Transcript Frontier Wars in Texas

Frontier Wars
in Texas
The Peace Policy
West Texas Forts of
the 1870’s
U.S. Army
Too few men
Inexperienced
in frontier
warfare
Forts too wide
spread
Too few
supplies
vs.
Indians
Familiar land
Skillful
warriors
Rapid fire
bow/arrow
Torture and
Ambush
Treaty of Medicine Lodge Creek, Ks.
Treaty of Medicine Lodge
Creek, Kansas - 1867
Indians move to reservations
US gov’t would provide food, supplies,
& education/religious training
Indian council could rule
Not under Army jurisdiction
No Anglo buffalo hunts south of
Arkansas River
white man had restricted access to the
area
Peace Policy Problems
Many tribes not present
Indians unwilling to change
Indians’ pride
Corrupt Indian agents
Result:
1871 – Gen.
Sherman
Was sent to
the TX
frontier to
deal with the
problem
Fort Richardson
Officers Quarters
Infirmary
I love the land and the buffalo and will
not part with it.
The buffalo is our money. . .our cattle
given to us by the Great Father above.
Buffalo Hunters
A person who
slaughtered buffalo for
the value of their hides.
They killed the Native
Americans buffalo
which forced some
Native Americans to
leave the reservation
and raid white
settlements
Killing for Sport
Analyze natives’ reactions . . .
Rath brothers’ market for buffalo hides
“For the sake of a lasting peace, let them
kill and sell until the buffalo are
exterminated.”
Gen. Philip Sheridan
1871 – Salt Creek Massacre
Chiefs: Satanta, Satank, Big Tree
Med. Man: Mamanti & pet owl
Sherman: last stop Ft.Richardson;
1st to cross Salt Crk. Prairie
2nd wagon train was attacked
Result: Peace Policy (treaty) ended
Battle of Adobe Walls
June, 1874
War chief - Quanah Parker
Medicine man - Isa-tai
Location: Tx. panhandle
800 (?) Indians/30 buffalo
hunters
Indians were defeated, angered
Increased Indian raids
Adobe Walls
Red River Campaign
August, 1874
Col. Ranald
Mackenzie
4th Cavalry,
3,000 soldiers
Persistently
searched Tx.
Panhandle
Maj. John B.
Jones, Frontier
Battalion
Protected
frontier settlers
6 months - 15
battles
Palo Duro Canyon
Battle of Palo Duro Canyon
Sept. 1874
Tonkawa scouts
led 4th Cavalry
Comanches fled
Army destroyed
Indians’ food,
tepees, horses
Col. Ranald Mackenzie
Fort Sill, Indian Territory
Kwahadi Comanches last to give up
Chief Quanah Parker
Surrendered June 1875
Quanah Parker
BEFORE
AFTER
Buffalo Soldiers
**African American soldiers who guarded the
Texas frontier after the Civil War.**
They scouted, mapped, and built roads
between the settled and unsettled areas of
the state.
They also patrolled the frontier, protecting
settlers from Native American raids.
After the Indian Wars
Texas was not a safe place to live…
Cattle thieves were common
Outlaws robbed stagecoaches and trains
Ranchers fought over land
Violence against Mexican Americans and
African Americans was on the rise
Mexican bandits raided Texas towns
Texas Rangers
Were called upon to bring the law back to
Texas.