Reconstruction, Expansion, and the Triumph of Industrial Capitalism 11numbers of Whites onto Indian lands and in the 1861 Treaty of Fort Wise, the
Arapaho and Cheyenne had to cede, or give up, the vast majority of lands
granted to them a decade earlier. Some Cheyenne located in eastern
Colorado, including a particularly militaristic group which also included Sioux
and were called the Dog Soldiers, were furious at their leaders for selling out
their lands, and, as more miners and ranchers entered Colorado, began to
launch raids and even kill White settlers. By 1864, Colonel John Chivington,
leader a Colorado regiment that had fought in the Civil War, was determined
to exterminate the remaining Cheyenne and their Chief, Black Kettle. “Kill
and scalp all, little and big,” Chivington was famously quoted, “nits make lice.”
The Colorado governor ordered all Indians to report to Fort Lyon, and then
they were sent to Sand Creek, about forty miles away, where they were told
they would be safe. But, on November 29th, 1864, Chivington’s regiment and
other soldiers from Fort Lyon attacked the Cheyenne and Arapaho and, using
howitzers and other advanced weapons, slaughtered them, killing, Chivington
boasted, over 600 Indians that day, warriors, women and children [the “nits”
about whom Chivington talked]. For the Natives, the lesson was clear: negotia-
tions and treaties with the White power elite would only lead to extermination.
During the Civil War, conditions for Indians remained desolate and led to
more terror. Many Whites, especially those with interests in mining, moved
into the Great Plains area [west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky
Mountains], and many discovered gold in the hills there. Along with a general
contempt for Indians–a majority of Whites probably favored the extermination
of natives even more than putting them on reservations–things were about to
become more violent. In the next few years, the U.S. government signed
new treaties with Indians, in 1867 and 1868. In another Fort Laramie Treaty,
Plains Indians, led by Red Cloud, agreed to remain on their reservations and
in return received food, clothing and arms, which led the Sioux leader Sitting
Bull to label them “rascals” who “sold our country” without the consent of
the natives. Just after the treaty was signed, soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 7th
Cavalry, led by General George Custer, massacred a band of Cheyenne at the
Black Kettle encampment in Kansas, showing how much respect the govern-
ment had for their agreements with the natives. The cavalry killed over 100
Indians, including women and children, and took over 50 other women and
children as prisoners, while it shot over 800 horses it had captured. Following
the rout, most of the southern Cheyenne were forced onto a government-