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"We don't need no stinking Lt. Dunbar"

posted 2 months ago by MAGolding (1228)
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There a line from some famous movie saying "Badges? We Don't need no stinking badges!"

Historically speaking, there is a big lie in Dances With Wolves (1990), somewhat similar to the big lie in The Comancheros (1961). The big lie in the fictional plot of The Comanderos is that in 1843 a secret society, the title Comancheros, was stirring up trouble between the Comanches and the Texas. But real history "didn't need no stinking Comancheros" to still up trouble between the Comanches and the Texans. Even though their homes were separated by hundreds of miles of empty land, it wasn't far enough, and the Comanches and the Texans were both such bad neighbors that they became bitter enemies.

And similarly the Sioux and the USA "didn't need no stinking Lt. Dunbar" to be the cause of trouble between, them, not in 1863 or 1864. At the end of the movie Dunbar leaves the Sioux group he stayed with, hoping to avoid endangering them. Like that would work in real life!

Originally there were seven groups of Sioux, four tribes of Santee Sioux or Nakota, two tribes of Yankton Sioux or Dakota, and one tribe of Teton Sioux or Lakota. In the 1700s the Teton moved from the woodlands onto the plains, adopted horses, and flourished, eventually becoming so numerous than by 1850 they split into seven tribes of Teton Sioux, the famous plains Sioux of the Wild West.

What of the Sioux tribes who remained in Minnesota? The movie Flaming Frontier (1958) says that during the Civil War they revolted but the hero Capt. Houston managed to persuade Chief Little Crow to make peace at the end. According to some reviews the uprising was very small scale as depicted in that very low budget film.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051619/reviews/?ref_=tt_urv_sm

In real life, the Santee Sioux grew discontented, and in 1862 many them fought a very brutal uprising, slaughtering hundreds of men, women and children. Tens of thousands of settlers fled from their homes.

General Henry Hastings Sibley defeated the Santee Sioux at the Battle of Wood Lake on September 23, 1862. Little Crow fled and was killed in a shootout with a settler on July 3, 1863. Sibley negotiated for the surrender of Santee Sioux and the release of their many prisoners. Sibley formed a military commission in 1862 to try Sioux warriors.

As I wrote in my answer at https://www.quora.com/What-if-a-Native-American-committed-a-crime-and-said-to-the-police-court-I-m-not-bound-by-your-laws-this-is-my-land-not-yours :

"...The military commission tried 393 persons, convicted 323, and sentenced 303 to be hanged. President Lincoln reviewed the sentences and reduced most of them, letting 39 death sentences stand. One got a last minute reprieve and 38 were hanged on December 16, 1862 at Mankato, Minnesota."

Many Minnesotans were bitterly disappointed that only 38 Sioux were hanged and wanted to exterminate all Sioux in Minnesota. Instead the Santee Sioux were exiled to reservations in Dakota and Nebraska. Minnesota did put a price on the head of any Sioux found in Minnesota.

And if the Sioux thought that would be the end of the matter, they were very much mistaken.

Continued.

[–] MAGolding (1228) 2 months ago

"We don't need no stinking Lt. Dunbar" Part Two.

Just as the USA was determined after 911 to track down and exterminate all Al Queda terrorists and all who gave them shelter, and so attacked Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and killed a hundred Afghans for each American killed on 911, and just as Israel after 10-07-23 is determined to exterminate Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists and all who give them shelter and aid, so the USA in 1862 was determined to seek out all Santee Sioux murderers and terrorists and defeat anyone who gave them shelter and became accessories-after-the-fact to their crimes.

For decades the Santee Sioux band of Inkpaduta lived more or less peacefully with white settlers. But a small disagreement with a settler resulted in an escalating series of retaliations, each much worse than what had provoked it, and it ended with the murder of Inkpaduta's brother's family. On March 8 to 12, 1857, Inkpaduta's band murdered about 35 to 40 settlers near Spirit Lake, Iowa. Inkpaduta's band was hunted for a while, but not caught. And there were reports that Inkpaduta returned to Minnesota in 1862 to instigate and help lead the Sioux Uprising.

So the people of Minnesota blamed the Minnesota Uprising on letting Inkpaduta escape, and vowed not to let that mistake be repeated. And for decades Inkpaduta and his people were blamed for every unexplained disappearances from Minnesota to Montana.

Many of the Santee Sioux had fled west to Dakota territory.

In 1863 General Sibley was sent west to Dakota with a brigade of mostly Infantry, and General Sully was sent north with a brigade of cavalry from Nebraska and Iowa. There was a large camp of Yankton and Teton Sioux in Dakota, with many Santee Sioux refugees. As Sibley's army approached, a large force of Sioux warriors rode out to meet them.

Continued.

[–] MAGolding (1228) 2 months ago

"We don't need no stinking Lt. Dunbar" Part Three.

While negotiations which might have resulted in a peaceful outcome were proceeding, a white man went to talk to some of his Sioux friends, and one of Inkpaduta's men shot him, starting the Battle of Big Mound on July 24, 1963. The Sioux camp retreated west to the Missouri River. Some of the Sioux left the camp and headed for Canada, while hundreds of Hunkpapa Sioux warriors, including Sitting Bull, joined the camp. And perhaps the friendship of Sitting Bull and Inkpaduta began then.

As the Sioux camp retreated west to the Missouri River, the warriors rode out twice and fought to delay Sibley at Dead Buffalo Lake on July 26, and on July 28 at Stoney Lake. After the Sioux crossed the Missouri River, Sibley waited for a while and then returned east. The Sioux camp crossed back to the east side of the Missouri after Sibley left.

And the much delayed cavalry brigade of General Sully arrived and a scouting force detected the Sioux camp. They sent a courier to tell Sully, and Sully rode ten miles in an hour with his entire brigade - at least the ones whose horses were fast enough. The others caught up during the battle. The resulting Battle of Whitestone Hill on Sept. 3, 1863, was the biggest and most spectacular defeat ever suffered by the Sioux, 14 years before their surrenders in the spring of 1877.

And this is what was going on in 1863 when Lt. Dunbar was befriending a much smaller Sioux camp. And in real life Dunbar and the Sioux group he was in would have sometimes met travelling Sioux and heard news about current events - like the largest battles any Sioux had ever been in.

Continued.

[–] MAGolding (1228) 2 months ago

"We don't need no stinking Lt. Dunbar" Part Four.

Meanwhile, gold had been discovered in western Montana in 1862, starting the Montana Gold Rush. Gold seekers on the west coast rushed on various trails eastward to western Montana. And gold rushers on the east coast or the midwest took wagon trains overland northwest to western Montana. Or they took steamboats from Missouri or Nebraska up the Missouri River to Fort Benton, Montana, the head of navigation, and then went overland to the mining regions. Some Sioux harassed wagon trains or shot at steamboats.

So that was another reason to send expeditions against the Teton Sioux.

In 1864 General Alfred Sully established Fort Rice on the Missouri River and marched west with over 2,000 men and eight howitzers, toward a reported vast village of Sioux. Warriors from the village rode out to fight and give time for their camp to retreat at the Battle of Killdeer Mountain on July 28-29, 1864. They were led by Gall, Sitting Bull, Inkpaduta, and others.

Sully then pursued the Sioux through the Badlands. His command Fought the Sioux Warriors in the Battle of the Badlands on August 7, 8, & 9, 1864. Sully's command then marched to the Yellowstone River where there were two steamboats with supplies, and then marched down the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers back to civilization.

And some viewers of Dances With Wolves (1990) believe that it ends in 1864, not in 1863. And thus the band of Sioux Dunbar was with should have met other Sioux with news of current events, including the huge battles at Killdeer Mountain and the Badlands. So I guess that Lt. Dunbar would have been very egotistical if he thought that expeditions of not dozens, not hundreds, but thousands, of soldiers were sent to fight the Sioux just to punish him for desertion.

Continued:

[–] MAGolding (1228) 2 months ago

"We don't need no stinking Lt. Dunbar" Part Five.

Or maybe in the fictional universe of Dances With Wolves (1990) there were only a few dozen soldiers sent to fight the Sioux in 1863 and 1864, and their mission was merely to capture Lt. Dunbar, and not to punish the Teton Sioux for harboring Santee Sioux terrorists. And maybe in the fictional universe of Dances With Wolves (1990) there were only a few hundred Teton Sioux in one camp instead of tens of thousands with thousands of warriors.

The Santee Sioux uprising in 1862 is featured only in Flaming Frontier(1958) where a peace treaty ends the uprising and it happens on a very small scale compared to most western movies, let alone to the actual uprising.

And as far as I can tell Dances With Wolves (1990) ignores the largest battles and campaigns of the western Indian Wars as if they didn't exist in its fictional universe.

What about the First Sioux War of 1854-55, including the Grattan Massacre on August 19, 1854 and the Battle of Ash Hollow on Sept 3, 1855? Chief Crazy Horse (1955) opens in 1854 with Sioux chief Conquering Bear, mortally wounded in a fight with the white men, makes a prophecy about a great leader of the Sioux. And there is no mention of the Grattan Massacre or any other event of the First Sioux War.

Red Cloud's War of 1866-1868 is given its correct dates in the narration to Tomahawk (1951). And there are other movies based more loosely on it, with Red Cloud attacking forts. The Last Frontier/Savage Wilderness (1956) happens in 1863 or 1864. The Yellow Tomahawk (1954) happens after 1864. The Indian Fighter (1955) should happen in 1865. Run of the Arrow(1957) begins in 1865 but may end in 1866. The Gun That Won the West(1955) has a more uncertain date. And I don't know the fictional dates of Warrior Gap (1925) and Spoilers of the West (1927).

continued.

[–] MAGolding (1228) a month ago

"We don't need no stinking Lt. Dunbar" Part Six.

Of course the Great Sioux War of 1876-77 is the setting for many movies, some giving the date. They Died With Their Boots On (1941) gives the date of Custer's Last Stand as June 25. TheTime Tunnel episode "Massacre" happens on June 24 & 25, 1876. A title card in Custer's Last Fight (1912, 1925) gives the date of Custer's Last Stand as June 25, 1876. The opening title card of Red Tomahawk (1967) says that Custer's Last stand happened June 25, 1876. In Winchester '73 (1950), between July 4 and 9, 1876, various characters learn about Custer's Last Stand.

But then there is The Savage (1952). The date is 20 years after some time in the Civil War, and thus about 1881-1885. James Aherne/Warbonnet, was adopted by a Miniconjou Sioux chief at the age of 11 in 1868, and thus should have been born in 1856-57, and about 18 to 20 during the Great Sioux War, and about 24 to 29 during the movie. But the Sioux wonder if he will be loyal to them or to the whites. Wasn't he old enough to be a warrior in the Great Sioux War, and thus should have shown what side his loyalties were on then?

So maybe The Savage (1952) happens in an alternate universe where there was peace with the Sioux from 1868 to the 1880s and the Great Sioux War never happened. Or maybe the Great Sioux War did happen, but Warbonnet was sick or disabled by an injury for over a year during the course of the war and couldn't show where his loyalties were. Or maybe he was a prisoner of the whites or an enemy tribe during the war and later escaped.

In 1877 the Northern Cheyenne were sent south to the Indian Territory, and some of them returned north in 1878. According to the movie White Feather (1955), in 1877 the Sioux, Blackfoot, Arapaho, and Cheyenne signed treaties to move south, though only the northern Cheyenne did so in real life. And if that happened in the same fictional universe as The Savage(1952), what are all those unconquered Sioux still doing in the north years later. Where they a subgroup of the Sioux who refused to move, or did they go south and then return north like the Cheyenne did?

The Glory Guys (1965) features a major campaign against the Sioux sometime after Fort Doniphan was founded in 1867. And it is uncertain when it happens in relation to other Sioux movies.

The tv movie Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues (November 22 & 24, 1987) has the protagonists involved with the Ghost Dance troubles but manage to bring about a happy ending, so apparently Sitting Bull is not killed and the Wounded Knee Massacre never happens in that film.

So if someone only head about the Sioux Wars from watching Flaming Frontier (1958), Dances with Wolves (1990), The Savage (1952), and Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues (November 22 & 24, 1987) they would think there were a lot fewer Sioux Wars than there actually were.