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8 - Closing The West - Plains Indians Wars Student Notes

The document outlines the conflicts and policies affecting Plains Indians from the mid-19th century, highlighting key events such as the Fort Laramie Treaties, the Sand Creek Massacre, and the Battle of Little Bighorn. It discusses the shift from removal to concentration policies, the impact of the Dawes Act, and the cultural assimilation efforts imposed on Native Americans. The narrative emphasizes the violent clashes and systemic injustices faced by Indigenous peoples during this period of American expansion.

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15 views18 pages

8 - Closing The West - Plains Indians Wars Student Notes

The document outlines the conflicts and policies affecting Plains Indians from the mid-19th century, highlighting key events such as the Fort Laramie Treaties, the Sand Creek Massacre, and the Battle of Little Bighorn. It discusses the shift from removal to concentration policies, the impact of the Dawes Act, and the cultural assimilation efforts imposed on Native Americans. The narrative emphasizes the violent clashes and systemic injustices faced by Indigenous peoples during this period of American expansion.

Uploaded by

washingtonzykeriah577
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Plains Indians Wars

Cultures Clash on the Prairies


1858: Discovery
of gold in
Colorado
– Led to the
growth of
mining camps
and frontier
towns
Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851
- Plains Indians are guaranteed free roam of the Great Plains

Shift from a
“Removal” Policy
towards
“Concentration”
(1860)
- Plains Indians will
be put on
reservations
- Aftermath of the
U.S. - Dakota War of
1862 (Lincoln &
Homestead Act)
1864: Sand
Creek
Massacre
– 500
peaceful
Cheyenne
relocated
at Sand
Creek,
Colorado
were
attacked
without
warning
by the U.S.
Army
– At least
150 were
killed
Red Cloud’s War (1866-1868)
- Wyoming and Montana
- Bozeman Trail blazed through
Sioux lands to get to gold and
copper mines in Montana
- U.S. Army occupied the
Powder River area
- Red Cloud defeats U.S.
Calvary

Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868


- Red Cloud, an Oglala Sioux
Chief, acquires a large reservation
for the Sioux
- Included the sacred Black Hills
-Sitting Bull, a Hunkpapa Sioux
Chief, opposes the treaty, as will
Crazy Horse
Red River War (1874)
U.S. Army uses total war tactics against the
Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache in TX and
OK
19 women and children, 875 ponies
killed
- General George Armstrong Custer
becomes a hero at the Battle of Washita
which helped force a significant portion of
the southern Cheyenne onto a U.S.-
assigned reservation
1874: Black Hills Gold Rush
- Gen. Custer instigates war
with the Sioux by illegally
entering the Black Hills with the
purpose of discovering gold
→ Thousands of whites move
into the Black Hills

25 June 1876:
Battle of Little Bighorn
- Known as “Custer’s Last
Stand”
- Sitting Bull, Crazy
Horse, and over 5,000
Sioux warriors wipe out
Custer and his 200
soldiers from the 7th
Cavalry
Smashing Sioux Resistance
Defeat at the Little Big
Horn caused the U.S.
govt to increase the
military effort to defeat
the Sioux and others
that resisted the
reservation system

*Think slave codes


after Nat Turner’s
Rebellion*

General Phil Sheridan


Short term victory,
long term defeat for
the Sioux
Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce
(1876-1877)
- Nez Perce were ordered to leave
their home in Oregon to go to a
reservation in Washington Territory
within 30 days → Chief Joseph and
his band of Nez Perce refused
- 1,000 mile, 3-month chase by the
U.S. Army
- Captured 40 miles south of the
Canadian border; 5-day battle
- Famous quote from his surrender:
I am tired of fighting…Hear me my
Chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick
and sad. From where the sun now
stands I will fight no more forever.
Wounded Knee Massacre
-Remaining Sioux forced into reservation life at
gunpoint

-Many Sioux sought spiritual guidance → a


religious awakening inspired by a Paiute holy
man called Wovoka (he received a message
from the Creator that an Indian messiah would
come and the world would be free of the white
man and they could return to their lands and
the buffalo would once again roam the Great
Plains)

-Wovoka and his followers performed what


became known as the “Ghost Dance” →
movement spread throughout tribes in the
South and West

-Morning of 29 December 1890: U.S. army


demanded the surrender of all Sioux weapons
→ a shot rang out → the reconstructed 7th
Cavalry opened fire on the Sioux → they were
cut down as they tried to run away

-Almost all of the 300 men, women, and


children were dead; others froze to death in the
snow
Homestead Act of 1862

-Homesteaders paid a filing fee of $18: a $10 fee to make a temporary claim on the
land, $2 for commission to the land agent and an additional $6 final payment to receive
an official patent on the land
-Land titles could also be purchased from the government for $1.25 per acre following
six months of proven residency
-Additional requirements included five years of continuous residence on the land,
building a home on it, farming the land and making improvements; had to be the head
of a household or 21 years of age
History
Dawes
• MakeSeveralty Act 1887
a timeline of the important historical events
• Provided NAs with 160 acres of land
per family
• Given a land allotment with the
requirement to have "adopted the
habits of civilized life" (lived separate
and apart from the tribe) and
become a U.S. citizen
• Act forced many NAs off tribal land
and onto worse plots of land
• Sent NA children to boarding schools
(e.g. - Carlisle Industrial School)
• Provided the white settlers with
much more and better-quality land
Effect of
The Dawes Act

Before the Dawes Act, NAs owned


about 150 million acres of land

After the Dawes Act, tribal land was


divided up, and the NAs lost about
2/3 of the land

The land was then given to Native


Americans who could use the land
for either farming or grazing

The rest of the land was divided up


between white settlers
Then, many of the Natives
began to sell their land

Many European settlers took advantage


of NAs and cheated them out of much of
the money that they should have been
paid

-Once Native Americans got the money, often


because it was given in cash up front, it was
spent quickly
-90,000 NAs ended up broke with no land
Facts About the Dawes Act
• The Dawes Act, also known as the Dawes-Severalty Act, was
created by and named after Henry Dawes, a MA Congressman

• 8 February 1887

• The Dawes Act was the major NA Policy up until the 1930s

• Assimilation: the “Americanizing” of Native Americans

• “Kill the Indian, save the man!”


A Century of Dishonor – Helen Hunt Jackson (1881)

- “Muckraking” account of the broken treaties, promises, and land agreements


of the U.S. govt towards NAs since the American Revolution
- Made the case that the U.S. govt violated basic principles of international law
- Called on Congress to shift policy
- Also wrote Ramona, which became the Uncle Tom’s Cabin of NA struggles

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