HOMELAND - Plains Indian Timeline 1848-1866

Broadcast Schedule

Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

South Dakota gold miners, 1889 (John C. H. Grabill, Denver Public Library, Western History Collection)

1848 - The California Gold Rush begins, increasing Western expansion across former Native American lands. As a result of the white migration, the number of California Indians is reduced from 120,000 in 1850 to 20,000 in 1880. Changes brought on by gold miners affects the way Indians had traditionally procured their food, thus they begin raiding mining camps for food, and the miners retaliate with violence. By 1851, the California governor supports a policy of Indian extermination in response to problems caused to miners.

1849 - The U.S. government purchases Fort Laramie from the American Fur Company and brings in troops.

1851 - Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 between the U.S. and various Indian tribes describes the tribes' territories and allows U.S. passage across the land in exchange for payment. The U.S. establishes Fort Defiance in Arizona on lands considered sacred by the Navajo. Violent confrontations begin between the U.S. and the Navajo.

1855 - On September 3, Colonel William Harney leads 1,300 soldiers in the massacre of an entire Brulé village in response to Indians killing 30 soldiers, who were killed in retribution for the murder of Chief Conquering Bear in a dispute over a cow.

1860-1868 - Increased attacks on civilian wagon trains, led largely by Cheyenne Chief Roman Nose, causes the U.S. to provide military escorts to emigrants traveling to Oregon through the Powder River Basin, from the Black Hills (known to the Indians as Paha Sapa) on the east to the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming on the west.

1861 - The U.S. Civil War begins. Many Native American tribes side with the Confederates, who promise to respect Indian sovereignty. At the end of the war, the U.S. punishes the tribes by forcing them to cede (transfer) land.

1862 - The Homestead Act encourages a flood of settlers to move through Indian lands. August 18 sees the start of the Sioux Uprising (or Santee War) in Minnesota, driving many Sioux westward.

1863 - U.S. General Patrick Conner leads massacre of 278 Paiute Indians in their village in Nevada.

1864 - Massacre at Sand Creek on November 29 results in over 130 Indians dead and mutilated. Legendary trapper, scout, soldier and Indian agent Kit Carson forces the surrender of Navajos, and thousands of Navajos must walk 350 miles eastward (called the "Long Walk") from their home in Arizona to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, where they remain in disease-ridden imprisonment until 1868.

Chief Red Cloud image belongs to all Indigenous Peoples (compiled by Glenn Welker)

1865 - Escalation of the Plains War between the U.S. military and the Sioux and Cheyenne. Ultimately, the Sioux under Red Cloud and Sitting Bull, and the Cheyenne under Roman Nose and Dull Knife, fight and harass the U.S. troops and drive them out of the territory. Nine treaties signed at the end of the year signal the supposed end of the Plains War, despite the fact that none of the war chiefs has signed.

1866 - General Sheridan takes command of U.S. forces in the West, stating the policy of exterminating the buffalo herds crucial to Indian survival: "Kill the buffalo and you kill the Indians."

1866-1868 - Red Cloud leads the Sioux and several allied tribes in all-out war against the U.S. military (known as "Red Cloud's War") to close the Bozeman Trail that passed through buffalo hunting grounds in the Big Horn Territory from northeast Wyoming into Montana. In the 1866 Fetterman Massacre, 80 U.S. troops are lured out of Fort Phil Kearny and slaughtered by Indians led by Red Cloud and Crazy Horse. Eventually, the U.S. admits defeat and sues for peace, the only time Indian leaders defeat the United States in an extended all-out war.

More...