple thousand Natives left the Pine Hills Reservation. The membership included:  Lakota Sioux  Northern Cheyenne  Some 500 Arapahoe

“The United States Army sent an expedition to return the Natives to the reservation in what is called the Great Sioux War (also known as the Black Hills War of 1876-77).” ~The object was to round up the Indians and return them to Pine Ridge. The overall plan of attack called for three columns to converge on the hostiles in Southeastern Montana. The men in charge were:  General Alfred Terry (directly in charge of approximately 1,000 men), who commanded a force moving west from Fort Abraham Lincoln in North Dakota (Custer’s 7th Cavalry was part of this outfit)  Colonel John Gibbon, leading about 600 men west from Fort Ellis (by Bozeman)  General George Crook, marching north from Fort Fetterman in Eastern Wyoming with nearly 1,000 troops under his command. Great Sioux War Cause, Course, & Consequence As is often the case, the grand strategy failed to survive to the battlefield. First, Crook’s column was intercepted and defeated at the Battle of Rosebud Creek on June 17th, 1876. Crook retreated back to Fort Fetterman and provided no support in the events to follow. ~~~~Meanwhile, Terry sent Colonel George Armstrong Custer south with orders to engage the Indians with his 7th cavalry only after Gibbon arrived with infantry from the west. However, Custer attacked before Gibbon’s arrival and disaster followed for him and his men. Custer was badly outnumbered and outgunned and the inevitable result was the annihilation of his entire command. Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn (known by the Natives as the Battle of Greasy Grass Creek) took place near modern day Hardin on June 25th, 1876. Numbers are difficult to verify, but probably about 2,000 Sioux and Crow Indians led by Chief’s Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, plus many more women and children were encamped on Little Bighorn Creek when U.S. troops approached. Custer split his command of almost 600 men into three groups. The men in charge of the other units were captain’s Marcus Reno and William Benteen.

Custer was actually afraid that he would be unable to corner the Indians and force a fight, so he developed a bold plan of attack. Reno’s company attacked first, but they were almost immediately overrun. He was forced to retreat, finding aid from Benteen’s men. >>>>>>Custer moved into attacking position with 210 men. ------Debate continues to this day as to the exact order of battle, but it is clear that Custer’s command was wildly outnumbered. The troops ended up being split into several groups and were killed to a man in a very short engagement lasting little more than twenty minutes. Reno and Benteen were able to escape with some survivors after a fighting, two-day retreat. The 7th Cavalry lost almost 300 men, while estimates of Indian vary from around 50 to 150. The battle offers a footnote to U.S. history. When the dust cleared, only one wounded horse, Comanche, stood as witness to Custer’s slaughter, and Comanche wasn’t talking. Comanche was billed as the lone survivor of the Little Bighorn, and was shipped around the country for parades and public events. ---- (Other animals actually lived through the event, but the Indians stole the healthy animals and the legend of Comanche grew.) ~~~~Legend has it that the horse developed a taste for beer, and his handlers obliged him with an occasional draft. Upon his death in 1890, Comanche was accorded full military honors before being stuffed and put on display at the University of Kansas, where he resides today. *** Johnny Horton immortalized the famed steed in his song “Comanche”…

Changing World (Crazy Horse & Sitting Bull) ---Victory at the Little Bighorn was a great triumph for the Natives, but it also was the beginning of the end for the short lived rebellion. The United States Army beefed up their response and pursued the tribes with heavy firepower and forced them back onto the reservation within a year. ~Crazy Horse surrendered in 1877 after eluding U.S. forces for a time in South Dakota and Nebraska. Fighting a series of skirmishes that included: (*The Battle of Slim Butte and Wolf Mountain) ----After being held for a few weeks, Crazy Horse was being moved from one holding area to another. A struggle broke out, and he was killed on September 5th, 1877.

“After the fight at the Little Bighorn, Sitting Bull made his way north to Saskatchewan in 1877 to avoid reprisal from the cavalry.” ---In 1881, near starvation forced Sitting Bull to lay down his arms and return to the states. The tribe went to Pine Ridge after the five year hiatus. Sitting Bull joined Bill “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s Wild West Show and was one of the big attractions for a few months. He quit the show, but in his travels he saw clearly the technological advantages possessed by the Whites and knew resistance was futile. His death in 1890 was part of the end of the Indian Wars as a period in U.S. history.

Chief Joseph A year after Custer’s demise, another uprising continued to show the pattern of White expansion in the West. It started in Washington, and ended in the Bear’s Paw Mountains just south of Havre. The Nez Perce Tribe, led by Chief Joseph the Younger, had long been a powerful presence along the Snake and Columbia Rivers west of the Rockies. ******After a local fight between soldiers and tribal members in which four cavalry men Chief Joseph knew that army retaliation would be harsh.****** -----The zigzagging tribe was pursued from Eastern Washington to Montana in an incredible three month, 1700 mile journey. The Nez Perce, 800 strong including warriors, women, and children fought a retreating action against U.S. Cavalry led by General Oliver Howard. The tribe was doggedly pursued through Idaho into Western Montana, back into Southern Idaho, through Yellowstone Park back into Montana. The most noteworthy battle along the way was an Indian victory fought at the Big Hole River. *****Chief Joseph’s goal was Canada to get beyond the reach of U.S. troops. ***** The Nez Perce were exhausted when they reached the Bear’s Paw Mountains south of Havre (some Indian lore holds that they were actually in Canada). The cavalry caught up with the tribe, and a brief battle ensued. Rather than attempt a break-out, Chief Joseph surrendered his force on October 5th, 1877, and acceded to life on the reservation, uttering his now famous lines “…I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I shall fight no more forever.”

After surrendering, the Nez Perce were removed to Indian Territory in Oklahoma, but Chief Joseph appealed directly to the federal government and convinced them to allow the tribe to return to a reservation nearer their ancestral homeland. The modern day Nez Perce tribe is one of the 12 Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington. Ghost Dance After a decade of quiet times between Indians and Whites, 1890 marked the end of the tale. Trouble stirred after reservation lands were reduced in size, and many Natives began the ancient practice of the “Ghost Dance”. -----The Ghost Dance was a form of ancestor worship as the Natives tried to renew connections to their past way of life, but U.S. officials interpreted this as a hostile act. *****An order was given to arrest Sitting Bull, but a scuffle ensued and Sitting Bull was shot and killed. The tension erupted into gunfire about two weeks later and members of the reconstituted 7th Cavalry opened fire on an encampment of Sioux at Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Two hundred Indians perished in the winter snows, and never again would the Indians resist the reservation system. Reservation Life After Wounded Knee, Native Americans in Montana, and the U.S. as well were confined to reservations or attempted to assimilate into urban populations. Northern population centers like Minneapolis and Seattle became gathering areas for many urban Indians while life on the reservations evolved. The United States government created a system of Catholic run boarding schools from 1870-1928 with the goal of civilizing the Indian population. The quote from the time was: “Kill the savage; save the man.”

-----Some view the boarding school system as an effort at cultural genocide. Indian children were removed from their homes, forbidden to speak their native tongue or practice their old religion. ------****Some of the old languages barely survive today while some have been lost forever. A bright tale from Montana’s boarding school experience took place in 1904. **** The Fort Shaw Boarding School girl’s basketball team traveled to St. Louis and captured a world basketball championship. A good read on the story is in “Shoot, Minnie, Shoot” by Happy Jack Feder. Basketball Culture “Basketball is a modern legacy of the reservations.” Any Montana high school basketball fan worth his or her salt recognizes the contribution of Indians to the sport. Indian style basketball is a thing to behold, played at a pace and with an intensity that is difficult for most teams to match. Legendary school boy players from the reservations include names like:  Larry Pretty Weasel  Willie Weeks  Donny Wetzel  Rodney Plenty Hawk  Tony plumage  Elvis Old Bull  Barney Smart Enemy  Jonathon Takes Enemy  Mike Chavez  A.J. Long Soldier >>>>In general, success has been limited to the high school level as experience has shown that it is extremely difficult for a native player to make the adjustment to college hoops. Only a few of the many great players have enjoyed successful collegiate careers. Reservations today house community colleges, cultural centers, medical facilities, and high schools. Modern Montana’s seven Indian reservations house about 34,000 inhabitants from the States 12 recognized tribes.

-The list of reservations, tribes and year founded: ~Flathead Reservation (Salish, Kootenai, Pend d’Oreilles-1855), ~Blackfeet (Blackfeet-1851), ~Rocky Boy (Chippewa and Cree-1916), ~Fort Belknap (Gros Ventres-1888), ~Fort Peck (Assiniboine and Lakota Sioux-1888), ~Crow (Crow-1851) ~Northern Cheyenne (Cheyenne-1884). “The federal government has not recognized the Little Shell Tribe, but they have received state recognition.” Centered in Great Falls, the Little Shell Tribe is trying to purchase land to create their own reservation. Montana’s Indian population, which fell dramatically over the course of a century, is now the largest growing sector of the state’s populous. However, economic conditions on the reservations are generally considered awful, and modern Indians are plagued by unemployment, substance abuse, and broken families. Great Plains Cultures Vast territory between the Rockies and the Mississippi River, from Canadian prairies to Texas, populated by dozens of Native groups, such as Sioux, Crow, Mandan, Hidatsa, Blackfeet, Comanche, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Arikara, Pawnee, all of which divided into numerous subgroups. The Sioux Dakota, Nakota and Lakota: 5,000 1804, 25,000 by 1850 - Initially 7 divisions, Council Fires - 4 Dakota: Mdewakanton (People of Spirit Lake), Wahpekute (Shooters among the Leaves), Wahpetonwan (Dwellers among the Leaves) and Sisitonwan (People of the Swamp) - 2 Nakota: Ihanktonwan (Campers at the End), Ihanktonwanna (Little Campers at the End) and later also Assiniboines (Cook with Stones) - 1 Lakota, which in itself divided into 7 major bands: Sicangu (Burnt Thighs), Oohenunpa (Two Kettles), Itazipacola (Without Bows or Sans Arcs), Miniconjou (Planters by the Water), Sihasapa (Black Feet) Hunkpapa (End of the Horn or Entrance) and Oglala (Scatter Their Own) - Always in communication with each other; while autonomous, dependent on each other - Black Hills a sacred place, and in oral tradition the place of origin

The Blackfoot Extend from northern Alberta to central Montana - Confederacy initially included the Blood, the Piegan, the Siksika and the Small Robes (later exterminated by small pox and warfare) - call themselves: Pikuni or Niitsitapi - People of the bison from the beginning – go back at least 1,000 years

The Comanche (Held an important strategic and trade location between Spain/Mexico, many Native groups and U.S. in the Arkansas River Valley.) - Controlled the region from 1740s to 1830 - Forcefully entered existing trade routes - had guns unlike Pueblos, whose trade they intercepted, since the Spanish refused to sell weapons to Natives - New Mexico depended on their trade until U.S. presence stronger and Santa Fe Trail opened - Gift-giving crucial in maintaining trade connections U.S. expansion and Indian expansion are linked The Sioux were moving to the Great Plains in 1700s as U.S. pop. pushed them out from the Great Lakes region - the Sioux displaced other Indians only to be displaced by U.S. later Diffusion of three frontiers : the horse, the gun and the disease – this severely altered the lifestyles of the Plains Native groups. - Horse frontier spread ahead of whites from Southwest - Gun frontier moved in the opposite direction - These two frontiers met in the Plains by mid-18th century - Acquisition of horse revolutionized bison hunting, further revolutionized by guns - Guns made Plains a more hotly contested territory, and violent – Sioux would dominate as got the guns first - The Sioux moved from the Prairie region (Great Lakes) to supply Europeans with beaver pelts - The Sioux advance only stopped by powerful Mandans and Arikaras - Sioux also faced diseases earlier – got better immunity – got dominant again, as horticultural, more sedentary tribes, such as Mandans devastated by smallpox 1838- 39

1803 Louisiana Purchase

Fundamentally important for U.S. and Native history - U.S. gained immense amounts of land from France - which Natives occupied the land ignored by both. - Pres. Jefferson assigned Meriwether Lewis and William Clark with an expedition - To find a passage to the Pacific Ocean - To study flora and fauna - set up relations with Natives, how many tribes, friendly or not etc. Jefferson’s vision that of yeoman farmers, who would fill the West with self-sufficient communities under U.S. flag – “ the Empire of Liberty ” - expansion of U.S. style democracy bound to clash with Natives and their democracies. Jefferson was not clear on what to do with Natives - inconsistency typical of a slave owner who advocated freedom and democracy. - Jefferson did propose Native removal west of Mississippi, but what then??

Oregon Trail: Through Plains Native territory At times, a busy “highway” with constant wagon traffic - Settlers hunted for food and sport + scared game away = conflict with Indians - Settlers’ cattle strayed to Indian forage + food fields - conflict - Indians demanded compensation/toll - Violent conflicts - settlers asked government help - Settlers often helped by Indians as knew the trails - Indian threat wildly exaggerated - most conflicts caused by settlers Result: Treaties + Wars 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty Between U.S. and 10,000 Northern Plains Natives: - peace to guarantee safety for settlers on Oregon Trail, $150,000 for tribes for 50 years, Senate changed to 10 yrs. - Only a short peace as pressure on lands continued Government initiative to settle the Great Plains Homestead Act 1862: 160 acres of free land, if you occupy it for 5 years - Added pressure to make treaties and chop off Native land - Tribal response to defend their lands: period of U.S.-Indian Wars

The Dakota revolted in Minnesota 1862 for U.S. failed to honor the 1851 treaty and neglected to supply with promised goods - At the same time, harvest was poor - Dakotas were split – many friends with white settlers - targeted whites who had forced the eviction of Dakotas, which is vivid in the Dakota oral history - Most were evicted to South Dakota and Nebraska to barren reservations, where many suffered

Southern Cheyenne Sand Creek Massacre 1864 - Perhaps the most outrageous racial extermination in U.S. - Black Kettle’s band was peaceful - Colorado volunteers under Lt. Col. John Chivington wiped out 150 men, women and children (“Nits make Lice”) - Supported by CO governor, who wanted Natives removed for white settlers – Dog Soldiers had been harassing whites - Outrage in east - U.S. Congress investigated - part of the reason for Peace Policy

The Sioux and the Black Hills Bozeman Trail mid-1860s through Lakota lands to Montana mining fields against 1851 treaty provisions, U.S. constructed forts, which led to the Red Cloud War.

1868 Fort Laramie Treaty to end hostilities between settlers and Indians - Government promised the Sioux control of the Black Hills - Peace short-lasting: gold found in Black Hills - miners rushed in - Treaty not signed by all Sioux: Sitting Bull, Hunkpapa Lakota military, political and religious leader - most respected among the Lakotas - and Crazy Horse, Oglala Lakota military leader, refused to sign - wanted to preserve Lakota independence and way of life - former chief resister Red Cloud signed - Last major treaty between Natives and U.S. - Cavalry expedition found gold in 1874, settlers and miners not to be kept out

June 25, 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn: (G.A. Custer and 7. Cavalry brigade destroyed by the Lakotas led by Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Gall) - Telegram arrived in Washington on July 4, 1876 centennial celebration - All Sioux chased down, Crazy Horse killed and Sitting Bull escaped to Canada, surrendered 1881 The Great Sioux Reservation split to 6 smaller rez. 1888 - led to Ghost Dance

Settlement and RR s meant end to nomadic Native lifestyle : (Game decreased, buffalo gone, treaty annuities sporadic.) The remaining free tribes forced to reservations, followed by allotment of tribal lands. - based on the same philosophy as reservation policy: Private land ownership encourages thrift, civilizes and assimilates - Ultimate goal to abolish reservations as unnecessary - encouraged dependence In the time of crisis, vision of Ghost Dance spreading: return of the buffalo, exit of the white man. - Military feared another uprising - arrested Sitting Bull, who got killed - Rest of Lakota’s to be disarmed - last “battle” at Wounded Knee Dec. 1890 by 7th Cavalry

1890 Natives subdued, frontier closed - U.S. westward movement had populated all regions of the nation fulfilling Jefferson’s vision.