Wars for the West

Section 2

Wars for the West

The Big Idea Native Americans and the U.S.

government came into conflict over land in the West.

Settlers Encounter the Plains Indians

Main Idea 1: As settlers moved to

the Great Plains, they encountered the Plains Indians.

Settlers Encounter the Plains Indians

The U.S. government negotiated treaties with Plains Indians in the mid-1800s to gain more western lands for settlers.

Settlers Encounter the Plains Indians

Plains Indians, including the Sioux, Pawnee, and Cheyenne, lived by hunting buffalo.

Horses were also very important to the Plains Indians because they used horses for their hunting.

Settlers Encounter the Plains Indians

Buffalo were essential to the Sioux life. Buffalo uses…

Skin used to make teepees, clothes, and food bags

Dried meat into jerky for winter food Bones were used as tools Buffalo manure used for fuel

Settlers Encounter the Plains Indians

After the Civil War, American hunters were hired to kill the buffalo to feed the crews building the railroads They also wanted to prevent the buffalo from blocking the trains William Cody boasted he had killed

4,280 buffalo in 18 months Became known as Buffalo Bill

Settlers Encounter the Plains Indians

Some shot buffalo from the trains moving west for sport

Hides were also profitable to sell out east 1872-1875: 9 million buffalo killed

Carcasses often left to rot The US govt. hoped the Native Americans would stop being

nomadic and become farmers

Settlers Encounter the Plains Indians

Conflict grew with the Plains Indians as miners and settlers increased in number.

Settlers Encounter the Plains Indians

The Treaty of Fort Laramie recognized Native American claims to the Great Plains. It allowed the United States to build forts

and travel across Native American lands.

Settlers Encounter the Plains Indians

In 1858, U.S. tensions with American Indians were heightened by the discovery of gold in Colorado, which brought thousands of American miners to the West.

The arrival of miners caused many problems.

Eventually, the U.S. government negotiated new treaties sending Native Americans to live on reservations, areas of federal land set aside for them.

Settlers Encounter the Plains Indians

The movement of pioneers and miners across the Great Plains and through Native American hunting grounds led to conflict with the Sioux, led by Crazy Horse.

Settlers Encounter the Plains Indians

Most southern Plains Indians agreed to go to reservations under the 1867 Treaty of Medicine Lodge, but the Comanche continued to fight until 1875.

Fighting on the Plains

Main Idea 2: The U.S. Army and Native Americans

fought in the northern plains, the Southwest, and the Far West.

Fighting on the Plains

U.S. troops forced Native Americans to leave other lands when they resisted confinement on reservations. African American cavalry called buffalo

soldiers help fight for the US

Fighting on the Plains

1868: A treaty is made with the Sioux promising them that no white person would be permitted in the Dakotas

1874: Custer leads an army expedition to check a

rumor that the hills contain gold The rumor was confirmed and

prospectors flooded the area

Fighting on the Plains

Sioux protested and refused to sell the land when an offer was made Sioux chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse

gathered forces and Cheyenne warriors Planned a 3-prong attack on US forces

CrazyHorse

Sitting Bull

Fighting on the Plains

Custer underestimated the Indian forces He died and his troops lost at the Battle of Little Bighorn

The army soon crushed the uprising The US firepower was too great Sitting Bull and his followers fled to

Canada

Fighting on the Plains

After Sitting Bulls death, several hundred Sioux fled to Wounded Knee in South Dakota The army went to collect their weapons Fighting broke out

Fighting on the Plains

The Sioux were no match for the US army The US machine guns were too powerful

Wounded Knee marked the end of armed conflict between America and Indians

Fighting on the Plains

A lot of fighting occurred in the Southwest US as well Fighting led to the Long Walk, a 300-mile

forced march to a reservation during which countless Navajo died.

Fighting on the Plains

Fighting occurred with Nez Perce Indians in the Far West Lived in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington Most had agreed to reservations by 1870s

Chief Joseph was leading his tribe to a reservation when a few warriors decided to kill some white settlers for revenge

Fighting on the Plains

Chief Joseph sent his people to Canada

The army pursued the warriors and would eventually overwhelm them Chief Joseph surrendered

Tired of fighting

Fighting on the Plains

Most Native Americans had stopped fighting by the 1880s, except the Apache, led by Geronimo, who fought until 1886. Geronimo resented

confinement on the reservations so he

repeatedly led raids against US Setters.

He later surrendered to the US. The last Native American to ever do so

Conflict Continues

Main Idea 3: Despite efforts to reform U.S. policy

toward Native Americans, conflict continued.

Conflict Continues

Changes to Native American life came about because of… The white pioneers moving west The slaughter of the buffalo The US army attacks The reservation policy Reformers who wanted the Native

Americans to absorb the American life

Conflict Continues

1887: Congress changes govt policy in the Dawes Act

Designed to end the Native American life style that included…

A lack of private property The nomadic tradition

Conflict Continues

Dawes General Allotment Act of 1887 Made land ownership among Native Americans

private Tried to lessen traditional influences of Native

American society so as to encourage them to adopt the ways of white people

Ended up taking about two-thirds of Native American land

Conflict Continues

Sarah Winnemucca, a Paiute, lectured on problems of the reservation system and called for reform in the 1870s.

Conflict Continues

The Dawes Act forever changed Native American culture The prophet Wovoka told the Sioux they

would regain their former greatness if they performed the Ghost Dance Reservation officials banned the dance

as it began to spread Sitting Bull was killed when it was

assumed he was behind this movement