Drexel Mission fight was the last armed conflict?

[Jenny]

Why is Wounded Knee always called the last armed fight between NAs and the Army when Drexel Mission occurred the next day? Or are they simply grouped as one as they occurred on/near Pine Ridge? What was the final fight or skirmish (anywhere in the US) before it all stopped?

Thanks for your brainwork on this one!

Jenny

[noggy]

Jan 1, 2023 11:28:33 GMT -6 Jenny said:

Why is Wounded Knee always called the last armed fight between NAs and the Army when Drexel Mission occurred the next day? Or are they simply grouped as one as they occurred on/near Pine Ridge? What was the final fight or skirmish (anywhere in the US) before it all stopped?

Thanks for your brainwork on this one!

Jenny

Because it is famous, and the size and brutality of it makes for a good watershed, as in the Frontier being conquered. And, "the West" is more appealing than "the rest". The USA is a large country and Natives lived in most parts of it (all?).

The US Army had an entire campaign against the Apaches in 1896. Note that the Apache Wars officially ended with Geronimo's surrender 10 years prior to that. The Mexican Army would launch campaigns into the 1930s, and "renegade Apaches" (a term used to describe those who wanted not to die slowly on reservations9 may have roamed the Sierra Madres until the 40s or even 50s.

There were some sort of armed conflicts between US civilians or soldiers and Natives at least until the 1920s (one in 23 at least). Heck, speaking of Wounded Knee, there was "another Wounded Knee" with people on both sides losing their lives in 1973... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wounded_Knee_Occupation In 1980 a probably deadly fight almost broke out between Nez Perce and US personell www.bluefish.org/warriors.htm

All the best,
Noggy

PS: Try DM-ing herosrest if you want to talk to him.

[Jenny]

It's like a string that when pulled just keeps unravelling.

[noggy]

Jan 2, 2023 0:00:10 GMT -6 Jenny said:

It's like a string that when pulled just keeps unravelling.

There is one thing which makes calling WK the last battle (I would call it more of a massacre but hey...) of the Indian Wars a little sense is because it happened in kind of a watershed year:

1890 was the year the Frontier was declared closed, as in it being populated by white Americans and under control. There was no indigenous population left either who stood in the way of"civilization". Ofc, the fighting in the West had pretty much ended in the second half of the 1870s, but with WK taking place the same year as the Frontier disappeared, I guess it looks better to say it all ended in 1890.


All the best,
Noggy

[Jenny]

As with many things where a government decision was made its more important what it looks like rather than what it is. Spoken by a former federal employee, haha.

[tubman13]

Wow, it is a topic with many strings. The Crow actually fought against the army, and as Noggy points out, some of these fights continued into the 20th century. Hell what about the last Wounded Knee in 1973? I know NA's who suffered issues in provided schools as late as the 1970's and 80's. The issues go far beyond the battles and continue today.

Regards,
Tom

[crzhrs]

The "wars" continue as the Lakota are still "fighting" to have the Black Hills returned to them.

The Treaty of 1868 (aka Fort Laramie Treaty) guaranteed the Black Hills to the Lakota.

No new treaties could be made unless 3/4 of the adults males signed them.

3/4 of the adult males never signed the "new" treaty.

The Supreme Court sided with the Lakota in 1980 and assigned them money but the Lakota have ever since refused.

They want the land back that was illegally stolen from them.

You can fight wars in court now better than in the field.

[tubman13]

Thanks for that Tom.

Regards,
Another Tom