-
Transcontinental Railroad
Plans for a Transcontinental Railroad began in the 1830s, and it was continually built across the U.S. as more settlers went further west. It cut across land not only cutting off the cattle drives, but it was killed a lot of buffalo. If there were buffalo on the tracks, the train would hit them. People were encouraged to shoot at them from the train so they would not get in the way in the future. The buffalo were what provided for most of the Plains Indians, and this had a devastating effect. -
Trail of Tears
Andrew Jackson had a policy to force Native Americans out from the territory east of the Mississippi River, so whites could live east of the river, and all that was west of it could be Indian territory. He did not like the Natives, so the journey was brutal, earning it the name "Trail of Tears." -
Mexican Cession
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which broadened the boundary of Texas with Mexico to the Rio Grande, the U.S. also gained all the land that is in the image, and gave them much more space to expand. -
Reservation Policy
Reservations were introduced at Fort Laramie and Fort Atkinson, when the government started roping off areas of land which were assigned to various tribes on the plains to keep them out of the way of white settlers. Usually Native Americans were given the worst plots of land, and if gold or silver was discovered on reservation land, the tribe would be assigned a different plot of land. -
Comstock Lode
The Comstock Lode was a discovery of silver, and it brought hundreds of thousands of miners to Virginia City, the town that was created to support all the people. It not only brought miners, but other things required to support a town, like bankers. The Comstock Lode aftershock lasted until 1882, when the silver had been depleted. If silver or gold was found on reservations, the Indians were moved to different land. -
The Homestead Act
The Homestead Act offered 160 acres of land on the plains that cost about nothing in money, if the family lived on that land for 5 years, they could keep it. It encouraged the expansion of the white population into Indian territory, and again, Natives were forced west. -
Sand Creek Massacre
The militia in Colorado killed a settlement of Cheyenne Indians living in Sand Creek, Colorado. -
The First Sioux War
The United States fought against the Sioux tribe, and Sioux warriors killed all of the soldiers under the command of Captain William Fetterman. -
The Chisolm Trail
This was one of the trails that cattlemen drove cattle through. After 20 or so years of compression from being walked on and overgrazing by cattle, the land could no longer support cattle and complicated agriculture. This affected anyone trying to live in the area, but mostly Native Americans because they were often given this bad land. -
McCoy and Abilene
Joseph McCoy figured out that there was a lot of money to be made in the cattle trade, and he planned to capitalize on it. He built a stockyard in Abilene, Kansas to house these cattle before they were brought to Chicago to be sold for up to $50 per cow, more than $1000.00, today. Cattle were moved South to North, creating a barrier for Native Americans, also blocking them from any of the land that was used for cattle, before it was overgrazed and destroyed by so much movement. -
The Invention of Barbed Wire
Joseph Glidden invented barbed wire as a better fence that could hurt to cross. It helped the end of the cattle trade, and it made fenced off land more distinguishable and less crossable for Indians who lived on the plains with the homesteaders. -
Little Big Horn
This is the major event of the Second Sioux War. Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse's army defeats Colonel George Custer's army, and is most commonly known as Custer's Last Stand. It is one of the few Native American victories. -
The Second Sioux War
The Second Sioux War was led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. The most well-known battle is the Battle of Little Big Horn, where they completely crushed Colonel George Custer's army. -
Nez Perce War
Chief Joseph was the Chief of the Nez Perce Tribe, and he wanted to lead them to Canada so they could escape from the westward advancement of white settlers who were likely to fight them. They ended up having to fight the U.S. Army and were forced to surrender. -
Chief Joseph's "Speech to a White Audience"
Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe, delivers a speech that is intended to be read by the white people who are coming into his territory. He explains how until now he has only had good relations with the white population, thanks to Lewis and Clark, and the white view of the Indians is completely and utterly incorrect. He addresses the Reservation Policy and the Dawes Act, and it shows an Indian's point of view. -
The Carlisle School
The Carlisle School was a school that specialized in the education, Americanization, and conversion to Christianity for Native Americans. It was one of many of these type of schools that was meant to make Native Americans "civil." People thought it failed because it kept the Indians together, because it kept their tribe, which was a part of their heritage. -
End of the Buffalo Herds
The buffalo herds provided shelter, food, and clothing for many tribes on the plains. They migrated and the tribe followed. Since hunting the buffalo was encouraged for whites, the population declined quickly, reduced to nearly nothing. Native Americans who lived off the buffalo no longer had the ability to follow the buffalo, and they were forced to give in to the U.S. -
A Century of Dishonor
A Century of Dishonor is a book, written by Helen Hunt Jackson, who thought that the way Indians were being treated was wrong. She brought this to attention in the east, and it started a reaction that sparked ideas of assimilation (conversion to "civilized" life) for Indians, and inspired the Dawes Act -
The Dawes Act
The Dawes Act introduced reservations of land for different native tribes. It was similar to the Homestead Act because after a period of time, the family would keep the land. However, in this case, the plot size was based on family size, was usually poor quality land that was infertile and had no natural resources, and they were only allowed to keep it and become a real "citizen" after 25 years. It was passed in reaction to Helen Hunt Jackson's "A Century of Dishonor" -
Ghost Dance Movement
This started as a peaceful dance. On Indian said that God admonished him that he had to tell his people that "they must be good and loveone another, and not fight, or steal, or lie." He gave his tribe shirts that were "bulletproof," and showed them the dance God gave him. It spread to other tribes, but the meaning changed based on their relation with whites. The other tribes kept the belief that the dance made them invincible, but they left behind the peaceful meaning and it became a war dance. -
The Battle of Wounded Knee
The Battle of Wounded Knee was a bloody battle between Indians and Whites and it was the last of large revolts by the Native Americans. -
Sitting Bull's Death
-
"Kill the Indian...and Save the Man."
Richard Pratt wrote about how schools like the Carlisle School were unsuccessful, and how Indians could become "people" if they tried hard enough. He thought the Carlisle School failed because it kept the Indians together, and they needed to be taught by association, like slaves. He thought that teaching slaves to be civil, it was killing the savage "cannibal" inside of them. It would save the "man" inside of the Indian, too.
