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The Wapiti War was a brief armed conflict fought between the US Army and the Wapiti Native American tribe of South Dakota in 1899 towards the end of the Plains Indian Wars. Tensions simmered after the United States government reneged on its third treaty with the Wapiti tribe and made arrangements for its relocation due to rumors that the Wapiti Indian Reservation sat atop land rich in oil. While the Wapiti elders, led by the tribe's chief Rains Fall, attempted to negotiate with the US government, younger warriors such as Rains Fall's son Eagle Flies and his comrade Paytah believed that any compromise would be an admission of defeat, and insisted on fighting against the tribe's relocation. Aided by the outlaw Van der Linde Gang, whose leader Dutch van der Linde sought to create a distraction to shake off his gang's government pursuers, Eagle Flies began a campaign of resistance which escalated from the recapture of confiscated horses from an Army boat on the Mississippi River to an ambush and massacre of a US Army column in the Black Hills and, finally, an all-out assault on Cornwall Kerosene & Tar in Oklahoma. Eagle Flies was mortally wounded in the ensuing assault, and, while the Wapiti and outlaws succeeded in overrunning the refinery, the tribe was still forced to leave the reservation rather than face violent retaliation from the government. The Wapiti migrated north to Canada, and many of its members died during the trek through Wyoming; the greatly diminished tribe vacated the reservation's lands to the US government, which ironically found very little oil on their lands, rendering the entire war pointless.

Background[]

During the Plains Indian Wars against the Sioux tribes of the Great Plains, the US Army established Fort Wallace in South Dakota to keep watch over the Wapiti Native American tribe. The Wapiti were weakened by years of conflict with white American settlers, and, after three treaties with the US government, the Wapiti tribe agreed to move onto the forested Wapiti Indian Reservation (now the Cheyenne River Reservation).

In 1899, however, the business tycoon Leviticus Cornwall grew interested in the Wapiti Indian Reservation after rumors spread about the reservation being located on oil-rich land, and he made an agreement with the commander of the infantry regiment stationed at Fort Wallace, Colonel Henry Favours, to drive the Indians off their land and drill for oil there. The ambitious Colonel Favours, who was a laughing stock for his poor record during the American Civil War, agreed, but the relocation of the tribe was delayed as its chief Rains Fall lobbied for the US government to halt its mistreatment of his people. As tensions rose between the Wapiti and the Army, Washington DC sent a military delegation led by Captain Lyndon Monroe to keep the peace, and Monroe secretly acted as a representative of the tribe's interests at Fort Wallace, angering Favours.

War[]

Horses incident[]

Morgan and the others riding to Van Horn to help Eagle Flies recover his tribe's horses

Arthur Morgan and the others riding to Van Horn to help Eagle Flies recover his tribe's horses

Rains Fall's lobbying efforts proved to be in vain, and, as the United States government pursued a course of inaction, Colonel Favours began to act against the tribe. Favours sent several Wapiti women and children to reform schools to be assimilated into American culture, and he deliberately withheld medicine and supplies from the tribe. At the same time, the US Army confiscated the Wapiti Reservation's horses, provoking Rains Fall's militant son Eagle Flies to head to the encampment of the outlaw Van der Linde Gang at Beaver Hollow in Arkansas and convince the gang's leader Dutch van der Linde to help him retaliate. Dutch's lieutenants Charles Smith and Arthur Morgan dissented, as Smith had previously agreed to help Rains Fall keep the peace, and Morgan (who had previously helped Rains Fall steal an incriminating ledger from Cornwall Kerosene & Tar to help the tribe fight back against the now-murdered Cornwall) felt that the gang did not have any stake in the Wapiti tribe's situation. While Dutch agreed to help Eagle Flies, as he held a utopian view of Western society and was sympathetic to the plight of the Natives, he secretly intended to create an Indian distraction for the US government so that his gang could escape to Tahiti or New Guinea without facing the full might of the law.

Outlaws and natives approaching the transport ship

The outlaws and natives approaching the transport ship

Dutch, Morgan, and Smith promptly accompanied Eagle Flies on horseback as they rode to the Arkansas port town of Van Horn, where Eagle Flies and his fellow brave Paytah had stashed canoes. From there, the five men - under the cover of darkness - rowed out to intercept the US Army transport ship carrying the horses, and they stealthily climbed aboard the ship and took out several of its guards. However, they were eventually detected after some of the soldiers noticed the passed-out bodies of their comrades, resulting in a shootout and much bloodshed. During the chaos, the ship crashed against a large rock, causing the ship to sink. The Natives and outlaws set the horses free from their pens, and they ensured that the horses swam ashore with them. With the horses freed, Eagle Flies and Paytah set out to return the horses to the reservation, while Dutch decided to scope out Fort Wallace in preparation for further resistance. After the others left, Smith privately convinced Morgan to join him in helping Rains Fall's attempts to keep the peace rather than go along with Eagle Flies' foolish plan.

Theft of the Chanupa[]

Calumet Ravine

Morgan, Rains Fall, and Lyndon Monroe riding past Calumet Ravine

In addition to the ambush of the transport ship, the Wapiti tribe's situation deteriotated further when Captain Monroe met with Rains Fall as he rode through the Black Hills with Arthur Morgan and informed him that the Bureau of Indian Affairs in New Orleans had decided to move ahead with the oil company's plans. Rains Fall then introduced Captain Monroe to Morgan, who had been accompanying him on a ride to gather herbs which Rains Fall believed would cure Morgan's tuberculosis. Monroe then asked Morgan if Morgan could help him with his mission to keep the peace, and Morgan agreed to lend his help. Monroe then bade the men farewell as they continued their ride through the mountains to pick herbs, returning to his post at Fort Wallace.

Morgan investigating the burned-down holy site

Morgan investigating the burned-down holy site

When the two men arrived at the holy site where Rains Fall intended to perform a ceremony for Morgan's health, Rains Fall was horrified to find that the site had been burned down, and that the sacred chanupa pipe had been stolen. Morgan helped Rains Fall investigate, finding discarded whiskey flasks and deducing that the Army was responsible. They soon found that a US Army camp was located down the slope from where they stood, and Morgan, using his binoculars, watched a group of drunken soldiers carousing. Deducing that those were the men responsible for the attack, Rains Fall asked Morgan to retrieve the chanupa, although he asked for Morgan to do so without violence, as it was unnecessary for anyone to die that night.

Morgan infiltrating the Army camp

Morgan infiltrating the Army camp

Morgan infiltrated the camp and found that the chest with the chanupa was guarded by the soldiers David Cottrill Alexander and Leonard Stanisław, who were discussing Colonel Favours' and Captain Monroe's rivalry, their family backgrounds, and their thoughts on Native Americans. Morgan attempted to walk behind them and reach for the chest, but they detected him, leading to a shootout between him and the soldiers at the camp. Morgan killed Alexander, Stanisław, Joshua J. Raymond, Paul I. Heath, Jack H. Berry, Ernie G. Finley, Roland D. Michel, Jason Dufault Miller, Howard Frazier Jones, and Frank M. Sanford in the ensuing shootout, and he then recovered the chanupa and brought it back to Rains Fall. Rains Fall was upset to hear that men died and regretted having Morgan retrieve the chanupa for him, but he thanked Morgan for returning it, as the tribe's continued possession of their sacred object might have averted a greater massacre.

Vaccine wagon ambush[]

Bacchus Bridge

The destruction of Bacchus Bridge

Shortly after, Morgan committed the Howes train robbery and, with the help of John Marston, destroyed the Bacchus Bridge with dynamite in order to distract the Army from the pursuit of the Van der Linde Gang. This inadvertently led to the Army blaming the Native Americans, and, at the same time, the Army punished the Natives by withholding vaccines from them; Monroe opined that Favours was likely attempting to instigate Native retaliation to justify a violent crackdown, and that Favours' hatred of the Natives had become a dangerous culture within the regiment as a whole.

Morgan stealing the vaccine wagon

Morgan stealing the vaccine wagon

Captain Monroe then enlisted Morgan's help in commandeering a cart of vaccines which was being taken away from the reservation, asking Morgan not to kill anyone. They rode to a cliff from which they observed the cart approaching, and Monroe then left, asking Morgan to keep things clean. However, when Morgan rode down to halt the wagon, its escorts Larry C. Coady and William J. Meeker drew rifles, forcing Morgan to gun both of them down. He then stole the vaccines from the back of the wagon and then rode off without the wagon, as Monroe had warned that bringing the wagon to the reservation would implicate the Natives in its theft. Morgan was able to bring the vaccines back to the reservation in time to help several of its elderly residents, and Monroe thanked him for his help.

Battle of Firwood Rise[]

Ambush at Firwood Rise

The ambush at Firwood Rise

Early next morning, Morgan came across Dutch, Eagle Flies, Paytah, and a few other tribesmen taking up positions on a cliff, and Dutch explained that they were planning to dynamite two trees along the pathway out of Rapid City to trap a US Army column and humiliate them by forcing them to surrender, upon which they would be tarred and feathered. Morgan was averse to the plan, as it would undoubtedly escalate the tensions between the Army and Natives, but Dutch explained the true intent of his plans: to create a big enough "distraction" for the Army (in the form of an Indian war) for the gang to flee the country. While the gunmen succeeded in trapping the column between two fallen trees after setting off the explosives, they discovered that another patrol was nearby and was on its way to reinforce the trappen men, so Dutch decided to initiate a firefight. In the ensuing battle, the trapped column was massacred, but US Army artillery killed two of the Natives and forced the four remaining gunmen to storm the artillery position. There, mounted US troops attacked and divided the gunmen, with Eagle Flies and a wounded Paytah being captured and Dutch and Morgan escaping to a cliffside over the Cheyenne River, escaping by jumping into the river. The incident led to Colonel Favours demanding Rains Fall's presence at a conference at Fort Wallace, where Rains Fall and Captain Monroe hoped they would be able to negotiate a new peace settlement.

Fort Wallace conference[]

Meeting at Fort Wallace

The meeting at Fort Wallace

Rains Fall persuaded Morgan and Charles Smith to accompany him to the meeting at Fort Wallace to ensure that he was protected, as the Army had confiscated the Wapiti tribe's weapons. That night, they rode to the fort, where Colonel Favours displayed blatantly racist behavior against Rains Fall, mocking his "silly name" and claiming that his tribe was "little more than criminals". The tense conversation was interrupted when Morgan began to violently cough from his tuberculosis, and Favours had him escorted to a tent for medical attention. While there, Morgan overheard two soldiers discussing Favours' plans to have Monroe court-martialled or even hanged for treason, causing him worry for Monroe's safety.

Morgan rescuing Monroe

Morgan rescuing Monroe

When Morgan was allowed to return to the conference, he found Favours and Monroe arguing, and Favours ordered for Monroe to be arrested for treason. In response, Morgan took one of the soldiers hostage and demanded Monroe in exchange for the soldier. Favours reluctantly agreed, only to order his men to fire once Morgan had handed over the soldier. This resulted in a running gunfight through the woods as Morgan and Smith fired on the soldiers and protected Monroe; Morgan killed Benjamin D. Cecil, Kevin D. Browning, Wayne C. Cassel, Daniel M. Macleod, Bernard R. Banks, and Patrick B. Egbert in the ensuing shootout. Monroe then hopped on the back of Morgan's horse as Morgan rode south to Emerald Station in Oklahoma, where he arranged for Monroe to take a train back to safety in Washington DC. Monroe thanked Morgan for his help with his peacekeeping efforts and for saving his life, and Morgan gave Monroe enough money to buy a train ticket and have his needs met; Monroe then departed for Washington, removing a key voice of peace from the tense situation on the Wapiti Reservation.

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