Filters:
Group: Nipmuc (Amerind tribe)
People: Dion
Topic: Arikara War

Arikara War

Years: 1823 - 1823

The Arikara War takes place in 1823 near the Missouri River, present day South Dakota.

Arikara (a Native American nation also called Arikaree or Ree) warriors attack a trapping expedition traveling on the river.

The United States responds with 230 soldiers, 750 Sioux, and 50 trappers under the command of U.S. Army Colonel Henry Leavenworth.The war is brief, but is noted for two reasons.

First, it is the first military conflict between the United States and the western Native Americans, setting the tone for future encounters with the Crow and Blackfeet.

Second, Henry Leavenworth had not completely defeated the Arikara.

His leniency on them sparks a great debate between Americans demanding subjugation of the Native Americans and those advocating cohabitation.The Arikara will eventually settled on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakotbe a.

"History should be taught as the rise of civilization, and not as the history of this nation or that. It should be taught from the point of view of mankind as a whole, and not with undue emphasis on one's own country. Children should learn that every country has committed crimes and that most crimes were blunders. They should learn how mass hysteria can drive a whole nation into folly and into persecution of the few who are not swept away by the prevailing madness."

—Bertrand Russell, On Education (1926)