Part 7 of an on going series that looks at the plight of the Native American. Violence erupts across the country, and it only begets for bloodshed. The Dakota tribe of Minnesota found themselves in a precarious dilemma. Through the late 1850s, treaty abuses by the United States and late or partial annuity payments by Indian agents instigated growing famine and adversity amongst the Dakota. In mid-1862 the Dakota wanted the annuities straight from their agent, Thomas J. Galbraith. The traders declined to offer any more provisions on credit under those circumstances, and parleys reached a stalemate.[1] [1] Brown 40 But the prospects of starvation lead to desperate measures. On August 4, 1862, approximately 500 Dakota broke into foodstuff storerooms at the Lower Agency. The agent in charge, Galbraith, ordered guarding troops not to fire and called for an assembly. At the meeting, Little Crow, a chief of the Mdewakanton Dakota people, complained that the Dakota were due the money to purchase the food and advised that "When men are hungry, they help themselves." The representative of the traders, Andrew Myrick, responded, "So far as I am concerned, if they are hungry let them eat grass or their own dung."[2] With an official response that left zero empathy, to was only a matter of time until violence arose. Inside weeks, on August 17, 1862, a band of Dakota traversed paths with a clutch of white civilian settlers. The Dakota murdered 5 of the white civilians and disfigured their bodies. This was not a reaction that was reached easily by Dakota leaders, as they were well aware of the consequences. Little Crow decided to lead the tribes through the war, even though he knew the whites could eventually send superior amounts of troops into the struggle than his people could withstand. The Dakota first attacked the lower Sioux agency, and they scalped Myrick and stuffed his mouth with grass in vengeance for his words.[3] War was already ravaging the American country side. Owed to the stresses of the American Civil War, the area's representatives had to constantly plea for support before President Abraham Lincoln formed the Department of the Northwest on September 6, 1862, and selected General John Pope to command it with instructions to suppress the violence. He led troops from the 3rd Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment and 4th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The 9th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment and 10th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which were still being established, had troops posted to the front as soon as Companies were formed.[1] Minnesota Governor Alexander Ramsey also conscripted the assistance of Colonel Henry Hastings Sibley, the former governor, to help in the struggle. Two assaults on Fort Ridgely were stopped by an outnumbered assembly of armed forces and residents who proficiently used the fort's cannon to drive the enemies off. Little Crow was injured by cannon fire in the second attack on the fort and kept him from contributing in the attack on New Ulm, which ended up being attacked twice. A group of pioneers and helpers managed to stave off both attacks in spite of the protectors being outnumbered, and poorly equipped. The Dakota attacked white noncombatants all over the region.[4] In the end, Little Crow's armies underwent a defeat at the Battle of Wood Lake on September 23, 1862, and Little Crow was required to escape to Canada. With Little Crow absent, things only turned worse for the Dakota. Over the next several months, persistent skirmishes opposing the Dakota against the United States Army completed with the capitulation of most of the Dakota bands.[5] By late December 1862, soldiers had imprisoned more than a thousand Dakota, who were detained in jails in Minnesota. After tribunals and condemning, 38 Dakota were hanged on December 26, 1862, in the largest one-day execution in American history. In April 1863, the rest of the Dakota were ousted from Minnesota to Nebraska and South Dakota, and the United States Congress eliminated their reservations. Similar events transpired farther West as well. The start of the American Civil War in 1861 steered the organization of armed forces in Colorado Territory. In March 1862, the Coloradans overpowered the Texas Confederate Army in the Battle of Glorieta Pass in New Mexico. Ensuing from the fight, the First Regiment of Colorado Volunteers returned to Colorado Territory and were fixed as a home guard under the expertise of Colonel John Chivington. He implemented a firm stance against Cheyenne, whom white settlers faulted in thieving cattle. Chivington had little conviction when it went to the understanding of native life, as he asserted: Damn any man who sympathizes with Indians! ... I have come to kill Indians, and believe it is right and honorable to use any means under God's heaven to kill Indians. ... Kill and scalp all, big and little…[6] This mentality helped dictate United State Indian policy. Devoid of any declaration of war, in April 1864 soldiers started confronting and destroying several Cheyenne camps, the prevalent of which comprised about 70 lodges, about 10% of the lodging capability of the whole Cheyenne population.[7] On May 16, 1864, a force under Lieutenant George S. Eayre traversed into Kansas and stumbled upon Cheyenne in their summer buffalo-hunting encampment near the Smoky Hill River. Cheyenne chiefs Lean Bear and Star draw near the soldiers to gesture their peaceable intent, but were shot down by Eayre's men. This event created a war of reprisal by the Cheyenne.[8] Cooler heads did attempt to forego full out war. On November 28, 1864, Black Kettle, a chief of an assemblage of nearby 800 Cheyenne, reported to Fort Lyon in an exertion to institute amity. After having done so, he, his band, and some Arapaho, camped out at close to Sand Creek, some 40 miles north. Chivington and his 700 troops moved on Black Kettle's campsite.[9] The events that followed left a blood stain on American history which will never dissipate. Some of the Indians escaped up Sand Creek or to a neighboring Cheyenne camp on the headstreams of the Smokey Hill River. Others took flight upstream and tunneled holes in the sand below the banks of the stream. They were hunted by the troops and fired on, but many lived.[10] The Sand Creek Massacre caused a hefty loss of life, generally amid Cheyenne and Arapaho women and children. Before Chivington and his men left the region, they looted the tipis and seized the horses. Later when the smoke cleared, his men came back and slew many of the injured. They also scalped many of the deceased, notwithstanding whether they were women or newborns. Chivington and his men outfitted their armaments, hats and equipment with scalps and other body parts, comprising of human fetuses and male and female genitals. [11] The actions at Sand Creek dealt a incurable setback to the customary Cheyenne tribe structure and the ability of its Council of Chiefs. It had previously been enfeebled by the copious amount of deaths due to the 1849 cholera epidemic, which slew possibly half the Southern Cheyenne residents.[12] Not all Americans felt the massacre was vindication of any kind or just for that matter. Kit Carson did not mince his words when he cried: Jis to think of that dog Chivington and his dirty hounds, up thar at Sand Creek. His men shot down squaws, and blew the brains out of little innocent children. You call sich soldiers Christians, do ye? And Indians savages? What der yer 'spose our Heavenly Father, who made both them and us, thinks of these things? I tell you what, I don't like a hostile red skin any more than you do. And when they are hostile, I've fought 'em, hard as any man. But I never yet drew a bead on a squaw or papoose, and I despise the man who would.[13] Similar tragedies in American history; both with analogous outcomes. The actions of swift and retributive justice towards Native Americans were clearly a knee jerk reaction to criminal activities. In the case of Minnesota, Little Crow’s War was a reaction by whites to a terrible event (that they perceived) as instigated by the native population, but ended using similar tactics to combat them. In the case of the Cheyenne War, racism was deeply seeded in the actions of the United States military, and unwarranted murder was doled out to a horrifying degree. These events pointed toward the watershed in the conflicts of Indian Wars that would eventually come to pass the several years to come. It was no longer total war; it had evolved into a barbaric display of deplorable activities. [1] Minnesota Historical Society [2] Brown 40 [3] Brown 45 [4] Burnham 2 [5] Kunnen-Jones [6] Brown 91 [7] Hoig 63 [8] Hoig 63 [9] Brown 91 [10] Hyde 154–155 [11] University of Idaho [12] Hyde 96–97. [13] Sides 379
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Ryan LancasterThe internet is a scary place. You don't know who to trust when it comes to information sometimes, especially when it involves history. Well weary traveler, look no further. Professor Lancaster has got you covered. After receiving my masters in American history, I wanted to put that rather expensive piece of paper to use and create a curriculum of my choosing to inform the unwashed masses of their history. Also, I want to be an internet celebrity. Archives
August 2018
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