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Important chief (1822–1909) of the Oglala Lakota, famous for opposing U.S. Army forces during ‘Red Cloud’s War’ from 1866–1868, when he conducted raids against troops and outposts along the Bozeman Trail. The conflict came to an end with the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, which established the Great Sioux Reservation and ceded the Black Hills to their control; this treaty made Red Cloud the only chief to get the US to sign a surrender document. The treaty would be violated just seven years later after the Black Hills Gold Rush and Custer’s expeditions into the territory, prompting the Great Sioux War of 1876–1877, led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. Red Cloud did not take part, instead hoping to find a peaceful solution, and he became a crucial leader of the Lakota as they transitioned from the freedom of the plains to the confinement of the reservation system. In 1877, the Red Cloud Agency moved to the upper Missouri River. The following year it was moved to the forks of the White River, in present-day South Dakota, where it was renamed the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Never wavering from his steadfast devotion to his people, Red Cloud would die there in 1909. Scarce 4.25 x 6.5 cabinet card photograph of Sioux warrior chief Red Cloud by William R. Cross of Hot Springs, South Dakota, showing the legendary chief seated with a peace pip across his lap. Captioned along the bottom of the image: "Red Cloud, Chief of Pine Ridge Agency, S. D." Curiously annotated on the reverse in an unknown hand with the New York address of Captain Jack Crawford, a Wild West adventurer and storyteller known as 'The Poet Scout.'. In very good to fine condition, with light edgewear and soiling.
The Collection of Dr. Joseph Matheu.
