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What did the United States promise Plains tribes in the First Treaty of Fort Laramie?
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Plains Wars
View of the army camp at Hidden Wood Creek during Lieut. Col. George Armstrong Custer's Black Hills expedition, 1874; photograph by W.H. Illingworth.
In the First Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851), the United States sought to establish peace and secure safe passage for travelers moving westward across the Great Plains.12
In exchange for the tribes' agreement to cease hostilities against one another and against Euro-Americans, and for granting the U.S. government the right to build and protect roads and forts within the region, the United States made the following commitments:
- Territorial Recognition: The treaty explicitly defined and assigned specific home territories to each of the signatory nations, which included the Arapaho, Arikara, Assiniboine, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Crow, Dakota, Hidatsa, and Mandan nations.2
- Provision of Goods and Services: The United States agreed to provide the tribes with a variety of goods and services as compensation for the encroachment on their lands and the use of their territories.2
While the treaty was intended to forestall conflict, it ultimately failed to prevent the increasing encroachment of settlers, leading to widespread dissatisfaction among the Plains peoples.1