The Washita River Massacre (also the Battle of the Washita River) happened on November 27, 1868 in Indian Territory, near present-day Cheyenne, Oklahoma. The 7th US Calvary attacked a Cheyenne camp, killing men, women, and children, and taking many captives.
In October 1867, Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes had to relocate from Kansas and Colorado to Indian Territory, by the Medicine Lodge Treaty from the US Congress. It forced them to move from their traditional hunting grounds where buffalo were plentiful, to the western Oklahoma plains, where buffalo were scarce and the land was infertile.
In November 1868, Black Kettle, a leader of the Cheyenne tribe, had camped with other tribes along the Washita River, which they called Lodgepole River, after the local pine trees. Black Kettle and other leaders had been pleading for peace between their people and the US Government. However, the younger warriors seemed pleased that peace had not been made. They claimed that the Lakota and other northern bands would come down the following spring to "clean out the entire country."
Colonel William Hazen, who had been involved in the negotiations, took the young warriors seriously and requested two more companies of the 10th Cavalry to Fort Cobb. Other generals such as Philip Sheridan and George Custer considered the Cheyenne and Arapaho to be "hostile" and planned a winter campaign against the tribes.
On the night of November 26, 1868, Custer divided his force into four parts, surrounding Black Kettle's village. They attacked at daybreak, catching the village unawares. The conflict was soon over but Custer had to quell remaining resistance which took longer.
Black Kettle and his wife Medicine Woman were shot in the back while fleeing.
Estimates of the Cheyenne casualties range from 13 to 150 killed, with dozens of women and children captured.
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