Cultures in Conflict, Part 2 Unit 9 (Ch. 17, Sections 2&3) Essential Questions: What were the effects of westward expansion on American Indians? Describe the significance of the Buffalo Soldiers. Main Idea: The slaughter of the buffalo and the actions of the U.S. Army and the Texas Rangers forever changed the lives and culture of the American Indians living on the West Texas Plains.

American Indian Raids Continue General William T. Sherman went to West Texas to investigate. Found that Indian raids continued to harm settlers; and had Satanta, Big Tree, and Satank arrested after the Warren Wagon Train Raid at Salt Creek. Satanta was sent to the state prison at Huntsville. He found prison life intolerable and is believed to have killed himself. The peace policy was then abandoned, and the army began a campaign to destroy Indian camps and force them onto reservations.

The Early Texas Campaigns During 1871 and 1872, the army, under the command of Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie, led campaigns against Native Americans of the South Plains. In 1873 the army concentrated efforts along the Rio Grande in South Texas, eventually crossing the border.

American Indians Depend on the Buffalo Indians feared the decreasing numbers of buffalo would end their way of life. They used every part of the buffalo, including skins, horns, paunches, and sinews.

Buffalo Herds Are Slaughtered The era of the Anglo buffalo hunt in Texas was begun by Charles Rath and John and J. Wright Mooar. The slaughter began in the 1870s, and by 1873 the herds north of Texas were gone. Hunters then began moving onto the Texas plains.

Buffalo Becomes Political Issue A law was proposed in the Texas legislature to protect the buffalo, but General Philip Sheridan, commander of the U.S. military of the Southwest, helped to defeat the bill. Without the buffalo for food, clothing, shelter, and other necessities, the American Indians of the Plains could not survive, so they struck back to save their culture.

The Attack on Adobe Walls In June 1874, Quanah Parker led several hundred warriors from five American Indian nations in an attack on a buffalo hunters’ camp at Adobe Walls. Joined by many American Indians on reservations, the Plains people spread across 5 states and territories, killing 190 Anglo Americans in 2 months.

The Red River Campaign President Ulysses S. Grant put the army in charge of American Indian affairs in West Texas. About 4,000 Comanches, Kiowas, and Cheyenne spread their camps into canyons and valleys in the Texas Panhandle. The first battle of the Red River Campaign was fought in late August 1874. The army did not halt the search for American Indian camps until the following Spring.

The Battle of Palo Duro Canyon September 28, 1874: The most decisive battle of the Red River Campaign. By early November most of the American Indian bands had given up and were headed toward reservations.

Kickapoo and Apache Continue Struggle After the Red River campaign, Native Americans rarely were seen on the prairies of Central and West Texas. Kickapoo and Apache warriors, however, continued their struggle for a few more years in the border country along the Rio Grande. Kickapoo Chief

Buffalo Soldiers End the Wars African American soldiers were famous throughout Texas for their experience and skill in warfare against American Indians. Indians called them “Buffalo Soldiers,” a title of great respect 19 receive Congressional Medal of Honor Often disrespected by other soldiers and harassed and/or abused by Anglo Americans