Indians


Viewers shouldn't expect much accurate history in westerns, and that goes for Indian history as well as any other type of history.

In "Warpath", 8 February 1959, Buffalo hunters based in the town of Laramie are hunting buffalo on Shoshone land, thus leading to trouble with the Shoshone and fear of a Shoshone uprising. The Shoshone are led by Chief Little Wolf, who it turns out is half white, the son of another character in the episode.

The most historically accurate parts of the episode are:

1) Various plains Indians did get angry at white buffalo hunters; attacks by southern plains warriors on buffalo hunters being a cause of the Red River or Buffalo War of 1874-75, for example,

And:

2) There was and is a Shoshone tribe or nation.

The Shoshone are divided into a number of tribes and bands, living on 20 reservations, often shared with other tribes, in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho, and one reservation in Wyoming.

Aha! Laramie is in Wyoming, so Buffalo hunters based in Laramie could have trespassed on the Wind River Indian Reservation.

But western states stretch for hundreds of miles, Laramie is in the southeastern corner of Wyoming, and the Wind River Reservation is in northwest Wyoming, at least 200 miles as the crow flies from Laramie.

The Shoshone at Wind River were ruled by the great chief Washakie (c. 1798/1810-1900) from 1851 or earlier to 1900, and Washakie led them there to find hunting grounds as far away from the white men as possible. In 1866 the Shoshone and the Crows fought over the Wind River valley; legend claiming that they fought for five days, and then Washakie and Crow Chief Big Robber agreed to a duel for the land. Washakie won and cut out Big Robber's heart, thus giving Crowheart Butte its name. The Shoshone and Crows later made peace to fight their common enemy, the Sioux, during the Great Sioux War of 1876-1877.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washakie

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowheart,_Wyoming

So Chief Little Wolf seems like he could have been no more than some minor sub chief during Washakie's reign.

In "The Last Man", 1 November 1959, a long and bitter war with the Sioux, (or some of them) under fictional Chief Iron Cloud, (or Torn Cloud, IMDB gives both names) is almost over. Iron Cloud and fictional General "Iron Jack" Mider come to the town of Laramie to discuss terms. Iron Cloud or Torn Cloud asks for a reservation large enough for his people to hunt in.

In real history Laramie was founded in 1868. In 1868 Red Cloud's War ended, more or less victoriously for the Sioux, when Red Cloud (1822-1909) made peace at Laramie. Fort Laramie, that is. Fort Laramie is a hundred miles from Laramie.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Cloud

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Cloud%27s_War

The Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868 left the Sioux in possession of vast lands. It established the Great Sioux reservation consisting of South Dakota west of the Missouri River, and left the Sioux with the use of "unceded hunting grounds" in Wyoming and Montana. Since the Sioux were conquering those lands from the Crows, the government had to pay the Crows for them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Fort_Laramie_(1868)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Sioux_Reservation

The Sioux had to give up the unceded hunting grounds to the US government in the next treaty which ended the Great Sioux War of 1876-77, and also the parts of the Black Hills that were in the Great Sioux Reservation. Hostile bands who surrendered after that war usually did so at Camp Sheridan near the Spotted Tail Indian Agency or Fort Robinson near the Red Cloud Indian Agency. Those places are in Northwestern Nebraska even farther from Laramie than Fort Laramie is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Sioux_War_of_1876

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Sheridan_(Nebraska)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Robinson

So "The Last Man" exaggerates the importance of the town of Laramie in the Sioux Wars.

Famous real generals who fought the Sioux in various wars included William "Squawkiller" Harney (1800-1889), Henry Hastings Sibley (1811-1891), Alfred Sully (1820-1879), Patrick Edward Connor (1820-1891), George Crook (1828-1890), Nelson Appleton Miles (1839-1925), and Ranald Slidell Mackenzie (1840-1889). But instead "The last Man" features a totally fictional General "iron Jack" Mider.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Harney

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hastings_Sibley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Sully

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Edward_Connor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Crook

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_A._Miles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranald_S._Mackenzie

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