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 Until
the year 1851, the vast plains to the eastward side of the Rocky
Mountains were regarded as Indian
territories, over which numerous tribes roamed at will from
Texas and
Mexico to the British possessions to the north.
The discovery of gold in
California, in
1849, drew the eyes of the civilized world to the Pacific Coast, and a
tide of emigration set in that direction, the like of which this country
had never seen before. The ships that made the tempestuous passage
around Cape Horn were crowded to overflowing with men eager to face
every peril for the sake of digging the yellow particles from the
mountains and river beds.
While these lines of travel were crowded, thousands more crossed the
continent by the plains or overland route, which was filled with perils.
The emigrants spent weeks and months, their wagons winding slowly across
the prairies, fording streams, climbing mountains, toiling through
ravines, deluged with rain, sleet and snow, shivering with cold or
fainting with heat, and in continual danger from Indians.
Many a train that left Independence,
Missouri, fully
equipped and armed, and full of high hopes, never lived to catch the
gleam of the far Pacific. If they survived starvation and the rigor of
the climate, they were overwhelmed, perhaps, in some lonely glen by the
fierce warriors, and their whitening bones were left to tell their fate
to the crowds following in their footsteps, and compelled to face the
same perils and possibly to meet the same fate.
 The
tide of emigration across the plains made necessary a treaty with
various tribes, by which a broad highway was opened to
California, and
the
Indians
were restricted within certain boundaries. The government agreed to give
the tribes $50,000 annually for 15 years in payment for the privilege
granted to emigrants to cross the plains without molestation.
This treaty assigned as boundaries to the
Cheyenne
and
Arapaho,
the larger part of the present State of
Colorado, while
the
Crow and
Sioux
were to occupy the land traversed by the Powder River route to
Montana.
However, some years later, gold and silver were discovered in
Colorado upon the
Indian
lands, and hundreds of settlers crowded in, as usual with no regard for
the rights of the
Indians.
When these intruders had taken up most of the lands, another treaty --
The Treaty of Fort Wise -- was made on February 18, 1861. The
Indians
agreed to give up an immense tract of territory and to confine
themselves to a small district on both sides of the
Arkansas River,
and along the northern boundary of
New Mexico. The
government bound itself to protect them in these possessions, paying an
annuity of $30,000 to each tribe for 15 years, and to furnish them with
stock and agricultural implements.
No difficulties occurred between the white inhabitants of
Colorado and the
Indians
until April, 1864. During the summer of that year, some warriors began
committing depredations and robberies upon the property of the settlers.
Colonel John Chivington, commanding the troops at Denver, allowed a
subordinate officer to lead a detachment of soldiers to punish the
Indians
for their acts. He attacked the
Cheyenne
village of Cedar Bluffs, killed 26, wounded 30, and divided the plunder
among his men. Hostilities and fighting continued until autumn, but the
Indians
wanted peace, and applied to Major Edward Wynkoop, commander of
Fort Lyon, to
negotiate a treaty to secure it. That officer ordered the
Indians
to gather about the fort, assuring them of protection.
In response to this command and guarantee,
500 men, women, and children collected at the post. Colonel Chivington
then attacked and slaughtered them without mercy. This horrible crime,
known as the
Sand Creek
Massacre, was committed November
29, 1864. Inevitably, a war with these tribes followed, drawing 8,000
men from the forces in the field to suppress the insurrection, and
costing the country 30 million dollars. During the campaign of 1865,
less than 20
Indians
were killed. The attempt to obtain peace by this means was as futile as
with the
Seminole
tribe, nearly 30 years before.
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Commissioners were appointed in autumn of
1865, to secure a council with the tribes and end, if possible, the war.
In October of that year, the commissioners met the chiefs of the
Cheyenne,
Arapaho,
and other tribes at the mouth of the
Little Arkansas River, and induced them to give up their reservation
upon the
Arkansas River,
and accept another in the State of
Kansas, with
the privilege of ranging over the plains formerly owned by them.
The Senate later amended this treaty to
exclude the tribes entirely from
Kansas,
leaving them nothing but their hunting privileges on the unsettled
plains. Nevertheless, the southern tribes strictly observed the treaty
through the year 1866.
The
Sioux,
to the north, had driven the
Crow into
Montana, and
occupied the wide range of territory originally assigned to both. The
territories to the south had become populous, and rumors of rich mines
in
Montana
attracted emigration in that direction across their lands. This narrowed
the rich hunting grounds to the valley, from the north of which flowed
the Powder River. The annuities from the government having ceased, it
was important that the remnant of the
Indians'
hunting ranges should remain intact, for they afforded their only means
of subsistence.
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Painting of the attack on Sand Creek,
courtesy the Colorado Historical Society
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