1. 1865-1896 “Without the buffalo they would be helpless, and yet the whole nation did not own one.” John McDougall

2. Bison reduced from tens of millions to 15 million at the end of the Civil War – fewer than a couple thousand remained by 1900! An “eco-myth” concerning the Indians and bison: Western travelers reported seeing the rotting carcasses “A tribal department store…” Horns for arrows Intestines for containers Skins for tepees and shields Muscle for rope Indians slaughtered them by the hundreds Religious view of the bison If one escaped… Used fire and ran them off cliffs

3. The Indians: Estimates from the 1850s suggest Indians killed 450,000 annually Indians also destroyed entire herds of white tail deer Not only overhunted, but drove herds further away Thought bison were limitless, originating from a lake in Canada The white man: Armed with long-range and high-powered rifles, took down hundreds daily – “Buffalo Bill” Demand from commercialization of hides and buffalo meat – bones used for fertilizers and pigment Leather industry in the U.S. in the 1890s was a $8.6 million business Union Pacific alone shipped 1.3 million hides from 1872-1874

4. Two conflicting federal agencies: Bureau of Indian Affairs - Congress passed a bill outlawing the non- Indian killing of buffalo The U.S. Army - continued to kill food resource in order to fight Indians 1872 – Yellowstone National Park provides public refuge 1905 – American Bison Society formed mostly by northeastern speculators J.P. Morgan established 20,000 acre tract in Colorado, stocked with bison “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show” toured America raising money for the American Bison Society Charles Goodnight, western rancher, began private herd

5. In 1865, the frontier was still expanding rapidly The Great West was a “thousand mile square” Habitat of Native Americans as well as wild game By 1890, states and territories had been carved out of this region 1/5 of all U.S. Army soldiers were “Buffalo Soldiers” Migration and conflict was not new to the Great Plains in the 1860s Sioux had preyed on the Crow, Kiowa, and Pawnees Comanche had driven the Apaches off the Plains Mandan and Chippewa had run off the Cheyenne from the upper reaches of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Series of treaties with the federal government Fort Laramie and Fort Atkinson Treaties Reservations established – Great Sioux Reservation (north) and the Indian Territory (south) White diseases complicated things greatly on the Plains: Corrupt agents gave Indians defective provisions purposely

6. The Sand Creek Massacre (1864): Colonel Chivington 400 Indians killed in Colorado Unspeakable slaughter – Document Set 1 from Enduring Vision The Fetterman Massacre (1866): Sioux war party attempting to block Bozeman Trail Eighty-one killed and mutilated in Wyoming “awakened a bitter feeling…” Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) Gold discovered in Black Hills of South Dakota (1874) The Battle of Little Bighorn (1876) – Custer killed The “Battle” of Wounded Knee (1890): Put an end to armed resistance on the Plains See document 16:3 for more on this massacre

7. Preservation: Helen Hunt Jackson Extermination: General Sheridan Assimilation: The Carlisle Indian School

8. National conscience begins to stir in the 1880s: Helen Hunt Jackson A Century of Dishonor (1881) Dee Brown Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (1970) What to do with the Indians? Christian school demanded assimilation Renunciation of native name/ accept a Christian name Federal government outlawed the Ghost Dance Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 Promised citizenship in twenty years 150 acres of land w/ individual family heads Reservation land sold to federal government at pennies on the dollar to the Indians Carlisle Indian School – “Kill the Indian and save the man.” Struck at the heart of the Indian Indians had lost 50% of 156 million acres they possessed for less than two decades Population dwindled to 243,00 by 1887