Native Americans in the West Flashcards
Way of Life Challenged
Buffalo Bill Cody/Settlers
Buffalo Bill Cody killed between 4 thousand buffalo to feed to the railway workers. Buffalo herd shrinks, forcing tribes to compete for fewer and fewer resources. Buffalo are down to the thousands by 1885. Native Americans are forced to reservations, increasing disease and alcohol
Indian Wars 1860s-1880s
Sand Creek Massacre, CO 1864
Col. Chivington overseeing the reservation of Black Kettle’s tribe. Forced to stay on the reservation even while Col. and his men were charging to their reservation. They killed upwards of 450 men, women, and children, reasoning behind it is that there were fresh, white scalps found there .
Indian Wars 1860s-1880s
Little Big Horn, 1876, Montana, Lakota
Gold had been found on the land, gold seekers invading the Lakota reservation, where Sitting Bull was. General George Custer takes a group of soldiers to find the Lakota tribes teaming up with one another, but is ambushed by a few thousand Lakota, such as Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse who kill all 264 troops.
Indian Wars 1860s-1880s
Nez Perce
Chief Joseph’s father says to never leave their native land in the Washington-Oregon area. They are forced to leave after threatened with forced removal. Some young Nez Perce natives kill settlers, and have to leave quickly, going through Idaho, Montana, up to Canada before being caught around 20 miles from the border. 40% of the natives will die on their reservation
Indian Wars 1860s-1880s
Geronimo, Apache
Apache are the hardest to subdue because they were good with horses and vanished across the Mexico border. They were eventually captured and Geronimo is forced to be in Wild West Shows
Indian Wars 1860s-1880s
Wounded Knee South Dakota 1890
Sitting Bull and the Lakota experience the Ghost dance revolution, in hopes of the white men leaving and the buffalo coming back. Whites saw it as an attack, and soldiers were sent to subdue it. As he is about to be taken to jail for supporting the movement, Sitting Bull’s supporters shoot once at a reservation officer and Sitting Bull is shot in the head. Over 200 natives were killed.
Reservation System
Concentration to Reservation
All the native tribes would get a spot out west, but that wouldn’t work because then it would be easier to unite and over throw them. They decide on Reservations where all natives would be placed on.
Reservation System
Dawes Severalty Act, 1887
Natives on the reservation would learn the American Way of life, emminating the “kill the Indian, save the man”. They would work the land given to them by the government for 25 years to become a farmer and assimilate properly. They couldn’t sell the property to land speculators and have nowhere to go. It was the “help” them
Mining
Colorado 1859
Gold and silver were found in pikes peak. Wasn’t a ton found, but it was enough to bring more people to Colorado
Mining
Nevada 1859
Comstock load was the massive amount of silver and gold found in Nevada. Brought more people out and introduced hydraulic mining in 1866
Mining
More people= boomtowns
Everybody thought that getting rich from found gold would be like the lottery. = Outlaws, lawlessness, prostitutes. Results in population growth, and increases the hard currency or paper currency debate.
Cattle Drives
Cattle was driven to KC and Chicago to major slaughter houses, leading them to railroads for transportations. They disappear when there are more railroads and the range wars, where farmers/wealthy people would quarter of their land with barbed wire.
