1. U.S. History
Unit 1

2. Westward Expansion & Culture Clashes on the Prairie
Plains Indians
Great Plains – the vast grassland extending through the west-central portion of the U.S.
Highly developed ways of life existed.
Planting of crops & settled villages
Nomadic tribes produced and traded goods
Tribal laws = social order

3. The Plains Indians way of life was changed when they were introduced to horses (Spanish)
Travel farther
Hunting more efficient
Farming was secondary to roaming the plains

4. Buffalo Destroyed by tourists and fur traders
In just less than 100 years the number of buffalo in the U.S. went from approximately 15 million in 1800 to fewer than 600 in 1886.
Indians used buffalo for food, clothing, shelter and fuel

6. Farming the Great Plains
1862 – Congress passed the Homestead Act
Offered 160 acres/cultivate for 5 years
– between 400,000 and 600,000 families move west
Several thousand settlers were known as the exodusters – African Americans who moved from the South to Kansas in the great exodus

7. Free land was not the only lure
1869 – the transcontinental railroad was finished.
Made travel easier. It took about 10 days to travel from coast to coast.
Provided transportation for good and supplies
“bargain” fare from Omaha to Sacramento was about $40 (more than a month’s pay for the average person)
How efficient was transportation before the railroad? Give examples!

8. Cultural Conflict American Character
Rugged Individual – out to tame the land
These characteristics were found in the frontier and its opportunities
Character is formed by interaction with the environment: use, settle, and improve land
Image from 1900

9. The measure of a person is economic
how much wealth is accumulated
The white man is looking to better his place in society, so as to turn opportunity into prosperity

10. Owning land and a house, staking mining claims, or starting a business were some of the way white settlers improved their stations in society
Prospectors, settlers and ranchers alike argued that the N.A.s had forfeited their rights to the land because they hadn’t settled down to “improve” it.
Since the plains were “unsettled”, it was an open invitation for settlers to move in!

11. Native Americans Success is based on character
Character is created by bravery and loyalty
Interaction with the land – very spiritual / the land sustains them
Chief Joseph

12. Land was the source of most conflicts:
Whites believed the Indians used the land inefficiently (underutilized)
Thus it was the justification for taking it

13. The Government Restricts Native Americans
As more and more settlers and the railroads moved westward, the government’s policies changed toward the N.A.’s
1834 the federal gov. passed an act that designated the entire Great Plains as a large reservation for N.A. tribes
1850s, more settlers meant policies changed again, less land for the N.A. tribes
Government officials signed treaties with some Chiefs
Unfortunately, those Chiefs did necessarily represent all of the tribes (not all agreed to sign the treaties)
INCREASED tension!
Cheyenne and Sioux continued to hunt their traditional lands, clashing with settlers and miners – often tragic results
Chief Wolf Robe of the
Southern Cheyenne, June 1909

14. Massacre at Sand Creek
1864 – the Cheyenne, forced onto a barren area of the Colorado Territory known as Sand Creek Reserve, began raiding nearby trails and settlements for food and supplies
Territorial governor, John Evans orders militia to attack the raiders.
He also encouraged the Cheyenne who didn’t want to fight to report the Fort Lyon near the reserve
Most returned to their winter camps on the reserve
1999

15. General S.R. Curtis sent a telegram to militia Colonel John Chivington that read, “I want no peace till the Indians suffer more.”
What do you think happened next?
November 29, 1864 – Chivington and 500 of his men attacked the Cheyenne at dawn, killing about 200 inhabitants, mostly women and children
Revenge for his family
Afterward treated like a hero in his home town of Denver

16. The Battle of the Hundred Slain
The Sioux were angry that whites were settling along the Bozeman Trail which was opened during the Civil War
The Bozeman Trail ran right through the Sioux’s favorite hunting ground in the Bighorn Mountains
Sioux chief, Red Cloud appealed to the govern. to stop settlers from using the trail, but soldiers continued to build forts along it

17. When the attempts of negotiation proved futile, the Sioux, Arapaho, and Cheyenne resorted to guerrilla warfare
Dec. 21, 1866 – Crazy Horse and many others lured Capt. Fetterman and his company into an ambush at Lodge Trail Ridge.
N.A.’s called it “The Battle of the Hundred Slain”
Whites called it “The Fetterman Massacre”

18. In return – Oglala & Brulé Sioux signed Treaty of Fort Laramie(1868)
After two more years of skirmishes, the gov. agreed to close the Bozeman Trail
In return – Oglala & Brulé Sioux signed Treaty of Fort Laramie(1868)
Sioux agreed to move onto a reservation along the Missouri River
Sitting Bull – leader of the Hunkpapa Sioux never signed the treaty and expected to be able to continue using their traditional hunting grounds

19. War on the Southern Plains
Late 1868 – Kiowa and Comanche refuse to move onto a reservation in the Texas Panhandle
6 years of raiding followed
The raiding led to the Red River War of
U.S. Army dealt with the guerrilla tactics by rounding up all friendly tribes onto reservations
U.S. Army opened fire on all others, crushing the resistance on the southern plains
Gen. Sheridan’s orders…
“to destroy their villages and ponies, to kill and hang all warriors, and to bring back all women and children.”

20. Setting the Stage for the last Battle on the Plains
1872 – miners began moving into the Black Hills in search for gold
Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho protested
The Army sent Civil War hero George Armstrong Custer to investigate the situation
Custer reported that the Black Hills had gold “from the grass roots down”

21. June 25, 1876 – Custer rode out in search for glory
Sitting Bull had a vision which he interpreted as a sign of victory for his people
The Sioux win a small battle against Custer’s 7th Cavalry at Rosebud Creek (south central Montana)
June 25, 1876 – Custer rode out in search for glory
He expected to send his disciplined regiment against 1,500 warriors. Custer’s plan had some flaws

22. He underestimated the # of N.A. warriors (2,000 - 3,000)
His men and horses were exhausted
Custer split up his regiment and attacked with 200 troops
Crazy Horse and his warriors outflanked and overpowered Custer and his troops at what is know as the Battle of Little Bighorn
Within 20 minutes Custer and his men were all dead

23. The Battle of Wounded Knee
Sioux suffering continued…
Reduced rations, increased restrictions, and loss of cattle to disease
Wovoka (a prophet) had a vision that the Native American lands were restored, the buffalo returned, & the whites disappeared
He promised this would come true if the ritual called the Ghost Dance was performed

24. The Ghost Dance movement spread rapidly among the 25,000 Sioux on the Dakota reservation
The dance’s popularity alarmed the military and local reservation agent
The reservation agent decided to have Sitting Bull arrested

25. 40 Indian policemen were sent to arrest Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull’s bodyguard, Catch-the-Bear shot one of the policemen
Police then returned fire, killing Sitting Bull

26. The army was not satisfied with the death of Sitting Bull
On December 29, 1890 – the 7th Cavalry rounded up 350 starving and freezing Sioux and took them to a camp at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota
The soldiers demanded that the Indians give up all of their firearms

27. One Indian resisted the order and fired his rifle
Soldiers fired back
Within minutes the 7th Cavalry slaughtered 300 unarmed Native Americans (women and children included)
The Battle of Wounded Knee brought the Indian wars - and an entire era - to a bitter end

28. Government Supports Assimilation
Assimilation – a plan under which Native Americans would give up their beliefs and way of life and become part of the white culture
Native Americans had already lost much of the land and their means for independent living, they didn’t want to lose their culture also

29. 1887 – Congress passed the Dawes Act
The plan was to “Americanize” the Indians by cultivating in them the desire to own property and farm
Dawes Act – broke up the reservations and distributed some of the land—160 acres for farming or 320 acres for grazing—to each adult head of a Native American family
Was the land broken up for the Native Americans good for farming?
No, in fact most of the land that was left for the Indian was useless for farming

30. The Dawes Act addressed their physical assimilation and education addressed their mind and spirit.
Off-reservation boarding schools flourished—set up to “kill the Indian and save the man.”

31. Learning Outcomes
Ethnocentrism-belief that ones own ethnic group is better than others groups.
Assimilation
The Dawes Act
Transcontinental railroad
Increased military action against Native Americans