The Western CrossroadsObjective: Identify conflicts between

the Native Americans as people settled on the Western Frontier

Do Now: What do you think of when you hear “Western Frontier”?

Indian Country• 1851: Treaty of Fort Laramie guaranteed

American Indian land rights on the Great Plains– Again & again, the NAs were moved, lied to, not

compensated when promised, treaties not honored• Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA): govn’t agency

responsible for managing AI issues– Hoped that keeping NAs on reservations would force

them to become farmers and abandon their traditions– NAs should “be placed in positions where they can be

controlled, and finally compelled by stern necessity to resort to agricultural labor or starve” ~BIA Commissioner Luke Lea

The Struggle Begins

• Many Plains Indians refused to relocate to reservations & rejected settled life

• ~20K U.S. Army troops were assigned to confine the tribes to the reservations

• Violent conflicts erupted

Sand Creek

• Colorado territory; summer 1864• Cheyenne (Black Kettle) & Arapaho tribes• Black Kettle was tired of fighting

– Camped along Sand Creek on way to make peace– Raised U.S. flag above his lodge as a sign of peace

• Col. John M. Chivington & his 700 volunteers opened fire on Black Kettle’s group killing ~200 (mostly women & children)

Reactions to Sand Creek• Chivington defended his actions: “It is right and

honorable to use any means under God’s heaven to kill Indians.”

• Many Americans horrified• Congressional committee investigated and some

members called for reform of the govn’t Indian policy• Prompted raids by the Arapaho, Cheyenne, & Sioux• Treaty of Medicine Lodge signed in 1867

– Southern Plains Indians agreed to give up much of their lands in exchange for reservations in Indian Territory

• 2nd Treaty of Fort Laramie signed in 1868– Sioux agreed to move to a reservation in the Black Hills of

SD

Little Bighorn• Black Hills, MT; June 25, 1876• US govn’t violated Treaty of Ft. Laramie & sent

army expedition to search for gold– They found it & tried to negotiated a new treaty with

the Sioux (who refused)

• Sioux relatively successful at the Battle of the Rosebud

• Sitting Bull – important leader of the Sioux– Strongly opposed the intrusion of non-Indians onto

Sioux lands– Thought those who moved onto reservations were fools

Custer’s Last Stand

• LTC George Armstrong Custer sent 600 troops of 7th Calvary to attack Sioux camp @ Little Bighorn– After the final attack,

Custer & all of his men lay dead

• Last victory for the Sioux

Reaction to Little Big Horn

• Shocked by Custer’s defeat, the army increased its efforts to move NA’s onto reservations

Sitting Bull

• Killed at the Pine Ridge Reservation on December 15, 1890, along with 14 others

Wounded Knee• SD; December 29, 1890• Many Sioux joined with leader, Big Foot

– Govn’t officials wanted to arrest him b/c they feared he’d cause trouble

– Big Foot attempted to avoid conflict with troops & camped along Wounded Knee Creek w/350 others

• Col. James Forsyth & men found

• In the AM, Forsyth ordered the seizure of Indian rifles– When dissatisfied w/what the Sioux surrendered, they

began to search teepees

• Shortly, both sides began shooting– In the end, at least 150 Sioux & 30 U.S. soldiers

had been killed

• Shocked many Americans• Marked the end of the bloody conflict on the

Plains

1851: Treaty of Ft. Laramie

1876: Little Bighorn1876: Rosebud

1890: Wounded Knee

1867: Treaty of Medicine Lodge

1864: Sand Creek

1868: 2nd Treaty of Ft. Laramie

Nez Perce

• Govn’t ordered them to relocate to a reservation in Idaho

• Chief Joseph agreed, rather than turning to violence– Despite this, some young Nez Perce killed 4 white

settlers and the Nez Perce fled east and then north (hoping to reach Canada), fearing war

• Surrendered to the U.S. Army < 40 miles from the Canadian border

Chief JosephI 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, some of them, have run away to the hills and 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 and see how many I can find. Maybe I shall find them among

the dead.

Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now

stands, I will fight no more forever.

Geronimo• Apache leader• 1881: He & 75 followers fled

their reservation in Arizona when army troops moved into the territory– They raided settlements

throughout Arizona & Mexico

• 1885: Briefly surrendered & lived on the reservation but then fled again with even more followers (> 130)

Final Surrender• September 4, 1886• He & his followers were sent to FL as POWs• Marked the end of armed resistance to the

reservation system in the Southwest

Dawes General Allotment Act

• Required that Indian lands be surveyed & that NA families receive an allotment of 160 acres of reservation for farming– This was with hopes that Indians would assimilate

to “white American” culture

• In less than 50 years, Indians lost more than 2/3 of their land

• Complete failure for the Indians

Long Walk• Forced march of the Navajo from northwestern

NM to a reservation in eastern NM• Once there, prevented from leaving the

reservation– Were given seeds and farming tools but the land not

suitable for farming– The few trees were quickly cut down, roots used for

firewood

• Many Navajo died from malnutrition and disease