will henceforth be closed to all whites.
The treaty seemed to be a complete victory
for Red Cloud and the Sioux.
In fact, this is the only war
in American history
in which the government negotiated a peace
by conceding everything
demanded by the enemy.
1869: The Transcontinental
Railroad was completed.
It began carrying, among other things,
large numbers of hunters,
who began the wholesale
killing of buffalo,
eliminating a source of food,
clothing and shelter for the Sioux.
1871:
The Indian Appropriation Act
makes all Indians
wards of the federal government.
In addition, the military issued orders
forbidding western Indians
from leaving reservations.
All western Indians at that point in time
were now prisoners of war.
Also in 1871,
we ended the time of treaty-making.
The problem with treaties is they allow
tribes to exist as sovereign nations,
and we can't have that.
We had plans.