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Period: to
Timespan
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Government sets aside land
The federal government had passed an act that designated the entire Great Plains as one enormous reservation, or land set aside for Native American tribes -
Government changed policy
The government changed its policy and created treaties that defined specific boundaries for each tribe. -
Tragic Event
Most of Cheyenne had peacefully returned to Colorado's Sand Creek Reserve for the winter. General S. R. Curtis sent a telegram to militia colonel John Chivington that read, "I want no peace till the Indians suffer more." In response, Chivington and his troops decended on the Cheynne and Arapaho and camped on Sand Creek. The attack at dawn killed over 150 inhabitants. -
Death on the Bozeman trail
The warrior Crazy Horse ambushed Captain William J. Fetterman and his company at Lodge Trail Ridge. Over 80 soliders were killed. The reason for the Fettermans massacure was because the Bozeman Trail went through the reservation. -
Treaty
The Treaty of Fort Laramie said that the Souix agreed to live on a reservation along the Missouri River and was forced on the leaders of the Souix in 1868. Also, in late 1868 war broke out again as the Kiowa and Comanche engaed in six years of raiding that finally led to the Red River War. -
Gold Rush
Red River War! Also, Colonel George A. Custer reported that the Black Hills had gold "from the grass roots down," a gold rush was on. -
Custer's Last Stand
The Sioux and Cheyenne held a sun dance, during which Sitting BUll ahd a vision of soliders and some Native Americans falling from their horses. By late 1876, however, the Souix were beaten. -
The Dawes Act
Congress passed the Dawes Act aiming to "Americanize" the Native Americans. The act broke up the reservations and gave some of the reservation land to individual Native Americans--160 acres to each head of househol and 80 acres to each unmarried adult. -
The Destruction of the Buffalo
In 1800 approximately 65 million buffalo roamed the plains; by 1890 fewer than 100 remained.
