Native American Chief Red Cloud was a leader who played an important role in the history of the Native Americans. He fiercely defended his people’s territory against the U.S. government. In the 1860s, he was the head of the Lakota Indians, the same time when the U.S. was making an attempt to seize the Indian territories. He was known for his disapproval in the proposition of roads within the Indian Territory. He led the Red Cloud War, a two-year encounter with the U.S. government wherein he fought to protect the Indian Land in Wyoming and Montana.

Common Facts about Red Cloud

• Old Chief Smoke, Red Cloud’s uncle, raised and mentored him. His grew up without parents because they died early.
• In 1876 to 1877, the Lakota war transpired in revenge against the government and white settlers for their constant trespassing on Indian Land. Red Cloud approved the Lakota War but did not join Chief Crazy Horse and Chief Sitting Bull during the war.
• After years of battle between the Lakota and the U.S. government, Chief Red Cloud finally agreed to move to South Dakota’s Pine Hill Reservation with his tribe in 1878.
• Pretty Owl was the wife of Red Cloud. Their marriage lasted for more than 50 years.
• Chief Red Cloud continued to be Lakota’s chief until 1881. He was then eradicated for the position.
• Chief Red Cloud died and buried at the Pine Ridge Reservation. He was 87.

Chief Red Cloud War Facts

• In the 1860s, during the period of Gold Rush, settlers began to use a newly found route called The Bozemian Trail that would directly get them to Wyoming from Montana. The same route also went directly to Lakota Territory and other Indian territories.
• The Bozemian Trail was widened and developed because it became heavily traveled. It became accessible for the caravans and some army even set up quarters along it. Chief Red Cloud made some actions against it because it threatened to abolish the hunting grounds of the Indians.
• In the history of native Indian attacks, Chief Red Cloud was the leader of one of the highly successful and most unforgettable attacks against the United States. This heroic attempt to send the intruders off of his people’s land was later known as Chief Red Clouds War.
• Chief Red Cloud persisted for two years and Red Cloud and his group prohibited further developments on the trail and even ambushed soldiers and attacked army forts.
• Chief Red Cloud’s biggest accomplishment during the Red Cloud’s War was when he successfully forced the U.S. troops within the Bozemian Trail to move from North Platte River to Montana’s gold fields.
• The U.S. troops were unprepared for the force shown by the Indians. The U.S. government’s attempt to remove the Indians from their land later ended through a peace negotiation.