Grattan massacre

Part of the First Sioux War, American Indian Wars

Grattan Massacre marker, 2003.

Date	August 19, 1854
Location	East of Fort Laramie, Nebraska Territory
Result	Lakota victory, start of the First Sioux War

Belligerents

Lakota Sioux

United States

Commanders and leaders

Conquering Bear †
Red Cloud

Lieutenant John Lawrence Grattan †

Strength

~1,200 warriors

30 Soldiers
1 Civilian interpreter

Casualties and losses

2 killed

All 31 killed

The Grattan Massacre, also known as the Grattan Fight, was the opening engagement of the First Sioux War, fought between United States Army and Lakota Sioux warriors on August 19, 1854. It occurred east of Fort Laramie, Nebraska Territory, in present-day Goshen County, Wyoming.

A small detachment of soldiers entered a large Sioux encampment to arrest a man accused of taking a migrant's cow, although such matters by treaty were to be handled by the US Indian Agent. After one of the soldiers shot Chief Conquering Bear and killed him, the Brulé Lakotas returned fire and killed a total of 29 soldiers, Lieutenant John Grattan, and a civilian interpreter. The massacre, as it was called by the American press, is considered an early, significant event in the Plains Indian Wars.

In the late summer of 1854, about 4,000 Brulé and Oglala were camped near Fort Laramie in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of 1851. On August 17, a cow belonging to a Mormon traveling on the nearby Oregon Trail strayed and was killed by a visiting Miniconjou named High Forehead. Lt. Hugh Fleming, the senior officer of the small garrison, consulted with the chief, Conquering Bear, to discuss the loss of livestock. Lt. Fleming was evidently unaware, or chose to ignore, that such matters were, by the terms of the Treaty of 1851, to be handled by the local Indian Agent, in this case John Whitfield, who was due to arrive within days with annuities with which restitution could be made.

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Wikipedia