Westward Expansion (1860-1900)

II. Conflict with Native Americans A. Government Policy 1. U.S. government attempted to restrict the movements of Natives. i. Signed treaties to purchase Native lands. ii. Other treaties restricted Native to reservations. 2. Problems with treaties i. Government often times grouped together as “tribes” Natives that were not related in any way. ii. Federal agents selected “chiefs” to sign treaties that had not been selected by the tribes. iii. Some Federal agents bribed “Chiefs” to get what they wanted. iv. Many Natives had no idea what they were signing and were not aware that they were restricted to reservations. B. Battles with Native Americans 1. , 1864 i. The raided settlements east of Colorado. ii. Colorado’s Governor and Cheyenne Chief made a peace agreement that allowed the Cheyenne to camp at Sand Creek. iii. The U.S. Army, led by John Chivington, attacked the Cheyenne and at Sand Creek killing between 150 and 500 people. 2. Little Big Horn, 1876 i. of the northern plains (Dakota, , and territories) resisted U.S. expansion. a. 1865 – U.S. begins to build the Bozeman Trail through Sioux hunting grounds in the Big Horn Mountains. b. Sioux Chief led a 2 year war against the U.S. c. Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 ended the war. 1. The U.S. abandoned the road 2. Sioux were given a large reservation ii. 1874 – George Custer reported that there was gold in the Black Hills reservation. a. The U.S. offered to buy the Black Hills. b. Red Cloud entered negotiations. iii. 2 Sioux Chiefs – and – left the reservation and another war began. a. Custer went to round up the Sioux. b. His force of 200 soldiers was slaughtered by about 2,000 Sioux warriors. iv. The U.S. responded by sending more troops. a. Most of the Sioux were forced back to reservations b. Crazy Horse surrendered and then was killed. c. Sitting Bull escaped to Canada but later returned to a reservation. 3. Battle of Wounded Knee i. The U.S. 7th Cavalry (Custer’s old unit) arrived at the Pine Ridge Reservation. ii. Indian police tried to arrest Sitting Bull. a. He resisted. b. The officers shot and killed Sitting Bull. iii. Followers of Sitting Bull were rounded up near Wounded Knee Creek. a. Someone fired a shot. b. The army responded and killed more than 200 Sioux. C. New Policies Toward Native Americans 1. Many Americans protested the treatment of Natives. i. Helen Hunt Jackson wrote A Century of Dishonor protesting the government’s broken promises and treaties. 2. Assimilation – the process by which one society becomes a part of another. i. Many Americans thought that Indians should give up their cultures and traditions to become like white Americans. a. Learn English b. Become Christians c. Learn to be farmers or tradesmen d. Dress like white Americans 3. 1879 – Army Captain Richard H. Pratt opened the Indian Training and Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. i. Native children were educated to be “American”. ii. This policy was known as assimilation. 4. The Dawes Act – 1887 – Divided reservation land into individual plots. i. Each Native family headed by a man received 160 acres. ii. Landholders were granted U.S. citizenship and were subject to state, local, and federal laws. iii. Between 1887 and 1932, 2/3 of the 138 million acres of land were in the hands of white Americans. 5. Opening of the (Oklahoma) i. April 22, 1889 – homesteaders, known as boomers, staked claims on almost 2 million acres in the Indian Territory. ii. People who claimed land early were known as Sooners.