Colorado History - Gratlan Affair/Massacre, Fort Laramie

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Colorado History

- Colorado History -
The The Gratlan Affair / Massacre
Fort Laramie

The Gratlan Affair
In August 1854, a series of incidents occurred that would result in a massacre at Fort Laramie, Wyoming. A Mormon comes in and states that he was sure that the Indians are his cow. A Lakota chief, Bear That Scatters, came to the fort to pay for a cow that the Indians had to put out of its misery. He offered $10, but the Mormon wanted $25. This was unreasonable, so the chief went back home.

Second-Lieutenant Gratlan was in charge. Gratlan, twenty-nine men, two cannons, and a drunken French interpreter set off. They stopped at another fort on the way, but the owner Boraux didn't want to go with. Gratlan gets to the village and says, "The $25, or the cow killers." The warrior would not surrender, afraid of white jail and torture. A nervous soldier fired the first shot hitting Bear That Scatters. The Lakotas warned the soldiers. The Indians kicked butt.

A lurid portrayal of the Minnesota Massacre by John Stevens.
Left: An Indian squaw cuts the legs of a captive white girl, Julia Smith. Right: Julia tries to protect her mother from being shot, but both were killed by the same bullet.

Massacre at Fort Laramie
After the Gratlan Massacre, the Cheyenne headed for Fort Laramie. But, en route they saw Bordoux out front of his trading post tossing goods out the door - This stopped the Indians. As he was dying, Bear That Scatters pleaded that they not avenge him. So, the Cheyenne attacked a wagon train - this was their retribution.

Fort Laramie, in the heart of Sioux territory, became an army post in 1849.

Tom Twist, an Indian agent, arrives. He asked the Lakota to move away from the North Platte and the white men. All the Cheyenne left, except one tribe. They didn't feel that they had to leave, as they didn't do anything wrong. This will lead to another massacre at Ash Hollow.

Fort Laramie Treaty - 1851
Thomas Fitzpatrick, Indian agent was urging the US Federal Government to make a treaty for the plains. In the summer of 1851, the government called for a treaty to establish boundaries and rights for the Plains tribes. They would meet at Fort Laramie, Wyoming This was called the Fort Laramie Treaty, also known as the Horse Creek Treaty (where the Indians camped), or the Fitzpatrick Treaty.

Interior of Fort Laramie painted by Alfred Jacob Miller in 1837.

Every Plains tribe was invited. Most came, but not the Pawnee, the Kiowa, or the Commankae. All-out war almost started between the tribes while they were waiting for the government to arrive. One provision of the treaty was that all tribes signing pledged peace with each other. The government was trying to make peace between the tribes.

The treaty gave specific territory to the Indians for as long as the winds blew. The Cheyenne, and Arapaho with Smith as interpreter, received 122,000 square miles - from the continental divide to the North Platte (Nebraska), straight down to the Arkansas River back to the Platte.

The Indians were given Colorado because of Pike's and Long's reports:
"Leave the desert and paounta to the Indians."

The Indians were to receive 50,000 for fifty years so that the whites could establish roads, "military and otherwise," across Indian lands. The Indians made their mark and the treaty went to the Senate where it was amended to 15 years. Now it would have to be resigned to be valid. Fitzpatrick would need lots of luck to get these marks. The Cheyenne Arapaho had a big problem, and none of the Pawnee signed. This will lead to more intertribal wars.

Treaty of Fort Laramie - 1868

Peace commissioners including Generals William S. Harney and William Tecumseh Sherman came west in 1868 to seek an end to hostilities with the Cheyenne and the Lakota. Among the Indian leader attending were Spotted Tail, Brule Lakota; Roman Nose, Cheyenne; and Man Afraid of His Horses, Oglala Lakota.

Left: General William Harney (white beard) and William Tecumseh Sherman at Fort Laramie.
Right: Man Afraid of His Horses smoking a ceremonial pipe.

Treaty of Fort Laramie in May 1868. Among the Indian signers was the Sioux chief Man Afraid of His Horses (second from right) and Red Cloud who signed in November.

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- Colorado History In Depth -
Lecture Notes, Reading, and Information:

| The Cheyenne Migration to Colorado |
| The Gratlan Affair, Massacre, Fort Laramie Treaty |

Fort Union
| The Sante Fe Trail and Fort Union |
| Sumner - Ninth Military Department / The First Fort Union |
| Early Arrivals to Fort Union, Daily Life at Fort Union |
| Captain Grover - The New Fort Union, the Confederate Threat |
| Fort Union Arsenal, William Shoemaker, End of Fort Union |

Cripple Creek District Labor Strikes
| The Western Federation of Miners / State Militia |
| The 1893 - 1894 Strike | The Strike of 1903 - 1904 |
| The Mine Owners Association |
| Crimes and Military Rule in the Cripple Creek District |
| Marshall Law in Cripple Creek District / End of the Strike |
Early Cripple Creek District
| Photos, Fire, and Life in Cripple Creek |
| Other Colorful Towns in the Cripple Creek District:
Gillett - Colorado's Only Bullfight, Victor, Independence |
| A Guide to the Miners' Gritty Lingo |

More Colorado History Information
| Bent's Fort Photos, Personalities, Plans, and More |
| What Was Easter Like at Bent's Fort? |
| Colorado Trivia, Miscellaneous Old Photos,
Western Personalities, Forts, and More |
| Lullabies for Jittery Cows - Cowboy Ballads |
| Heraldry of the Branding Iron |
| Project Aims to Clear Infamous Cannibal, Alferd Packer |
| Lead Gives Alferd Packer's Story More Weight |
| Legendary Colorado Love Stories: Baby Doe Tabor & More |
| Colorado Pioneer Women: Elizabeth Byers |
| Early Denver Jokes / The History of April Fools' Day |

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