Chapter 20: The Indian Wars

Section 1: Changes in Indian Policy

American Indian Relations

•Early 1860s: Indian raids common

•Frontier open to attack as men and soldiers fight in Civil War

•Plains Indians see opportunity to westward expansion

American Indian Relations

•Federal troops arrive at end of war

•Not enough troops to go around

•October 1865: Federal commissioners negotiate peace treaty

American Indian Relations

•Treaty of the Little Arkansas—treaty under which Comanche & Kiowa leaders agreed to settle on a Panhandle reservation

•Reservation never created

American Indian Relations

•Kiowa & Comanche renew attacks

•People move to safer areas

•Frontier line pushed back east

American Indian Relations

•During the 1860s the frontier in Texas sometimes fell back under pressure from American Indian raids

The Treaty of Medicine Lodge

•1867: federal government attempts to negotiate a new treaty

•Treaty of Medicine Lodge—agreement of 1867 that required the Plains Indians to move onto a reservation in the Indian Territory

The Treaty of Medicine Lodge

•Terms:

–Gifts of blankets, clothing, & weapons

–3 million acres for reservation in Indian Territory

–Buildings, tools, & money

The Treaty of Medicine Lodge

•Terms:

–Stop raiding

–Stay on reservations

–Take up farming

The Treaty of Medicine Lodge

•Satanta—Kiowa leader who refused to accept reservation life and died in prison

Satanta

The Treaty of Medicine Lodge

• Some Indians honored the treaty, others remained determined to roam the plains

The Peace Policy

•1869: President Grant established Board of Indian Commissioners

•Quakers—members of the Society of Friends, some of whom became Indian agents to help prevent war

The Peace Policy

•Government hoped Indians would make living by farming

•Reservation life was difficult and food was often scarce.

•Poor soil

The Peace Policy

•Government food supplies insufficient

•Goods sent by government were illegally sold and never arrived

•Buffalo hunters entered reservations

Civil War Reconstruction Treaty of Little Arkansas

Treaty of Medicine Lodge

Effects Effects Effects Effects