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The Treaty of Fort Laramie (also the Sioux Treaty of 1868) is an agreement between the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
and the
Oglala The Oglala (pronounced , meaning "to scatter one's own" in Lakota language) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota, make up the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A majority of the Oglala live o ...
, Miniconjou, and Brulé bands of Lakota people, Yanktonai Dakota and
Arapaho The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho ba ...
Nation, following the failure of the first Fort Laramie treaty, signed in 1851. The treaty is divided into 17 articles. It established the Great Sioux Reservation including ownership of the
Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black ...
, and set aside additional lands as "unceded Indian territory" in the areas of
South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...
,
Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to t ...
, and
Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...
, and possibly
Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...
. It established that the US government would hold authority to punish not only white settlers who committed crimes against the tribes but also tribe members who committed crimes and were to be delivered to the government, rather than to face charges in tribal courts. It stipulated that the government would abandon forts along the
Bozeman Trail The Bozeman Trail was an overland route in the western United States, connecting the gold rush territory of southern Montana to the Oregon Trail in eastern Wyoming. Its most important period was from 1863–68. Despite the fact that the maj ...
and included a number of provisions designed to encourage a transition to farming and to move the tribes "closer to the white man's way of life." The treaty protected specified rights of third parties not partaking in the negotiations and effectively ended
Red Cloud's War Red Cloud's War (also referred to as the Bozeman War or the Powder River War) was an armed conflict between an alliance of the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Northern Arapaho peoples against the United States that took place in the Wyoming and M ...
. That provision did not include the
Ponca The Ponca ( Páⁿka iyé: Páⁿka or Ppáⁿkka pronounced ) are a Midwestern Native American tribe of the Dhegihan branch of the Siouan language group. There are two federally recognized Ponca tribes: the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the ...
, who were not a party to the treaty and so had no opportunity to object when the American treaty negotiators “inadvertently” broke a separate treaty with the Ponca by unlawfully selling the entirety of the
Ponca Reservation The Ponca Reservation of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska is located in northeast Nebraska, with the seat of tribal government located in Niobrara, Knox County. The Indian reservation is also the location of the historic Ponca Fort called ''Nanza''. T ...
to the Lakota, pursuant to Article II of this treaty. The United States never intervened to return the Ponca land. Instead, the Lakota claimed the Ponca land as their own and set about attacking and demanding tribute from the Ponca until 1876, when US President
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...
chose to resolve the situation by unilaterally ordering the Ponca removed to the
Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...
. The removal, known as the Ponca
Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the " Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...
, was carried out by force the following year and resulted in over 200 deaths. The treaty was negotiated by members of the government-appointed Indian Peace Commission and signed between April and November 1868 at and near
Fort Laramie Fort Laramie (founded as Fort William and known for a while as Fort John) was a significant 19th-century trading-post, diplomatic site, and military installation located at the confluence of the Laramie and the North Platte rivers. They joined ...
, in the Wyoming Territory, with the final signatories being Red Cloud himself and others who accompanied him. Animosities over the agreement arose quickly, with neither side fully honoring the terms. Open war again broke out in 1876, and the US government unilaterally annexed native land protected under the treaty in 1877. The treaty formed the basis of the 1980
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
case, '' United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians'', in which the court ruled that tribal lands covered under the treaty had been taken illegally by the US government, and the tribe was owed compensation plus interest. As of 2018 this amounted to more than $1 billion. The Sioux refused the payment, having demanded instead the return of their land which wouldn't be possible to contest if the monetary compensation was accepted.


Background

The first Treaty of Fort Laramie, signed in 1851, attempted to resolve disputes between tribes and the US Government, as well as among tribes themselves, in the modern areas of Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota. It set out that the tribes would make peace among one another, allow for certain outside access to their lands (for activities such as travelling, surveying, and the construction of some government outposts and roads), and that tribes would be responsible for wrongs committed by their people. In return, the US Government would offer protection to the tribes, and pay an annuity of $50,000 per year. No land covered by the treaty was claimed by the US at the time of signing. The five “respective territories” of the participating tribes – Sioux, Arapaho and
Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...
,
Crow A crow is a bird of the genus '' Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifica ...
,
Assiniboine The Assiniboine or Assiniboin people ( when singular, Assiniboines / Assiniboins when plural; Ojibwe: ''Asiniibwaan'', "stone Sioux"; also in plural Assiniboine or Assiniboin), also known as the Hohe and known by the endonym Nakota (or Nakod ...
,
Arikara Arikara (), also known as Sahnish,
''Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation.'' (Retrieved Sep 29, 2011)
,
Hidatsa The Hidatsa are a Siouan people. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. Their language is related to that of the Crow, and they are sometimes considered a paren ...
and
Mandan The Mandan are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains who have lived for centuries primarily in what is now North Dakota. They are enrolled in the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. About half of the Mandan still re ...
– were defined. North of the Sioux, the Arikara, Hidatsa and Mandan held a joint territory. The territory of the Crows extended westward from that of their traditional enemies in the Sioux tribe. The Powder River divided the two lands. When the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
reduced the annuity to 10 years from originally 50, all tribes except the Crow accepted the cut. Nevertheless, the treaty was recognized as being in force. The 1851 treaty had a number of shortcomings which contributed to the deterioration of relations, and subsequent violence over the next several years. From an inter-tribal view, the lack of any “enforcement provisions” protecting the 1851 boundaries proved a drawback for the Crow and the Arikara, Hidatsa and Mandan. The federal government never kept its obligation to protect tribal resources and hunting grounds, and only made a single payment toward the annuity. Although the federal government operated via
representative democracy Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represe ...
, the tribes did so through consensus, and although local chiefs signed the treaty as representatives, they had limited power to control others who themselves had not consented to the terms. This of course is impossible to confirm as the Indians had no writing and hence no way of recording their political philosophy. The discovery of gold in the west, and the construction of the
Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
, led to substantially increased travel through the area, largely outside the 1851 Sioux territory. This increasingly led to clashes between the tribes, settlers, and the US government, and eventually open war between the Sioux (and the Cheyenne and Arapaho refugees from the Sand Creek massacre in
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...
, 1864) and the whites in 1866. None of the other tribes signing the 1851 treaty engaged in battle with the US soldiers,Kennedy, Michael (1961): ''The Assiniboine''. Norman. and most allied with the Army. With the 1851 intertribal peace soon broken, the Arikara, Hidatsa and Mandan called for US military support against raiding Sioux Indians in 1855. By summer 1862, the three tribes had abandoned all their permanent villages of earth lodges in the treaty territory south of the
Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
, which was now under Sioux control, and lived together in Like-a-Fishhook Village north of the river. In the mid-1850s, the western Sioux bands crossed the Powder River and entered the Crow treaty territory. Sioux chief Red Cloud organized a war party against a Crow camp at the mouth of Rosebud River in 1856. Despite the Crows fighting "... large-scale battles with invading Sioux" near present-day Wyola in Montana, the Sioux had taken over the western Powder River area by 1860. In 1866 the
United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the ma ...
called on tribes to negotiate safe passage through the Bozeman Trail, while the
United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, ...
moved
Henry B. Carrington Henry Beebee Carrington (March 2, 1824 – October 26, 1912) was a lawyer, professor, prolific author, and an officer in the United States Army during the American Civil War and in the Old West during Red Cloud's War. A noted engineer, he ...
, along with a column of 700 men into the
Powder River Basin The Powder River Basin is a geologic structural basin in southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming, about east to west and north to south, known for its extensive coal reserves. The former hunting grounds of the Oglala Lakota, the area is very s ...
, sparking Red Cloud's War. However, most of the wagon track to the city of Bozeman “crossed land guaranteed to the Crows under the 1851 treaty” “... the Sioux attacked the United States anyway, claiming the Yellowstone was now their land.” Red Cloud’s war “... appeared to be a great Sioux war to protect their land. And it was – but the Sioux had only recently conquered this land from other tribes and now defending the territory both from other tribes” and the passing through of whites.Utley, Robert M.: “The Bozeman Trail before John Bozeman: A Busy Land.” ''Montana, the Magazine of Western History.'' Vo. 53 (Sommer 2003), No. 2, pp. 20-31. During the war, the Crows sided with the soldiers in the isolated garrisons. Crow warrior Wolf Bow urged the Army to, “Put the Sioux Indians in their own country, and keep them from troubling us.” After losing resolve to continue the war, following defeat in the Fetterman Fight, sustained
guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run ta ...
by the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho, exorbitant rates for freight through the area, and difficulty finding contractors to work the rail lines, the US Government, organized the Indian Peace Commission to negotiate an end to ongoing hostilities. A peace counsel chosen by the government arrived on April 19, 1868, at
Fort Laramie Fort Laramie (founded as Fort William and known for a while as Fort John) was a significant 19th-century trading-post, diplomatic site, and military installation located at the confluence of the Laramie and the North Platte rivers. They joined ...
, in what would later become the state of Wyoming. The outcome would be the second treaty of Fort Laramie Treaty, signed in 1868.


Articles

The treaty was laid out in a series of 17 articles:


Article I

Article one called for the cessation of hostilities, stating "all war between the parties to this agreement shall for ever cease." If crimes were committed by "bad men" among white settlers, the government agreed to arrest and punish the offenders, and reimburse any losses suffered by injured parties. The tribes agreed to turn over criminals among them, any "bad men among the Indians," to the government for trial and punishment, and to reimburse any losses suffered by injured parties. If any Sioux committed “a wrong or depredation upon the person or property on any one, white, black, or Indians” the US could pay damages taken from the annuities owed the tribes. These terms effectively relinquished the authority of the tribes to punish crimes committed against them by white settlers. Similar provisions appeared in nine such treaties with various tribes. In practice, the "bad men among the whites" clause was seldom enforced. The first plaintiff to win a trial case on the provision did so in 2009, based on the 1868 Fort Laramie treaty. In 1873, the US exercised the right to withhold annuities and compensate for Sioux wrongs against anyone, including Indians. After a massacre on a moving Pawnee camp during a legal Sioux hunting expedition in Nebraska, the Sioux “were made to pay reparations for the loss of life, meat, hides, equipment, and horses stolen...” The Pawnee received $9,000.”Indian Office Documents on Sioux-Pawnee Battle.” ''Nebraska History''. Vol. 16 (1935), No. 3, pp. 147-155.


Article II

Article two of the treaty changed the boundaries for tribal land and established the Great Sioux Reservation, to include areas of present day South Dakota west of the Missouri River, including the Black Hills. This was set aside for the "absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of the Indians". In total, it allocated about 25% of the
Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of N ...
as it existed at the time. It made the total tribal lands smaller, and moved them further eastward. This was to "take away access to the prime buffalo herds that occupied the area and encourage the Sioux to become farmers." The government agreed that no parties, other than those authorized by the treaty, would be allowed to "pass over, settle upon, or reside in the territory". According to one source writing on article two, "What remained unstated in the treaty, but would have been obvious to Sherman and his men, is that land not placed in the reservation was to be considered United States property, and not Indian territory." As in 1851, the US recognized most of the land north of the Sioux reservation as Indian territory of the Arikara, Hidatsa and Mandan. In addition, the US still recognized the 1851 Crow claim to the Indian territory west of the Powder. The Crow and the US came to an agreement about this expanse on May 7, 1868. With the reservation border following “the northern line of Nebraska”, the Peace Commission ceded to the Sioux the little
Ponca The Ponca ( Páⁿka iyé: Páⁿka or Ppáⁿkka pronounced ) are a Midwestern Native American tribe of the Dhegihan branch of the Siouan language group. There are two federally recognized Ponca tribes: the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the ...
reservation, which had already been guaranteed the Ponca in multiple treaties with the government. “No one has ever been able to explain” this blunder, which was nonetheless enforced by the government, irrespective of their earlier agreements.


Article III

Article three provided for allotments of up to of tillable land to be set aside for farming by members of the tribes. By 1871, 200 farms of and 200 farms of had been established including 80 homes. By 1877, this had risen to 153 homes "50 of which had shingle roofs and most had board floors" according to an 1876 report by the
Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...
.


Article IV

The government agreed to build a number of buildings on the reservation: * Warehouse * Store-room * Agency building * Physician residence * Carpenter residence * Farmer residence * Blacksmith residence * Miller residence * Engineer residence * School house * Saw mill Article four also provided for the establishment of an agency on the reservation for the purpose of government administration. In practice, five were constructed and two more later added. These original five were composed of the Grand River Agency (Later Standing Rock), Cheyenne River Agency, Whetstone Agency, Crow Creek Agency, and Lower Brulé Agency. Another would later be set up on the White River, and again on the
North Platte River The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long, counting its many curves.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 21, 2011 In a ...
, but would later be moved to also be on the White.


Articles V through X

The government agreed that the agent for the Bureau of Indian Affairs shall keep his office open to complaints, which he will investigate and forward to the Commissioner. The decision of the Commissioner, subject to review by the
Secretary of the Interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to: * Secretary of the Interior (Mexico) * Interior Secretary of Pakistan * Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines) * United States Secretary of the Interior See also *Interior ministry An ...
, "shall be binding on the parties". Article six laid out provisions for members of the tribes to take legal individual ownership of previously commonly held land, up to for the heads of families, and for any adult who was not the head of a family. This land then "may be occupied and held in the exclusive possession of the person selecting it, and of his family, so long as he or they may continue to cultivate it." Article seven addressed education for those aged six to 16, in order, as the treaty states, to "insure the civilization of the Indians entering into this treaty". The tribes agreed to compel both male and females to attend school, and the government agreed to provide a schoolhouse and teacher for every 30 students who could be made to attend. In article eight, the government agreed to provide seeds, tools, and training for any of the residents who selected tracts of land, and agreed to farm them. This was to be in the amount of up to $100 dollars worth for the first year, and up to $25 worth for the second and third years. These were one of a number of provisions of the treaty designed to encourage farming, rather than hunting, and move the tribes "closer to the white man's way of life." After 10 years the government may withdraw the individuals from article 13, but if so, will provide $10,000 annually "devoted to the education of said Indians ... as will best promote the education and moral improvement of said tribes." These are to be managed by a local Indian agent under the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Article 10 provided for an allotment of clothes, and food, in addition to one "good American cow" and two oxen for each lodge or family who moved to the reservation. It further provided for an annual payment over 30 years of $10 for each person who hunted, and $20 for those who farmed, to be used by the Secretary of the Interior for the "purchase of such articles as from time to time the condition and necessities of the Indians may indicate to be proper."


Article XI

Article 11 included several provisions stating the tribes agreed to withdraw opposition to the construction of railroads (mentioned three times), military posts and roads, and will not attack or capture white settlers or their property. The same guarantee protected third parties defined as “persons friendly” with the United States. The government agreed to reimburse the tribes for damages caused in the construction of works on the reservation, in the amount assessed by "three disinterested commissioners" appointed by the President. It guaranteed the tribes access to the area to the north and west of the Black Hills as hunting grounds, "so long as the buffalo may range thereon in such numbers as to justify the chase." As one source examined the treaty language with regard to "so long as the buffalo may range", the tribes considered this language to be a perpetual guarantee, because "they could not envision a day when buffalo would not roam the plains"; however:
The concept was clear enough to the commissioners … howell knew that hide hunters, with Sherman’s blessing, were already beginning the slaughter that would eventually drive the Indians to complete dependence on the government for their existence.
Despite Sioux promises of undisturbed construction of railroads and no attacks, more than 10 surveying crew members, US Army Indian scouts and soldiers were killed in 1872 and 1873. Because of the Sioux massacre on the Pawnee in southern Nebraska during a hunting expedition in 1873, the US banned such hunts outside the reservation. Thus, the US decision nullified a part of Article XI.


Article XII

Article 12 required the agreement of "three-fourths of all the adult male Indians" for a treaty with the tribes to "be of any validity". Hedren reflected on article 12 writing that the provision indicated the government "already anticipated a time when different needs would demand the abrogation of the treaty terms." These provisions have since been controversial, because subsequent treaties amending that of 1868 did not include the required agreement of three-fourths of adult males, and so under the terms of 1868, are invalid.


Articles XIII through XV

The government agreed to furnish the tribes with a "physician, teachers, carpenter, miller, engineer, farmer, and blacksmiths". The government agreed to provide $100 in prizes for those who "in the judgment of the agent may grow the most valuable crops for the respective year." Once the promised buildings were constructed, the tribes agreed to regard the reservation as their "permanent home" and make "no permanent settlement elsewhere".


Article XVI

Article 16 stated that country north of the
North Platte River The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long, counting its many curves.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 21, 2011 In a ...
and east of the summits of the
Big Horn Mountains The Bighorn Mountains ( cro, Basawaxaawúua, lit=our mountains or cro, Iisaxpúatahchee Isawaxaawúua, label=none, lit=bighorn sheep's mountains) are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a ...
would be "unceded Indian territory" that no white settlers could occupy without the consent of the tribes. This included of land outside the reservation which were previously set aside by the 1851 treaty, as well as around an additional . As part of this, the government agreed to close the forts associated with the Bozeman Trail. Article 16 did not however, address issues related to important hunting grounds north and northwest of the reservation. The Arikara, Hidatsa and Mandan held the treaty right to the bigger part of those hunting grounds according to the 1851 treaty. With the 1868 treaty, the Sioux ceded land to the US directly north of the reservation. This article proclaims the shift of the Indian title to the land east of the summits of the Big Horn Mountains to Powder River (the combat zone of Red Cloud’s War). In 1851, the US had acknowledged the claim of the Crow to this area. Following defeat, the Peace Commission recognized it as “unceded Indian territory” held by the Sioux. The US Government could only dispose of Crow treaty territory, because it held parallel negotiations with the Crow tribe. The talks ended on May 7, 1868. The Crows accepted to give up large tracts of land to the US and settle on a
reservation __NOTOC__ Reservation may refer to: Places Types of places: * Indian reservation, in the United States * Military base, often called reservations * Nature reserve Government and law * Reservation (law), a caveat to a treaty * Reservation in India, ...
in the heart of the 1851 territory. It was possible for the Peace Commission to allow the Sioux to hunt on the Republican Fork in Nebraska (200 miles south of the Sioux reservation) along with others, because the US held the title to this river area. The Cheyenne and Arapaho had ceded the western part of the Republican Fork in 1861 in a more-or-less well-understood treaty.Weist, Tom (1984): ''A History of the Cheyenne People''. Billings. The US had bought the eastern part of the Republican Fork from the Pawnee in 1833. The Pawnee held a treaty right to hunt in their ceded territory. In 1873, the Massacre Canyon battle took place here.


Article XVII

The treaty, as agreed to "shall be construed as abrogating and annulling all treaties and agreements heretofore entered into."


Signing

Over the course of 192 days ending November 6, the treaty was signed by a total of 156 Sioux, and 25 Arapaho, in addition to the commissioners, and an additional 34 signatories as witnesses. Although the commissioners signed the document on April 29 along with the Brulé, the party broke up in May, with only two remaining at Fort Laramie to conclude talks there, before traveling up the Missouri River to gather additional signatures from tribes elsewhere. Throughout this process, no further amendments were made to the terms. As one writer phrased it, "the commissioners essentially cycled Sioux in and out of Fort Laramie ... seeking only the formality of the chiefs' marks and forgoing true agreement in the spirit that the Indians understood it." Following initial negotiations, those from the Peace Commission did not discuss the conditions of the treaty to subsequent tribes who arrived over the following months to sign. Rather, the treaty was read aloud, and it was permitted "some time for the chiefs to speak" before "instructing them to place their marks on the prepared document." As the source continues:
These tribes had little interest in or understanding of what had taken place at the Fort Laramie councils. They wanted the whites out of their country and would fight as long as necessary.
The process of abandoning the forts associated with the Bozeman Trail, as part of the conditions agreed to, proved to be a long process, and was stalled by difficulty arranging the sale of the goods from the fort to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Fort C.F. Smith was not emptied until July 29. Fort Phil Kearny and Fort Reno were not emptied until August 1. Once abandoned, Red Cloud and his followers, who had been monitoring the activities of the troops rode down and burned what remained. The peace commission dissolved on October 10 after presenting its report to Congress, which among other things, recommended the government "cease to recognize the Indian tribes as domestic dependent nations," and that no further "treaties shall be made with any Indian tribe." William Dye, the commander at Fort Laramie was left to represent the commission, and met with Red Cloud, who was among the last to sign the treaty on November 6. The government remained unwilling to negotiate the terms further, and after two days, Red Cloud is reported to have "washed his hands with the dust of the floor" and signed, formally ending the war. The US Senate ratified the treaty on February 16, 1869.


Signatories

Notable signatories presented in the order they signed are as follows. Two exceptions are included. Henderson was a commissioner, but did not sign the treaty. Red Cloud was among the last to sign, but is listed here out-of-order along with the other Oglala.


Commissioners

* Nathaniel Green Taylor, Commissioner of Indian Affairs *
William Tecumseh Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), achieving recognition for his com ...
,
lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on th ...
, US Army * William S. Harney, Brevet
major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...
, US Army *
John B. Sanborn John Benjamin Sanborn (December 5, 1826 – May 6, 1904) was a lawyer, politician, and soldier from the state of New Hampshire who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was also a key member of the postbellum ...
, former brevet major general of
volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
, and former member of a previous peace commission organized by
Alfred Sully Alfred Sully (May 22, 1820 – April 27, 1879), was a military officer during the American Civil War and during the Indian Wars on the frontier. He was also a noted painter. Biography Sully was the son of the portrait painter, Thomas Sull ...
*
Samuel F. Tappan Samuel Forster Tappan (June 29, 1831 – January 6, 1913) was an American journalist, military officer, abolitionist and a Native American rights activist. Appointed as a member of the Indian Peace Commission in 1867 to reach peace with the P ...
, journalist,
abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...
, and activist who rose to prominence after investigating the Sand Creek massacre *
Christopher C. Augur Christopher Columbus Augur (July 10, 1821 – January 16, 1898) was an American military officer, most noted for his role in the American Civil War. Although less well known than other Union commanders, he was nonetheless considered an able battl ...
, Brevet Major General, and commander of the
Department of the Platte The Department of the Platte was a military administrative district established by the U.S. Army on March 5, 1866, with boundaries encompassing Iowa, Nebraska, Dakota Territory, Utah Territory and a small portion of Idaho. With headquarters in Oma ...
*
Alfred Terry Alfred Howe Terry (November 10, 1827 – December 16, 1890) was a Union general in the American Civil War and the military commander of the Dakota Territory from 1866 to 1869, and again from 1872 to 1886. In 1865, Terry led Union troops to v ...
, Brevet major general, US Army * John B. Henderson,
US Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...
and Chairman of the
United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is a committee of the United States Senate charged with oversight in matters related to the American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native peoples. A Committee on Indian Affairs existed from 1820 to 19 ...


Chiefs and headmen


=Brulé

= *
Iron Shell Iron Shell (1816–1896) was a Brulé Sioux chief. He initially became prominent after an 1843 raid on the Pawnee, and became sub-chief of the Brulé under Little Thunder. He became chief of the Brulé Orphan Band during the Powder River War of ...
*
Spotted Tail Spotted Tail (Siŋté Glešká pronounced ''gleh-shka''; birth name T'at'aŋka Napsíca "Jumping Buffalo"Ingham (2013) uses 'c' to represent 'č'. ); born c. 1823 – died August 5, 1881) was a Brulé Lakota tribal chief. Although a great war ...
* White Bull


=Oglala

= *
Young Man Afraid Of His Horses Young-Man-Afraid-of-His-Horses 'Tȟašúŋke Kȟokípȟapi''(1836 – July 13, 1893), also translated as His-Horses-Are-Afraid and ''They-Fear-Even-His-Horses'', was a chief of the Oglala Sioux. Commonly misinterpreted, his name means ''They fear ...
*
Sitting Bull Sitting Bull ( lkt, Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies. He was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock ...
*
American Horse American Horse ( lkt, Wašíčuŋ Tȟašúŋke) (a/k/a "American Horse the Younger") (1840 – December 16, 1908) was an Oglala Lakota chief, statesman, educator and historian. American Horse is notable in American history as a U.S. Army Indian S ...
* Blue Horse * Red Cloud


=Arapaho

= * Black Bear *Black Coal *Sorrel Horse


=Miniconjou

= * Lone Horn *
Spotted Elk Spotted Elk ( Lakota: Uŋpȟáŋ Glešká, sometimes spelled ''OH-PONG-GE-LE-SKAH'' or ''Hupah Glešká'': 1826 approx – ), was a chief of the Miniconjou, Lakota Sioux. He was a son of Miniconjou chief Lone Horn and became a chie ...
* Big Eagle


=Yanctonais

= * Little Soldier *
Red Horse Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineer (RED HORSE) squadrons are the United States Air Force's heavy-construction units. Their combat engineering capabilities are similar to those of the U.S. Navy Seabees and U.S ...
* Little Shield


Aftermath and legacy

Although the treaty required the consent of three-fourths of the men of the tribes, many did not sign or recognize the results. Others would later complain that the treaty contained complex language that was not well explained in order to avoid arousing suspicion. Yet others would not fully learn the terms of the agreement until 1870, when Red Cloud returned from a trip to Washington D.C. The treaty overall, and in comparison with the 1851 agreement, represented a departure from earlier considerations of tribal customs, and demonstrated instead the government's "more heavy-handed position with regard to tribal nations, and ... desire to assimilate the Sioux into American property arrangements and social customs." According to one source, "animosities over the treaty arose almost immediately" when a group of Miniconjou were informed they were no longer welcome to trade at Fort Laramie, being south of their newly established territory. This was notwithstanding that the treaty did not make any stipulation that the tribes could not travel outside their land, only that they would not permanently occupy outside land. The only travel expressly forbidden by the treaty was that of white settlers onto the reservation. Although a treaty between the US and the Sioux, it had profound effect on the Crow tribe, since it held the title to some of the territories set aside in the new treaty. By entering the peace talks “... the government had in effect betrayed the Crows, who had willingly helped the army to hold the ozeman Trailposts ...”. When the Sioux Indians had stopped the advance of the US in 1868, they quickly resumed their “own program of expansions” into the adjoining Indian territories. Although all parties took and gave, the Sioux and their allies once again threatened the homeland of some of the Indian nations around them. Attacks on the Crows and the Shoshones were “frequent, both by the Northern Cheyennes and by the Arapahos, as well as the Sioux, and by parties made up from all three tribes”. The Crows reported Sioux Indians in the Bighorn area from 1871. This eastern part of the Crow reservation was taken over a few years later by the Sioux in quest of buffalo. When a force of Sioux warriors confronted a Crow reservation camp at Pryor Creek in 1873 throughout a whole day, Crow chief Blackfoot called for decisive actions against the Indian intruders by the US. In 1876, the Crows (and the Eastern Shoshones) fought alongside the Army at the Rosebud. They scouted for Custer against the Sioux, “who were now in the old Crow country”. Both the tribes and the government chose to ignore portions of the treaty, or to "comply only as long as conditions met their favor," and between 1869 and 1876, at least seven separate skirmishes occurred within the vicinity of Fort Laramie. Prior to the Black Hills expedition, Army sources mention attacks in Montana north of the Yellowstone and north of the Sioux reservation in North Dakota carried out by unidentified groups of Sioux. Large war parties of Sioux Indians left their reservation to attack distant Indian enemies near Like-a-Fishhook Village. The first talks of actions against the Sioux arose. In his 1873 report, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs advocated, “that those iouxIndians roaming west of the Dakota line be forced by the military to come in to the Great Sioux Reservation.” The government eventually broke the terms of the treaty following the
Black Hills Gold Rush The Black Hills Gold Rush took place in Dakota Territory in the United States. It began in 1874 following the Custer Expedition and reached a peak in 1876–77. Rumors and poorly documented reports of gold in the Black Hills go back to the early ...
and an expedition into the area by
George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...
in 1874, and failed to prevent white settlers from moving onto tribal lands. Rising tensions eventually led again to open conflict in the
Great Sioux War of 1876 The Great Sioux War of 1876, also known as the Black Hills War, was a series of battles and negotiations that occurred in 1876 and 1877 in an alliance of Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne against the United States. The cause of the war was the ...
. The 1868 treaty would be modified three times by the
US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...
between 1876 and 1889, each time taking more land originally granted, including unilaterally seizing the Black Hills in 1877.


United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians

On June 30, 1980, the US Supreme Court ruled that the government had illegally taken land in the Black Hills granted by the 1868 treaty, by unlawfully abrogating article two of the agreement during negotiations in 1876, while failing to achieve the signatures of two-thirds the adult male population required to do so. It upheld an award of $15.5 million for the market value of the land in 1877, along with 103 years worth of interest at 5 percent, for an additional $105 million. The Lakota Sioux, however, have refused to accept payment and instead continue to demand the return of the territory from the United States. the Sioux interest on the money has compounded to over 1 billion dollars.


Commemoration

Marking the 150th anniversary of the treaty, the
South Dakota Legislature The South Dakota State Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of South Dakota. It is a bicameral legislative body, consisting of the South Dakota Senate, which has 35 members, and the South Dakota House of Representatives, whic ...
passed Senate Resolution 1, reaffirming the legitimacy of the treaty, and according to the original text, illustrating to the federal government that the Sioux are "still here" and are "seeking a future of forward-looking, positive relationships with full respect for the sovereign status of Native American nations confirmed by the treaty." On March 11, 2018, the
Governor of Wyoming A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
,
Matt Mead Matthew Hansen Mead (born March 11, 1962) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 32nd Governor of Wyoming from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the United States Attorney for the D ...
signed a similar bill into law, calling on "the federal government to uphold its federal trust responsibilities," and calling for a permanent display of the original treaty, on file with the
National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...
, in the
Wyoming Legislature The Wyoming State Legislature is the legislative branch of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is a bicameral state legislature, consisting of a 60-member Wyoming House of Representatives, and a 30-member Wyoming Senate. The legislature meets at th ...
.


Herrera v. Wyoming

In May 2019, in a 5-4 decision , the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the ''
Herrera v. Wyoming ''Herrera v. Wyoming'', No. 17-532, 587 U.S. ___ (2019), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that Wyoming's statehood did not void the Crow Tribe's right to hunt on "unoccupied lands of the United States" under an 1868 t ...
'' case that Wyoming's statehood did not void hunting rights which were guaranteed to the Crow tribe by the treaty.


See also

*
Black Hills Land Claim The Black Hills land claim is an ongoing land dispute between Native Americans from the Sioux Nation and the United States government over the Black Hills mountain range in the US states of South Dakota and Wyoming. The land in question was pled ...
, ongoing dispute between the Sioux and the US Government *
Dakota Access Pipeline The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) or Bakken pipeline is a underground pipeline in the United States that has the ability to transport up to 750,000 barrels of light sweet crude oil per day. It begins in the shale oil fields of the Bakken Form ...
, underground oil pipeline, opposed by some Sioux based on the terms of the 1851 and 1868 treaties * Indian Appropriations Act, series of legislation passed by the US government related to tribal lands *
List of United States treaties This is a list of treaties to which the United States has been a party or which have had direct relevance to U.S. history. Pre-Revolutionary War treaties Before the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776, the sovereign of the United ...
, articles on treaties to which the US was a party * Medicine Lodge Treaty – Negotiated by the Peace Commission with southern
Plains Indian Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of ...
tribes in 1867


Notes


References


Further reading


"Treaty with the Sioux — Brulé, Oglala, Miniconjou, Yanktonai, Hunkpapa, Blackfeet, Cuthead, Two Kettle, Sans Arcs, and Santee — and Arapaho, 1868" (Treaty of Fort Laramie, 1868).
, April 29, 1868. Ratified February 16, 1868; proclaimed February 24, 1868. In Charles J. Kappler, compiler and editor, ''Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties — Vol. II: Treaties.'' Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1904, pp. 998–1007. Through Oklahoma State University Library, Electronic Publishing Center... *


External links


American Indian Rights And Treaties – The Story Of The 1868 Treaty Of Fort Laramie
video from
Insider Exclusive The Insider Exclusive television show regularly produces original ''Dateline'', ''60 Minutes'', '' 20/20'', and prime time style television shows for the public and broadcasts them on major cable networks such as PBS, CNN, MSNBC, TruTV, Fox, Time ...

Fort Laramie Treaty: Case Study
from the
National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

Collection of Photographs
by Alexander Gardner, from his travels with the Peace Commission at Fort Laramie in 1868, from the
Minnesota Historical Society The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is a nonprofit educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the territorial legislature in 1849, almost a decade before state ...
{{Black Hills, South Dakota
Fort Laramie Fort Laramie (founded as Fort William and known for a while as Fort John) was a significant 19th-century trading-post, diplomatic site, and military installation located at the confluence of the Laramie and the North Platte rivers. They joined ...
1868 treaties Red Cloud's War Native American history of South Dakota Native American history of Montana Native American history of Wyoming 1868 in the United States Black Hills Lakota Sioux Wars Wyoming Territory Montana articles lacking sources April 1868 events