How Did The Sioux Take A Stand?

“We do not want riches. We want peace and love,” stated Oglala Sioux Chief Red Cloud on July 16, 1870, in New York. Many people, such as Chief Red Cloud, have stood up for their beliefs. In taking a stand, one represents a cause or opinion through their words and actions. Protesting, rebelling, being firm in one's beliefs, and fighting are all examples of taking a stand. Chief Red Cloud of the Oglala Sioux took a stand in history when he refused to give up his tribe’s land, proving the strength of the Native Americans and providing for a better recognition of American Indians in the future.
Before the exploration of the American West, Sioux Indians led favorable, happy lives. Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Sioux tribes resided in present-day North
Furious at the fact that settlers were traveling on the trail blazed by John Bozeman, cutting straight through Sioux hunting grounds, he began raiding anyone using the Bozeman and Oregon trails in 1865 (Waldman 294). Peace had to be made with the Native American warriors in order to open the Bozeman Trail, so the government promised land, farming supplies, food, and protection if the raids would stop. However, the Sioux did not want to live in houses, farm, or go to school like white men. The government did not seem to care that the Natives had rejected their offer, and declared the Bozeman Trail officially open. However, travelers found it impossible to use the trail because of the Natives’ raids (Drury 226-227; 237-238). Red Cloud made sure that no one could settle on their hunting grounds, but the government’s determination to open the Bozeman Trail remained absolute. Colonel Henry Carrington only made it worse by planning to build three forts on the Bozeman without permission from the Native Americans (Sanford Oglala 22). Sioux Natives attended a meeting at Fort Laramie to try to negotiate with the U.S. Army. Native Americans at the peace talk found out about Colonel Carrington’s plans. They did not want forts built on the Bozeman (Drury 244). Even the great chief Red Cloud himself voiced his opinion,
For months, the Sioux planned an attack using decoys to ambush the soldiers (Members 119). The battle took place in early winter. On the morning of December 21, a Lakota medicine man prophesied of “a hundred dead soldiers” (Sanford “Fetterman” 20). Later that day, Sioux braves attacked a woodcutting party. Captain William J. Fetterman and a rescue party were dispatched from the fort to aid the wood train (Murray 45-46). Their small party of 76 soldiers, two civilians, two captains, and one lieutenant, making 81 men total, were unprepared for the battle that lay ahead (Members 121; The Memorial). “We held our horses’ mouths so they would not neigh at the strange horses. Everything is still. The leading soldiers have reached the trail. Now they are between us,” said a Sioux warrior in the Fetterman Fight (Sanford “Fetterman” 21). Captain Fetterman followed the small group of Indian braves to Peno Creek, where he and his soldiers were ambushed by 2,000 warriors (Murray 46). The small, unprepared rescue party proved to be no match for the much larger army, and within thirty minutes, every last soldier had been killed in the battle (Sanford "Fetterman” 22). The Native Americans gained a significant victory that day, one that became important to Indians and white men alike. Today it is known as The