War on the Plains Ch. 20

Overview · The Civil War/Reconstruction affected relationships between Natives and Texas settlers. · The federal government is going to take steps to end Native raiding · Natives are going to be forced out of TX and onto reservations. It’s going to take a fight to accomplish this.

Change on the Horizon · Most settlements were left open to raids when soldiers went off to war, and some plains natives really took advantage of their absence · Between 1865 and 1867 (prime time for reconstruction) there were many federal troops in TX but not enough to protect the frontier and settlers in TX · Attempt to Reconcile #1: decided to try a formal agreement (treaty)

Treaty of Medicine Lodge Creek · Federal troops were sent to Kansas to negotiate with Comanche, Kiowa and other plains natives · Government offered 3 million acres of land for a reservation in Indian Territory (basically OK) · Several thousand Comanche, Apache, and Kiowa decided to move to the reservation (their survival depended on it) ·The government agreed to provide buildings for schools, farming tools, and a total of $25,000 for 30 years to the population living on land

Small Success, Large Failure ·Native had to stop fighting and start farming ·Government food, supplies, aide, money, etc. were intercepted or sold illegally and never made it to the reservations ·Supplies that did make it weren’t enough to make up the difference so often natives lacked basic necessities and food ·Buffalo were being hunted to extinction

War on the Plains · Natives still riled up—reservation natives were upset with their quality of life, natives on the plains were upset with westward expansion Struggle for the Southern Plains

1871-1873 · A group of Kiowas is going to attack a stagecoach near Fort Richardson (1871) ·Kiowa and Comanche groups attack a wagon trail near Salt Creek, which is going to prompt the arrest of several Indian leaders ·In response to Salt Creek, the US War Dept. planned a series of attacks against natives who refuse to live on reservations o Federal troops met Quanah Parker (last chief of the Comanche) at Blanco Canyon ·By the end of 1873, General Mackenzie (recommended by General Grant…remember him?) had brought a stop to most of the border raids

The Last Stand · Battle of Adobe Walls (1874) o About 700 Comanche and Kiowa led by Quanah Parker o Natives attacked the trading post trying to run buffalo hunters out. · Battle of Palo Duro Canyon (1874) o General Mackenzie and 500 troops launched a surprise attack on natives camped near Amarillo. o The attack caught the Natives off guard and the natives fled, abandoning their camp, supplies, horses, etc. o This defeat ultimately forced the natives onto reservations and ended the era of control that natives used to have in the plains

End of the Buffalo · Railroad companies cleared thousands of acres to build lines · Non-Indian hunters killed hundreds of buffalo for sport, for profit (hides), and for food. (**they would often take the bones and hides, and leave the meat to rot**). · Used “buffalo guns” or powerful rifles with telescopes to hunt from a still position, allowed them to kill 75 to 100 buffalo a day. · Under the terms of the Treaty of Medicine Lodge Creek buffalo hunters weren’t allowed on reservation land, but the military officials in place to protect the treaty were corrupt (supported the extinction, and sale of the buffalo) · Between 1872 and 1874 hunters killed an estimated 4.3 million buffalo and enraged the natives