2. 1872 John Gast “Spirit of the Frontier” What is happening here? How does this represent Americans’ way of thinking at this time?

3. How did Americans justify westward expansion and the removal of Indian tribes and their right to land?

4. Duties Guarded the frontier Mounted on horse to cover large amounts of land Used Colt six- shooter Effects Patrolled the frontier, enabling settlers to move westward Led to increased conflicts between American Indians and settlers

5. Most Texans felt that peace between them and Indians would only come if Indians settled on reservations, where they could live separate lives. The Texas legislature set aside approximately 70,000 acres, for Indian reservations in northwest Texas.

6. Two major Indian reservations were built. The Brazos County Indian Reservation 2000 Indians moved to the reservation, including Caddo, Anadarko, Waco, and Tonkawa. Many Indians moved to the reservation to gain protection from the Comanche. The Comanche Indian Reservation was located about forty miles away.

7. The Alabama-Coushatta, unique among Texas tribes in their ability to maintain peace with Texans, moved to a reservation in Polk County. These people managed to avoid becoming involved in the warfare that was about to engulf their fellow Texas Indians.

8. By the late 1850s, most Texans considered the reservation experiment to be a failure. Conflicts between the Comanche and Texans made them eager to expel the Indians from Texas permanently. As a result, the U.S. Army and Texas Rangers launched several military offensives against the Comanche.

9. Unlike other western states, Texas has almost no Indian lands due to the conflicts that drove most of the Indians to other states. http://www.laits.utexas.edu/txp_media/html/cult/features/0500_02/ind ianreservation.html

10. The late 1860s was a difficult time for both Texans and Indians. For both groups, the frontier remained unsafe and unpredictable. The federal garrisons that were supposed to protect settlers were undermanned. Texas wanted to provide rangers to supplement frontier defense but was ruined financially by the defeat in the war. There was no money to wage war, and Texans faced a situation that appeared virtually unchanged from two decades before.

11. William T. Sherman, commander of the U.S. Army, and Philip H. Sheridan, commander of U.S. troops in Texas, were veterans of some of the worst fighting of the Civil War. Sherman and Sheridan had learned not only to wage war on the battlefield but to break the enemy's will to resist. To this end, they began a policy of encouraging the slaughter of the southern buffalo herd.

12. Buffalo in Texas were first described by Cabeza de Vaca. Texas was home to four main herds, and at the height of their population, their trails could be several miles wide. What became known as the "great slaughter" took place in the 1870s, and by 1878 the buffalo in Texas was all but exterminated.

13. Prints and Photographs Collection, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. #1/112- 3.