Chief Black Kettle
Chief Black Kettle
Philicia Ingle
MacQueen 4A
How would you feel if people tried to take over your family and community? Just like most people wouldn’t like it, Black Kettle didn’t like it when they tried to take his families land either. He was a leader of the Cheyenne tribe after 1854 who led the efforts to resist American settlement in the west. He was a peace maker who accepted treaties to protect his people. After 1850, Cheyenne – Us relations were conducted under the treaty of Fort Laramie. But the US government was unwilling to control the white expansion into his great plains especially after Pikes Peak Gold Rush began in 1859. European Americans displaced the Cheyenne from their lands in violation of the treaty, and consumed important resources of water and game. Increasing competition lead to armed conflict between the groups. Black Kettle was a pragmatist who believed that US military power and the number of immigrants were overwhelming. In 1861 he and the Arapaho surrendered to the commander of Fort Lyon under the treaty of Fort Wise, believing he could gain protection for his people.
The treaty was highly unfavorable to the Southern Cheyenne tribe. The Southern Cheyenne tribe led their bands to the to the Sand Creek reservation, a small corner of Southeastern Colorado about 40 miles from Fort Lyon. The land was not arable and was located far away from buffalo, their major source of meat. Many Cheyenne warriors wouldn’t except the treaty. They began to attack white settlers. Whether Black Kettle apposed these actions or tolerated them or encouraged is a controversy. By the summer of 1864, the situation was at its boiling point. Cheyenne hardliners along with Allied Kiowa and Arapaho bands raided American settlement, and sometimes they even took captives. Colorado governor John Evans issued a proclamation ordering all “Friendly Indians of the plains” to report to the military post or to be considered “hostile”. Black Kettle decided to accept
Philicia Ingle
MacQueen 4A
How would you feel if people tried to take over your family and community? Just like most people wouldn’t like it, Black Kettle didn’t like it when they tried to take his families land either. He was a leader of the Cheyenne tribe after 1854 who led the efforts to resist American settlement in the west. He was a peace maker who accepted treaties to protect his people. After 1850, Cheyenne – Us relations were conducted under the treaty of Fort Laramie. But the US government was unwilling to control the white expansion into his great plains especially after Pikes Peak Gold Rush began in 1859. European Americans displaced the Cheyenne from their lands in violation of the treaty, and consumed important resources of water and game. Increasing competition lead to armed conflict between the groups. Black Kettle was a pragmatist who believed that US military power and the number of immigrants were overwhelming. In 1861 he and the Arapaho surrendered to the commander of Fort Lyon under the treaty of Fort Wise, believing he could gain protection for his people.
The treaty was highly unfavorable to the Southern Cheyenne tribe. The Southern Cheyenne tribe led their bands to the to the Sand Creek reservation, a small corner of Southeastern Colorado about 40 miles from Fort Lyon. The land was not arable and was located far away from buffalo, their major source of meat. Many Cheyenne warriors wouldn’t except the treaty. They began to attack white settlers. Whether Black Kettle apposed these actions or tolerated them or encouraged is a controversy. By the summer of 1864, the situation was at its boiling point. Cheyenne hardliners along with Allied Kiowa and Arapaho bands raided American settlement, and sometimes they even took captives. Colorado governor John Evans issued a proclamation ordering all “Friendly Indians of the plains” to report to the military post or to be considered “hostile”. Black Kettle decided to accept