Although the U. S. Army was consumed ¦tV with the Civil War, they didn’t neglect the plains. The Plains tribes had negotiated previous agreements to give American settlers safe passage through Indian lands. But the plan changed to one of placing Plains tribes in Indian Territory or on reservations instead. The Oto, Missouri, Ponca, and Pawnee were some of the many nations relocated to Indian Territory. Other nations fought long and hard against being confined to a specific piece of land. Battles became common.
Perhaps one of the most tragic events was the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864. As dawn broke on the chilly morning of November 29, a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho people found themselves under attack from volunteers of the First and Third Colorado Regiments.
George Bent, the son of a Cheyenne woman and a white pioneer, was still in bed when he heard that soldiers were coming. He looked out of his lodge to see one group of soldiers coming from the east and another from the west.
About 53 men were killed and 110 women and children killed, i6j in all killed. Lots of
Men, women, and children were wounded____
The village was on north side of Sand Creek, about 146 lodges of Cheyennes____Women and children ran up bed of Sand Creek about 2/4 miles and dugpits under bank in sand.
Conflicts and wars continued as the government tried to force Native Americans onto reservations. The Southern Plains War of 1868-69 pitted the forces of General Sheridan against the Comanche, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, and Lakota. Seventy-two Kiowa, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors were taken prisoner and transported to Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Florida.
The Native American nations split up after the Southern Plains War. The U. S. army pursued them all, forcing them to reservation life.
World History
