after the Civil War (see entry for JULY 14, 1865).
In the Treaty of Medicine Lodge Creek, both sides
also promise to live in peace with one another.
However, because many Kiowa and Comanche do
not consider the treaty binding, sporadic fighting
will continue between the tribes and Americans
throughout the next decade.
1868The surgeon general calls for the collection
of Indian skulls.
To research Indian intelligence, the surgeon gen-
eral of the United States orders that Indian skulls
be collected from grave sites and battlefields. As a
result, more than 4,000 Native American skulls will
be sent to the Army Medical Hospital for study. By
measuring the size and shape of the skulls, scientists
attempt to prove that Indians are inherently the in-
tellectual inferiors of whites.
January 7
The U.S. Peace Commission reveals
corruption in Indian agencies.
The U.S. Peace Commission, formed by Congress
the previous year (see entry for JULY 1867), issues
its first report on the living conditions in western
Indian communities. The report maintains that cor-
ruption abounds among Indian agents, the Bureau
of Indian Affairs employees charged with adminis-
tering reservations. The commission also cites the
need for a Christian influence on reservation popu-
lations, a need that is not being met by the current
agents.
Spring
Navajo (Dineh) leaders petition for their
return to their homeland.
Manuelito, Baboncito, and other Navajo (Dineh)
leaders travel to Washington, D.C., to discuss the
tribe’s confinement at Bosque Redondo (see entry
for FEBRUARY TO MARCH 1864). In a meeting
with President Andrew Johnson, they describe the
horrendous living conditions at the site, which
does not have enough farmable land or drinkable
water to sustain their population. Their claims
and pleas to return to their homeland persuade
the government to send peace commissioners to
investigate the Navajo’s complaints. After visiting
Bosque Redondo, the commissioners report that
the Navajo are living in “absolute poverty and
despair.”April to AugustLakota Sioux leaders meet with the U.S.
Peace Commission at Fort Laramie.
Eager to end Red Cloud’s War, the U.S. Peace
Commission (see entry for JULY 1867) asks La-
kota Sioux leaders to a meeting at Fort Laramie
in present-day Wyoming. Some friendly Lakota,
including Spotted Tail, agree to sign a treaty,
largely in order to obtain the gifts the commis-
sioners are offering in exchange for compliance.
Red Cloud, however, steadfastly refuses to speak
with the Americans until they abandon their three
forts along the Bozeman Trail (see entry for JULY
1866).
Worn down by his resistance, the U.S. Army
finally withdraws from the posts, two of which
are promptly burned to the ground by the Lakota.
Even after the commissioners have satisfied Red
Cloud’s demands, the leader ignores the commis-
sions’ continued overtures, while his people prepare
their store of meat for the winter. (See also entry for
NOVEMBER 7, 1868.)June 1The Navajo (Dineh) sign the Treaty
of 1868.
Declaring peace between the U.S. government
and the Navajo (Dineh), the Treaty of 1868 cre-
ates a 3.5-million acre reservation for the tribe in
the heart of their ancestral territory in northern
Arizona and New Mexico. Although the reserva-
tion is the largest in the United States, it includes