Warm-Up Questions1.) Where did the Central and Union Pacific Railroad meet?

a.) Las Vegas b.) Promontory Point, Utah c.) Austin ,Texas d.) Oklahoma City

2.) What was the name of Frederick Jackson Turner’s essay on the disappearance of the open frontier?

a.) The Frontier Thesis b.) The Frontier is Gonec.) The Frontier is Here to Stay d.) Gone with the Frontier

3.) Which of the following was a hardship faced by settlers on the Great Plains?a.) prairie fires b.) flooding c.) too many trees d.) loose

soil

4.) What was the Comstock Lode?a.) Rich deposit of gold b.) Rich deposit of silverc.) Rich deposit of copper d.) Rich deposit of diamonds

5.) How did homesteaders gain title to land under the Homestead act?a.) Fencing it within 5 years b.) Planting it within 5 yearsc.) Living there for 5 years d.) By building a house on it

6.) Why did ranchers see barbed wire as a threat at first?a.) It harmed their cattle b.) It kept their cattle from roaming freelyc.) It required much effort to maintain d.) It kept their heads away from food

7.) What was the basis of the ideas for the stories in “dime novels”?a.) Cowboys exaggerated tales of daring b.) Miners’ exaggerated tales

of striking it rich c.) Immigrants tales of battles with Indians d.) Explorers exaggerated tales of adventure

Native Americans and the West

4.2: Evaluate the impact that settlement in the West had upon different groups of people and the environment

Plains Native Americans• Great Plains/Great American Desert - grassland extending

through the western portion of the United States

• Nomadic lifestyle

• Depended on Buffalo – Used all parts for basic needs (52 different uses)– Tepees, clothing, shoes, blankets, food, etc.

• Horses - travel further, hunt more efficiently

• Communal living

• Major Native American groups:– Sioux, Lakota, Cheyenne, Apache, Nez Pierce, Blackfeet

American Interests• Lands given by treaty to Native American groups

• California Gold Rush, 1848-1849

• Homestead Act, 1862

• Transcontinental railroad building– Massacre of the buffalo herds• U.S. Army encouraged white hunters to kill buffalo

to deplete Native American resources and force Native Americans on to reservations

• Central and Union Pacific Railroads– Irish and Chinese Immigrants– Promontory Point, Utah, 1869

Indian Reservations

• From 1860 to 1890, most Native Americans living in western states were forced to live on reservations.

• Beginning in the 1830’s, the United States fought a series of Indian Wars designed to aid the United States’ concept of Manifest Destiny. Many native peoples, realizing their inability to fight the advancing American armies, signed treaties that allowed the sovereignty (self-rule) on parcels of land (reservations)

Native American Restrictions

• Treaties were broken– 1834 - Designated the Great Plains as one enormous reservation– 1850 - Changed and gave tribes defined boundaries– Allotments - Government payment and supplies not delivered

• Uprisings– Dakota Uprising, 1862 - Surprise attack because of unkempt government

promises, 307 sentenced, 38 killed, Abraham Lincoln spares others

• Massacre at Sand Creek, 1864– The Cheyenne come to Camp Lyon to negotiate– John Chivington leads Army unit in massacre of Cheyenne, revenge for

death of 200 settlers (200 warriors, 500 women and children died)

• Fetterman’s Massacre– 81 men under Captain William J. Fetterman’s small army band crushed by

Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Red Cloud’s warriors

• Treaty of Fort Laramie – Forced Sioux to live east of Missouri River, temporarily stopped fighting , unsigned by Sitting Bull (leader of Hunkpapa Sioux)

Native American Wars: Custer’s Last Stand

• Gold found in the Black Hills of the Dakota– Sioux tried to defend area promised to them– Army sends George Armstrong Custer

• Little Bighorn, 1876– Sitting Bulls’ vision - Sitting Bull had a vision that they would

defeat the soldiers

– Prepared for battle – Defeated General Custer and the 7th U.S. Cavalry

• Nez Perce Native Americans, 1877– Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull lead warriors as Custer and

all his men were killed– Chased by the Army for over 1000 miles (Canada) until

captured– “I will fight no more forever”- Chief Joseph surrenders

(famous words)– Appears in William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s Wild West Show

Assimilation• Native American supporters

– “Century of Dishonor” - book by Helen Hunt Jackson told of the long record of broken treaties and injustices against Native Americans

– Some people supported assimilation of Indians• Goal of assimilation of Native Americans was to absorb them into

traditional American life• Plan was for Native Americans to give up their way of life and become part

of white culture

• Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 – Americanize Native Americans– Broke up reservations, weakened Native American Tribes– Allotted land to individual Indians– Attempted to help them by selling land to build a trust of money for

them– 160 acres to each family/ 80 acres to individuals– Promoted assimilation– 2/3 of land was eventually taken, promised money not received

End of the Native American Lifestyle• Assimilation

• Destruction of the buffalo– Soldiers told to shoot buffalo to force Native Americans on

reservations– Shot for sport and to feed railroad workers

• Ghost Dance Movement– Prophet told Sioux to perform a ritual that would restore their

way of life– Spread quickly , military leaders alarmed– Dance was a form of protest by the Native Americans– Sitting Bull was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing

Rock Indian Reservation during an attempt to arrest him at a time when authorities feared that he would join the Ghost Dance movement

Battle of Wounded Knee

• Wounded Knee, 1890– The chiefs’ followers continued to perform the Ghost

Dance ritual– 7th Calvary rounded up 350 Sioux who were starving

and took them to Wounded Knee Creek– Demanded weapons– Shot was fired (Which side shot first is unknown)– 7th Calvary responded with cannons and killed 300

unarmed Native Americans (including children)– Left corpses on the ground to freeze

• Native American era comes to an end

Assignment

• “Native Americans in the West” Worksheet

• Vocabulary Words• Dawes Act• Sand Creek Massacre• Battle of Wounded Knee• Helen H. Jackson• Battle of Little Bighorn• Ghost Dance Ritual