By the 1840s the Lakotas had made peace with the Cheyennes and Arapahos, but there was no peace with those tribes to the east that ranged westward for bison (Pawnees, Osages, Omahas, Potawatomies, etc.) or with the Crows and Blackfeet to the north. Encounters with non-Indians, which had occurred infrequently in the past, now increased as Oregon-bound settlers and California-bound gold seekers began crossing the Plains. The buffalo herds were disrupted, and the Plains Indians, in turn, tried to disrupt some of the wagon trains. ‘It was only a matter of time,’ writes R. Eli Paul, ‘before Lakota expansionism came into conflict with that other great power, the United States.’

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At mid-century, about 15,000 Lakotas stood in the way of ‘progress.’ This western group included seven subdivisions–Hunkpapa, Oglala, Minneconjou, Two-Kettle, Sans-Arc, Blackfoot and Brulé. Red Cloud was almost 30 at the time, Sitting Bull was not yet 20 and Crazy Horse was only about 10 and still known as Curly or Curly Hair. Even the young Crazy Horse may have already displayed bravery, generosity, wisdom and fortitude–the four great virtues of the Lakota male–by that time, and certainly Red Cloud had already made a name for himself among his Lakota peers. But the trio was unknown to the white world and would have held no interest for the white man in any case. That would only change when they became threats to that white world…or at least to that small part of the white world that passed through Teton territory.

In an attempt to head off trouble at the pass in 1851, representatives of the U.S. government negotiated the Treaty of Fort Laramie (also known as the Treaty of Horse Creek), which was signed by representatives of the Lakotas and other tribes. The treaty was designed to buy off the natives so that there would be peace on the emigrant road (the Indians were not to attack the white people just passing through) and on the Plains (the Indians were not to attack each other). It was a pipe dream. For one thing, the Indian signees did not represent all of their tribesmen. For another, a warrior culture could not be transformed overnight. Far too many Plains Indians were fighters to the bone. And far too many whites were coming.

Three years later, near Fort Laramie (in what would become Wyoming), the Lakotas had their first significant clash with the U.S. Army. In mid-August 1854, a wayward cow from an emigrant wagon train was killed by a Minneconjou man, and Brevet 2nd Lt. John L. Grattan, determined to do something about it, led an expedition of 30 men to a large Lakota camp. Negotiations with the headof the camp, Brulé Chief Conquering Bear, broke down in no time, and the impatient young lieutenant tried to force the issue despite being badly outnumbered. Who fired first is not certain, but Grattan died with his boots on, and Conquering Bear died with his moccasins on. Because all Grattan’s men were also killed, while the cow killer got nary a scratch, the clash has been labeled a ‘massacre’–the Grattan Massacre.

Red Cloud was a witness to the killings, but he and most other Lakotas paid the skirmish little mind. They went on with their lives; skirmishes, after all, were part of life. The U.S. War Department, not liking anything about that particular skirmish, eventually called upon Brevet Brig. Gen. William S. Harney to exact revenge. ‘By God, I’m for battle–no peace,’ Harney announced, and in early September 1855 he proved it by attacking the Brulé Chief Little Thunder’s village on Blue Water Creek near Ash Hollow, in Nebraska Territory. Harney’s force of more than 600 men destroyed the village and suffered relatively minor casualties (four dead, four badly wounded) while killing at least 85 inhabitants. Most history books call it the Battle of Blue Water, though ‘Harney’s Massacre’ has been suggested as an alternative by a few. Red Cloud was not a witness to General Harney’s punitive action, but legend has it that Curly (Crazy Horse) was in Little Thunder’s camp that bloody September day. Whether he was actually there or not, the future warrior was surely affected by the unprecedented Lakota losses. His uncle, Spotted Tail, had been wounded in the Blue Water fight, and Spotted Tail’s wife and baby daughter were among the 70 women and children captured by the soldiers.

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