The Bozeman Trail
In 1865 the simmering conflict escalated into full-blown war, precipitated
by the opening of the Bozeman Trail and the Sand Creek Massacre. The
Bozeman Trail left the Oregon Trail just west of Douglas and ran up through
the Powder River Basin to the Montana gold strikes. John Bozeman began
promoting the trail in 1863 because it was relatively easy to travel and cut
several hundred miles off other routes. The Bozeman Trail, however,
marched through the heart of previously undisturbed Lakota territory.
Jim Bridger, who knew how the Lakota would react to this encroachment, tried
to promote an alternate short cut through the Big Horn Basin.
Bridger's trail was slightly longer than the Bozeman, however, and never
became popular. Eager prospectors were far more concerned about
getting to the gold fields than they were about trespassing. As the
Bozeman Trail gained in popularity, the Lakota proved more than ready to
fight.
Sand Creek Massacre
Although the Sand Creek Massacre occurred in northern Colorado, its impact
was felt throughout Wyoming. While looking for "renegade" Indians in
late 1864, Colonel Chivington of the Colorado volunteer cavalry attacked a
Cheyenne and Arapaho village, killing more than 100 men, women, and
children. The village had been promised protection by the government,
and the renegades in question were not even there. In retaliation, a
wave of Cheyenne, Arapaho, and allied peoples swept north to the Black
Hills, attacking any whites they came across. When they reached the
Lakota winter quarters on the Powder River, the die was cast. The next
few years would prove to be the most dangerous and bloody of the “Indian
troubles.”
Bloody Year on the Plains
In the spring of 1865 Chief Red Cloud led the unified tribes in full fledged
war, attacking settlers, stagecoaches, wagon trains, and soldiers.
They totally disrupted mail, telegraph, and courier communications.
The major army initiative of 1865, an expedition led by General Patrick
Connor, was a dismal failure.
Fort Phil Kearny,
built in October 1865 along the Bozeman Trail, became a focal point for
conflict. By the time the fort was six months old, the Lakota had
killed 158 of its occupants. The fort was well built but in a
strategically poor location, too far away from the forest it relied on for
lumber and fire wood. The Lakota realized that the soldiers were only
truly vulnerable outside the fort and began to play harassment games.
Small groups would steal herds of cattle or horses or attack the wagons that
went for wood, then "retreat" when soldiers came to the rescue. If
they could lure the soldiers into following their retreat, an ambush would
await. Several major conflicts occurred during the winter of 1866 and
summer of 1867, including the
Fetterman Massacre.
The
Wagon Box Fight near
Fort Phil Kearny and the Hay Field Fight in Montana were decisive white
victories and permanently damaged Red Cloud's reputation as a warrior.
Although the army was well on its way to winning the war, the winds of
public opinion had changed. In the treaty of 1868, the U.S. government
agreed to close the Bozeman Trail, abandon Fort Phil Kearny and the other
forts it had established along the Trail, and give the Powder River Basin
and the Black Hills to the Lakota. When the soldiers |
