battles

media type="youtube" key="X8mXohUynyM?fs=1" height="346" width="432" align="right" After the government decided that Indians were a problem to our country, they had to find a way to get rid of them. The first way they tried was force. Americans wanted to fight the Indians and move them to reservations. American's underestimated the Indians war abilities. The force phase has mixed results, and never really ened.

Some of the main people and events from this phase were:
 * Custer
 * Chivington
 * Pershing
 * Sand Creek Massacre/Battle
 * Little Bighorn
 * Crazy Horse
 * Sitting Bull
 * Buffalo soldier
 * Wounded Knee
 * Hundred Slain/Fetterman Massacre
 * Ghost dance

Indians were viewed as a threat because of the violent tribes though not all Indians were harmful to American's.



Battle/Massacre of Sand Creek

Chivington's attack on Sand Creek was brutal. He knew they were peaceful Indians, but because his term of service was soon over he ordered an attack on the Cheyenne Indians.

"You could think it impossible for white men to butcher and mutilate human beings as they did there, but every word I have told you is the truth..." - Lt. Silas Soule



Battle of Hundred Slain/Fetterman Massacre

Crazy Horse (to the right) lead an attack on William J. Fetterman and his army. 80 to 100 men were killed. They fought until the Treaty of Fort Laramie. Sitting Bull (to the left) refused to sign the treaty.

The treaty lead to more problems because not all Indians knew about the treaty and continued to attack American's. After the treaty was signed, the US Government tried phase two of Indians removal, peace.



Red River War

Because the force phase of Indian removal never ended, the Red River War continued from 1874 to 1875. This was more of Kiowa and Comanche tribes raiding settlements. Philip Sheridan said to kill all Indian warriors, and to capture all women and children to bring them back to white schools. Sheridan and his troops didn't have much trouble taking over the Indians.



Custer's Last Stand/Battle of Little Bighorn

Custer planned to attack the Indians at Little Bighorn. He thought it would be an easy victory because he saw no men, only women and children. He sent one third of his army from the right to push the Indians down to another third of his army from the left. He would come up through the middle to finish them off. What he didn't know was that all the warriors were hiding behind Little Bighorn, who killed the first third of Custer's army. They went down to the second third of Custer's army and successfully attacked them. By the time Custer got to the village all of his men were dead. None of Custer's men survived. "I was hostile to the white man...We preferred hunting to a life of idleness on our reservations. At times we did not get enough to eat and we were not allowed to hunt. All we wanted was peace and to be let alone. Soldiers came...in the winter..and destroyed our villages. Then Long Hair (Custer) came...They said we massacred him, but he would have done the same to us. Our first impulse was to escape...but we were so hemmed in we had to fight. After that I lived in peace, but the government would not let me alone. I was not allowed to remain quiet. I was tired of fighting...They tried to confine me..and a soldier ran his bayonet into me. I have spoken." - Crazy Horse (Sioux)




 * Map of Custer's last stand.**



Battle/Massacre of

Wounded Knee

The Battle of Wounded Knee wasn't really a battle at all. Almost 200 Sioux men, women, and children were forced to walk thousands of miles to a reservation. When the Indians stopped at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, they preformed the Ghost Dance. This was to bring hope to them. The soldiers watching the Sioux thought it was a war dance, and opened fire on all of the Indians. Every one of the Sioux Indians were killed.

"I am a red man. If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place. He put in your heart certain wishes and plans, in my heart he put other and different desires. Each man is good in his sight. It is not necessary for Eagles to be Crows. We are poor..but we are free. No white man controls our footsteps. If we must die...we die defending our rights." - [|Sitting Bull Hunkpapa Sioux]



After the government decided that force wasn't going to get rid of the Indians, they moved to phase two, peace. Go To Peace Page