Once the American Civil War ended, the U.S. Army turned
its attention back to dealing with the hostilities between the white Americans
and Plains tribes. Part of their effort involved making treaties where the
tribes –primarily Cheyenne, Arapaho, Sioux, Comanche, Kiowa, or Plains Apache—gave
up rights to certain lands in exchange for reservation land plus annuity
payments in food, hunting weapons, and ammunition. White Americans did not
really care about any territory rights the tribes still held. Native tribes
retaliated when the perceived whites had violated the treaties.
An incident on the Kansas frontier in 1867—now known as
Hancock’s War—is an example of the disasters that took place due to
incompetence, intolerance, and misunderstandings. It is also known by some as “The
Unnecessary War.”
Part of the misunderstandings came about because
generals and other high-ranking officers who performed well in the Civil War were
not suited to dealing with the Native Americans. In addition to having an
arrogant contempt for tribal people as a whole, they did not understand the
Native way of thinking or the way their leadership was organized. In addition,
they were disinclined to listen to their own Indian agents who had developed a
certain rapport with the different tribes.
After
several tribes carried out a series of raids and confrontations because they
felt certain treaties had been broken by white Americans (in most cases, true),
many generals, including Gen.
William T. Sherman, then assigned to oversee the Kansas frontier region, wished
to carry out a revenge expedition. Gen. Grant decided against it. Instead, he
directed Gen. Winfield S. Hancock to intimidate the people of the tribes into remaining peaceful. Hancock did not have authority to make any new treaties. However,
he did intend to restore peace by forcing them into submission. He intended to accomplish this with a display of military
might.
Also, Leavenworth
(The man, not the fort, the Indian agent of Kiowas and Comanches) and Wyncoop (the
Indian agent of the Cheyenne and Arapaho) came. They repeatedly offered advice
regarding the best way to negotiate with the tribal leaders, but were, for the
most part, ignored.
Gen. Hancock and
his men marched from Fort Riley to Fort Harker, where they were joined by Colonel Custer George a Custer, with four companies of 7th Cavalry
and one infantry company. At Fort Harker the Expedition added two more Cavalry
troops. Gen. Hancock and his men left Fort Harker on April 3, 1866 and arrived
at Fort Larned on April 7, 1866.
From Ft. Larned, Gen. Hancock sent word to the
surrounding tribal leaders that he expected them to come to the fort. He wished
to speak to them, but he wanted to address them all at the same time. From
among the tribes’ leaders, several stood out to officers at Fort Larned by March
1867, including Satanta and Kicking Bird
of the Kiowa; Tall Bull,
White Horse, Bull Bear, Roman Nose, and Black Kettle of the Cheyenne; and Little
Raven of the Arapaho.
A few of the chiefs met with Hancock at Fort
Larned. Although they kept insisting other chiefs were on their way, they
repeatedly resisted all gathering in one place at the same time.
Hancock concluded the meeting by indicating
that he wanted to meet with the other chiefs. He and his troops rode west of
Fort Larned toward a combined Cheyenne and Lakota village at Pawnee Forks. On
April 13, 1867, as Hancock and his men approach the village, several chiefs came out to meet them. They
said they would meet with the general the following day at the location where
the Army set up camp.
Gen. Hancock
insisted he wanted to come into their village at Pawnee Forks to talk to the chiefs.
Worried about the
fates of their families, the Cheyenne chiefs and their Lakota Sioux allies
resisted. It had been only three years since the massacre at Sand Creek where a
village of Cheyenne under Black Kettle and some Arapaho were massacred by a
unit of Colorado Volunteers.
Insisting on having his way, on April 14,
1867, Gen. Hancock ordered his troops forward. As the army drew nearer the
village, a group of about 300 Cheyenne warriors—dressed in full battle array—rode
out to meet them, mirroring the army’s display of military strength.
Cheyenne Warriors
Gen. Hancock and his forces continued to move
forward. Before reaching the Cheyenne camp, they were met by a large body of
Indians waving a white flag. The Chiefs said they wanted peace instead of War.
Colonel Ned Wynkoop, the Cheyenne and Arapaho
Agent at Fort Larned from 1866 to 1868, rode out between the lines to ask the
warriors to stay calm and stay put. The warriors agreed. The Army troops
marched to within one mile of the village and set up camp.
Fearing that the Army intended to attack their
village, the women and children—along with many of the men to protect them—fled
the village. They left their lodges and belongings—including most of their food—behind.
Gen. Hancock, talked and acted as though he
could not understand of why the people would flee. Offended that they would
have the audacity to take independent action, he demanded the return of the
villagers. Some of the Cheyenne warriors obliged Hancock and rode to look for
the women and children, but returned empty-handed. However, after observing the
general’s anger and fearing retaliation, they fled without staying for any “talks.”
Gen. Hancock was far from acting in good faith
with the Cheyenne. On the sly, he ordered Col. Custer’s 7th Cavalry to surround
the village that night to keep them from running. However, Custer and his men either got
there too late, or the villagers escaped past them.
Custer pursued them the next day. He discovered two
stations of the Overland Stage Company on the Smoky Hill Trail had been raided
and several people killed. He sent back word it must have been the escaping
Cheyenne. He later realized it could not have been them (It was the work of the
Lakota chief, Little Raven, and his warriors, who left the Cheyenne village
shortly after Gen. Hancock and his troops arrived.) By the time Col. Custer
sent another message saying, because of timing, it could not have been the
Cheyenne, it was too late for the village.
On April 18,
1867, Hancock, contrary to Indian Agent Wyncoop’s advice, confiscates all Cheyenne
goods and burned the village. He justified it by claiming the Cheyenne were “a
nest of conspirators.”
Enraged, the Cheyenne
vowed revenge. They waged war, not only on the U.S. Army, but on any white
Americans whose paths they crossed. 1867 was considered an
“unprecedented season of violence on the plains of Kansas.”
For more details about his incident, as well
as some of the quotes by participants I used as chapter headers, please CLICKHERE.
I featured this incident in my book, Hannah’s Highest Regard, the second book
in the box set, Hannah’s Lieutenant, I recently published. The box set is
available in both ebook and print formats.
Sources:
https://www.nps.gov/fols/learn/historyculture/hancocks-war.htm
https://www.legendsofamerica.com/hancocks-war/
