Great Leader: Red Cloud of the Oglala Lakota, 1822-1909
Some Native leaders won the respect of Whites while keeping the esteem of their people. Red Cloud of the Oglala Lakota, 1822-1909, was a respected leader, warrior, diplomat and advocate for his people who stands in the same rank as Tecumseh, Osceola, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Geronimo, among others.
Red Cloud was born in 1822, in what is now North Platte, North Dakota. His mother, Walks as She Thinks, was an Oglala. His father, Lone Man, was a Brule Lakota leader. Sioux culture is matrilineal, meaning that a child took his mother's tribal membership and status from her. Red Cloud's maternal uncle, Old Chief Smoke, provided his warrior's training and sponsored his rise in Oglala society. After the deaths of Red Cloud's parents, Smoke raised Red Cloud as his own child. Under Smoke's direction, Red Cloud began his career in skirmishes with Crow and Pawnee, gaining early experience. Settlers began pouring into Wyoming and Montana. Along with Cheyenne and Arapahoe allies, the Sioux mobilized to keep Whites out of their homeland. Red Cloud took an early lead in these wars, particularly in 1866-68, in a conflict that became known as Red Cloud's War. Army commanders soon realized they had a formidable enemy on their hands. Red Cloud was a daring warrior and a brilliant tactician. The 1866 Fetterman Massacre saw 79 soldiers and 2 civilians killed in a surprise attack. It would be the largest loss for the Army in the West until Little Bighorn years later.
Despite their successes, Red Cloud and other leaders knew that they were on the losing end of the fight. The Settlers would keep coming and the Army would keep fighting, costing the lives of warriors who could not be replaced. Red Cloud was a signatory to the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. His people were granted land that became the Great Sioux Reservation in what is now Nebraska and parts of South Dakota. As usual in such treaties, they were promised protection of their land rights from White settlement. But the Settlers kept coming and Red Cloud traveled to Washington to meet with President Ulysses S. Grant and Commissioner of Indian Affairs Ely S. Parker, himself a Seneca. In 1871, the U.S. established the Red Cloud Agency on the Platte River. The Agency was responsible for providing rations as well as cash and trade goods, which were not always forthcoming.
Red Cloud led his people to the Agency, which was moved to the White River in Nebraska in 1873. Not all Oglala wanted to be on a reservation. Crazy Horse and many other younger warriors rejected the reservation and remained outside its bounds. White officials believed that Red Cloud, an influential leader, spoke for all the Sioux, not realizing the intricate relationships among the various bands, who were autonomous and free to decide for themselves. During the Great Sioux War in 1876-77, Red Cloud and his warriors remained peaceful. He advocated against joining the movement led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. He also made many trips to Washington to continue to press his people's needs to the government. Officials in Washington wanted to send the Oglala to Oklahoma. Red Cloud was fed up. "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 leave us alone!"
The Red Cloud Agency was moved again in 1877 to the forks of the White River, where it later became the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Red Cloud did what he could to help his people settle in to reservation life. He later converted to Catholicism. He opposed the Dawes Act of 1889, which would break up reservation land into homestead allotments for Individual families. When both he and Sitting Bull advocated against the Dawes Act, the government resorted to having children sign the necessary paperwork. He finally died in 1909 at Pine Ridge, the last of the great Sioux leaders. He said, "The made us many promises, more than I can remember. But they kept only one. They promised to take our land, and they did."
Red Cloud was born in 1822, in what is now North Platte, North Dakota. His mother, Walks as She Thinks, was an Oglala. His father, Lone Man, was a Brule Lakota leader. Sioux culture is matrilineal, meaning that a child took his mother's tribal membership and status from her. Red Cloud's maternal uncle, Old Chief Smoke, provided his warrior's training and sponsored his rise in Oglala society. After the deaths of Red Cloud's parents, Smoke raised Red Cloud as his own child. Under Smoke's direction, Red Cloud began his career in skirmishes with Crow and Pawnee, gaining early experience. Settlers began pouring into Wyoming and Montana. Along with Cheyenne and Arapahoe allies, the Sioux mobilized to keep Whites out of their homeland. Red Cloud took an early lead in these wars, particularly in 1866-68, in a conflict that became known as Red Cloud's War. Army commanders soon realized they had a formidable enemy on their hands. Red Cloud was a daring warrior and a brilliant tactician. The 1866 Fetterman Massacre saw 79 soldiers and 2 civilians killed in a surprise attack. It would be the largest loss for the Army in the West until Little Bighorn years later.Despite their successes, Red Cloud and other leaders knew that they were on the losing end of the fight. The Settlers would keep coming and the Army would keep fighting, costing the lives of warriors who could not be replaced. Red Cloud was a signatory to the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. His people were granted land that became the Great Sioux Reservation in what is now Nebraska and parts of South Dakota. As usual in such treaties, they were promised protection of their land rights from White settlement. But the Settlers kept coming and Red Cloud traveled to Washington to meet with President Ulysses S. Grant and Commissioner of Indian Affairs Ely S. Parker, himself a Seneca. In 1871, the U.S. established the Red Cloud Agency on the Platte River. The Agency was responsible for providing rations as well as cash and trade goods, which were not always forthcoming.
Red Cloud led his people to the Agency, which was moved to the White River in Nebraska in 1873. Not all Oglala wanted to be on a reservation. Crazy Horse and many other younger warriors rejected the reservation and remained outside its bounds. White officials believed that Red Cloud, an influential leader, spoke for all the Sioux, not realizing the intricate relationships among the various bands, who were autonomous and free to decide for themselves. During the Great Sioux War in 1876-77, Red Cloud and his warriors remained peaceful. He advocated against joining the movement led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. He also made many trips to Washington to continue to press his people's needs to the government. Officials in Washington wanted to send the Oglala to Oklahoma. Red Cloud was fed up. "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 leave us alone!"
The Red Cloud Agency was moved again in 1877 to the forks of the White River, where it later became the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Red Cloud did what he could to help his people settle in to reservation life. He later converted to Catholicism. He opposed the Dawes Act of 1889, which would break up reservation land into homestead allotments for Individual families. When both he and Sitting Bull advocated against the Dawes Act, the government resorted to having children sign the necessary paperwork. He finally died in 1909 at Pine Ridge, the last of the great Sioux leaders. He said, "The made us many promises, more than I can remember. But they kept only one. They promised to take our land, and they did."
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