Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

In 1851, a delegation of Native American tribes from the Great Plains met with representatives of the U.S. government and established a peace treaty. The treaty didn’t require the tribes to give up their lands. Over the next decade, however, the Great Plains filled with miners searching for gold. Migration from the east coast of the United States brought more settlers to the Great Plains and to places further west like Colorado and California. The American government began “maneuvering for a land cession.”

Native Americans met with the U.S. government. This time, the government offered the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes a treaty whereby they’d retain land and hunting rights, but would agree to reside in a small territory near the Arkansas River. The Cheyenne and Arapaho representatives agreed. However, only a minority of Cheyenne chiefs were present to sign it, a fact that later called the agreement into question.

In the early years of the Civil War, Cheyenne and Arapaho hunting parties tried to steer clear of Confederate and Union troops. In May 1864, however, a group of Cheyennes encountered a group of Union soldiers, and the Cheyenne leader Lean Bear greeted the soldiers while wearing a medal Abraham Lincoln had given him. The soldiers opened fire on Lean Bear, killing him. Lean Bear’s second-in-command Black Kettle commanded his troops not to fire on the soldiers in order to avoid a war. However, some Cheyennes did fire on the soldiers.

Confused by the American troops’ actions, Black Kettle consulted with a man named William Bent. Bent was a white man, but he’d lived with the Cheyennes for years, and was married to a Cheyenne woman. Bent advised Black Kettle to prevent his young men from raiding white settlements in revenge.

In June 1864, the Colorado governor, John Evans, issued a statement explaining that “some Cheyennes” had gone to war with white people, but he failed to mention the murder of Lean Bear. Following the statement, Black Kettle and other chiefs tried to control their people and prevent retaliation. William Bent’s son George Bent sent a letter to a government agent, offering to exchange white prisoners for Cheyennes. Black Kettle also sent a copy of this letter to the American forces at Fort Lyon, led by Edward Wynkoop.

Wynkoop read Black Kettle’s letter and learned about the white prisoners on Cheyenne land. He decided to ride to Cheyenne land and rescue the prisoners. With only 127 soldiers, Wynkoop marched out to the Cheyenne settlement in Smoky Hill. There, Wynkoop negotiated with Black Kettle. Black Kettle told Wynkoop, “The bad men on both sides brought about this trouble.” He also promised to release four white prisoners, all children—the remaining prisoners were being kept farther north.

The next step was for Black Kettle and Edward Wynkoop to travel to Denver to make peace with Governor Evans. In Denver, Evans accused Black Kettle of allying with the Sioux tribe against the U.S.—an accusation Black Kettle vehemently denied. Evans also claimed that the American soldiers had killed Lean Bear to retaliate for the theft of some horses—again, Black Kettle denied this. The meeting ended with the chiefs “confused as to whether they had made peace or not.”

In November, Major Scott J. Anthony was sent in to replace Edward Wynkoop, who’d angered Governor Evans by dealing with the Cheyenne tribe. Evans ordered Anthony to demand that the Arapahos abandon their land. While Anthony did so, he also told Black Kettle that the Cheyennes were welcome to reside at Sand Creek, under the protection of Fort Lyon. Some of the Arapaho tribe went to join the Cheyenne at Sand Creek, while others traveled south.

On November 26, Major Anthony allowed white traders to do business with the Cheyennes stationed near Sand Creek. His reason was simple: he wanted to keep the Cheyennes “quiet until such time as I receive reinforcements.” The next day, Anthony received his reinforcements and prepared for a massacre. Some of his lieutenants argued that an attack would violate the treaty. On November 28, however, an American army of many hundreds attacked the Cheyenne at Sand Creek. The soldiers murdered dozens of women and children, even after they’d surrendered. Soldiers scalped and mutilated the corpses of Cheyennes. However, some Cheyennes managed to flee.

Among the people fleeing the massacre was George Bent, the half Cheyenne, half white son of William Bent. George reunited with his brother Charlie Bent on William Bent’s ranch. The brothers agreed to reject white civilization, and abandoned the ranch forever.

At Sand Creek, the U.S. army murdered every Cheyenne and Arapaho chief who’d been trying to hold out for peace with the United States. The Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes now concluded that their best option was war.

In January 1865, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Sioux warriors raided supply routes, cutting off much of Denver’s food supply. However, Black Kettle refused to participate in the raids. He led four hundred followers southward while the majority of Cheyennes went north to fight the U.S. army.

The majority of Cheyennes reached the Powder River country, where the Northern Cheyennes lived. In the spring of 1865, the newly united Cheyenne tribe sent scouts to spy on U.S soldiers in preparation for more fighting. On July 24, the Cheyenne attacked the Platte Bridge Station, a military base and stockade, killing several white soldiers.

Meanwhile, Black Kettle and a small group of Southern Cheyennes marched south to rejoin the Arapaho tribe. In the summer of 1865, a delegation of U.S. government officials met with Black Kettle in order to create a new treaty. William Bent helped Black Kettle and representatives from the Arapaho tribe negotiate with the government. The government’s representatives included Kit Carson. The government wanted the Native Americans to abandon their old treaty and surrender their rights to buffalo country in Colorado in order to make way for railroads and new settlers.

During negotiations, government representatives told Black Kettle that gold had been discovered on Cheyenne lands. White settlers would come to the land and treat the Cheyennes cruelly. Black Kettle was reluctant to leave his ancestral lands, but he agreed to live south of the Arkansas River in order to ensure peace. In this way, the Native Americans abandoned their claims to Colorado. “And that of course,” Brown concludes, “was the real meaning of the massacre at Sand Creek.”