Native Americans in the United States and Plains Indians Essay

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THE WEST:
EXPLOITING AN EMPIRE
America: Past and Present
Chapter 17

Beyond the Frontier
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1840--settlement to Missouri timber country Eastern Plains have rich soil, good rainfall High Plains, Rockies semi-arid
Most pre-Civil War settlers head directly for Pacific Coast

Physiographic Map of the U.S.

Crushing the Native
Americans
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1867--250,000 Indians in western U.S.
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By the 1880s
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displaced Eastern Indians
Native Plains Indians most Indians on reservations
California Indians decimated by disease

By the 1890s Indian cultures crumble

Life of the Plains Indians:
Political Organization
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Plains Indians nomadic, hunt buffalo
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skilled horsemen tribes develop warrior class wars limited to skirmishes, "counting coups"

Tribal bands governed by chief and council Loose organization confounds federal policy Life of the Plains Indians:
Social Organization
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Sexual division of labor
• men hunt, trade, supervise ceremonial activities, clear ground for planting
• women responsible for child rearing, art, camp work, gardening, food preparation

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Equal gender status common
• kinship often matrilineal
• women often manage family property

"As Long as Waters Run“:
Searching for an Indian Policy
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Trans-Mississippi West neglected to
1850
Indian Intercourse Act of 1834 excludes any white from Indian country without a license Land regarded as Indian preserve

Native Americans in the West:
Major Battles and Reservations

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“As Long as Waters Run:
Searching for an Indian
Policy

After 1850 white travel on Great Plains rises Federal government sparks wars by confining Indian tribes to specific areas
Sioux War of 1865-1867 prompts "small reservation" policy to protect white migration Final Battles on the Plains
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Small reservation policy fails
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young warriors refuse restraint white settlers encroach on Indian lands

Final series of wars suppress Indians
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1876—Little Big Horn: Sioux defeat Custer most battles result in Indian defeat, massacre 1890—Wounded Knee massacre to suppress "Ghost Dances"

The End of Tribal Life
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1887--Dawes Severalty Act
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destroys communal ownership of Indian land gives small farms to each head of a family
Indians who leave tribes become U.S. citizens Near-extermination of buffalo deals devastating blow to Plains Indians

Settlement of the West
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Unprecedented settlement 1870-1900
Most move west in periods of prosperity
Rising population drives demand for
Western goods

Men and Women on the
Overland Trail
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California Gold Rush begins Great
Migration
Settlers start from St. Louis, Missouri, in
April to get through Rockies before snow
Pacific trek takes at least 6 months

Land for the Taking:
Federal Incentives
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1860-1900—Federal land grants
• 48 million acres granted under Homestead Act
• 100 million acres sold to private individuals, corporations • 128 million acres granted to railroad companies

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Congress offers incentives to development
• Timber Culture Act 1873
• Desert Land Act of 1877
• Timber and Stone Act of 1878

Land for the Taking:
Speculators and Railroads
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Most land acquired by wealthy investors
Speculators send agents to stake out best land for high prices
• river bottoms
• irrigable areas
• control of water

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Railroads settle grants with immigrants

Land for the Taking:
Water and Development
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Water scarcity limits Western growth
• much of the West receives less than 20 inches of rainfall annually
• people speculate in water as in gold

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1902--Newlands Act sets aside federal money for irrigation projects

Territorial Government
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Western territorial officials appointed
Territorial patronage systems persist
Some Westerners make livings as
Congressmen
Territorial experience produces unique
Western political culture

The Spanish-Speaking
Southwest
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Spanish-speakers of Southwest contribute to culture, institutions
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irrigation stock management weaving natural resource management

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