The U.S. government promised the peaceful Nez Perce keep their land in Oregon. Within a couple years, they were ordered to a reservation in what is now Idaho. The couple that tried to escape to Canada were stopped at the border by U.S. troops and sent to a reservation in what is now Oklahoma.
By the 1880s, most Native Americans had stopped fighting. The Apache of the Southwest were still continuing to battle though. A Chiricahua Apache named Geronimo and his raiders avoided capture until in September 1886 Geronimo surrendered, ending the Apache resistance.
Chapter 18
Section 2
Settlers Encounter Plains Indians
Fighting on the Plains-
- While the number of miners and settlers increased so did the need and want for land
Southwest
- The United States government tried to avoid fights by negotiating the Treaty of Laramie- The first major treaty between government and the Plains Indians
The Navajo lived in what became Arizona and New Mexico. In 1863 they refused to settle on a reservation, and in response U.S. troops raided their land, homes, and livestock.
- The Plains indians also signed a treaty in Nebraska 2 years later
The Navajo lived in what became Arizona and New Mexico. In 1863 they refused to settle on a reser
- Both treaties recognized claims by the Indians to most land across the great plains, it also gave the United Statesroads and forts across Indian land.
- The treaties did not keep peace however after the discovery of gold
- Reservations- areas of Federal land set aside for native Americans. They were negotiated after fights broke out.
When the Navajo began to run out of supplies, they had no choice but surrender to the U.S. In 1864 the Navajo began the Long Walk- a 300 mile march across a desert to a reservation in Bosque Redondo, New Mexico.
- The Sioux responded to invasions of land with war. Led by Crazy Horse, they killed 83 people
- In 1868 the U.S government signed the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie which closed the Bozeman Trail.
- The government also negotiated for most Plains Indians to move to reservations in the Plains. However many Plains Indians did not like this.
Settlers Encounter the Plains Indians
Hunting Buffalo
Fighting on the Plains-
Battles on the Northern Plains
- The Native Americans depended on 2 animals the buffalo and the horse.
In the norhtern Plains, Southwest, and Far West, Native Americans continued to resist being moved to reservations. The U.S. government sent troops, including African American cavalry, who the Indians called buffalo soldiers.
Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer's soldiers found gold in the Black Hills of the Dakotas, in the land belonging to the Lakota Sioux. Sitting Bull was the leader of the Lakota Sioux, who protested the U.S.'s demands for the land.
- These two animals were both used during the buffalo hunt the Plains Indians usually rode on horseback with bow and arrow in order to catch up to the buffalo and shoot them from close-range.
Other Sioux leaders agreed with Sitting Bull and refused to give up the land, which led to fighting between the army and the Sioux.
On June 25, 1876, Custer's army scouts found a Sioux camp along the Little Big Horn River in Montana Territory. This was a reason to attack. Custer and 264 of his soldiers led an attack without waiting for back-up.
- Plains Indians used all parts of the buffalo, and never wasted any of it.
In the Battle of Little Bighorn, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull led Sioux forces against Custer's forces, surrounded them, and then defeated Custer's troops.
This is what newspapers called "Custer's Last Stand" because all of his command was killed, making it the worst defeat the U.S. Army had in the West. This was also the Sioux's last major victory.
- Buffalo's could be used for a lot of very necessary items. They used buffalo for food, shelter, clothing, utensils, and food. Buffalo meat dried well to make jerky, buffalo hide was used for teepees, and clothing. Tools and cups were made from buffalo horns.
In 1881 Sitting bull and a few followers returned to Canada, where they had moved and run out of food during the winter. They joined the Sioux on Standing Rock Reservations in Dakota Territory.
Almost a decade later, in 1890, reservation police were sent to arrest Sitting Bull, but ended up killing him.
Many of the Sioux then left the reservation in protest.
Later in 1890, the U.S. army shot and killed about 150 Sioux Indians near Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota, This was the last major incidents on the Great Plains, being called the Massacre at Wounded Knee.
Far West
Final Battles
- Ghost Dance- Started by a
Settlers Encounter the Plains Indians
Wars for the West
- As people started to explore the West they were not happy with the amount of land they got and thus demanded more, however the main open land available was the Plains Indian Territory, which covered the mid-west from Canada all the way to Texas.
- The different Indian groups on the Plains were the Apache and Comanche which occupied the Texas and Oklahoma areas, the Cheyenne and the Arapaho lived in different areas across the central Plains, the Pawnee lived mainly in parts of Nebraska, The Sioux lived in the north like Canada, and Montanna.
CONFLICT CONTINUES
- In the 1870's most Indians lived on reservations. This land was not very useful to them for farming and buffalo hunting. A Paiute Indian named Wovoka began a religious movement, the Ghost Dance, that predicted the arrival of paradise for Native Americans.
- The United states sent agents to negotiate the land with the Plains Indians however they did not view land as property, they viewed it as a gift from God for all people to use.
Sarah Winnmucca
- A Paiute Indian who called for reform. She gave lectures on problems of the reservation system.
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Chief Joseph
- He led his people in an effort to hold on to the Nez Perce homeland and to avoid war with the United States.
- His surrender speech earned him a place in American history.
New Lives on the Plains
- In 1862 Congress passed two important land grant acts that helped open the west to settlers.
Settling on the Plains
- People from all over the country moved west. Many farming families moved from areas where farmland was becoming scarce or expensive.