Reservation Era Begins 1850-1878
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1864
Gold is discovered in Colorado
Gold discovered in Colorado triggers an invasion of American settlers into lands of the Cheyenne,...Read More
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1864
Colorado governor creates militia to kill “hostile Indians"
Governor John Evans orders peaceful Indians in eastern Colorado Territory to report to Sand Creek...Read More
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1864
Sand Creek Massacre (Colorado)
On November 29, 1864, under the command of Colonel John Chivington, a Methodist minister, an...Read More
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1864
Gold is discovered in Montana
In violation of treaties, prospectors invade lands of Native people throughout Wyoming and Montana and...Read More
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1864
Massacre of Yana tribal members (California)
White settlers massacre 20 Yana women, children, and men in Cottonwood, California (“List of Indian...Read More
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1864
Massacre of the Apache at Bloody Tanks (Arizona)
A posse of White settlers massacre 19 unsuspecting Apaches at a “peace parley” (“List of...Read More
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1864
Oak Run Massacre of Yana tribe (California)
White settlers massacre over 300 Yana tribal people as they gather for their tribal ceremonies...Read More
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1864
Skull Valley Massacre of Yavapai families (Arizona)
Lt. Monteith and a group of Arizona militiamen lure a group of Yavapai families into...Read More
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1865
Civil War ends; debt peonage continues for Native Americans
Congress passes the 13th Amendment, prohibiting both slavery and involuntary servitude. The U.S. Supreme Court...Read More
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1865
Dakota leaders Medicine Bottle and Sakpe are executed without proper trial
Dakota leaders Medicine Bottle and Sakpe are drugged, kidnapped, and brought to Fort Snelling for...Read More
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1865
Hampton Institute for African Americans is founded
Samuel Chapman Armstrong, the son of a Hawaiian missionary, had been strongly influenced by his...Read More
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1865
Southeastern tribes in Indian Territory negotiate “Reconstruction Treaties” with U.S. government
The map of Indian Territory is entirely reconstructed after the Civil War, leaving little resemblance...Read More
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1865
Mud Lake Massacre of Paiute (Nevada)
Captain Wells and his troops attack and massacre 32 Paiute at their camp at Winnemucca...Read More
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1865
Grass Valley Massacre of Ute Indians (Utah)
Mormon militia attack and kill 10 Ute men and take the women and children as...Read More
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1865
Owens Lake Massacre of Paiute (California)
White settlers, in retaliation for the death of two settlers, attack a Paiute camp at...Read More
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1865
Three Knolls Massacre of Yana (California)
A posse of White settlers murder a Yana community in Mill Creek, California (“List of...Read More
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1865-1903
Annihilation of buffalo by military and hunters
“Kill every buffalo you can! Every buffalo dead is an Indian gone” (General Dodge). General...Read More
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1866+
Buffalo soldiers are created
In 1866, six all-Black cavalry and infantry regiments are created after Congress passes the Army...Read More
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1866
Circleville Massacre of the Paiute (Utah)
Mormon militia murder 16 Paiute men and women and shoot and kill anyone trying to...Read More
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1866
Hawaiian leprosy patients are sent to Moloka‘i Colony
The first leprosy patients are forced into quarantine at Kalawao on Moloka’i; approximately 3,000 follow...Read More
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1867
Aquarius Mountains Massacre (Arizona)
Yavapai County Rangers massacre 23 children, women, and men (likely Hualapai tribal members) in the...Read More
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1867
Buffalo Bill Cody singlehandedly kills 4,000 buffalo
Cody kills 4,000 buffalo in an eight-month period with a Remington repeater rifle, earning the...Read More
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1867
Colorado Territory continues to sponsor scalping for bounties
A New York Times article reports that “settlers in a small town in Colorado Territory...Read More
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1867
Alaska becomes U.S. territory without any say from Alaska Natives
The U.S. purchases Alaska from Russia, but Alaska Natives, who lay claim to all the...Read More
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1867
Yana tribe is nearly annihilated by California settlers
By 1867, the Yana had suffered numerous massacres and faced extermination. They were a small...Read More
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1868
Reservation Era takes off with missionary zeal
U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant launches a reorganization of the Indian Health Service and a...Read More
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1868
Campo Seco Massacre of Yahi (Yana) people (California)
A mob of White settlers massacre 33 Yahi people in a cave near Mill Creek,...Read More
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1868
Massacre of Yavapai at La Paz (Arizona)
Fifteen sleeping Yavapai are murdered in their camp by a group of teamsters near La...Read More
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1868
Dine’ (Navajo) internment ends with Treaty of Bosque Redondo, but 2,000‒3,500 die while imprisoned
General William T. Sherman is sent to create a treaty due to the soaring costs...Read More
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1868
Black Kettle (Moketaveto) and his band of southern Cheyenne are massacred at the Washita by Custer
After surviving the Sand Creek Massacre, Black Kettle takes his remaining band of Southern Cheyenne...Read More
