The Colorado War was an Indian War fought from 1864 to 1865 between the US Army and the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Lakota Sioux peoples in Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska. The war was marked by clashes and atrocities such as the Sand Creek massacre, and it ended with the Indians' relocation to Wyoming.
Background[]
Following the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie, the United States recognized Cheyenne and Arapaho territory as ranging from the North Platte River in Wyoming and Nebraska to the Arkansas River in Colorado and Kansas. However, the 1858 discovery of gold in the Rockies led to a gold rush and a flood of white settlement on Cheyenne and Arapaho lands. In 1861, several Cheyenne and Arapaho chiefs signed the Treaty of Fort Wise with the US government, ceding more than 90% of the lands allotted to them by the Treaty of Fort Laramie, but the militant Dog Soldiers refused to abide by the treaty.
War[]
US troops searching the Colorado mountains for the Lakota
On 9 April 1864, Colonel John M. Chivington accused the Native Americans of stealing 175 heads of cattle from white settlers, and clashes soon broke out when the US Army was sent in to recover the cattle. From August to September 1864, the roads to Denver from across the Great Plains were closed, and US reinforcements came in from Kansas. In August 1864, the Cheyenne chief Black Kettle held peace talks with the whites and was invited to Denver to meet with Governor John Evans and Colonel Chivington, but the Dog Soldiers continued to raid ranches and wagon trains in Kansas and Nebraska throughout the fall. On 29 November 1864, Colonel Chivington and 675 troops retaliated by sacking Black Kettle's village in the Sand Creek massacre, killing about 150 women, children, and elders, none of whom were Dog Soldiers. On 1 January 1865, the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Lakota chiefs agreed on war with the whites, and, on 7 January, 1,000 Indian warriors attacked Julesburg, Sedgwick County, killing 14 soldiers and 4 armed civilians; they also won a minor victory at Platte Bridge in the summer. The US Army responded by initiating a 2,000-strong expedition to the Powder River, but the expedition proved ineffective. By December, most of the Cheyenne and Arapaho had returned to the southern Great Plains, while the Lakota settled near Fort Laramie. In October 1865, Black Kettle signed a peace treaty which led to his people's relocation to the Indian Territory, while Roman Nose's Dog Soldiers continued their resistance.