1. Native Americans of the Great Plains

A.) Population explosion of Native Americans in the Great Plains

1. By the Civil War, there were approximately 225,000 N.A. on

the Great Plains

2. Part of the reason was all of the N.A. tribes who had been forced

to move west, across the Mississippi River.

3. Also, it became easier to hunt buffalo because horses_ were more

available. Before the horse was used, N.A. hunted buffalo by

foot, or were farmers.

B.) Whites began to take over this region

1. Plans for building the Transcontinental Railroad_____ meant that the

best route had to be mapped out, which caused whites to

travel through this region.

2. The U.S. army had built forts along the Oregon_ Trail to protect

settlers moving west.

3. Mormons had moved their community out to Utah.

4. Native Americans had signed treaties that placed them within

certain boundaries, which eventually led to Reservations___.

The U.S. government gave supplies to many tribes (wheat,

corn, blankets, etc.), but many government officials were

corrupt and had many methods to skim and make profits

(mixing sawdust with flour, etc.).

C.) Conflicts between Native Americans and the U.S. Gov’t.

1. The Sioux (Minnesota, Wyoming, Montana) and the Dakotas:

Fighting began in 1862 when 5 whites were killed by a

group of young Sioux. The tribe split into 2 groups: one

group retreated, but the other group attacked, killing

hundreds of white settlers. In response, 38 Sioux were

put to death and the Sioux were forced to leave Minnasota__.

They were spread between the Dakotas, Montana and

Wyoming and signed a peace treaty with the U.S. Gov’t in

1868.

2. The Cheyenne (Colorado): Miners had forced the Cheyenne into

the Sand Creek Reserve (southeastern Colorado), which

was barren. The Cheyenne began raiding towns and villages

for food. John Evans (Governor of the Colorado territory)

told the military to stop the problem and also told the

Cheyenne who didn’t want any trouble to report to Fort

Lyon. Approximately 500 Cheyenne reported to Fort Lyon,

but were attacked by U.S. military, led by Colonel John

Chivington - The Chivington Massacre (also called the Sand

Creek Massacre) - November 29, 1864.

This led to four more years of intense fighting between the

U.S. military and various Native American tribes.

D.) The Slaughter of the American Buffalo

1. 1865 - over 15,000,000 buffalo were on the Great Plains

1886 - only 600_ buffalo were on the Great Plains

2. Why?

a.) Civil War had ended

b.) _____The Winchester____Repeating Rifle - very accurate and could fire

rounds quicker than previous guns, or bow and arrow

c.) Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad

d.) Demand for buffalo hides - used for harnesses, furniture,

floor coverings, etc

1872-1876 - 9 million buffalo were killed

II. Native American Battles with the U.S. Army

A.) By 1868, the Sioux were located in the Black Hills_ (South Dakota/

Wyoming border). They were promised by the U.S. Gov’t that

this land would always belong to them. Plus, it was the last good

hunting area remaining.

But, gold was discovered in the area and now the Sioux were

expected to get off this land.

B.) “Custer’s Last Stand” (June 25, 1876) - The Battle of Little Bighorn_

Bighorn (named after the Little Bighorn River)

1. Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer led the 7th

Cavalry and tried to remove the Sioux from the Black Hills -

Miners were already there for the gold

Custer was supposed to have a great military future and was

very arrogant. He had became a general during the Civil War

at the age of 23 (the youngest in U.S. History) - had returned to

his pre-war rank

2. The Sioux were led by the following:

Sitting Bull (Tatanka Lotanka) - overall leader of the

Sioux

Crazy Horse (Tashunka Witka) - great military leader

3. A large force of Native Americans had set up camp next to the

Little Bighorn River. Custer was ordered to take the 7th Cavalry

and to scout the area and gather information. Instead, Custer with 600 men decided to attack a Native American force of over

3,000. Custer repeated the process of attacking, falling back and

then regrouping, until on his 3rd attempt, Custer and 264 men were surrounded and killed.

4. Reaction: the battle had a great impact on U.S. views of N.A.

a.) Black clothes were draped over large buildings (in mourning)

and calls for revenge.

b.) Thousands of troops were sent to the frontier

c.) 1877 - Crazy Horse surrendered and was killed at Ft. Robinson

Nebraska

1881 - Sitting Bull surrendered after returning from Canada.

Spent time with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.

Gov’t feared that he would lead another uprising and he

was shot while being arrested and died (1890).

C.) Battle of Wounded Knee_______ (South Dakota) - Dec. 29,1890

Also known as the “Wounded Knee Massacre”

1.) U.S. military had decided to disarm members of the Lakota

tribe.

2.) In the process, one member of the tribe who was deaf did not

understand what was taking place. He had just purchased a

new Winchester Repeating Rifle and when members of the

7th Cavalry moved in to take his gun, a struggle occurred

and the gun was fired during the struggle.

3.) At this point, members of the 7th Cavalry opened fire against

the unarmed Lakota.

4.) 250 Lakota were killed, 51 were wounded (including some who

later died).

5.) Lakota women and children were also killed - some had ran

to escape the violence, but they were chased down. One

Lakota woman was chased for 3 miles before she was

captured and killed.

III. U.S. changes it policy towards Native Americans

A.) The U.S. gov’t decided that Native Americans needed

_Assimilation (the immersion into “American Culture”)

B.) The methods to achieve this goal:

1.) 1869 - Sending Native American children to boarding schools:

Form of kidnapping - children were taken against the

will of their parents.

a.) Children will be taught English - hoped that the children

would forget the language of their tribe

b.) Children had their hair cut similar to white children

c.) Children were given English sounding names

d.) Many of the children were also forced into Christianity

e.) Children were severely beaten if they rebelled or resisted

these methods

2.) Eventually there were 408 federal “Indian” boarding_ schools

that were in use up to 1969.

In 1926, 83% of all Native American school aged children

were  attending boarding schools.

A 2022 report issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior

stated these schools fostered, “rampant physical, sexual and

emotional abuse: disease; malnourishment; overcrowding;

and lack of health care” for children as young as 4 years old

3.) Dawes Act (1887)

a.) Tribes were abolished

b.) Act would give Native Americans land - divide the

reservations

Male head of families -  160 acres each

Women and bachelors - 80 acres each

c.) Native Americans were given 25 years_ to become

successful - if they were successful, they would be

given the title to the land

d.) Would become citizens when the 25 years were up

4.) The Dawes Act was a total failure for the following reasons:

a.) Native Americans were given no farm equipment

b.) They were not taught how to farm

c.) They were given horrible land

d.) They were provided with poor health services:

Disease, malnutrition, low life expectancy (still

true today)

2020 Life Expectancy

Whites - 79

African Americans - 75

Asian Americans - 87

Hispanic Americans - 84

Native Americans - 73

5.) Native Americans did not become U.S. citizens until 1924 (last

major group in U.S. History

6.) Native Americans have a higher rate of addiction today then

any other group, have a higher poverty_ rate and a higher

suicide rate

IV. The Emergence of the American Cowboy

A.) The Cattle Industry

1.) Thrived on the Great Plains from 1866-1890

2.) Centered around the Texas Longhorn - mix of Spanish and

British stock

Could withstand heat well, could travel many miles without

water and were able to forage for food on their own

Could be panicked easily - only negative

B.) Cattle Drive

1. Joseph McCoy - 29 years old, bought 450 acres with some cabins for $5

an acre outside of Abilene, Kansas (which sat on the Kansas-Pacific RR.

Offered $40 a head for cattle and built pens for them.

2. Cattle would be brought up the “Chisholm Trail” (San Antonio-

Abilene) - 1,000 miles. Cattle usually galloped 30 miles the 1st

day and then 10 miles a day after that.

From there, cattle would be shipped by rail to Chicago.

3. McCoy claimed that he could get 200,000 cattle to Chicago in 10

years. Instead, over 600,000 cattle made it to Chicago in 4 years.

The phrase developed, “The Real McCoy” for someone who could

deliver on time

C.) Life of a Cowboy

1. Most herds were around 2,500 cattle with 8-10 cowboys, a cook, a

Trail boss and wranglers who took care of the horses.

2. Most cowboys were Civil War veterans and made $25-40 a month.

They were paid at the end of the drive and then celebrated

in the “Cow Town”. Dodge City and Abilene were the most

famous Cow Towns.

3. Approximately 33% of all Cowboys were African American -

they found equality on the frontier

D.) Downfall of the Cattle Drives

1. The following contributed:

Flash floods

Overgrazing - caused an inferior grade of cattle (beef) and

brought prices down

Too many cattle brought to market

Lightning storms - caused stampedes

2. Texas__ Fever - Longhorn cattle brought a germ, that they were

immune to but killed other cattle

3. _Barbed Wire - began to appear on the Chisholm Trail in 1876, which poked cows

4. Native Americans in Oklahoma began to charge one penny per

cow to travel across their reservations.

5. Terrible winters of 1885-1886 and 1886-1887

Snow so deep that the cattle couldn’t paw down to the grass

Also severe droughts in those 2 summers - dried up streams

6. Cattle Industry barely survived

Adjustments:

a.) Barbed Wire fences appeared with smaller farms, smaller herds and cowboys became ranch hands

b.) Began growing hay to feed cattle in the winter

Also built winter shelters

c.) Russian and Polish immigrants appeared on the Great

Plains and began to grow large amounts of wheat