10 Of the Fiercest Native American Indian Chiefs and Their Historical Battles

6 Red Cloud

Like Crazy Horse, Red Cloud was also a chief of the Oglala Lakota Indians and fought the “Red Cloud’s War” between 1866 & 1868. Enraged at the U.S. for planning to build the Bozeman Trail through Indian Territory, a war party was organized and dispatched under Red Cloud to confront the U.S. The party consisted of several thousands of Lakota, Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians who attacked travelers and forts. The infamous ‘Fetterman Massacre’ was another incident in which 3,000 Indians killed and mutilated 80 U.S. troops in the area. This caused the U.S. government to abandon the plans for the trail and withdraw from the area. Red Cloud signed a treaty in 1868 with the U.S. This made him lose some standing in his tribe and more so when the treaty’s terms were broken. He died in the South Dakota Reservation in 1909 but is remembered as the lone Indian chief who won against the U.S. military.

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5 Opechancanough

Opechancanough earned a reputation of being a fierce warrior that gained him the status of chief of the Powhatan Confederacy. The Powhatan’s anger towards white settlers in Virginia led him to carry out two terrifying massacres on them. The first was in 1622 where the Powhatans attacked and massacred 350 settlers including men, women, and children. A ten-year war ensued thereafter between the Powhatan Indians and the white settlers of the U.S. In 1632 Opechancanough signed a treaty ending the hostilities. However, in 1644, despite being over 90 years old, he devised an attack that resulted in 500 casualties on the side of the settlers. Opechacanough was subsequently captured as a prisoner but shot dead some years later by a soldier.

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4 Sitting Bull

Sitting Bull came to be known as a thorn in the U.S. Army when he and his followers constantly raided U.S. Forts along the Missouri River. He was a war chief and spiritual leader of the Hunkpapa Sioux. He played an active role in the defeat of Lt. Col. George Custer and his troops in the “Battle of Little Big Horn”. While he never exactly took part in the action, he recruited thousands of Indians to the Sioux cause which was crucial for the battle. After the US increased anti-Indian efforts in the region, He fled to Canada accompanied by a few hundred of his followers. Sitting Bull surrendered in 1881 and was imprisoned for the next few years. In 1980 He was finally shot dead by the reservation police after a dispute in the Standing Rock Agency of South Dakota.

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