1. The Conquest of the Far West
Chapter 26

2. Societies of the Far West
In the late 19th century ‘the west’ would have been land west of the Mississippi River
Anglo-migration would encounter
Eastern Indian tribes (moved during Jacksonian Period) forcibly resettled in ‘Oklahoma Territory’ such as Cherokee & Creek
Midwestern Plains Indians; diverse group of tribes including the Sioux Nation & the Cheyenne
Primarily nomadic buffalo hunting peoples
Far Western tribes like the Pueblos had lived amongst Spanish settlers since the 1600s
US government’s treatment of the Indian was criticized by Helen Hunt Jackson in A Century of Dishonor (1881)
Societies of the Far West

3. Understanding of the 19th century west is often mythical due to”
Late 19th Century ‘Rocky Mountain School’ of artists inspired by the untouched west
Albert Bierstadt
Mark Twain’s early literary efforts were about his youth on the Mississippi River or young adulthood in Nevada
Cowboy Myth
Cowboys were often poor young men (sometimes former slaves) who worked on western ranches & cattle drives
Popular in western novels like ‘The Virginian’
Wild West Shows –’Buffalo Bill’ & Annie Oakley; gunslingers
The Romance of the West

4. Albert Bierstadt ‘Mt. Rainier’

5. The Dispersal of the Tribes
Whites saw the west as ‘virgin land’ waiting for them to tame
Presence of the Indians did not fit this ideal
Us gov’t Indian Peace Commission in decided to move all of the Plains Indians into two reservations, one in the Oklahoma Territory and another in the ‘Dakotas’
No more individual tribal treaties; Indians expected to form permanent settlements
Railroad building, fad for hides & settlers were decimating the buffalo –main Indian food source
Nearly all of the 15 million killed b/w
The Dispersal of the Tribes

6. Starting in the 1850s, Indians in small parties of 30 – 40 began attacking wagon trains & ranches; eventually soldiers
Sand Creek Massacre (1864) – US army retaliated in CO against Cheyenne & Arapaho attacks more than 130 ‘friendly’ Indians
‘Indian Hunting’

7. Battle of the Little Big Horn, MT (1876) -Sioux left their Dakota reservation in under the leadership of Sitting Bull & Crazy Horse
Gen. George A. Custer & the 264 men of the 7th Cavalry attacked –no US soldiers survived
Within two years the Sioux were forced back to their reservations
Wounded Knee, SD (1890) – Last major fight b/w US army & the Sioux. More than 300 Indians killed

8. The Dawes Act Dawes Severalty Act of 1887
Provided for the gradual elimination of tribal ownership
160 acres to a family or 80 acres to an individual
Could not gain full title to the land for 25yrs
Applied to all tribes but the Pueblo
Assimilation with Anglo ways was a major goal
Prevented Indian rituals like the Ghost Dance; and mandated Christian Church attendance
Children often removed and sent to boarding schools