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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. ==Background== 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.〔 Aware that the matter did not really concern the military, Conquering Bear attempted to negotiate, offering a horse from his personal herd or a cow from the tribe's herd. The cow's owner persisted in demanding $25 instead. Lt. Fleming asked the Sioux to arrest High Forehead and deliver him to the fort, which Conquering Bear refused; he had no authority over the Miniconjou and did not want to violate their tradition of hospitality.〔(Paul Norman Beck, ''The First Sioux War: The Grattan Fight and Blue Water Creek, 1854-1856'' ), University Press of America, 2004, pp. 40-41, accessed 7 Dec 2010〕 The day's talk ended in stalemate. Second Lieutenant John Lawrence Grattan, of the U.S. 6th Infantry Regiment, a recent graduate of West Point and supernumerary waiting for a vacancy in the regiment, led an armed detachment into the Indian encampment to take custody of High Forehead and bring him back to the fort. Grattan was inexperienced and contemptuous of the Lakotas' ability as warriors.〔Beck, ''The First Sioux War,'' pp. 46-47〕 This was his first encounter with the Sioux. A commander at Laramie later recalled, "There is no doubt that Lt. Grattan left this post with a desire to have a fight with the Indians, and that he had determined to take the man at all hazards."〔(George Emory Fay, ''Military Engagements Between United States Troops and Plains Indians: Report of the Secretary of War on the inquiry into the Sand Creek Massacre'' ), Museum of Anthropology, University of Northern Colorado, 1980, pp. 20, 43, 45, accessed 17 Feb 2011〕 In Grattan's party were a sergeant, a corporal, 27 privates and a French-Native American interpreter named Lucienne Auguste; the military forces had two artillery pieces in addition to arms.〔Beck, ''The First Sioux War,'' pp. 48-51〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Grattan massacre」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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