Brave Eagle's Account of The Fetterman Fight

Goble, P. & D. (1972). Brave Eagle’s account of the Fetterman Fight: 21 December 1866. USA: Pantheon.

            “The white men have surrounded me and have left me nothing but an island.  When we first had this land we were strong, now our nation is melting away like snow on the hillsides where the sun is warm; while the white people grow like the blades of grass when summer is coming.  I do not want the white people to make any roads through our country.”  (Red Cloud)

            In 1866, the American nation was in a period of reconstruction following the Civil War.  Most of the native Indian tribes had already been driven from their lands onto reservations.  Only a few still held portions of their homelands.  The government wanted a right of way through the Sioux and Cheyenne territories in Wyoming and Montana, leading to the gold mines in Virginia City.  This route, the Bozeman Trail, had been used by white civilians for several years, but with great risk of attacks.  Weary with war, Washington officials decided it would be cheaper to appease the Indians than fight them.  A meeting was arranged between government officials and the tribes at Fort Laramie “to make peace.”  There were wagon loads of gifts for the Indians, which they never accepted after realizing that they had once again been deceived.  Whether negotiations were successful or not, the decision had already been made to use the trail and provide military protection to civilians.  The government did not want peace, it wanted the land—the best ancestral hunting grounds—and it wanted the gold.  The tribes angrily left the gathering, having no interest whatsoever in giving up more of their lands.  Forts were built along the trail and soldiers were stationed there, but at no time was travel safe, sometimes it was impossible.  Knowing they had no choice, the united tribes effectively fought against the soldiers for 6 months prior to the battle with Captain Fetterman and his 82 men, who all were killed.  This book records a first-person account of the events before, during, and after the Fetterman Fight, which was the Army’s worst defeat in the battles for the Bozeman Trail.  The fighting continued until at last the government ordered the forts to be abandoned.  The Bozeman Trail was closed by the Treaty of 1868, and the country was given back to the Indians.  The land was promised to Red Cloud’s people forever.  Red Cloud vowed to fight no more.  Although this treaty was soon forgotten, and soldiers continued to come, Red Cloud, true to his word, never fought them again.

Red Cloud

           “Red Cloud’s War is the only instance in the history of the United States where the government has gone to war and afterwards negotiated a peace conceding everything demanded by the enemy and exacting nothing in return.” (Doane Robinson)

            Republished a decade after the original, this non-fiction book was written for young adults.  Many of its pages are illustrated by colorful paintings depicting scenes described in the text.  The descriptive, chronological, first-person narrative includes explicit accounts of battle scenes and individuals involved.  Leaders like Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, American Horse, and Sitting Bull are part of the story that begins with events leading up to the Fetterman Fight, and continues beyond.  Told from Brave Eagle’s point of view, there are many insights into his culture, philosophies and ways of life.  There are often-contrasting insights into white man culture as well. Red Cloud's first-person accounts were extracted from his recorded speeches.

Question:  How might the fighting have been prevented?

Question:  What would be your reaction if you owned land that you depended on for your livelihood, and someone came to build a road through the best part?

Question:  Is the government always right?