I think you are confusing cause and effect. Often times it was the soldiers and settlers who started the cycle of violence.
“It got their own people killed, often in the same way.”
“I think you are confusing cause and effect. Often times it was the soldiers and settlers who started the cycle of violence.”
Actually there was peace on the plains, in the winter. then Indians would come in and make peace, live off government rations along with their buffalo meat.
Then in the spring when the grass got tall enough to support a war pony the tribes would jump the reservation and go on their yearly killing sprees. This was noted by Lt Ware’s experiences in his book THE INDIAN WARS OF 1864.
The Sand Creek Massacre happened when one of these hostile tribes wnet on their yearly war raids, then came in to make peace for the winter.
When Chivington attacked and destroyed the camp there was found amogst the belongings to the indians...”Scalps of white men and children so fresh they had not been tanned”, and “a blanket fringed with the scalps of white women”.
When Custer followed the trail of a war party it led right to the same tribe at the Washita, amongst the belongings found there were several murdered captive white children and items taken in the last war raid by these “peaceful” indians.
There were many tribes we never had a war with. Pawnees, Poncas, Otoes, Crow, ect. All tribes that were hostile to the US were also hostile to these tribes who fled to the US army for protection.