Indian Massacres and Post-Reconstruction Movements Out West Chapter 26 Indian Massacres and Post-Reconstruction Movements Out West

Clash of Cultures American culture: (1) Stay East (2) Go West Relationship between Indians and Federal Government: Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) / Sioux Treaty - set up the first “reservations” in America to position various Indian tribes on reserved plots of land Purpose: Get Indians out of the way of Westward expansion Indians receive: “Americanization” through education in carpentry, farming, and engineering Black Hills War (1876) or The Great Cheyenne War - gold prospectors (going West) crossed over in reservations and the Cheyenne tribes attacked them (violation of the treaty of Fort Laramie)…the U.S army responded and war ensued. U.S. Army took control of this reservation

Indian Wars / Massacres Indian Wars / Massacres (1864-1890) Indian Advantage: arrows were quicker than the white man’s rifle White Advantage: Invention of the Colt .45 by Samuel Colt (6-shooter) and the Winchester repeating rifle turned the tide o the white man Buffalo Soldiers: African American soldiers that were sent by the U.S. Army to “protect” the white man / railroad constructors against Indian attacks

Sand Creek Massacre (1864) Sand Creek Location: Colorado Just before the Civil War ended in 1865 Col. J.M. Chivington's troops circled then killed 700 Indians who thought they'd been given immunity. Cheyenne (and neighboring allied tribes) were attacked by, mostly drunken, U.S> Army troops Black Kettle: Cheyenne tribe at Sand Creek raised a white and an American flag from his tepee to surrender Cheyenne revenge: Fetterman attack (2 years later) Purpose: end the construction of the Bozeman Trail (connected Montana to the Oregon Trail)

Gold on a Federal Reservation In 1874, gold was discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota (on the Sioux reservation) when Col. William Armstrong Custer ( Chief Yellow Hair) led a "geological" expedition into the Black Hills. The Battle of Little Bighorn (1876) ("Custer's Last Stand") followed. Custer's’ problems: Outmatched, outnumbered, and no knowledge of the terrain *Horse Wall Main Sioux Leaders: Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull led thousands of Indians “OFF” of their “GIVEN” reservations Legacy: INDIAN VICTORY! (1) This victory only prolonged the inevitable defeat of the Indians (2) Sparked other tribes to fight off being mandated to go onto federal reservations

Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce Geronimo of the Apache Inspired by the events at Little Bighorn…Chief Joseph claimed the federal government could not tell him where to go. Solution: Flee to Canada The U.S. Army caught and defeated the Nez Perce at the Battle of Bear Paw Mountain only 40 miles from the Canadian border. Finally, giving up, claimed “I will fight no more, forever” Apache (Southwest) - U.S. Army chased the Apache and Geronimo into Mexico Mexican soldiers killed Geronimo’s mother, wife and three kids - Geronimo vowed to fight Mexico and then surrendered to the U.S. army - Later did of pneumonia in 1909

5 elements that dissolved the Indian cultures in the late 1800s (1) Railroads (Iron fingers of the government) (2) Diseases (3) Lack of Buffalo (deliberately killed by the white man) (4) War (5) Loss of their land to white settlement (sense of imperialism and manifest destiny/ White man’s medicine)

White settlers kill the Buffalo

American Public reaction By the 1880's, the people were beginning to recognize the plight of the American Indian. A Century of Dishonor By: Helen Hunt Jackson - outlined the injustice done to Indians by the U.S. government. Her novel Ramona had the same effect in fiction form. GHOST DANCE Indian religious movement that started in the late 1800s Point: revitalization of “deceased family members”, buffalo will return White settlers will leave them alone…. White reaction: Ghost Dance is outlawed….. (WOUNDED KNEE)

Wounded Knee (1890) Location: South Dakota Led by Custer’s Old regiment (7th Calvary) Indians were killed for dancing Legacy: ENDS THE INDIAN WARS / MASSACRES

Dawes Severalty Act (1887) Federal Government’s attempt to erase Indian tribes and “Americanize” them and make them more White American. Outcome: (1) Indians will be an American citizen after 25 years, only if they act like just like whit people (cultural superiority) (2) Split up reservations and give them to the “head of the family”(repeal the Treaty of Fort Laramie) and offer the rest for purchase form the white man. Remember: European immigrants will get citizenship in 2-3 years Dawes Act in Action: Carlisle Indian School opened in an attempt to “kill the Indian, save the child!” 1890 = Indians had 50% less land than 1870 Dawes Act (1887) is overturned in 1934 with the Indian Reorganization Act (Indian New Deal) through FDR

Farmer’s Frontier The Homestead Act (1862) - offered 160 acres of “free” land. Purpose: Develop the West! ($1.25 per acre) Exodusters: African American settlers trying to escape racial discrimination of the Jim Crow South and to take advantage of the Homestead Act Sooners: noting the settlers that went out West (Oklahoma) “sooner” that they should have (land was not assigned yet)

The “Fading” Frontier 1890 – The federal Census Bureau claimed the “Frontier did not exist” American public reaction: Scared the land has been gobbled up Federal Reaction: Yellowstone was obtained by the federal government as the First National Park in 1872. Yosemite and Sequoia parks followed in 1890. ** Frederick Jackson Turner writes the “Turner Thesis”- claiming the “Western frontier movement” shaped American culture - Safety-Valve Theory: anybody can just “up and leave” and start over / go West! (back to Second Great Awakening)