Red Cloud's War - Background

Background

The discovery of gold in 1863 around Bannack, Montana encouraged white settlers to find an economical route to the gold fields. While some emigrants went to Salt Lake City and then north to Montana, pioneer John Bozeman and John M Jacobs developed the Bozeman Trail from Fort Laramie north through the Powder River country east of the Bighorn Mountains to the Yellowstone, then westward over what is now Bozeman Pass. The trail passed through the Powder River hunting grounds of the Lakota or Western (Teton) Sioux. A second trail, the Bridger Trail, passed west of the Bighorns but was longer and therefore less favored.

The Powder River country encompasses the numerous rivers (the Bighorn, Rosebud, Tongue and Powder) that flow northeastward from the Bighorn Mountains to the Yellowstone. The Cheyenne had been the first tribe in this area, followed by bands of Lakota. As more of the northern plains became occupied by white settlement, this region became the last unspoiled hunting ground of the Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho and several of the seven bands of the Lakota.

In 1865, Maj. Gen. Grenville M. Dodge ordered the Powder River Expedition against the Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho. Three columns of soldiers numbering 2,675 men commanded by Patrick E. Connor moved into the Powder River country. The expedition failed to defeat the Indians in any decisive battles, although it destroyed an Arapaho village at the Battle of the Tongue River. The expedition was a failure in most respects as Indian resistance to white emigrants traveling the Bozeman Trail became more determined than ever.

After the Powder River Expedition, the U.S. attempted to negotiate safe passage through Indian territory. In autumn 1865, several treaties were negotiated with Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho leaders. The treaties provided monetary compensation for the Indians in exchange for their agreement to withdraw from the overland routes, established and to be established, in the Powder River country. However, the signatories to these treaties were "Laramie loafers"—Indians who lived near Fort Laramie and lived off handouts. For a treaty to be effective, the Indians who had fought Connor, especially Red Cloud, must be engaged. No white man could be found to undertake a dangerous mission to find Red Cloud and bring him to Fort Laramie for negotiations, so several of the loafers undertook the task and on March 12, 1866, Red Cloud and his Oglala rode into Fort Laramie. Red Cloud committed to remain peacefully at the Fort until such time as the U.S.'s chief negotiator, E. B. Taylor, arrived with presents for the assembled Indians.