This article gives a chronology of important events in the life of Red Cloud, Oglala Sioux war chief.
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- 1822 Red Cloud was born in western Nebraska near the Blue Creek at the forks of the Platte River.
- 1841 Kills Bull Bear (Chief of the Koya Oglalas)
- 1842 Leads first war party
Marries Pretty Owl - 1851 Plains tribes meet government agents at the first Fort Laramie treaty council
Indians grant settlers right of way through territory in exchange for government annuity - 1854 US troops kill Conquering Bear (chief of the Sioux) at Fort Laramie
Brulé and Oglala warriors kill John L. Grattan and 20 of his men in the Grattan Massacre - 1855 General William S. Harney kills 86 Indians camped with Brulé chief Little Thunder on the Bluewater River
- 1864 Colorado volunteers under Colonel John H. Chivington kill 130 Cheyennes at Sand Creek, Colorado
- 1866 Red Cloud’s warriors lay siege to Fort Phil Kearny
December: wipe out Captain William Fetterman and his 80 man command - 1867 US troops repulse Red Cloud’s forces in the Wagon Box Fight near Fort Phil Kearny
- 1868 Red Cloud signs treaty ending warfare
US Government agrees to withdraw troops from Lakota lands near Powder River - 1870 Red Cloud travels to Washington to negotiate for trading rights at Fort Laramie
- 1873 Settles at Red Cloud Agency on the White River
- 1876 Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho forces destroy General George Armstrong Custer and his men at the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Accused of supporting the campaign, Red Cloud and followers are arrested - 1878 Red Cloud’s people move to Pine Ridge Agency on the White Clay River
- 1889 US Officials persuade the Sioux to relinquish 11 million acres of land to non-Indian settlers
- 1890 US troops under Colonel James Forsyth kill more than 150 Lakotas at Wounded Knee Creak
- 1909 Red Cloud Dies at Pine Ridge Agency
- Almost a century after his death, the diplomatic efforts of Red Cloud supporters helped the celebrated chief gain election to the Nebraska Hall of Fame. He was the hall’s 23rd member, its third American Indian.
