Question

Which of the following best summarizes the circumstances Chief Red Cloud and his people were facing before they were placed on reservations? A Red Cloud describes his and the Lakota people’s relations with the U.S. government as being far more fearful than it would come to be once they were settled on the reservation. B Red Cloud describes the situation as bleak; with little food and fading traditions, they felt one of their only choices was to agree to reservation life and adopt white American ways. C Red Cloud describes the situation as desperate, but the Plains Indians would persist in their active resistance against white settlement until they left entirely. D Red Cloud describes the circumstances as a time of religious fervor, when the Ghost Dance was sweeping through mid-western and western tribes.

Answer 1

The right answer is "B Red Cloud describes the situation as bleak; with little food and fading traditions, they felt one of their only choices was to agree to reservation life and adopt white American ways."

In 1871, the government established the Red Cloud Agency on the Platte River, downstream from Fort Laramie. As outlined in the 1868 Treaty, the agency staff were responsible for issuing weekly rations to the Oglala, as well as providing the annually distributed supply of cash and annuity goods. The agent and Washington officials would determine how much of the annuity was to be paid in cash or goods, and sometimes the supplies were late, in poor condition, inadequate in amount, or never arrived at all. Red Cloud took his band to the agency (a predecessor of the Native American reservation) and tried to help them in the transition to a different way of life. In the fall of 1873, the agency was removed to the upper White River in northwestern Nebraska.