The Indian Wars

1
The Indian Wars
Exlcudes pictures
2
War for the Plains

• In 1874 Quannah Parker and 700 Indians attacked a
  group of hunters
• The hunters had been killing thousands of buffalo
  for their hides
• The hunters had superior weapons so they easily
  won the fight
• Quannah Parker was wounded in the shoulder and
  his horse was killed
• One of the many battles the Plains Indians would
  fight for their land

3
The Sand Creek Massacre

• In 1859 100,000 miners were trespassing on land
  promised to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians
• What Treaty promised them land?
• The government tried to negotiate a new treaty
  but the Indians knew better and refused to sell
  their land
• Indians attacked wagon trains, stage coaches, and
  mining camps
• Government put together a military force

4
Sandcreek Massacre Cont.

• Nov. 1864 Col. John Chivington led his soldiers
  in a surprise attack on a peaceful Cheyenne
  village camped at Sand Creek
• Chief Black Kettle waved an American flag and
  then a white flag of truce, but Chivington
  attacked.
• More than 200 men, women, and children were killed

5
Reservations

• 1860s Indians continued to attack and settlers
  continued to ignore the established borders
• 1867 Congress decided to end the attacks can you
  guess what they did?
• Only way was to separate Indians and Settlers

You guessed it! RESERVATIONS!!!!!!! (areas of
land set aside for Indian nations.
6
Reservations

• Indians were forced to move on these plots of
  land
• This would totally change the Indians way of
  life. How?
• Could no longer be nomads and hunt the buffalo
• Had to learn how to raise crops
• Learn the customs of settlers

7
Reservations
8
Red Clouds War

• 1863 Gold discovered in Montana miners flocked
• Miners cut through on Teton Sioux land
• Angry Teton Sioux attacked trespassing miners
• Government built three forts in the area to
  protect the traveling miners
• Red Cloud a strong chief was determined to
  protect the Teton Siouxs homeland

9
Red Clouds War Cont.

• He and Crazy Horse led their warriors in repeated
  attacks on travelers along the trail
• After months of fighting and 80 dead soldiers the
  government abandoned the forts
• As soldiers left the forts Red Cloud signed a
  peace agreement-The Second Treaty of Ft. Laramie

10
Red Clouds War Continued

• Although Red Clouds War was a victory for the
  Plains Indians the treaty he signed was not
• It established a reservation for northern Plains
  Indians located in Montana, Wyoming, and the
  Dakotas-The Great Sioux Reserve

11
Red Clouds War Cont.

• Red Cloud hated to move his people onto a
  reservation but he was happy with the thought
  that he had preserved his peoples homeland
  forever
• Does that word forever ring a bell?
• Do you think the treaty was observed by the
  government?

12
The Battle of Little Big Horn

• The peace brought by the Second Treaty of Ft.
  Laramie was short lived
• When miners found gold in South Dakota what do
  you think happened?
• You guessed itthe miners invaded the boundaries
  of the Sioux and Cheyennes hunting ground
• Angry warriors attacked mining camps and so the
  government sent the Army to fight

13
Battle of Little Bighorn Cont.

• June 25 1876 General Custer led his men to war
• He ignored his scout who said they were way
  outnumbered and pushed on
• Sioux and Cheyenne warriors led by Sitting Bull,
  Crazy Horse, Two Moons, and Lame White Man
  defeated General Custers army and it would later
  be known as CUSTERS LAST STAND!

14
Battle of Little Big Horn Cont.

• It was a great victory for the Indians however it
  would be their last
• Before a year had past most of the Sioux and
  Cheyennes had been defeated in battle or had
  moved onto reservations
• Crazy Horse was captured and murdered
• Sitting Bull escaped to Canada with a few
  followers

15
Chief Josephs Retreat

• Nez Perce Indians-French for Pierced Noses
• They were under pressure from settlers to leave
  their land
• Most signed a treaty and moved to a reservation
• Four young Nez Perce refused to go and killed
  four white settlers
• Their Chief, Chief Joseph, wanted to avoid war at
  all costs

16
Chief Josephs Retreat

• He led 800 men, women, and children on an amazing
  retreat for 3 and a 1/2 months and almost 2,000
  miles
• Their goal was to reach Canada and join Sitting
  Bull
• Traveled with honor they paid for supplies and
  did little harm to settlers

Do you think that they made it????
17
Chief Josephs Retreat Cont.

• They might have made it all the way had they not
  stopped to rest 40 miles from the border
• Federal troops caught up with them
• On a bitterly cold day Chief Joseph, surrendered.
  He told the soldiers
• I am tired of fighting. My heart is sick and
  sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight
  no more forever.
• The Nez Perce were
• sent to Oklahoma

18
Geronimo

• By 1881 most Indians were living on reservations
• Except for a small group of Apaches who were
  determined to hold onto their freedom
• Led by Geronimo the band roamed the mountains of
  Arizona and New Mexico
• Government soldiers tracked the group closely but
  it took them five long years to capture the group
• By 1886 Geronimos group had declined from about
  150 to a few dozen men, women, and children.

19
The End of the Indian Wars

• When Geronimos group finally surrendered in
  1886, a generation of Indian wars ended.
• The group moved onto a reservation and Geronimo
  was imprisoned for two years and lived the rest
  of his life in exile in Florida and Oklahoma

20
The Ghost Dance Religion

• Indians feeling defeated and depressed
• Living on reservations and in poverty
• Forced to accept a new way of life
• Looking for a miracleNew Religion
• Danced, chanted, and prayed
• Wanted relatives, friends, and buffalo to come
  back to life

21
Death of Sitting Bull

• Do you remember where he fled to?
• Came back and joined Ghost Dance Rel
• Govt. tried to talk him into banning the religion
  but he refused
• So they arrest him
• Police surrounded his house in ND and told him he
  was under arrest
• At first he agreed to go with them but changed
  his mind
• A scuffle followed and he was killed along with 7
  followers and 6 policemen

22
Massacre at Wounded Knee

• Alarmed by the death of their Chief Sitting
  Bulls followers fled
• Near Wounded Knee Creak they met the Seventh
  Cavalry
• Troops decided to disarm the Indians when all of
  a sudden someone fired and nervous soldiers fired
  into the group
• 150 Indian men, women, and children and 25
  soldiers lost their lives

23
It was much like this massacre. Do you remember
this one?
BOSTON MASSACRE
24
Reformers

• People were finally waking up to the tragic
  situation of the Native Americans
• The govt kept on breaking promises
• Eventually both Indians and whites began to call
  for reform
• Helen Hunt Jackson was a huge reformer who wrote
  books and spoke out to try to stop the injustice

25
The Dawes Act

• Some believed that the only way to help the
  Plains Indians was to convince them to adapt to
  American culture
• So congress passed the Dawes Act
• Ended tribal ownership of land and gave each
  family a plot of land

Do you think the Indians liked this? Why or why
not
26
Failure of the Dawes Act

• Families assigned plots of land but
  they didnt want to farm
• What did they want to do?
• Plus they were given the poorest farmland
  available so they had to rely on weekly food
  rations from the govt
• Because they had never had land before they did
  not realize how much it was really worth
• Settlers cheated them out of money by buying it
  for less

27
Changes on the Great Plains

• Indians confined to reservations
• Buffalo nearly extinct
• Railroads reach westward across the continent
• Cattle ranchers and farmers are soon to come and
  with them came new ways of life

28
Ghost Town in Montana
Do you remember why this became a ghost town?
29
The Machine Invasion
30
The Invasion of the Settler
31
Answer the following questions using your notes

• Define reservations.
• What was the Dawes Act?
• What happened at the Sand Creek Massacre?
• Who won Red Cloud or the Government?
• Where was Custers last stand?
• What group of Indians was Chief Joseph the leader
  of?
• What Chief led his people on a huge retreat and
  was later captured?
• In what religion do they dance and chant in order
  to bring back the dead?
• What act gave the Plains Indians individual plots
  of land?