1. Changes on the Western Frontier

2.  Native American life existed on the Great Plains  Eastern Tribes (near the lower Missouri River): Osage & Iowa. 1. Planted crops & lived in small villages  Western Tribes (Nebraska & North Dakota): Sioux & Cheyenne 1. nomadic 2. gathered wild food & hunted buffalo

3.  Acquired horses & guns which allowed them to travel further  Started leaving their villages to roam the plains and hunt buffalo  Increased mobility led to war: trespassing on other tribes’ land & hunting grounds.  Used buffalos for food, clothing, shoes, blankets, thread, bowstrings, tools & toys.  The buffalo became central to the Native American way of life

4.  Lived in small extended family groups  Had ties to other tribes that spoke the same language  Men hunted together & women prepared the food.  Valued individualism: trained to become hunters & warriors  Believed in powerful spirits that controlled nature & events  Culture passed down to children by stories & myths  Leaders ruled by counsel, not force

5.  Native Americans believed land could not be owned  White settlers believed in personal property & improving the land  Owning land & a house would make the country better – you had a stake in it.  White settlers said the Native Americans had forfeited the right to the land because they “did not improve it” therefore the land was still unsettled or unclaimed.

6.  White settlers thought they could strike it rich by finding gold!!!  California Gold Rush in 1849  Colorado in 1858  Mining camps were filthy, dirty, with rows of tents and shacks.  They used to have streams & beautiful landscapes. Indians did not destroy nature.

7.  For land!  Homestead Act of 1862 offered 100 acres of land for free for anyone willing to live on it & cultivate it for 5 years.  From 1862-1900 about 500,000 people took advantage of the governments offer  Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 – lets build a railroad system that can ship these western goods to other places in the nation  In 1869 the railroad was finished. Not only goods shipped but people could travel coast to coast.  Trains were expensive but luxurious

8.  In 1834 the government passed an act that set aside the entire Great Plains as one enormous reservation for the Native Americans  In the 1850’s the government started to change this policy and started to sign treaties to create defined boundaries.  Most native Americans refused to sign these treaties so the government forged their names.  Native Americans still considered the land theirs and continued to hunt on it.  Started to clash with the White Settlers!

9.  Education: assimilation of the mind & spirits 1. off reservation boarding schools: “kill the Indian, save the man” 2. Teachers promoted “white civilization” 3. Generations of Native Americans caught between their own culture and the white world.

10.  Dawes Act of 1877: Americanize the Indian by letting them own land and farming it. - broke up reservations - 160 acres for farming or 320 acres for grazing - sell remaining reservation land to settlers  Native Americans received nothing for the sale of the land  By 1934 whites owned 65% of the territory that was set aside for the Native Americans  Speculators (those who bought land to sell at a profit) grabbed most of the best land

11.  Destruction of the buffalo  Biggest blow to Native Americans – this was their way of life  Buffalo being killed by the white man to feed those that worked on the railroad – “Buffalo Bill”  Tourists shot buffalo for sport  Fur traders shot buffalo for income & profits  In 1800 15 million buffalo roamed the plains, by 1886 fewer than 600 remained

12.  In 1864 the Cheyenne tribe was forced into a very small territory called the Sand Creek Reserve.  They started to raid the nearby trails & settlements for food and supplies.  Governor John Evans asked them to stop & they did. Put up both the American Flag and a white flag as a symbol for peace.  U.S Army Commander General G.R. Curtis sent a telegraph to the militia commander that said, “I want no peace till the Indians suffer more.”

13.  Militia commander John Chivington attacked the 500 member Cheyenne tribe at dawn  The Cheyenne tribe never had a chance.  The militia killed over 200 tribe members – mostly women and children and then mutilated their bodies.  Chivington was treated as a hero.  Chivington claimed the Cheyenne tribe killed his family – he wanted revenge!

14.  Part of the Sioux hunting grounds  Chief Red Cloud asked the U.S. government to end white settlement on the trail  In 1866, warrior Crazy Horse ambushed Captain Fetterman & his company on the trail – 80 soldiers were killed  Government agreed to close the trail to white settlers in exchange for their signature on the Treaty of Fort Loramie  Forced Native Americans to live on a reservation along the Missouri River  Black Hills Gold Rush: again white settlers on their land

15.  Custer & his troops raided Little Bighorn, but…  Sitting Bull had a vision & he, Crazy Horse & other Indian Chiefs were ready for Custer  Custer was ill prepared * thought he would be facing 1500 Indians * horses & men were exhausted * he split his troops up-only 200 prepared to fight  In 20 minutes, Custer & all of his men were DEAD!  Nation wanted REVENGE  Sitting Bull took refuge in Canada

16.  Ghost Dance: movement spread among 25,000 Sioux  Spiritual dance in the hopes of regaining land, buffalo & their lives back  This alarmed military leaders – blamed Sitting Bull & went to arrest him.  Sitting Bull’s bodyguard, Catch the Bear shot & killed one of the officers  The falling policeman aimed, shot & killed Sitting Bull

17.  On December 28, 1890, Custer’s old regiment rounded up 350 starving & freezing Sioux  Asked for them to give up all their weapons  Not sure who fired first, but the soldiers opened fire & slaughtered all of the unarmed Native Americans in minutes  Soldiers left the corpses to freeze on the ground  Brought the Indian wars to an end

18. All over Texas the impact of the Civil War was to lead to a massive increase in the number of cattle; by 1866 there were an estimated 5 000 000 cattle in Texas Yet in this time it increased from around 180 to 8 000 head The economy of the East went into boom and the demand for meat grew after the end of the war. Texan Cattlemen looked for a way to meet this demand and make a profit. It was now possible to drive the cattle to a rail depot, sell them to a dealer, who could then transport them in refrigerated wagons to the growing cities of the East such as New York and Chicago.

19.  25 million buffalo killed (1840-1889)  Long drive:  Herding of thousands of cattle from one cattle ranch to another 1867: 35,000 cattle driven 1881: 250,000 cattle driven