Red Cloud

Red Cloud, 1822–1909, Native North American chief, leader of the Oglala Sioux. He led the Native American warfare against the establishment of the Bozeman Trail (see Bozeman, John M.). The Fetterman Massacre (see Fetterman, William Judd) in 1866 led to partial abandonment of the trail. Red Cloud's continual hostility led the government finally to abandon completely (1868) the trail and the forts built to protect it. After signing a treaty he lived in peace with the whites, although he was later charged with duplicity in encouraging hostile Native Americans. Deposed as chief in 1881, he lived thereafter in retirement on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

See J. C. Olson, Red Cloud and the Sioux Problem (1965).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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