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Dakota Sioux Uprising
In Minnesota, the Dakota people, had reached an agreement with the US government to live on a reservation in exchange for annual money. Unfortunately, the money often did not reach the Dakota people. This lead to the Dakota people launching a rebellion in protest, killing hundreds of settlers. After the uprising, over 300 Dakota were sentenced to death by a military group. However, President Lincoln reviewed all of the evidence against the Dakota, and reduced the number to 38. -
Sand Creek Massacre
In the 1860's, tensions began to rise in Colorado, because miners were entering the territory in search of silver and gold.The Native Americans in the area began raiding wagons when the number of settlers increased. The governor offered a deal to the groups, however, when they showed up to the negotiations, a massacre occurred. There is a lot of debate as to what actually happened there, however, it is generally agreed that the Americans attacked first. -
Red Cloud's War
The Lakota nomads were another group who were part of the Sioux, and their chief was named Red Cloud. The US army was building forts along a trail in the Lakota's territory, so Red Cloud tricked the fort's commander into believing there was a small raiding party approaching the fort. The commander sent Captain Fetterman and about 80 soldiers to meet this raiding party, however, there were actually hundreds of warriors waiting, and they wiped them out. This was the start of the Red Cloud's War. -
Indian Peace Convention
With the rising number of conflicts between the Native Americans and the settlers, Congress decided to take action. They created the Indian Peace Convention which established 2 large reservation, one for the Sioux and one for the Native American tribes of the Southern Plains. Any groups that didn't report to the reservation was dealt with by the army. -
Reservation Failure
Many of the Native Americans left the reservations because they were nomadic, and hated being confined to one small territory. When the army realized one of the main reasons the native Americans were leaving the reservations was so that they could hunt Buffalo on the open plains, they encouraged people to kill Buffalos, leaving very few left for the Native Americans to eat. -
Battle of the Little Bighorn
Because settlers were invading the Lakota's territory in search of gold, the Lakota began to leave the reservation to hunt. The government sent an expedition in response, who the Native Americans easily defeated, killing them all. US citizens were outraged, portraying the expedition as innocent victims. -
Flight of the Nez Perce
The US government attempted to move the Nez Perce onto a smaller reservation, and they refused. This led to the army coming to force them out, and they fled their homes, fleeing more than 1,300 miles. Eventually, the tribe's chief admitted defeat, and they were sent to a reservation in Oklahoma. -
Americanization and the Dawes Act
Settlers believed that Native Americans just needed to assimilate into American culture. The government set up boarding schools off of the reservation sites, and pressured Native Americans to send their kids to them. These schools were underfunded and mainly failed.
Another solution was the Dawes Act, where the reservations were split up into smaller areas of land and each family was given a certain amount of land to farm. This failed because Native Americans had very little interest in farming. -
Tragedy at Wounded Knee
The Lakota Sioux preformed the Ghost dance, which the US government had banned because it was a celebration for the day in the future that the settlers would leave. The federal authorities attempted to arrest the chief of the tribe (Sitting Bull). In an exchange of fire, Sitting Bull was killed. A battle at Wounded Knee Creek followed, resulting in the death of 25 US soldiers, and 200 Lakota Sioux.