The Last Sioux War

The Paha Sapa section of South Dakota’s Black Hills was a sacred part of the Sioux reservation which had been ceded to the Indians in the Treaty of 1868 made with Chief Red Cloud. In 1874 the intrepid Indian hunter Lieutenant Colonel George Custer trespassed into the holy grounds following reports that there was gold in the hills. And gold he found. Foreseeing the predictable reaction, he broadcast his find, inevitably enticing gold diggers to the area. The government attempted to purchase the land but the Indians refused to leave. The Indians were then ordered to return to their reservations, without recompense of any kind, and without regard to whether the passage was possible in advancing winter weather. General George Crook was ordered to round up recalcitrant bands north of the Platte River. His first encounter was with a band of Cheyennes heading toward an Indian agency to surrender. George Crook was later known and trusted by the Indians for his dealings, but in this instance he attacked without provocation. The braves fought hard and were fortunately reinforced by heroic young Crazy Horse and his band. Crook retreated to fortifications on the Platte River. Left no choice, the Cheyennes threw in with the Sioux to endure together the bitter last fights against white encroachments.

As spring 1876 came, General Crook once again advanced north of the Platte into Indian hunting grounds in central Montana. Again he was stopped by the fierce Crazy Horse and his Oglala band at Rosebud Creek.

On June 25 a three-pronged attack on the Sioux and Cheyenne encampment at the Little Bighorn River was turned into a massacre when Lieutenant Colonel Custer disobeyed orders and contacted the enemy prematurely. He and 250 of his men were killed. Custer had incautiously attacked some 2000 to 4000 braves.

The battle is sometimes called “Custer’s Last Stand.” Others cynically call it “the Indian’s Last Stand”, because the nation was so revolted by the defeat that it tacitly concurred in the extinction of the Sioux nation. Army efforts were savage and successful. By May 1877 hunger had forced Crazy Horse to surrender. That September, in a well choreographed fight in a guard room, the brave hero was bayoneted to death. The Sioux were squeezed into the intolerable conditions of the reservations and never seriously threatened the white settlers again. It was 1877 and the Sioux Wars were over.

The Nez Perce War

By the 1870s, the Nez Perce Indians were reduced to a small reservation at Lapwai in northeastern Oregon. Their chief was a great statesman and fighter whom the whites called Chief Joseph. He is remembered as the “Red Napoleon” for his daring and skill in battle. Final trouble for the Nez Perce broke out in 1877. Joseph had sadly agreed to go to an even smaller reservation in the area ceded to him by treaty. Through the usual methods of trickery and bribery, agents had managed to wrest a dubious document purporting to sign away this Indian land. The Indians objected that the documents held no binding force because they had not been signed by the chiefs. But to no avail. Wishing to avoid a suicidal fight, Joseph agreed to retreat to the smaller reservation. On the way, several young braves, unhappy with the way thing were going, attacked settler along the Salmon River, killing 19. Troops instantly counterattacked but were defeated by the desperate Indians; 34 soldiers were killed, two Indians died. Now began one of the great epics of Indian history. Chief Joseph saw no way of coming to term with the Army. His only hope was to escape with his tribe to Canada. Afraid to let them go, the Army pursued them with ruthless, wasteful vengeance. At the Battle of Clear Water, General Howard was defeated and the Indians captured his artillery and pack train. Sustained to this victory, the Nez Perce proceeded through the Bitterroot Mountains. At Big Hole Basin in Montana, the Indians defended themselves against a surprise attack by Colonel John Gibbon, killing most of the white infantry. In the Bear Paw Mountains, just 30 miles from the Canadian border, Colonel Nelson Miles, a veteran of many Indian battles, trapped the Indians. His troops vastly outnumbered Chief Joseph’s tired band.

Pursued by the Army, which was freshly reinforced at each stage, the Indians had carried their wounded, their women, children and old people with them. They had managed to cover 1300 miles before their pursuers stopped them at the very gates of freedom. The Indians had had five major engagements with the enemy, but they had lost the important one, the last. They were sent to the malaria-ridden reservations of Oklahoma, where most were unable to endure the harsh conditions. Later, remnants of the tribe, once their spirit had been broken, were permitted to return to Washington Territory.