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American-Indian Wars infancy...
The conflict between ten great Native American chiefs that spanned the time period between the late 1500’s when the pilgrims arrived on the Mayflower to the Trail of Tears era in the early 1900’s as the last tribes attempted to avoid being forced into reservations designated by the U.S. government. It was as if the immigrants took no thought to whose land they were taking despite the fact that the natives fought fiercely. -
The push westward and the fight for freedom...
The settlers seemed unsatisfied to share and unwilling to see it any other way but to either exterminate the natives or move them to tiny areas of uninhabitable lands.
The Native American's rose up and fought with their lives for the lands they had always freely roamed. They didn't believe that they owned the land. Sitting Bull was quoted to say, "I wish all to know that I do not propose to sell any part of my country, nor will I have whites cutting our timber along the rivers." -
Following the Mayflower
Often the Indians were tricked to board ships or enter villages and then captured as slaves to be sold in the settlers lands where they had originated.
"Captain Thomas Hunt, who decided to take 24 Indians back to Spain to sell as slaves. He lured them aboard his ship pretending to trade for beaver skins, and then captured them onboard. They were bound and sailed to Spain, where he managed to sell a few before some local Spanish friars took custody of the remaining Indians." ( -
Nature of the fight
Most of the following chiefs were not only skilled warriors and leaders but extremely powerful speakers. They pursued ways to have a voice in this new Nation. When matching the violence with their own kind of violence stopped working, they fled. The settlers and military seemed unsatisfied with just letting them go. They hunted them down like animals, tortured, raped and if there were any left, forced them onto uninhabitable lands to live. -
Squanto 1585 - 1622 also known as Tisquantum
He was taken captive by Thomas Hunt, taken to Spain where he was bought as a slave. He was educated and allowed to travel eventually returning to his native village. He found that his tribe of Patuxet was exterminated by an epidemic infection and he was the last of his tribe. He acted as a liaison between the Pilgrims from the Mayflower and the Pokanokets because he spoke English. Although he never "fought" with the settlers, his life was changed dramatically because of their arrival. -
Pontiac 1720 - 1769
He was the chief of the Ottawa tribe in the Great Lakes region, who organized a resistance against the British at Fort Detroit. He brought other tribes along with making alliances with the French to attack British forts. After a negotiation for peace, Chief Pontiac agreed to stop fighting. Although he ended the fighting, the other tribe leaders were very angry and forced him from his village. He was killed by another Indian because of his efforts to keep peace. -
Tecumseh 1768 - 1813
He was a Shawnee warrior and chief in the Ohio area. Exposed to warfare from a very young age, he was willing to take risks and make great sacrifices for his people. He was an ambitiously strong speaker who strongly encouraged tribal unity. He created a huge pan-Native American confederation of warriors fighting against the United States. He succeeded to capture Fort Detroit but was later killed in battle in the Battle of the Thames after which his followers moved West. -
Indian Removal Act of 1830
President Andrew Jackson signed first major legislative departure from the U.S. policy of officially respecting the legal and political rights of the American Indians. The act granted Indian tribes unsettled western prairie land in exchange for their desirable territories within state borders from which the tribes would be removed. By the 1820's it became clear that the white man would not tolerate the presence of even peaceful Indians there. -
Black Hawk 1767 - 1838
Earning the status of a great band leader and warrior by leading the Sauk American Indian tribe in the Midwest area of the United States. He fought on the side of the British in the War of 1812 against the U.S. The Black Hawk War produced poor results as they were low on supplies, suffering from exhaustion and illness. The band of Indians abandoned the fight and Black Hawk surrendered. He remained in custody for a long time before he was released to his family in Iowa. -
Trail of Tears
Following the Indian Removal Act, many of the Tribes refused to give up their lands. They had farms and homes and the "promised lands" were unknown and far away. "Some 100,000 tribesmen were forced to march westward under U.S. military coercion. Up to 25 percent of the Indians, many in manacles, perished en route. The trek of the Cherokee in 1838–39 became known as the infamous “Trail of Tears” (Britannica 2019) -
Cochise 1815 - 1874
He was a prominent Apache leader who was for his organized raids of the settlements in the Arizona/New Mexico area. His people had conflict with the Mexicans and he encouraged peace with the American settlers in the beginning. This was short lived as Cochise and his people were accused and later had to fight injustices by the U.S. Army. There was much fighting and bloodshed over many misunderstandings. Cochise and his family were captured and sent to a reservation. -
Crazy Horse 1840 - 1877
He was a Lakota war leader who fought against the federal government and the white american government. He led many famous battles in the northern Great Plains and acted as a decoy in the Battle of Little Big Horn against General Custer.. Attempts to negotiate treaties were unsuccessful and he was accused of saying that he wouldn't stop fighting until all white men were killed. He requested to talk to military leaders but was captured. Attempting to save a friend he was stabbed by a soldier. -
"I will fight no more, forever"
"Tell General Howard I know his heart. What he told me before, I have it in my heart. I am tired of fighting. Our Chiefs are killed...It is cold, and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people... have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are—perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children... Maybe I shall find them among the dead...I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever." -
Sitting Bull 1831 - 1890
He was a Teton Dakota chief who brought together the many of the Sioux tribes of the American Great Plains. His goal was to prevent the white settlers from stealing their tribal land. A treaty gave the Black Hills of South Dakota to the tribes but because gold was discovered the US government started to force the tribes from the land, He and Crazy Horse led victories in the Battle of Little Bighorn, He was shot and killed by Indian police officers on the reservation he was sent to. -
Chief Joseph 1840 - 1904
He was the leader of the Nez Perce tribes in the Oregon/Idaho areas. Following several violent run-ins with settlers, Joseph's tribe and other allies, tried to flee the United States with the Lakota people in Canada with Sitting Bull. Approximately 700 Nez Perce Indians were chased over 1100 miles over the roughest terrain in Idaho/Montana. Chief Joseph and his followers surrendered after much tribulation and he died on a reservation in Washington state. -
Red Cloud 1822 - 1909
He was considered one of the most capable Native American opponents that the US Army came against in their mission to take over the western territories. He led several campaigns as the Lakota leader in southern Montana and Northern Wyoming to save his people's lands. His largest fight was considered a considerable loss of life for 81 Army soldiers. He lobbied in Washington DC for the rights of his people in the Black Hills but because gold was found, he moved his people to the reservation. -
Geronimo 1829 - 1909
From the Apache tribe in the southwestern territories, he lead his people while also serving as a medicine man. He joined other Apache bands in raids against settlers but also fought the Mexican and United States military. He was fearless in keeping his people from being removed from their tribal lands. He repeatedly escaped being captured. Half of the U.S. army pursued him and his followers. He spent the last 20 years of his life as a prisoner of war after he surrendered to the military. -
The Death of a Nation
President Jackson was quoted as saying, “They have neither the intelligence, the industry, the moral habits, nor the desire of improvement which are essential to any favorable change in their condition…they must necessarily yield to the force of circumstances and ere [before] long disappear.” These words however were brutal and wrong. The slaughter of the American Indian remains a stain on our American nation.
