Westward Expansion and Native Americans

Expansion and Indian Policy

Eastern Tribes

• Being moved from homelands to “Indian Territory” (present day Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska)

• This area seen as unfarmable and was called the “Great American Desert”

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/ok_indian_territory_1884.jpg

Thomas Jefferson

• Thomas Jefferson stated early in the 1800s that the removal of Indians war for their own good

• They could live undisturbed by white people while slowly adjusting to “civilized” life.

http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/artifact/Painting_31_00006.htm

1830s and 1840s

• Since Lewis and Clark explored the west in 1804, settlers began to desire westward drive

• As more and more people began to desire western lands, the Indian Territory became encroached upon

• The Santa Fe Trail and Overland Trails even crossed the territory!

• 1854, the government abolished the northern half of the Indian Territory and established Kansas and Nebraska Territories

Treaties with Whites

• Many tribes of this northern area of the former Indian Territory signed bogus treaties with white settlers giving them allotments of land that they were then pressured to sell to the white settlers at overly cheap prices.

• Most feel their tribes lost their identity and their autonomy at that time.

• Five southern tribes did better (Cherokee being included in this group)

Indian Territory

• Take a look and see where the removed tribes settled in the territory.

• As whites moved father west, we began to displace more and more natives.

• Where would they go?

From Prentice Hall’s Out of Many: A History of the American People ©2000

Indian People Under Siege

• In post-Civil War years, white westward migration continued

• As early as the 1840s, there was an ever intensifying rivalry over the natural resources.

• Government officials layed out a plan in which individual tribes would agree to live within clearly defined zones called reservations

• In exchange, the Bureau of Indian Affairs would provide guidance while the US military ensured protection

• Many were threatened or tricked into signing over their lands

“Civilize the Savages”

• Many well-meaning Protestant missionaries aspired to “civilize the savages.” – They were induced to

speak English– Taught farming– Converted the

Christianity

Too many people…

• Over time the lands were reduced

• Eventually over 100,000 people competed for survival on the small reservations

• Many were starving

• Nomadic tribes now could not travel and hunt

Buffalo

• Tribes such as the Sioux depended on the Buffalo for all needs including religious ceremonies

• White settlers began slaughtering buffalo for fur, leather and trophies

• Army commanders encouraged the killing of buffalo because hunger made the Indians easier to manipulate

• Many concluded they could only fight or die

The Indian Wars

• A handful of tribes united and organized themselves

• Vast majority of the tribemen never took up arms, but the rumors spread

Sand Creek Massacre

• In 1864, many of the white settlers (some Civil War Veterans) of Colorado under direction of the governor staged repeated raids through the Cheyenne campgrounds

• Chief Black Kettle went to a US fort and asked for protection and they were ordered to set up at Sand Creek

• The next morning 700 volunteers (mostly drunk) slaughtered 105 Cheyenne women and children and 28 men (most of the men were out hunting)

• The corpses were mutilated and the scalps taken back to Denver to the governor

• This brought on retaliation from many Native American groups

Treaty of Fort Laramie

• In 1851, the Sioux warriors had fought the US Army to a stand still and finally forced them to abandon their fort in South Dakota

• The Army signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie that granted the Sioux the right to occupy their sacred holy land “as long as the grass shall grow”

• Gold was discovered in this land however and during the summer of 1874, the US Congress pushed to make it American territory

Custer’s Last Stand

• Determined to protect the land given to them by US treaty, the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors moved into war camps during the summer of 1876 and prepared for battle

• A flamboyant and irresponsible army commander, George Armstrong Custer developed an ambitious plan to subdue the rebellious tribes, he would establish a fort in the Black Hills (the sacred lands)

AKA: Battle of Little Bighorn

• After several small battles/skirmishes, Custer headed to an area known as Little Bighorn

• Lakotas often called this area “Greasy Grass”• Perfect for the 2-4 thousand warrior band!• Custer was easily defeated here• Used as propaganda for Indian-haters and soon

the US Army took full control of the Black Hills• The Sioux soon quick leading the insurgency

after one of the favorite warriors (Crazy Horse) was fatally stabbed while under arrest at a US Army camp

Red River War 1874-75

• The Apache took up the fight• They were swift warriors and well versed in

fighting on horse-back• Geronimo was their leader• The US Army cut off their food supply and finally

starved them into surrendering• To read more on Geronimo in his own words

see : http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/B/geronimo/geronixx.htm

Nez Perce Tribe

• Typically friendly to whites, good and often helpful relationship

• Christian converts, saved Lewis and Clark, aided with hostile tribes…

• THEN gold was discovered on their land in Washington and Oregon

• The US government asked them to sign a treaty cedeing over 9/10 of their land

• A small group of the Nez Perce agreed and the rest of the tribe was forced to leave

Nez Perce Tribe

• Intending to comply peacefully, they packed up and began leaving for the 1/10 they still possessed

• Then the US Army fired into their caravan and the Nez Perce retaliated

• Chief Joseph (once a Christian convert, then so disgusted with “Christians” that he threw away his Bible and returned to his original religion) led his people up through the mountains of Montana trying to reach Canada

• They were captured 30 miles from the Canadian border, but were so starved they surrendered after being promised they would be returned to their land

Nez Perce Tragedy

• They were actually shipped to a disease ridden area in Kansas where many became ill and died

• Chief Joseph pleaded with Congress to allow them to return to their reservation, but under pressure from settlers in Idaho, Congress refused

• The last few remaining tribe members were deported to a non-Nez reservation where Chief Joseph “died of a broken heart” in 1904

The Internal Empire

• Are we imperialistic?

• It would seem that the eastern portion of the United States was conquering the western portion for land, gold and fame.

• Revisit your T-Chart and circle anything there that you heard in this lecture.

• Keep these events in mind as you begin your research.

Do you seen any stereotypes here?

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/cody/aa_cody_business_3_e.html

Bibliography

• Faragher, J., Buhle, M., Czitrom, D., & Armitage, S. (2000). Out of Many: a History of the American People. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.