Red Cloud: Revered Lakota Leader

Red Cloud did not participate in the battle of the Little Bighorn. He had remained at the Red Cloud agency, true to his word.

By 1876 Red Cloud had become a diplomat for his people. He would leave a legacy of advocacy for his tribe and others. That legacy would last far beyond the echoes of the Little Bighorn battle.

Attacker to Ambassador

It was not always that way. Red Cloud was present at the Grattan “massacre” in 1853. He also led in Sioux and Cheyenne attacks over the next 15 years, particularly those along the Bozeman Trail in 1866-67.  In fact, that entire two-year “war” was named for Red Cloud.

Red Cloud led his subtribe of Oglala Sioux against the incursions of white settlers on tribal lands. He also succeeded in uniting other Sioux (Lakota) tribes and Cheyennes as well. Those hostilities, however, would continue after Red Cloud forsook them. They would reach their climax in 1876 at the Little Bighorn.

Red Cloud would be the only leader to fight the U.S. government within its boundaries and prevail. He all but forced the U.S. Army to negotiate, resulting in the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. When he finally agreed to that treaty he vowed he would not fight against white men again. He kept his word.

Early Life

Red Cloud was born in or around 1822 near what is now North Platte, Nebraska. He was so named after a reddish effect was seen in the night sky right before he was born. It may have been a comet or a cloud-obscured lunar eclipse. Red Cloud’s father was a Brule Sioux, but he died by the time Red Cloud was three years old.

Red Cloud’s mother was Oglala. The Sioux followed a matrilineal family structure. Red Cloud and his mother were taken in by her brother, Chief Old Smoke. The boy was also mentored by his uncle White Hawk.

As a boy Red Cloud stood out in competitive games amongst his peers. Such games prepared boys for hunting and war. By the age of 16 he had joined his first raid against the Pawnees seeking revenge for their killing of his cousin. It is said he killed his first enemy and took his first scalp in that raid. More would follow.

Increasing Conflicts

Much of conflict in which Red Cloud was involved would simmer and sometimes boil as long as white settlers moved westward over the Oregon Trail. Gold strikes in California and then in Washington and Idaho Territories had played a part. Land in Oregon had also attracted settlers.

In the early 1860’s, however, gold was discovered in what would soon be Montana Territory. In 1862, Bannack burgeoned as a boom town on Grasshopper Creek. Then, Alder Gulch became the next big strike. Virginia City was its main settlement.

Those gold fields were difficult to reach, however. Some popular routes involved high, difficult passes up from the Oregon Trail or Salt Lake City. Others labored eastward from the Lewiston area to the west. Those coming from the east were eager for a better route.

An enterprising man named John Bozeman located a shorter route up from Fort Laramie. It was a tough but more efficient shortcut to Montana’s gold fields. However, Sioux, Cheyenne and even Crow Indians took warlike exception.

Bozeman’s trail cut right through the heart of not just homelands, but also prime and cherished hunting grounds of several tribes. It also ignored promises of the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty, which had led tribes to believe those lands were theirs.

As traffic increased along the Bozeman cutoff, or Bozeman Trail, so did attacks by the Sioux and Cheyenne. As conflicts increased, the U.S. government responded by establishing forts along the trail, including Forts Reno, Phil Kearney, and C.F. Smith. Those forts, though, only made matters worse.

Red Cloud’s War

Red Cloud’s War included raids and attacks against increasing trains of settlers along Bozeman’s trail. It also included attacks on parties working to build and supply the forts. The Hayfield Fight and the Wagon Box Fight would become prominent events in the history of those forts. Even more prominent would be the 1866 attacks on those building Fort Phil Kearny. They would climax with the Fetterman Fight.

Jim Bridger served as a U.S. Army scout during that time. Foreseeing the issues Fort Phil Kearny would cause, he advised against the location chosen for it. Bridger also offered an alternative route to the Bozeman trail. His recommended route would also save time and effort in reaching Montana Territory’s goldfields.

Bridger’s route would be called the Bridger Trail, or Bridger Cutoff. It was accepted by the Lakota and Cheyennes in negotiations. However, it was largely rejected by both settlers and the U.S. army in favor of Bozeman’s route. Much conflict and bloodshed would result.

The resulting two years of conflict would be labelled Red Cloud’s War. He inspired guerilla-like raids against settlers. His followers persisted in attacking parties of wood cutters who gathered timber for the construction of Fort Phil Kearny.

Fetterman’s Fight: A Foreboding

The fort used signal men to indicate when an attack was underway. Squads of soldiers would then rush from the fort to stop the attacks. Red Cloud’s warriors soon noted the pattern. They then used decoys to lure the soldiers out.

The warriors’ first attempt failed when over-eager warriors attacked too soon. A second attempt, however, worked as planned. Captain William Fetterman and all his men died in the attack. (More to come on that topic.)

Red Cloud’s Results

Red Cloud’s War humbled the U.S. army and brought it to negotiate a new treaty. The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 included an agreement to close the Bozeman Trail. The army agreed to abandon the three forts Red Cloud had persistently attacked: Forts Reno, Kearny and C.F. Smith. Red Cloud, however, would not sign it until troops had marched actually out and abandoned the forts.

Red Cloud gave his word at that time that he would live in peace with white men. He kept his word from that time on, even in the Great Sioux War of 1876. He moved to the agency at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. It would soon be called the Red Cloud agency.

Later Life and Leadership

Red Cloud became an ambassador for his people and other Plains tribes. He made repeated journeys to Washington, D.C. to lobby for improved conditions for his people. He was vilified by some Sioux and Cheyenne for no longer making war. He foresaw the need for living peacefully, however. He kept his vow to fight no more.

It is claimed that before Red Cloud’s death in 1909 he said of the white men, “They made us many promises, more than I can remember. But they kept but one – They promised to take our land … and they took it.”

Other Lasting Influence

Before Red Cloud made and kept his vow of peace, he had led tribes in united fights to save their homelands. Another young Oglala had fought under Red Cloud’s leadership. His name was Crazy Horse.

That young warrior led the decoys in what would be called the Fetterman Fight. Ominously, all 79 soldiers and two civilians who had entered that fight died. It would be known by many as a massacre. It would foreshadow a battle to come.

Nearly 10 years later Crazy Horse would lead warriors in another victory. There, all five troops with Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer would die too. It would occur on a river called the Little Bighorn.