CULTURES IN CONFLICT

By 1850, nearly all Native Americans had been removed from eastern Texas.

In west Texas, however, Native Americans fought to keep settlers from moving westward.

During the Civil War, federal soldiers left Texas to fight in eastern United States. This left settlements in West Texas vulnerable to the Comanche and Kiowa. Many pioneers packed up and moved east to safer areas, abandoning their ranches and farms.

To prevent further Native American raids after the Civil War (1866), federal soldiers were stationed in the west.

9th Cavalry at Fort Davis

The 9th and 10th Cavalries were made up entirely of African American soldiers. These soldiers were famous throughout Texas for the skill and courage they showed. The Native Americans called them “Buffalo Soldiers,” a title of great respect.

For a while, Native Americans held the advantage in warfare. Too few soldiers Inexperienced soldiers Too few forts Short on food and supplies Indians were skilled fighters Indians knew the terrain

The Search for Peace. In 1867, U. S The Search for Peace In 1867, U.S. federal agents and the chiefs of several Native American nations met in Kansas and signed a peace treaty called The Treaty of Medicine Lodge Creek.

Groups meeting for the treaty

Terms of The Treaty of Medicine Lodge Creek: Tribes would live on reservations in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). The government would provide food and supplies. The army would not be allowed on the reservations. Native Americans would stop raiding Anglo settlements.

Peace did not come to West Texas Peace did not come to West Texas. About ½ of the Comanches and many more Kiowas refused to move to the reservations because: * They loved their land and traditional way of life. * Claimed that they were cheated and treated badly by some agents.

Chiefs who did not honor the treaty: Chiefs who did not honor the treaty: * Kiowa chief Satanta (signed, but did not honor the treaty) * Comanche chief Quanah Parker (son of Cynthia Ann Parker and chief Peta Nocona)

Satanta

“I love the land and the buffalo and will not part with it “I love the land and the buffalo and will not part with it. I want you to understand well what I say. Write it on paper… I hear a great deal of good talk from the gentlemen whom the Great Father (Grant) sends us, but they never do what they say. I don’t want any of the medicine lodges [schools or churches] within the country. I want the children raised as I was.”

Comanche Chief Quanah Parker

Quanah was the son of Cynthia Ann Parker

The City of Quanah lies northeast of Lubbock.

War in West Texas

Quaker agents worked for years to establish peace, but Native American raids continued in Texas.

The army sent General William Tecumseh Sherman to investigate.

During General Sherman’s two week stay, Kiowa Chief Satanta and other chiefs led an attack on a wagon train that left several men dead.

For his participation, Satanta was sentenced to hang For his participation, Satanta was sentenced to hang. For fear of starting a major war, Satanta’s sentence was changed to life in prison in Huntsville.

Satanta found prison life intolerable and took his own life.

Satanta’s grave in the Huntsville Prison cemetery.

After the wagon train attack, Sherman ordered that the peace policy be abandoned. All Native American camps in Texas would be destroyed and their occupants sent to reservations.

The End of the Buffalo

The culture of the nomadic Plains peoples depended upon land, the horse, and buffalo.

Nothing was wasted! meat used as food paunch (stomach) – water bag hoofs, horns, bones – cups, tools, ornaments hide – clothing, shoes, saddles, teepees tendons and hair – rope, thread, bowstrings dried manure - fuel

The 1870’s was the era of the buffalo hunt The 1870’s was the era of the buffalo hunt. In this 10-year period, as many as 60 million buffalo were exterminated in the United States. The buffalo were killed for their hides. These would be sold for about $1 each and used in the manufacture of leather goods.

Hunters did not use the meat Hunters did not use the meat. Buffalo carcasses were left to rot on the plains. Several years later, millions of pounds of buffalo bones were gathered up, ground up, and used as fertilizer on mineral-poor soils on Eastern farms.

Many sympathetic Anglo Americans realized the importance of the buffalo to the Native American way of life. A law was proposed to protect the buffalo, but General Philip Sheridan helped to defeat the bill. He stated:

“They are destroying the Indians’ commissary [storehouse], and it is a well-known fact that an army losing its base of supplies is placed at a great disadvantage. Send them powder and lead, if you will; but for the sake of lasting peace, let them kill, skin, and sell until the buffaloes are exterminated. Then your prairies can be covered with speckled cattle, and the festive cowboy, who follows the hunter as a second forerunner of advanced civilization.”

Manifest Destiny

Without the buffalo for food and clothing, Native Americans of the plains could not sustain their way of life. They made plans for war.

The first attack, which was unsuccessful, was launched against on a buffalo hunters’ camp at Adobe Walls near the Canadian River.

Frustrated by the failure to take Adobe Walls, several Plains groups increased their attacks on West Texas settlements. The warring Plains people then spread across five states and territories, killing over 190 Anglo Americans over the next two months.

The Red River Campaign After Adobe Walls, President Grant put the army – rather than government agents – in charge of Native American affairs in West Texas. An army of some 3,000 troops moved toward the Panhandle from five different directions.

Approximately 1,200 warriors prepared for a final defense of their land, basing their camps in the canyons and valleys of the Panhandle.

The Battle of Palo Duro Canyon On September 28, 1874, the U. S The Battle of Palo Duro Canyon On September 28, 1874, the U.S. cavalry set fire to 5 Comanche, Kiowa, and Cheyenne encampments in the canyon. Few lives were lost, but the army destroyed over 1,000 horses to prevent the Native Americans from retrieving them. Without food, horses, and shelter, the Native Americans could not survive long.

By early November most of the Native American bands were making their way to the reservations. The last remaining Comanche band surrendered in June. Among them was Quanah Parker. After this, Native Americans were rarely seen on the plains and prairies of Central and West Texas.

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