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Chief Red Cloud
(1822–1909)
Warriors Citation
Red Cloud (Lakota: Makhpiya Luta) was a war leader of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux). One of the most capable enemies the U. S.
military ever faced, he led the successful war in 1866–1868 known as Red Cloud's War over control of the Powder River
Country in northwestern Wyoming and southern Montana. Later he led his people in reservation life Red Cloud was born close
to the forks of the Platte River by the modern-day city of North Platte, Nebraska. His mother was an Oglala and his father
was a Brulé. Red Cloud was partly raised by his maternal uncle, Chief Smoke. At a young age, he fought against neighboring
Pawnee and Crow, gaining much military experience.
In an 1851 treaty at Fort Laramie, the Sioux (among other tribes) had agreed on terms by which the United States might establish
limited roads and military posts on Indian land. By 1865, Red Cloud was one of many Indian leaders who believed the U.S. was
breaking the treaty by establishing forts too far up the Bozeman Trail. They had seen other tribes expelled from their land
and were determined to resist. In June 1865 Red Cloud's Sioux joined a coalition led by Woqini (Roman Nose) of the Cheyenne,
to attack a military post on the North Platte River. Believing they had taught the bluecoats to respect the treaty, they returned
home only to learn in August of further encroachments. The U.S. Army was constructing forts along the Bozeman Trail straight
through Lakota territory (modern-day Wyoming), from the South Platte River in Colorado to Montana's gold country. Red Cloud
foresaw the expulsion of the Lakota from their land. In 1866, he began what has come to be known as Red Cloud's War, the most
successful war a Native American nation ever waged against the U.S. military. He attained spectacular victories, resulting
in a new Treaty of Fort Laramie by which the U.S. abandoned all forts on the Bozeman Trail and acknowledged Lakota possession
of what is now the Western half of South Dakota, including the Black Hills, and much of Montana and Wyoming. Uneasy relations
between the expanding United States and the Native Americans continued. In 1871, Red Cloud visited Washington D.C., and met
with Commissioner of Indian Affairs Ely S. Parker and President Ulysses Grant. In 1871, the Red Cloud Agency was established
on the Platte River, downstream from Fort Laramie. As outlined in the Treaty of 1868, the agency staff was responsible for
issuing rations to the Lakota weekly as well as providing the annual annuity goods. In the fall of 1873, the agency was removed
to the upper White River in northwestern Nebraska. Red Cloud settled at the agency with his band by the fall of 1873. He soon
became embroiled in a controversy with the new Indian agent, Dr. John J. Saville. In 1874, General George Armstrong Custer
led a reconnaissance mission into Sioux territory that reported gold in the Black Hills, a sacred area to Native Americans.
Formally, the Army tried to keep miners out but did not succeed; the threat of violence grew. Red Cloud, along with other
leaders, rejected a treaty ceding the territory; he was unsuccessful in finding a peaceful solution, and did not take part
in the Lakota war of 1876-1877 lead by T‘ašunka Witko (Crazy Horse) and Tatanka Iyotake (Sitting Bull). In the
fall of 1877, the Red Cloud Agency was removed to the Missouri River and the following year, removed to the forks of the White
River where it was renamed the Pine Ridge Reservation. Red Cloud continued fighting for his people, even after being forced
onto the reservation. In 1889 he opposed a treaty to sell more of the Sioux land; his steadfastness and that of Sitting Bull
required the government agents to obtain the necessary signatures through subterfuges such as obtaining the signatures of
children. He negotiated strongly with Indian agents such as Dr. Valentine McGillycuddy, and opposed the Dawes Act. Red Cloud
became an important leader of the Lakota as they transitioned from the freedom of the plains to the confinement of the reservation
system. He outlived the other major Sioux leaders of the Indian wars and died in 1909 on the Pine Ridge Reservation, where
he is buried. He was never part of the Ghost Dance movement. From: historical accounts & records
LINK TO BRAVEHORSE WARRIORS VOLUME TWO
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