In 1890 Census, government said that the frontier (place of uninhabited wilderness in the West) was closed

No more empty land in America?Frederick Jackson Turner writes his Frontier

Thesis encouraging “rugged individualism”Meaning that people can support themselves

out West

Living in what was known as the “Great American Desert”…not really a desert at allWere promised by the US government

that land would be theirs forever…not really

Most numerous were the Plains IndiansNomadic, followed the buffaloDid not think of land as property that

could belong to just one person…different from American concept of land

Sioux Nation

White man’s diseaseGold was discovered in

California bringing more settlers to the West…trample on Indian land

Railroad was being built that needed to go through Indian TerritoryThis need led to the

government setting up reservations that would put Indian tribes on smaller specific areas…but many are nomadic

the center of Indian lifeWhite settlers killed off

thousandsHunters invaded,

trading fur in the EastSome killed for sport

leaving the carcasses to rot Indians see their way of

life rottingRR companies hired

sharpshooters to kill those obstructing traffic (Buffalo Riders)

Encouraged by US army…would keep the Indians from being nomadic

Living on reservations and doing well but land was needed for white settlersEssentially playing by the rules

but still not good enough for the white man

Chief Joseph tried to escape US troops by heading into Canada

Troops caught up with them and Chief Joseph surrendered“I will fight no more forever”Were sent to unfertile lands in

Oklahoma

1. What threatened farmers in the late 1800s causing them to invest in barbed wire?

a. Corn farmingb. Cattle ranchingc. Sheep ranching

2. What invention allowed cattle ranches to thrive and increase sales of beef?

a. Barbed wireb. Refrigerator rail carsc. Vaccines

3. What impact did the railroad have on Native Americans?

a. They built the railroads

b. They were forced to move further west

c. They were forced to move onto reservations

4. Why did the army feel it was justified in their treatment of Native Americans?

Indians had been attacking settlers to keep a hold of their lands…raised the distrust among settlers

Unarmed Cheyenne and Arapaho are attacked by Colorado militia for no reasonKilled men, women and childrenIndians tried to signal that they

were of no threatCreated even more Indian resistance and military occupation

Gold is discovered in Sioux territory…white men try to take it

Sioux send out their troops and so does the US Army under Colonel Custer

250 soldiers vs. 2,000 IndiansIndians charged killing

Custer and all of his menOne of the very few Indians

victories

With so many threats to their way of life, Indians start to practice the Ghost Dance, thought that it wouldBanish white settlersBring back the buffalo

Frightened the government…they order the arrest of Sitting Bull who was leading the Ghost Dance

When the troops come to arrest Sitting Bull, they disarm the Indians…fire is shot?…troops react by killing over 300 Sioux

Buried in a mass grave…disrespectful in any culture not just Indians

18 Congressional Medals of Honor awarded to the troops

Blizzard hits

and the bodies are left there to freeze

Reservation life was not working so government suggested assimilation (adopting the culture and civilization of whites)

Helen Hunt Jackson criticized the government’s treatment of Indians in her book A Century of DishonorTalked of broken treaties

and the plight/poor condition of Indians

Replaced the reservation system (placing TRIBES on land) with an allotment system (placing FAMILIES on land)

Each Indian family was given 160 acresNot enough for farming in the West, only in the EastLand could not be sold for 25 yearsSignificance: Attempt to assimilate Indians by giving

them land but they don’t even know how to farm

1. This ritual was supposed to restore the Native American way of life, but made the US believe tribes were becoming more hostile.

a. Ghost Danceb. Assimilationc. Purification Rites

2. What was designed to assimilate Native Americans by encouraging them to become farmers?

a. Emancipationb. Homestead Actc. Dawes Act

3. Who defeated the Americans at Little Bighorn, encouraged the Ghost Dance, but was killed while being arrested?

a. Crazy Horseb. Sitting Bullc. Chief Joseph

4. Why was the Dawes Act a failure?