Westward Expansion and Plains Indians: Comprehensive Notes
Westward Expansion and Plains Indians: Comprehensive Notes
Geography and Overview
Great Plains region defined as the area in question (area in green) extending from the West to the Rocky Mountains and southward from Canada (pages 6–7).
U.S. Government's initial view of the Great Plains: a dry, barren wasteland often described as the Great American desert (page 8).
Early government attitude included proposals to relocate Native peoples to the plains: “Great! Let's send Indians there” (page 9).
Westward Perceptions and Claims
Question framing for understanding expansion:
What happened?
Why?
Consequences
Where did it lead us? (pages 2, 3)
The West vs. Eastern Cities: What does the West offer? (page 3)
The West Offers (idealized self-image of the West):
Virtuousness
No corrupt city politicians
No labor strife (page 4)
Plains Indians: People, Names, and Terms
Plains Indians lived throughout the Great Plains; however, the term “Plains Indian” includes more than 30 different tribes (page 10).
Names and labeling notes:
Neither “Native American” nor “American Indian” are terms widely used by the tribes themselves (page 11).
The U.S. Government often used generalized names (e.g., Plains Indians) that lumped diverse groups together (page 11).
The term “Indian” originated from Columbus, who believed he landed in India; the label stuck (page 11).
The “American” part came later when the land was named after Amerigo Vespucci (page 11).
The shift to more inclusive labeling (Native American) occurred later in an effort toward political correctness and recognizing ethnic diversity within a unified American identity (hyphenated Americans: Irish-American, African-American, Native American, etc.) (page 12).
The Horse: Introduction and Impact
What the Spanish introduced to Plains Indians: the horse (page 13).
Impact of the horse on Plains life:
Made Indians more efficient hunters (page 14).
Allowed longer travel distances and the ability to invade new territories (page 14).
Buffalo hunting and mobility increased: could kill twice as many buffalo as on foot or follow herds (page 15).
The buffalo provided essential resources:
Meat
Clothing
Tipi coverings
Bones for tools
Fats for grease
And many other uses listed below (pages 16–17):
Hides (without hair): tipi covers, clothing, parfleches (saddle bags), shields, containers, rattles
Hair: stuffing for balls and baby cradles; paint brushes, ropes, shields, saddles
Tail: fly swatter
Hides (with hair): warm winter clothing, floor coverings, moccasins, blankets
Fat: mixed with powdered meat to make pemmican
Horns: headdress, container, club, cups, spoons
Ribs: arrow shafts
Meat: runners for sleds; boiled
Stomach: roasted; waterproof food bag; dried
Bladder: cooking pot; water container
Brains: for preparing hides
Skull: used for religious ceremonies
Bones: tools like scrapers, knives, awls for sewing; hoes
Sinews (muscles): laces, thread, bowstrings
Hoof: boiled to make glue
Dung (manure): fuel for the campfire; smoke signals
Beard: decoration for clothing and weapons
Teeth: for necklaces
No part of the buffalo went unused
Water-proof bag? A question posed: “Waterproof bag anyone?” (page 17)
Plains Life and Mobility
Some tribes became nomadic and followed the buffalo herd (page 18).
Population of Plains Indians by the 19th century: tripled to about (page 19).
White Expansion and Native Displacement
Problem: As white settlers moved west, more tribes were forced onto the plains (page 20).
Manifest Destiny: belief in a God-given right to occupy all territory from the Pacific Ocean westward; term coined by 1845 but used historically to justify forced removal (page 21).
Based on Anglo-Saxon racial superiority and a belief in white dominance; parallels with European settlement, colonialism, and slavery (page 21).
Questions to ponder about conquest, expansion, and coexistence (page 22).
Government misconception: All tribes are the same (pages 23–24). This misperception guided much of 19th–20th century Indian policy (page 24).
Resource Rush and Settlement on the Plains
Event that brought white prospectors into the area: discovery of valuable natural resources (page 25).
Resources discovered: Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead (page 26).
Ranchers arrived with sheep and cattle, followed by farmers (page 27).
Legislative response: The government enacts new legislation to promote settlement (page 28).
Treaties and Reservations
Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851): promised natives control of the Great Plains “for as long as the river flows and the eagle flies” along with money; in return, guaranteed safe passage for settlers on the Oregon Trail; allowed roads and forts in indigenous territories (page 29–30).
The reality of the treaty: introduced railroads to the territory and cut off buffalo migration routes; whites settled on Indian lands with or without government permission (pages 31–33).
Indians resisted and fought back (page 34).
Quote from General Philip Sheridan (Civil War): argued that removal, disruption of living, disease, and decay led to wars with Native peoples (pages 35–37).
Notable conflicts and routes associated with the era:
Bozeman Trail
Forts and landmarks such as Fort C.F. Smith, Fort Hall, Fort Bridger, and others; Yellowstone River; Bighorn Mountains; Oregon Trail; Powder River; etc. (page 38).
Bozeman Trail (connected Oregon Trail to Montana) ran through Sioux and Lakota lands, contributing to conflict (page 40).
Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868): created a Sioux reservation (page 41).
The Army agreed to abandon posts and keep whites from using the trail (page 42).
Part of a larger plan to push Native peoples onto reservations (page 43).
Reservations and the Assimilation Policy
Reservations involved supplying provisions and annuities, but they were often inadequate or unpaid; Indians were forced to live on some of the poorest, most unproductive land in the west (page 44).
An additional setback: buffalo nearly disappeared (page 45).
Buffalo counts: around (13 million) in 1860 to about by 1890 (page 46).
With dwindling buffalo, Indians had to leave reservations to find buffalo (page 47).
General W. Tecumseh Sherman declared that any Native Americans venturing off the reservation would be killed (page 48).
The Ghost Dance and Its Aftermath
A new movement emerges: The Ghost Dance (page 49).
Purpose of the Ghost Dance for Lakota Sioux:
Raise the dead
Restore the buffalo to life
Cause a great flood to destroy the whites (page 51).
Sioux Ghost Dance depicted in Harper’s Weekly (page 52).
The dance frightened military officials; Lakotas were ordered to stop (page 53).
Result: Battle of Wounded Knee, 1890 (page 54).
Sitting Bull, a prominent leader, was arrested due to Ghost Dance popularity (page 55).
Shots fired by Sioux followers; Sitting Bull was shot twice and killed (page 56).
Dawes Act and Assimilation Policy
Dawes Severalty Act (1887) aimed to convert tribal lands into individual ownership (page 57).
Objective: Assimilate Native Americans (page 59).
Claimed civilizing goals included:
Wear civilized clothes
Cultivate the ground
Live in houses
Send children to school
Own property (page 60).
Fundamental difference in belief systems: LAND
White notion: land is not sacred; it is property to be employed; Indians were obstacles (page 62).
Consequences: Tribes lost legal standing; the policy undermined communal tribal life (page 63–64).
Breakdown of Indian lands over time:
1887: acres
1900: acres (page 65).
Westward Economic Expansion and Cultural Change
New settlers: Cowboys, Mormons, and Spanish/Mestizos moved into the region (page 66).
Railroads expanded as the West opened; cattle towns and cowboys flourished (page 67).
Earlier mineral rush: California Gold Rush of (page 68).
Westward resources: Coal, Iron, Ore, Oil (to an extent) (page 69).
Government policy: Homestead Act of encouraged settlement westward:
Targeted areas included Kansas, Nebraska, Dakotas, Minnesota
Offered FREE acres; build a house; farm land; live there for years (page 70–71).
Settlement Experience and Challenges
Question posed: Would you go? (page 72).
Free land as a major draw (page 73).
Visual example: Webster family in front of a farm home, Buffalo County, Nebraska (page 74).
Farm output grew faster than population: production growth and price dynamics:
Farm output grew more than twice as much as population (page 75).
Normal economic response would be to slow production to control prices (page 77).
Farmers reacted by producing more to compensate for income gaps; coupled with droughts and floods that challenged yields (pages 76–80).
Sod houses (soddy/sod house) as an inexpensive homesteader home:
Well-insulated but damp (page 82).
Transcontinental Railroad and National Market
Transcontinental Railroad completed in ; linked east to west and created potential for a nationwide market (page 83–84).
Summary and Reflection
The End (page 85).
Key themes to reflect on:
The tension between expansion and Indigenous sovereignty.
The role of government policy in displacement, assimilation, and reservation systems.
The ecological and economic drivers of Westward expansion ( buffalo depletion, mineral resources, homesteading, railroads).
The persistence of Indigenous cultures amid coercive policies and violent conflict.
Ethical implications of Manifest Destiny and the treatment of Native peoples.
Connections to Foundational Principles and Real-World Relevance
Conceptual: Colonial expansion and its consequences; state-building through westward expansion; assimilation vs. cultural preservation.
Economic: Resource extraction, land use rights, and the transformation of a multi-ethnic landscape into a market-oriented economy.
Ethical/philosophical: Debates about sovereignty, indigenous rights, and the legitimacy of conquest under the banner of progress.
Policy lessons: The failures of misperceived homogeneity of tribes; the long-term social and political costs of policies like the Dawes Act and reservation system.
Glossary and Key Terms (selected)
Annuities: regular payments provided to tribes within reservation agreements (page 44).
Parfleches: rawhide cases used as saddle bags (page 16).
Pemmican: dried meat mixed with fat; food staple (page 16).
Dawes Act (1887): policy to convert tribal lands into individually owned parcels; aimed at assimilation (page 57).
Ghost Dance: spiritual movement among Lakota Sioux aiming to restore buffalo and pre-contact life (pages 50–52).
Fort Laramie Treaties: 1851 and 1868 agreements shaping land and travel rights and reservations (pages 29–33, 41).
Homestead Act (1862): policy offering land to settlers to promote western settlement (page 70).
Bozeman Trail: routes connected to Oregon Trail through Sioux/Lakota lands, inflaming conflict (pages 38–40).
Timeline snapshot (selected dates)
1845: Manifest Destiny term emerges historically (page 21).
1848: California Gold Rush (page 68).
1851: Treaty of Fort Laramie (page 29).
1862: Homestead Act enacted (page 71).
1868: Treaty of Fort Laramie reaffirms Sioux reservation (page 41).
1869: First transcontinental railroad completed (page 83).
1887: Dawes Severalty Act enacted (page 57).
1890: Battle of Wounded Knee; Ghost Dance era culminates in violence (pages 54–57).
1900s: Ongoing land loss and allotment effects (page 65).
Ethical and Practical Implications
The data highlights the moral costs of westward expansion: displacement, cultural disruption, and near-extinction of key resources (buffalo) crucial to Plains economies.
Policies often treated diverse tribes as a monolith; real differences and sovereignty were overlooked in policy design (pages 23–24).
Assimilation policies aimed at transforming Indigenous social structures, land use, and education, often eroding communal life and spiritual beliefs (pages 57–65).
The railroad and market integration accelerated economic development but intensified conflicts over land, resources, and governance.
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