According to Crawford, the chief is meant to embody
“all the despair and profound grief resulting from the
conviction of the white’s triumph.”
May 27 to 28
The Rogue River War ends with the Battle
of Big Meadows.
As the army sends reinforcements to southern Or-
egon to battle the warriors involved in the Rogue
River War (see entry for OCTOBER 1855), the Indi-
ans’ leaders agree to surrender, all the while planning
a surprise attack. At Big Meadows in the Rogue River
valley, the warriors set upon the soldiers. On the sec-
ond day of fighting, the soldiers have almost run out
of ammunition when another company of troops ar-
rives. Together, they drive off the Indian forces. The
last-minute defeat demoralizes the Indians, most of
whom will surrender within a month after the battle.
1857The Seneca buy back the Tonawanda
Reservation.
The Seneca are authorized to use U.S. funds set
aside for their removal to the West to buy back their
Tonawanda Reservation. The land was sold by the
U.S. government by the terms of the Treaty of Buf-
falo Creek (see entry for 1838), which some chiefs
were bribed to sign. The sale was upheld in an 1842
agreement, which the Seneca successfully claim
cannot be applied to them since none of their chiefs
were present during its negotiation.
March 8 to 9
Dakota Sioux murder white settlers in the
Spirit Lake Massacre.
Unwilling to settle on a reservation by the terms of
the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux (see entry for 1851),
a Dakota named Inkpaduta and 14 followers rise
up against neighboring whites near Spirit Lake, in
northwestern Iowa. The Indian renegades kill about
40 settlers. The massacre foreshadows the larger Min-
nesota Uprising, which will occur five years later (see
entry for AUGUST 18 TO SEPTEMBER 23, 1862).August 29U.S. troops attack Cheyenne Indians at
Solomon Fork.
Soldiers under the command of Colonel Edwin Sum-
ner are sent out to punish a group of Cheyenne in
western Kansas for raiding mining camps. At a fork
of the Solomon River, Sumner’s 300 troops meet ap-
proximately the same number of Cheyenne warriors.
Although the Indians have been warned of the attack,
most withdraw as the soldiers rush toward them with
sabers. The Battle of Solomon Fork results in few
casualties but ushers in the era of armed combat be-
tween the Cheyenne and the U.S. Army.September 11The Ute and Mormons kill California-bound
settlers in the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
In an area known as Mountain Meadows, about
300 miles south of Salt Lake City, a force of Ute
sets upon a wagon train carrying some 150 settlers,
mostly Methodists, headed for California. The war-
riors believe the settlers have poisoned their local
water and ask their Mormon allies for help. When
one of the Methodists manages to escape the on-
slaught, several Mormons shoot him dead.
After holding off their attackers for several days,
John D. Lee, a young associate of Mormon leader
Brigham Young, persuades the settlers to lay down
their weapons. In return, he promises that the Ute will
allow the settlers to continue on their journey. Once
the travelers pile their arms into a wagon, however,
the Mormons and the Indians attack, slaughtering ev-
eryone except for 17 children, whom the Mormons
later adopt. The massacre is intended to protect the
Mormons from federal troops en route to Utah to
suppress an alleged rebellion; the Mormons fear the
soldiers will annihilate them if any of the adult Meth-
odists live to tell of the attack. The Mormons’ later
attempt to blame the carnage wholly on the Ute fails,
but Young succeeds in averting a war, by negotiating