The Great West and the
Agricultural Revolution
1865 - 1890
The Results of White Presence on
the Plains
• As whites moved into the interior from the
east and the west, the effects were
devastating among Native Americans
– They brought new diseases – cholera,
typhoid, smallpox among others – with them
• They shrank the population and the
grazing grounds of the buffalo – a major
food source for the Plains Indians
• They set the various tribes against one
another in competition for scarce food
The Reservation System
• In an effort to preserve
the Native-American
culture, the federal
government sought to put
the Indians on
reservations – away from
whites and in land that
was supposedly never to
be touched
• The treaties of Ft.
Laramie and Ft. Atkinson
were the beginning of the
reservation system
Native American Government
• Here the cultures clashed
• Treaties were signed by “chiefs”
• In many tribes, the chief was a village
elder – not the President or anything of the
sort
• Their authority and influence was not
strong enough to be able to sign away
land rights
As a Result . . .
• Many Native
Americans did not
recognize the treaty
limits and refused to
abide by treaty
conditions
• As for the white
Americans – they did
not recognize any
rights but their own –
if there was
Sitting Bull something that they
wanted – they got it!
Indian Agents
• These men were the people who were
supposed to recognize Indian rights and
help them to survive
• They were often corrupt and looked down
upon by both Indian and white alike
• One official, on an annual salary of
$1,500. saved $50,000 in only 4 years!
Constant Warfare
• Between 1868 through 1890 there was
almost constant warfare between settlers
and the Indians
• Major white figures included Civil War
heroes Sherman, Sheridan (“The only
good Indian is a dead Indian.”) and Custer
• The result – major catastrophe
– Fetterman’s Massacre
– Little Big Horn
Tribes to Remember for the AP
Exam
• Nez Perce
– Chief Joseph: “. . . I shall fight no more
forever. . .”
• Apache
– Geronimo
• Sioux
– Sitting Bull
How Were the Whites Able to win –
even though their adversaries were
better riders and shots – and were
more mobile?
• The US Army had trains that could bring
supplies and reinforcements quickly
• Disease
• The Whites wiped out the buffalo
• Hemmed them in on all sides – and
everyone tried to kill them – soldiers and
settlers alike.
When asked why war was
necessary. . .
• “We took away their
country and their
means of support,
broke up their mode
of living, their habits
of life, introduced
disease and decay
among them, and it
was for this and
against this they
made war. Could General Philip Sheridan
anyone expect less?
The End for the Native Americans
• At the Battle of Wounded Knee in South
Dakota in 1890 the last major Indian
uprising was wiped out
• The Sioux were experiencing a religious
revival
• Many whites did not like this
– The Sun Dance was both not Christian and
was a way for the culture to revive and unify
– When the “Ghost Dance” culture spread to
South Dakota, the Army wiped it out
The Dawes Severalty Act - 1887
• Dissolved many tribes
• Sought “forced” assimilation
• Each family received 160 acres of land
• If the Indians behaved themselves like
“good white settlers” they would get title to
their land and citizenship in 25 years
– The 25 years was repeatedly extended –
Indians got citizenship in 1924
Dawes Continued
• Any lands not sold to the Native
Americans on the reservation land was
sold off to the railroads or white settlers
• The proceeds from the sales went to
“educate and civilize” the Indians
• One school – the Carlisle Indian School in
Pennsylvania sought to eradicate Indian
culture
– “Kill the Indian and save the White Man” the
motto of the school’s founder
Ghost Dancers
• The ghost dancers were a
religious revival for the
Sioux
• Was the result of the Sioux
attempts to revive native
culture with the Sun Dance
• Whites sought to eradicate
it – it clearly was not a
Christian dance – nor was it
American
The Battle of Wounded Knee
• In 1890 – US soldiers
wiped out the last
Ghost Dancers at the
battle of Wounded
Knee, South Dakota
• 200 Native Americans
were killed in the
battle – 29 US
soldiers