Red Cloud
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (August 2012) |
Red Cloud | |
---|---|
Maȟpíya Lúta | |
Oglala Lakota | |
Known for | Red Cloud's War Most photographed American Indian of the nineteenth century |
Title | Tribal chief |
Successor | Jack Red Cloud |
Spouse | Pretty Owl (Mary Good Road) |
Children | 6 |
Red Cloud (
After signing the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868), Red Cloud led his people in the transition to reservation life. Some of his opponents mistakenly thought of him as the overall leader of the Sioux groups (Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota), but the large tribe had several major divisions and was highly decentralized. Bands among the Oglala and other divisions operated independently, though some individual leaders were renowned as warriors and highly respected as leaders, such as Red Cloud.
Early life
Red Cloud was born close to the forks of the
They came from two of the seven major Lakota divisions.As was traditional among the
Warriorship
Red Cloud's War
Red Cloud's War was the name the U.S. Army gave to a series of conflicts fought with Native American Plains tribes in the
Captain William J. Fetterman was sent from Fort Phil Kearny with two civilians and 79 cavalry and infantrymen to chase away a small Native American war party that had attacked a wood-gathering party days before. Captain Frederick Brown accompanied Fetterman; the two were confident in their troops and anxious to go to battle with the Native Americans. They disobeyed orders to stay behind the Lodge Trail Ridge and pursued a small decoy band of warriors led by a Native American on an injured horse. The decoy was the prominent warrior Crazy Horse. Fetterman and his troops followed the decoy into an ambush by more than 2,000 Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho. Combined Native American forces suffered only 14 casualties, while they killed the entire 81-man U.S. detachment.
Following this battle, a U.S. peace commission toured the Plains in 1867 to gather information to help bring about peace among the tribes and with the U.S. Finding that the Native Americans had been provoked by white encroachment and competition for resources, the commission recommended assigning definite territories to the Plains tribes. The Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, Arapaho, and other bands settled for peace with the U.S. under the Treaty of Fort Laramie. The U.S. agreed to abandon its forts and withdraw from Lakota territory.
Treaty of 1868
The treaty established the
In 1871, the government established the
According to Charles A. Eastman (Ohiyesa) Red Cloud was the last to sign "..having refused to do so until all of the forts within their territory should be vacated. All of his demands were acceded to, the new road abandoned, the garrisons withdrawn, and the new treaty distinctly stated that the Black Hills and the Big Horn were Indian countries, set apart for their perpetual occupancy and that no white man should enter that region without the consent of the Sioux. ... Scarcely was this treaty signed, however, when gold was discovered in the Black Hills, and the popular cry was: "Remove the Indians!"... The government, at first, entered some small protest, just enough to "save its face"... but there was no serious attempt to prevent the wholesale violation of the treaty and the loss of the Black Hills."[7]
Great Sioux War of 1876–1877
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, Lieutenant Colonel George Custer led a reconnaissance mission into Sioux territory that reported gold in the Black Hills, an area held sacred by the local Native Americans. Previously, the army had unsuccessfully tried to keep miners out of the region, and the threat of violence grew. In May 1875, Lakota delegations headed by Red Cloud, Spotted Tail, and Lone Horn traveled to Washington in an attempt to persuade President Grant to honor existing treaties and stem the flow of miners into their lands. The Native Americans met on various occasions with Grant, Secretary of the Interior Delano, and Commissioner of Indian Affairs Smith. He told them on May 27 that Congress was ready to resolve the matter by paying the tribes $25,000 for their land and resettling them into Indian Territory. The delegates refused to sign such a treaty, with Spotted Tail saying about the proposal:
When I was here before, the President gave me my country, and I put my stake down in a good place, and there I want to stay. ... You speak of another country, but it is not my country; it does not concern me, and I want nothing to do with it. I was not born there. ... If it is such a good country, you ought to send the white men now in our country there and let us alone.[8]
Although Red Cloud was unsuccessful in finding a peaceful solution, he did not take part in the
In the fall of 1877, the Red Cloud Agency was removed to the upper
Later life and death
Red Cloud became a leader of the Lakota as they transitioned from the freedom of the plains to the confinement of the reservation system. His trip to Washington, DC, had convinced him of the number and power of European Americans, and he believed the Oglala had to seek peace.
In around 1880, he visited (not for the first time) the paleontologist and geologist Othniel Marsh in New Haven, Connecticut. Marsh had first visited the Red Cloud Agency in 1874, alleging, among other things, that "the Indians suffered for want of food and other supplies because they were cheated out of annuities and beef cattle and were issued inedible pork, inferior flour, poor sugar and coffee and rotten tobacco."[9]
In 1884, he and his family, along with five other leaders, converted and were baptized as Catholics by Father Joseph Bushman.[10]
Red Cloud continued fighting for his people, even after being forced onto the reservation. In 1887, he opposed the
A few years before he died, Red Cloud and his wife got baptized as Christians and adopted the named John and Mary.
In 1909, Red Cloud died on Pine Ridge Reservation. At 87 years old, he outlived nearly all the other major Lakota leaders of the Indian Wars. He was buried there in a cemetery that now bears his name. In old age, he is quoted as having said, "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."[11]
Legacy and honors
Announcements of Red Cloud's death and recognition of his achievements were printed in major newspapers across the country. As had been typical of the U.S. perception during Red Cloud's prominence in war, The New York Times article on his death mistakenly described him as leader of all the Sioux bands and tribes but noted his abilities as a leader and diplomat. This misconception was echoed by early white historians such as Grace Raymond Hebard and Earl Alonzo Brininstool, who judged "Red Napoleon of the Plains" a "most fitting title" for Red Cloud.[12] While he was a prominent leader, the Lakota were highly decentralized and never had one overall leader, especially in the major divisions, such as Oglala and Brulé.[13][14][15]
Red Cloud was the most photographed American Indian of the nineteenth century.[16] There are 128 known photographs picturing Red Cloud.[16] He was first photographed in 1872 in Washington D.C. by Mathew Brady, just before meeting with President Grant. He was also among the Indians photographed by Edward S. Curtis.
He has been honored by the United States Postal Service with a 10¢ Great Americans series postage stamp.
In 2000, he was
In 1871, the town of Red Cloud was named in his honor.
A parochial school on the
Descendants of Red Cloud
Red Cloud's descendants have continued to be chosen as traditional leaders of the Lakota people:
- Jackson "Jack" Red Cloud,[18] (c. 1858–1918) leader of the Oglala Lakota 1909–1918
- James Henry Red Cloud (1877–1960)[19] leader of the Oglala Lakota 1918–1960
- Charles Red Cloud[20] (1884–1980) (brother of James Henry Red Cloud), leader of the Oglala Lakota 1960–1979
- Oliver Red Cloud (1919–2013)[21] (son of Charles Red Cloud), leader of the Oglala Lakota (1979–2013).[22] He was a fourth-generation direct descendant of Red Cloud. He was a Speaker of the traditional Lakota Sioux Nation and a chairman of the Black Hills Sioux Nation Treaty Council.
See also
References
- ^ "Red Cloud | American Experience | PBS". www.pbs.org. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
- ^ Nelson, S. D. (2017). Red Cloud: A Lakota story of war and surrender. Abrams.
- ^ "Red Cloud". New Perspectives of the West. PBS / WETA. Retrieved October 22, 2012 – via PBS.org.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4516-5466-0.
- ISBN 9780792282235.
- ISBN 9780609807057.
- ^ Eastman, Charles A. (July 5, 2008). Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains – via Project Gutenberg.
- ISBN 978-0-7884-3804-2.
- ^ Waltmann, Henry George (1962). "The Interior Department, War Department and Indian Policy, 1865–1887". D.Phil. dissertation. Department of History, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, p. 269 [pdf 281]. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
- ISBN 9781556128134.
- ^ "Native American Words". Tsa-la-gi-ti-a-ye-li. Tammy Knott. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
- ^ Hebard, Grace Raymond; Brininstool, E. A. (1922). The Bozeman Trail: Historical Accounts of the Blazing of the Overland Routes Into the Northwest, and the Fights with Red Cloud's Warriors. Cleveland, Ohio: The Arthur A. Clark Company. p. 175.
- ^ "Red Cloud, Sioux Chief, Dead; Old Indian Warrior Caused The Massacre Of Fort Phil Kearney". The New York Times. December 11, 1909. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
- Boston Globe. December 11, 1909. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
Famous Sioux Chief Lived to be 89. Rated as the Wiliest Enemy of Whites in Modern Times. Cornered in 1869, Friendly, as a Rule, Ever Since. Red Cloud, the famous old Sioux Indian chief, is dead, according to Supt Brennan of the Pine Ridge Indian agency, who is in Washington, attending the meeting of those interested in the education of the ...
- ^ "Red Cloud Dead". Hartford Courant. December 11, 1909. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
Famous Sioux Indian Chief Was 86 Years Old. Red Cloud the famous old Sioux Indian chief is dead. This information was received today by Superintendent Brennan of the Pine Ridge Indian agency, who is in Washington attending the meeting of those interested in the education of the Indian.
- ^ a b Broache, Anne (June 2005). "Chief Lobbyist". Smithsonian. pp. 21–22.
- ^ C.J. Keene (July 25, 2023). "Red Cloud School renames to Lakota-language 'Maȟpíya Lúta'". SDPB. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
- ^ death date and English first name detailed on the tombstone at Holy Cross Cemetery, Pine Ridge, SD
- ^ death date detailed on the tombstone at Holy Cross Cemetery, Pine Ridge, SD
- ^ birth and death date detailed on the tombstone at Holy Cross Cemetery, Pine Ridge, SD
- ^ tombstone at Holy Cross Cemetery, Pine Ridge, SD
- ^ "Oliver Red Cloud Obituary". legacy.com. Pine Ridge, South Dakota. Associated Press. 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
Further reading
- Drury, Bob; Clavin, Tom (2013). The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781451654660.
- Allen, Charles Wesley; Red Cloud; Deon, Sam (1997). Autobiography of Red Cloud: War Leader of the Oglalas. Globe Pequot Press. ISBN 978-0-917298-50-9.
- Olson, James C. (1975). Red Cloud and the Sioux Problem. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 9780803258174.
External links
- "Red Cloud". Chief of the Oglala Lakota. Find a Grave. October 25, 2002. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
- Red Cloud bronze sculpture
- "Chief Red Cloud's Great-Great Grandson on Native American Issues", video interview, Democracy Now!
- "Authors Tell Untold Story Of Sioux Warrior Red Cloud". NPR.org. November 18, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2018. Bob Drury and Tom Clavin about the book, The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend
- Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains, By Charles A. Eastman (Ohiyesa) 1918