Chief Red Cloud
| Red Cloud | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Maȟpíya Lúta 1822 near North Platte, Nebraska |
| Died | December 10, 1909 Pine Ridge, South Dakota |
| Resting place | Red Cloud Cemetery, Pine Ridge 43°4′38″N 102°35′1″W / 43.07722°N 102.58361°W |
| Residence | Pine Ridge, South Dakota |
| Nationality | Oglala Lakota |
| Known for |
Red Cloud's War Most photographed American Indian of the nineteenth century |
| Title | Tribal chief |
| Successor | Jack Red Cloud |
| Spouse(s) | Pretty Owl |
| Children | Wears War Bonnet Red Cloud (1850- ) Louise Red Cloud (1854- ) Jack Red Cloud (1858-1928) Tells Him Red Cloud (1860- ) Charges At Red Cloud (1861- ) Comes Back Red Cloud (1865- ) |
| Parent(s) | Walks As She Thinks, Lone Man |
Red Cloud (Lakota: Maȟpíya Lúta) (1822 – December 10, 1909) was one of the most important leaders of the Oglala Lakota. He led from 1868 to 1909. One of the most capable Native American opponents that the United States Army faced in its mission to subdue the western territories, he led a successful campaign in 1866–1868 known as Red Cloud's War over control of the Powder River Country in northeastern Wyoming and southern Montana. The largest action of the war, the Fetterman Fight (with 81 men killed on the US side), was the worst military defeat suffered by the US on the Great Plains until the Battle of the Little Bighorn ten years later.
After signing the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868), Red Cloud led his people in the important transition to reservation life. Some of his US opponents mistakenly thought of him as overall leader of the Sioux (Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota) groups. The large tribe had several major divisions and was highly decentralized. Bands among the Oglala and other divisions operated independently, even though some individual leaders, such as Red Cloud, were renowned as warriors and highly respected as leaders.
Red Cloud was born close to the forks of the Platte River, near the modern-day city of North Platte, Nebraska. His mother, Walks As She Thinks, was an Oglala Lakota and his father, Lone Man, was a Brulé Lakota leader. They came from two of the major seven Lakota divisions.
As was traditional among the matrilineal Lakota, in which the children belonged to the mother's clan and people, Red Cloud was mentored as a boy by his maternal uncle, Old Chief Smoke (1774–1864). Old Chief Smoke played a major role in the boy's childhood. He brought Red Cloud into the Smoke household when the boy's parents died around 1825. At a young age, Red Cloud fought against neighboring Pawnee and Crow bands, gaining much war experience.
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