The Fort Laramie Treaties

Fort Laramie,
1851
In the 1840s the U.S. Government had seen a large increase in their
territory. In this short time the territory near doubled, now giving white settlers
access to the rich and fertile lands in the far west and, to their surprise, the gold
abundant territory later to be the state of California. With this new expansion,
thousands upon thousands of settlers took to the Oregon trail and underwent the
migration west. This was the most rapid level of growth the United States had seen
in quite some time but with it came a rapid level of conflict with the Native
American tribes. The Oregon trail wound directly through the heart of native
territory, bringing with it thousands of unwelcome guests, tension, and conflict.
While the settlers traveled the plains they stripped the lands of almost all the
resources the native people relied upon, most notably the buffalo. Because of the
conflict brought to the plains the white settlers and Native Americans found
themselves in a perpetual cycle of getting even with one another. Due to the
frustration caused by the white settlers traveling through the plains, not to mention
the devastating disease they brought with them, the Native Americans began to
attack the settlers and because of the lack of understanding on the part of the white
settlers they would attack the Native Americans out of fear and ignorance. This
caused a cycle of violence in which both parties would attack the innocent in
retaliation, only escalating the conflict.
The U.S. Government saw this conflict and foresaw no way it would settle
itself naturally, so they requested that Thomas Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick was a leader
among the wagon trains of the Oregon Trail and was asked to organize a meeting
between the Native American leaders and representatives of the U.S. Government
in the hopes of negotiating a peace treaty to end this conflict.

Almost all the people of the plains answered this call and sent representative
to the peace meeting which was to take place at Fore Laramie. Even when peace
was attempting to be sought, tensions ran high and the constant threat of conflict
loomed over the treaty. The treaty that was proposed included safe passage for the
white settlers through the plains and to the west without fear of attack. In return for
this the Native American Tribes would be allowed to keep a portion of their lands,
which were broken up among the tribes and where they would be required to stay.
In exchange for this the U.S. Government also agreed to award the Native
American Tribes $50,000,000 which was to last for fifty years.
After the agreement was made there was a brief time of peace. The problem
was the even though the Native Americans present had agreed to the treaty, very
few Native Americans even knew of its existence and thus continued their raids.
The United States saw this as a breach of the treaty, even though they too could not
control their own people and force them to follow. After the treaty had been view
as breached, the U.S. Senate, amended the treaty to make the concessions state 10
years rather than the original fifty. Over a short time, hostilities resumed between
the two peoples and what could have been the start of a prosperous time of
cooperation, understanding, and peace became little more than a failed treaty.
"The History and Culture of the." Tribal Historical Overview. N.p., n.d.Web. 12
Mar. 2016. <http://www.ndstudies.org/resources/IndianStudies/standingrock/
851treaty.html>.
"Meeting at Fort Laramie 1851 Full Version." Meeting at Fort Laramie 1851 Full
Version. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
<http://www.nativeamerican.co.uk/fulllaramie.html>.