ABSTRACT
In forging the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, government negotiators hoped to end the series of attacks against settlers, travelers, soldiers, and army installations known as Red Cloud’s War and thereby bring peace to the Powder River country of southern Montana and northeastern Wyoming. Only after the army halted traffic on the Bozeman Trail and closed the three posts it had created to protect travelers did Red Cloud sign the treaty and lay down his weapons. Eventually he and his people settled near the Red Cloud Agency on the Platte River. Red Cloud never again took up arms against the wasichus.
