Editing Cheyenne (section)

===Effects of the Emigrant Trail===
Increased traffic of emigrants along the related [[Oregon]], [[Mormon]] and [[California]] trails, beginning in the early 1840s, heightened competition with Native Americans for scarce resources of water and game in arid areas. With resource depletion along the trails, the Cheyenne became increasingly divided into the Northern Cheyenne and Southern Cheyenne, where they could have adequate territory for sustenance.

During the [[California Gold Rush]], emigrants brought in [[cholera]]. It spread in mining camps and waterways due to poor sanitation. The disease was generally a major cause of death for emigrants, about one-tenth of whom died during their journeys.

Perhaps from traders, the cholera epidemic reached the Plains Indians in 1849, resulting in severe loss of life during the summer of that year. Historians estimate about 2,000 Cheyenne died, one-half to two-thirds of their population. There were significant losses among other tribes as well, which weakened their social structures. Perhaps because of severe loss of trade during the 1849 season, Bent's Fort was abandoned and burned.<ref>Berthrong, pp. 113–114</ref>

====Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851====
[[File:Arapaho and Cheyenne 1851 treaty territory. (Area 426 and 477).png|thumb|Arapaho and Cheyenne 1851 treaty territory. (Area 426 and 477). Area 477 is the reserve established by treaty of Fort Wise, February 18, 1861.]]
[[File:Cheyenne warrior Alights on the Cloud in his armor, 1852.jpg|thumb|upright 0.5|Cheyenne warrior Alights on the Cloud in his armor. [[Killing of Alights on the Cloud|He was killed]] during an attack on a Pawnee hunting camp in 1852]]

In 1846, [[Thomas Fitzpatrick (trapper)|Thomas Fitzpatrick]] was appointed US [[Indian agent]] for the upper Arkansas and [[Platte River]]. His efforts to negotiate with the Northern Cheyenne, the Arapaho and other tribes led to a great council at [[Fort Laramie]] in 1851. Treaties were negotiated by a commission consisting of Fitzpatrick and David Dawson Mitchell, US [[Bureau of Indian Affairs|Superintendent of Indian Affairs]], with the [[Plains Indians|Indians of the northern plains]].

To reduce intertribal warfare on the Plains, the government officials "assigned" territories to each tribe and had them pledge mutual peace. In addition, the government secured permission to build and maintain roads for European-American travelers and traders through Indian country on the Plains, such as the [[Emigrant Trail]] and the [[Santa Fe Trail]], and to maintain [[Fortification#American West|forts]] to guard them. The tribes were compensated with annuities of cash and supplies for such encroachment on their territories. The [[Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851)|Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851]] affirmed the Cheyenne and Arapaho territory on the [[Great Plains]] between the [[North Platte River]] and the Arkansas. This territory included what is now Colorado, east of the Front Range of the [[Rocky Mountains|Rockies]] and north of the Arkansas River; Wyoming and [[Nebraska]], south of the North Platte River; and extreme western [[Kansas]].<ref>Berthrong, pp. 106–123</ref>

====Punitive US expedition of 1857====
In April 1856, an incident at the Platte River Bridge (near present-day [[Casper, Wyoming]]), resulted in the wounding of a Cheyenne warrior. He returned to the Cheyenne on the plains. During the summer of 1856, Indians attacked travelers along the Emigrant Trail near Fort Kearny. In retaliation, the US Cavalry attacked a Cheyenne camp on [[Grand Island (Nebraska)|Grand Island in Nebraska]]. They killed ten Cheyenne warriors and wounded eight or more.

Cheyenne parties attacked at least three emigrant settler parties before returning to the [[Republican River]]. The Indian agent at [[Fort Laramie]] negotiated with the Cheyenne to reduce hostilities, but the [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] ordered the [[1st Cavalry Regiment (1855)]] to carry out a punitive expedition under the command of [[Edwin Vose Sumner|Colonel Edwin V. Sumner]]. He went against the Cheyenne in the spring of 1857. [[John Sedgwick|Major John Sedgwick]] led part of the expedition up the [[Arkansas River]], and via Fountain Creek to the [[South Platte River]]. Sumner's command went west along the North Platte to Fort Laramie, then down along the Front Range to the South Platte. The combined force of 400 troops went east through the plains searching for Cheyenne.<ref name=Berthrong/><ref name=Grinnell111>Grinnell, ''The Fighting Cheyenne'', pp. 111–21</ref><ref name="Hyde, pp. 99-105">Hyde, pp. 99–105</ref>

Under the influence of the [[medicine man]] White Bull (also called Ice) and Grey Beard (also called Dark), the Cheyenne went into battle believing that strong spiritual [[Magic (paranormal)#Native American medicine|medicine]] would prevent the soldiers' guns from firing. They were told that if they dipped their hands in a nearby spring, they had only to raise their hands to repel army bullets. Hands raised, the Cheyenne surrounded the advancing troops as they advanced near the [[Solomon River]]. Sumner ordered a cavalry charge and the troops charged with drawn sabers; the Cheyenne fled. With tired horses after long marches, the cavalry could not engage more than a few Cheyenne, as their horses were fresh.

This was the first battle that the Cheyenne fought against the US Army. Casualties were few on each side; [[J.E.B. Stuart]], then a young lieutenant, was shot in the breast while attacking a Cheyenne warrior with a sabre. The troops continued on and two days later burned a hastily abandoned Cheyenne camp; they destroyed lodges and the winter supply of buffalo meat.<ref name=Grinnell111/><ref name="Hyde, pp. 99-105"/><ref name="Berthrong">Berthrong, pp. 133– 40</ref><ref>Page 97-98, David Fridtjof Halaas and Andrew E. Masich, ''Halfbreed: The Remarkable True Story Of [[George Bent]] – Caught Between The Worlds Of The Indian And The White Man'', Da Capo Press (March 15, 2005), hardcover, 458 pages, {{ISBN|0-306-81410-2}} {{ISBN|978-0306814105}}</ref>

Sumner continued to [[Bent's Fort]]. To punish the Cheyenne, he distributed their annuities to the Arapaho. He intended further punitive actions, but the Army ordered him to Utah because of an outbreak of trouble with the Mormons (this would be known as the [[Utah War]]). The Cheyenne moved below the Arkansas into [[Kiowa]] and [[Comanche]] country. In the fall, the Northern Cheyenne returned to their country north of the Platte.<ref name=Grinnell111/><ref name="Berthrong" /><ref>Hyde, pp. 99–105</ref>

====Pike's Peak Gold Rush====
[[File:Dull Knife.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Morning Star (chief)|Morning Star (aka Dull Knife)]] ([[Cheyenne language|Cheyenne]]: ''Vóóhéhéve'' or [[Lakota language|Lakota]]: ''Tamílapéšni''), Chief of Northern Cheyenne at [[Battle of Little Bighorn]]]] [[File:Chief Black Kettle.jpg|left|thumb|180px|Chief [[Black Kettle]] of the Southern Cheyenne, an advocate of peace among his people.]]

Starting in 1859 with the [[Colorado Gold Rush]], European-American settlers moved into lands reserved for the Cheyenne and other Plains Indians. Travel greatly increased along the Emigrant Trail along the [[South Platte River]] and some emigrants stopped before going on to California. For several years there was peace between settlers and Indians. The only conflicts were related to the [[endemic warfare]] between the Cheyenne and Arapaho of the plains and the [[Ute people|Ute]]s of the mountains.

US negotiations with [[Black Kettle]] and other Cheyenne favoring peace resulted in the [[Treaty of Fort Wise]]: it established a small reservation for the Cheyenne in southeastern Colorado in exchange for the territory agreed to in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851. Many Cheyenne did not sign the treaty, and they continued to live and hunt on their traditional grounds in the Smoky Hill and Republican basins, between the Arkansas and the South Platte, where there were plentiful buffalo.<ref name="Grinnell, pp. 124">Grinnell, ''The Fighting Cheyenne'', pp. 124 to 158</ref>

Efforts to make a wider peace continued, but in the spring of 1864, [[John Evans (Colorado governor)|John Evans]], governor of Colorado Territory, and [[John Chivington]], commander of the Colorado Volunteers, a [[Militia (United States)|citizens militia]], began a series of attacks on Indians camping or hunting on the plains. They killed any Indian on sight and initiated the [[Colorado War]]. General warfare broke out and Indians made many raids on the trail along the South Platte, which Denver depended on for supplies. The Army closed the road from August 15 until September 24, 1864.<ref name="Grinnell, pp. 124"/>

==== Sand Creek Massacre ====
{{Further|Sand Creek Massacre}}
On November 29, 1864, the Colorado Militia attacked a Cheyenne and Arapaho encampment under [[Chief Black Kettle]], although it flew a [[White flag|flag of truce]] and indicated its allegiance to the US government. The [[Sand Creek massacre]], as it came to be known, resulted in the death of between 150 and 200 Cheyenne, mostly unarmed women and children. The survivors fled northeast and joined the camps of the Cheyenne on the [[Smoky Hill River|Smoky Hill]] and [[Republican River|Republican]] rivers. There warriors smoked the war pipe, passing it from camp to camp among the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho.<ref name="Hyde, pp. 168 to 195">Hyde, pp. 168 to 195</ref>

In January 1865, they planned and carried out a retaliatory [[Battle of Julesburg|attack]] with about 1000 warriors on Camp Rankin, a stage station and fort at [[Julesburg, Colorado|Julesburg]]. The Indians made numerous raids along the South Platte, both east and west of Julesburg, and raided the fort again in early February. They captured much [[Looting|loot]] and killed many European Americans. Most of the Indians moved north into Nebraska on their way to the Black Hills and the Powder River.<ref name="Hyde, pp. 168 to 195"/> (See [[Battle of Julesburg]], [[Battle of Mud Springs]], [[Battle of Rush Creek]], [[Powder River Expedition]], [[Battle of Platte Bridge]])

Black Kettle continued to desire peace and did not join in the second raid or in the plan to go north to the Powder River country. He left the large camp and returned with 80 lodges of his tribesmen to the Arkansas River, where he intended to seek peace with the US.<ref>Grinnell, ''The Fighting Cheyenne'', p. 188</ref>

====Battle of Washita River====
{{Further|Battle of Washita River}}
Four years later, on November 27, 1868, [[George Armstrong Custer]] and his troops attacked Black Kettle's band at the [[Battle of Washita River]]. Although his band was camped on a defined reservation, complying with the government's orders, some of its members had been linked to raiding into [[Kansas]] by bands operating out of the [[Indian Territory]]. Custer claimed 103 Cheyenne "warriors" and an unspecified number of women and children killed whereas different Cheyenne informants named between 11 and 18 men (mostly 10 Cheyenne, 2 Arapaho, 1 Mexican trader) and between 17 and 25 women and children killed in the village.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}

There are conflicting claims as to whether the band was hostile or friendly. Historians believe that Chief Black Kettle, head of the band, was not part of the war party but the peace party within the Cheyenne nation. But, he did not command absolute authority over members of his band and the European Americans did not understand this. When younger members of the band took part in raiding parties, European Americans blamed the entire band for the incidents and casualties.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}

====Battle of the Little Bighorn====
{{expand section|date=May 2014}}
The Northern Cheyenne fought in the [[Battle of the Little Bighorn]], which took place on June 25, 1876. The Cheyenne, together with the Lakota, other Sioux warriors and a small band of [[Arapaho]], killed General [[George Armstrong Custer]] and much of his 7th Cavalry contingent of soldiers. Historians have estimated that the population of the Cheyenne, Lakota and Arapaho encampment along the [[Little Bighorn River]] was approximately 10,000, making it one of the largest gatherings of Native Americans in North America in pre-reservation times. News of the event traveled across the United States and reached [[Washington, D.C.]], just as the nation was celebrating its [[Centennial]]. Public reaction arose in outrage against the Cheyenne.

====Northern Cheyenne Exodus====
{{Main|Northern Cheyenne Exodus|Fort Robinson tragedy|Murder trial of seven Cheyenne (1879)}}
[[File:Little Coyote and Morning Star.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Little Wolf|Little Coyote (Little Wolf)]] and [[Morning Star (chief)|Morning Star (Dull Knife)]], chiefs of the Northern Cheyenne]]
[[File:Cheyenne-prisoners-Kansas.jpg|thumb|left|Cheyenne prisoners in Kansas involved in escape northward. From left to right: Tangle Hair, Wild Hog, Strong Left Hand, George Reynolds (interpreter), Old Crow, Noisy Walker, Porcupine, and Blacksmith. All prisoners were released free from charges.]]

Following the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the US Army increased attempts to capture the Cheyenne. In 1879, after the [[Dull Knife Fight]], when [[Crazy Horse]] surrendered at [[Fort Robinson]], a few Cheyenne chiefs and their people surrendered as well. They were [[Morning Star (chief)|Morning Star (aka Dull Knife)]], Standing Elk and Wild Hog with around 130 Cheyenne. Later that year [[Two Moons]] surrendered at [[Fort Keogh]], with 300 Cheyenne. The Cheyenne wanted and expected to live on the reservation with the [[Sioux]] in accordance to an April 29, 1868 treaty of [[Fort Laramie]], which both Dull Knife and Little Wolf had signed.<ref name="Brown, Dee 1970 pp.332-349">Brown, pp. 332–349</ref>

As part of a US increase in troops following the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the Army reassigned Colonel [[Ranald S. Mackenzie]] and his Fourth Cavalry to the Department of the Platte. Stationed initially at [[Fort Robinson|Camp Robinson]], they formed the core of the Powder River Expedition. It departed in October 1876 to locate the northern Cheyenne villages. On November 25, 1876, his column discovered and defeated a village of Northern Cheyenne in the Dull Knife Fight in [[Wyoming Territory]]. After the soldiers destroyed the lodges and supplies and confiscated the horses, the Northern Cheyenne soon surrendered. They hoped to remain with the Sioux in the north but the US pressured them to locate with the Southern Cheyenne on their reservation in Indian Territory. After a difficult council, the Northern Cheyenne eventually agreed to go South.

When the Northern Cheyenne arrived at Indian Territory, conditions were very difficult: rations were inadequate, there were no buffalo near the reservation and, according to several sources, there was [[malaria]] among the people. On 9 September 1878, a portion of the Northern Cheyenne, led by Little Wolf and Dull Knife started their trek back to [[Northern Cheyenne Exodus|the north]]. After fighting battles with the U.S. army at [[Battle of Turkey Springs|Turkey Springs]] and [[Battle of Punished Woman's Fork|Punished Woman's Fork]] and reaching the northern area, they split into two bands. That led by Dull Knife (mostly women, children and elders) surrendered and were taken to Fort Robinson, where subsequent events became known as the [[Fort Robinson tragedy]]. Dull Knife's group was first offered food and firewood and then, after a week and a half, they were told to go back to [[Indian territory]]. When they said no, they were then locked in the wooden barracks with no food, water or firewood for heat for four days. Most escaped in an estimated forty degrees below zero on January 9, 1879, but all were recaptured or killed.<ref name="Brown, Dee 1970 pp.332-349" /><ref name="Glenn"/>

Eventually the US forced the Northern Cheyenne onto a [[Northern Cheyenne Reservation|reservation]], in southern Montana.<ref name="Brown, Dee 1970 pp.332-349" /><ref name="Glenn">Maddux Albert Glenn, ''In Dull Knife's Wake: The True Story of the Northern Cheyenne Exodus of 1878,'' Horse Creek Publications (2003), {{ISBN|0-9722217-1-9}} {{ISBN|978-0-9722217-1-9}}</ref><ref>Grinnell, ''The Fighting Cheyenne'', pp. 398–427</ref>