Chronology of American Indian History

his men far from the fort to guard a train carry-
ing wood. As they pass over Lodge Trail Ridge, they
are ambushed by some 2,000 Lakota, Arapaho, and
Cheyenne warriors. In the bloody fight that fol-
lows, all of the soldiers are killed. Indian casualties
number between 10 and 100.
Reports of the Fetterman Fight, known to the
Indians as the Battle of the Hundred Slain, horrifies
U.S. officials. The turning point in Red Cloud’s War,
the slaughter reveals the army’s inability to police the
Bozeman Trail in the face of Indian resistance.

1867

January

The Doolittle Report advocates the
reservation system.
In 1865, in the wake of the Sand Creek Massacre
(see entry for NOVEMBER 29, 1864), three congres-
sional committees were charged with evaluating the
condition of Indian tribes in the West. The fact-
finding mission was headed by Wisconsin senator
James R. Doolittle, the chairman of the Senate
Committee on Indian Affairs.
The findings of the commission are published
in the Doolittle Report, which challenges the wis-
dom of a military solution to Indian-white conflicts
on the Plains. Concluding that the declining buf-
falo population and increasing incursions by whites
have left Indians desperate, the report recommends
that Indians be placed on reservations where they
can be taught to farm and adopt white values and
customs. The document holds the germ of the Peace
Policy (see entry for JANUARY 25, 1869), which will
soon dominate the United States’s dealings with
western tribes.

April to July

The Lakota and Cheyenne are attacked
during the Hancock campaign.
A military expedition headed by Major General
Winfield Scott Hancock is sent to frighten the

Indians of the central Plains into compliance.

Following a tense conference with Indian leaders at

Fort Larned in Kansas, Hancock’s troops move to-

ward a nearby village, but the Lakota and Cheyenne

there escape without incident. They are followed

by soldiers led by Lieutenant George Armstrong

Custer for months throughout Kansas, Nebraska,

and Colorado Territory. During the chase, the La-

kota and Cheyenne evade the troops, all the while

raiding wagon trains and stagecoaches carrying

whites across the Plains.

July

The U.S. Peace Commission is formed to end

Plains conflicts.

Alarmed by the Fetterman Fight (see entry for

DECEMBER 21, 1866), Congress establishes a

commission, headed by Civil War general William

Tecumseh Sherman, to negotiate peace settlements

with the Indians of the Plains. By creating the

commission, the U.S. government implicitly acknowl-

edges the military’s failure to subdue the war-

riors led by Red Cloud, who have been waging

war against troops stationed along the Bozeman

Trail (see entry for JULY 1866). Some members

of Congress, particularly those from the West, de-

nounce the decision, favoring a stronger military

presence over negotiation with the Indians. (See

also entries for JANUARY 1868 and OCTOBER 7

TO 8, 1868.)

July 1

The Dominion of Canada is

established.

The British North America Act establishes the four

Canadian colonies (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick,

Quebec, and Ontario) as the Dominion of Canada.

In Canada’s new constitution, the federal govern-

ment in Ottawa is charged with all negotiations

with the 23,000 indigenous people within the

dominion’s borders. The government is also respon-

sible for administering reserves, lands set aside for

Indian use.