Transcript Aim: Why did settlers come into conflict with the Native

Aim: Why did settlers
come into conflict with
the Native Americans in
the Western US?
2. Conflict With the Indians
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The coming of so many settlers to the frontier led to
conflict with the Indians.
With the movement of settlers to the West in the
1840s, Indian life began to change.
The coming of miners, ranchers and farmers into the
last frontier caused even greater changes.
As a result, a long series of conflicts, lasting until the
late 1880s, took place between the Indians and the
settlers.
These conflicts resulted in the defeat of the Indians
and their traditional way of life.
Native Americans (1800)
2.1 The Plains Indians
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Nearly 200,000 Indians lived in the Great Plains.
Many of the Indian groups who lived there were
nomadic hunters who depended on the buffalo
for survival.
The buffalo provided these groups with food,
clothing, housing and shelter.
Native Americans (2008)
Map of the Plains Indians
Buffalo
The Many Uses of Buffalo
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The Plains Indians followed herds of buffalo over a large area
and they believed that the land belonged to everyone.
However, the treaties of the 1850s between the government and
certain Indian groups had set boundaries on Indian hunting
lands.
As miners, ranchers, and homesteaders moved into the West, the
treaties were broken and more Indian land was taken. It became
difficult for the Indians to find the buffalo they needed.
The final blow came when whites began killing off large
numbers of buffalo. Hunters working for railroad companies
shot thousands of buffalo to feed survey and track-laying teams.
Other were killed for sport, as their hides became popular in the
Eastern United States. By 1889, only a few hundred buffalo were
left.
2.2 The Last Indian Wars
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The last wars between the Indians and settlers occurred
during the last half of the 1800s.
The major reason for this conflict, you guessed it, land.
The same reason we fought the Indians in the 1600s,
1700s and early 1800s.
In 1861, some Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians attacked
miners while they were moving through Indian lands
towards Colorado.
This ended in the defeat of the Indians after a massacre
of 450 of their number by the Colorado state militia.
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In 1862, many soldiers were pulled from the
west to join the Civil War conflict. This allowed
for many Plains Indians to rise up against white
settlers.
When the war was over, more soldiers were
placed in the west. This conflict between the
federal government and Indians continued soon
after.
Map of Indian Tribes, Battles and Settler Posts 1860-1890
The First Sioux War
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The First Sioux War began in 1865 when the United
States Army tried to build a road across Sioux land
through central Wyoming to the gold mines of
Montana.
The Sioux, led by Chief Red Cloud, attacked many of
the soldiers and miners along the road.
The government finally agreed to give up the project in
1868. The Sioux were also guaranteed reservation lands
west of the Missouri River and hunting rights.
Map of the Sioux Indian Lands c.1865
Chief Red Cloud
The Second Sioux War
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The Second Sioux War began as a result of gold
being discovered on the Sioux reservation in the
Dakota Territory.
In 1874, after gold was discovered, miners by
the hundreds arrived in the Black Hills seeking
gold.
In 1875, the United States government broke its
promise to the Sioux and opened the Black Hills
to settlement.
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Many Sioux left their lands and camped near the
Little Bighorn River in Montana. They were
joined by members of the Cheyenne and
Arapaho tribes.
These tribes were led by Chief Sitting Bull and
Crazy Horse-2,500 warriors in all.
The government ordered the tribes to return to
their lands. When they did not do so, troops
were sent to force them to move.
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One group of 264 troops, led by Lt. Colonel
George Custer, advanced against the Indians in
the Battle of Little Bighorn.
Custer and his troops were surrounded by the
Indians and killed.
When news reached the East about this defeat,
more soldiers were sent to the West and the
Sioux fled the area.
The Black Hills-South Dakota
Gold Discovered in the Black Hills
Lt. Colonel George Custer
Lt. Colonel George Custer and his men were among the first Americans to find gold
in the Black Hills. He soon would gain notoriety when he and his 264 men were
killed at the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876.
Little Big Horn
Custer’s Last Stand
Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse
Sitting Bull
Crazy Horse
The Nez Perce
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The United States also used force against the Nez
Perce.
In 1877, the government ordered the Nez Perce Tribe
of eastern Oregon to move to a smaller reservation in
Idaho. They refused.
Led by Chief Joseph, 800 men, women and children
traveled for 15 weeks over 1,500 while being chased by
US troops.
The tribe was caught 40 miles before they would have
escaped into Canada.
Movement of the Nez Perce Tribe 1877
Chief Joseph
The Apache
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One of the longest Indian wars was fought between the
US Army and the Apache tribe of the southwest.
The Apache continued to fight the US Army after
many other tribes went to reservations. This was due to
the Apache being warriors.
The Apache knew the rugged lands of Arizona, New
Mexico and Texas gave them the advantage over the US
forces.
The wars with the Apache went on until the capture of
Geronimo in 1886.
Apache Homelands of the 1800s
Geronimo
Wounded Knee
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The Indian Wars finally came to a close at
Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge
Reservation in the Dakota Territory.
In the late 1880s, a religious movement spread
to the Plains Indians. As part of it, a special
dance called the Ghost Dance was performed.
The Indians believed that the dance would
return the buffalo and their lands.
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These beliefs alarmed settlers, who demanded
the army take action.
In December 1890, soldiers tried to stop the
Ghost Dance. There was a brief fight and more
than 150 Sioux were killed.
Wounded Knee
Hotchkiss
st
Gun-1
Machine Gun
Images of Wounded Knee
Images of Wounded Knee
Wounded Knee Memorial
2.3 Changes in Federal Indian Policy
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Federal policy towards the Indians changed
during the 1800s.
At first, the government wanted the Indians to
move out of the way of white settlement.
During the 1850s, boundaries were set that
concentrated some Indian groups in certain
areas. In 1868, Indian lands were divided into
two separate reservations.
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Throughout this time, the government had treated
Indian groups as separate nations.
After 1871, the government moved to “Americanize”
the Indians. Efforts were made to pressure the Indians
into accepting the white settlers’ way of life.
As a first step, Congress said that all Indians were to be
wards-people under the care of a guardian-of the
government.
The government’s treatment of the Indians over the
years drew the attention of reformers and led to further
changes.
Reformers Speak Out
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Many reformers, such as Helen Hunt Jackson and Sarah
Winnemucca, spoke out against the government’s
treatment of Indians.
In 1881, Jackson wrote A Century of Dishonor. This
book documented the government’s harsh treatment of
the Indians.
In 1884, Winnemucca wrote Life Among the Paiutes: Their
Claims and Wrongs, also criticized the government’s
handling of the Indians. As a Paiute, she witnessed the
treatment firsthand.
Helen Hunt Jackson
Sarah Winnemucca
The Dawes Act (1887)
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To answer the reformers’ demands, Congress
passed the Dawes Act in 1887.
The act marked a change in the government’s
reservation policy.
Up to 1887, Indians had been forced to live on
reservations and the lands were owned by the
different Indian groups.
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Under the Dawes Act, the government divided
reservation lands and gave Indian families plots to
farm.
The plots were held in trust by the government for 25
years. At the end of the time, the Indians would
become full owners of the land and United States
citizens.
However, those Indians who agreed to this decision
had to break away from their traditional groups. This
helped the government in successfully ending many
tribal groups.
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Most Indians DID NOT fare well under the Dawes
Act.
Reservation lands that were not divided into plots for
the Indians were given or sold to settlers.
As a result, the Indians lost 60% of their native lands.
Many Indians were not farmers and they did not believe
in individual ownership of property.
For the most part, Indians found it very difficult to
adapt to white ways.
Division of Lands Under the Dawes
Act (1887)
Native Americans (1800)
Native Americans 2008