Battle of Little Bighorn

Lesson 1: The Years Before

The Treaty of 1868, part 1

Fort Laramie

In April of 1868 the members of the peace commission again returned to Fort Laramie. In their possession was a new treaty. This treaty was significant in the fact that at no other time in the history of the United States had the country fought a war, then negotiated a peace on the enemies’ terms. Red Cloud had gotten his way. The forts along the Bozeman Trail were to be abandoned.

On April 29, Iron Shell, a Brule chief, signed the treaty on behalf of his people. His ‘touching the pen’ was accompanied with his words “I will always sign any treaty you ask me to do, but you have always made away with them—broken them.”

Iron Shell was not the only Indian who realized the truth of those words. Since Red Cloud had not made a showing at the treaty signing, the commission sent an agent north to the Powder River country to tell him the forts were to be abandoned and inviting him to come and sign the treaty. Red Cloud did not come in but sent a message:

Red Cloud

When we see the soldiers move away and the forts abandoned, then I will come down and talk.

The Treaty of 1868, provided for more than just abandoning the forts. In Article 1 it stated that if bad white men committed any wrong against an Indian or his property, upon proof made to the Indian agent against the white man and forwarded to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Washington City, steps will be taken to arrest and punish the offender. This probably sounded good when explained to the Indians but it is hoped that if the situation arose that all parties involved were not long-since dead and buried by the time any action was taken.

A similar ruling was installed in the treaty covering the event of an Indian doing wrong against a white, except the stipulations were a bit amended. In case of an Indian doing wrong, there was no specification for the evidence to be forwarded to authorities in Washington before a trial and punishment could be enacted.

Among other buildings to be constructed on this new reservation a schoolhouse was to be built “as soon as a sufficient number of children can be induced by the agent to attend school.” One can not help but wonder as to what the method of inducement was to convince these children to attend school without first building the school.

*The Treaty of 1868 continues with the first section of Lesson 2.

Internet link(s) for this section are:

You may read the full text of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 at:

Old West Legacy/Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 http://www.helenamontana.com/LBH/FtLarTr... Here is the entire text of this treaty.

The source for this section is:

Lazarus, Edward. Black Hills White Justice: The Sioux Nation Versus the United States, 1775 to the Present. Harper Collins Publishers, 1991.

Topics for discussion:

Considering that in Black Kettle’s camp there were young warriors who wanted to ‘count coup’, and because of previous confrontations with whites, should hPeace Chief Black Kettle have stopped trying to make peace with the white? Yes or no, give your reasons.

To avoid a fight with Grattan, should Conquering Bear have turned over to Grattan the Indian who killed the white man’s cow? Yes or no, give your reasons.

Bibliography for Lesson One:

Ambrose, Stephen E. Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors. Random House, Inc. New York, 1996.

Brady, Cyrus Townshend. The Sioux Indian Wars: From the Powder River to the Little Big Horn. Indian Head Books, New York, 1992.

Collier’s Encyclopedia, Volume 6, The Civil War, 1861-1865, pages 516-539. Crowell-Collier Educational Corporation, 1968.

Lavender, David. The Great West. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York, 1965.

Lazarus, Edward. Black Hills White Justice: The Sioux Nation Versus the United States, 1775 to the Present. Harper Collins Publishers, 1991.

Nevin, David. The Soldiers: The Old West. Time-Life Books, New York, 1973.

Utley, Robert M. The Indian Frontier of the American West, 1846-1890. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1984.

Utley, Robert M. The Lance and the Shield: The Life and Times of Sitting Bull. Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1993.

  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8