Conflict On The Plains

Question 1

Why was the permanent Indian fortier broken?

Answer 1

Gold was discovered that changed ideas, the land was no longer viewed as worthless and the Indians were seem as wasting the land
Manifest destiny also contributed

Question 2

What were the exterminators?

Answer 2

The exterminators were the white settlers that had conflict with the Indians due to the fact that they were settling on their land. They developed negative attitudes towards the indians and wanted them gone.
- they had more influence as they were living on the plains and the army would usually side with them

Question 3

What were the negotiators?

Answer 3

These were mainly the government and east, they did not share the same views as the exterminators and thought that through talking they could solve there differences

Question 4

Why did the US government and Plains Indians end up at war?

Answer 4

• Reservations - the land given to the plains indians was not very good for farming on, moreover the plains indians wanted to continue hunting the buffalo which they could not do on the reservations
• Manifest Destiny - Indians were not part of the American Dream by the end of the 1800s and they were not wanted as manifest destiny was about taking over the whole continent
• New Indian Leaders- Indians such as sitting bull and crazy horse had witnessed the hardships faced by the Indians after Little Crows war, they became popular as they didn’t want to put up with the hardships and crap that the government gave them.
• Violence - by the second half of the 1800s both sides had committed horrible acts of violence and the army was on constant standby

Question 5

What was the permanent indian fortier?

Answer 5

It was created when the US government did not want any of the land as they thought it was not profitable as it was desert land

Question 6

Describe the events of the battle of little bighorn?

Answer 6

• In June 1876 sitting bull and crazy horse along with 2000 warriors from sioux set up camp on bighorn river outside the sioux reservation
• the army began to prepare an attack
• on the 17th June 1876 the battle of rosebud took place and crazy horse and some warriors attacked general crooks column, they killed or injured soldiers before retreating therefore crook could no longer attack as he was so weak
• terry and gibson joined forces, the seventh Calvary led by Custer would attack from the south, Custer refused extra weapons and men
• Custer traveled day and night to reach the sioux camp
• arrived a day earlier but were exhausted
• scouts reported the Indian camp were packing up and leaving so they attacked the
• Custer split men into three groups to attack from different sides
• Renos and Benteens failed and retreated
• Custer carried on, he was outnumbered, outgunned, all fought to end but died, they were scalped or mutated

Question 7

Did the Indians win or lose the Battle of Little Bighorn?

Answer 7

+ sitting bull managed to unite 7000 Indians under his leadership
+ changed battle tactics to defeat US army
+ wiped out all of Custer’s company
+ in military terms they definitely won
- news of defeat reached the east on 4th July 1876 100th anniversary
- loss remaining government put under pressure to eliminate them
- humiliation of defeat made the army re-examine its strength, 2 new forts and 2500 extra soldiers
- Indian unity ended after battle as they all dissolved
- eventually starving and without ammunition they surrendered
- force to sell black hills and other land
- homes and weapons taken away
- Crazy horse captured and killed in 1877
- sitting bull surrendered in 1881 - lost 2 inspiring and determined fighters
- Sioux’s last stand destroyed there way of life

Question 8

How was the Native American way of life destroyed?

Answer 8

1. Railroads
   - excursion trains
   - enables soldiers to be transported around quickly
   - brought homesteaders onto the plains and moved the Indians out
   - crossed the traditional hunting grounds
   - encouraged cattle drives
2. Government
   - passed Dawes act in 1887
   - came up with the idea of reservations - supported railroads
   - supported and funded army, homesteaders and there were never enough money for reservations
   - gave away land promised to Indians at events such as the Oklahoma land grab in 1889
3. Army
   - used Indian scouts
   - nothing to do when the civil war ended
   - waged total war on Indians destroying homes and belongings so they had no choice but to move onto the reservations
   - forts and bases on plains
   - fought in winter when Indians did not

Question 9

What was the Dawes act?

Answer 9

It divided Indian reservations into 160 acres parcels
- adults got 160 acres
- children got 80 acres
The rest of the land was sold to white settlers

Question 10

What was the problems with the Dawes act?

Answer 10

• many Indians refused land or sold it for a fraction of what it was worth
• didn’t want the farming lifestyle
• became more dependent on handouts
• proud people which demoralised them

Question 11

What happened to the battle of wounded knee in 1890?

Answer 11

1. Life was bad and there was no food, horses and weapons
2. They wanted to make things better so they asked the spirit world for help
3. They danced the ghost dance which was illegal under reservation law
4. The 7th Calvary moved in to arrest the ring leaders, sitting bull was the first victim and was shot by a sioux victim
5. On the 29th December a scuffle broke out between ghost dance followers and army, this was lead by Big Foot
6. The Calvary opened fire killing 146 Indians including 7 babies
   - this was the end of the resistance

Question 12

How did the life on the reservations differ to traditional life?

Answer 12

• nomadic
  Lived in one area
• bands were left by chiefs who were advised by leaders
  They were supervised by the government which appointed Indian agents, they were dishonest and often cheated Indians
• hunted buffalo for everything
  Farmed the land which was often poor quality and relied on government handouts
• horses were the most important thing in an Indian life as wealth was measured by horses
  They were forced to live without horses and weapons

Question 13

Why did the buffalo become extinct?

Answer 13

1. Destruction of habitat
   - homesteaders fenced off land which destroyed natural migration patterns
   - not enough grazing land due to cattle ranches
2. Hunting for sport
   - transcontinental railroads ran excursion trains
   - employed hunters to supply buffalo meat for there workers and to keep them clear out of tracks
   - if they passed a herd they would stop and encouraged passengers to shoot them
3. Hunting for hides
   - after 1871 a new method of making leather was discovered and buffalo hides became very valuable
   - high powered rifles were very important
   - bone pickers would wait for caucuses to rote then take bones and hooves to sell
4. Deliberate extermination
   - US gov and army deliberately wiped them out
   - Indians had no food source and was forced to live on reservations
   - army gave free ammunition to buffalo hunters

Question 14

How was Indian culture was dismantled?

Answer 14

1. Territorial
   - spirit tribes into smaller groups so they could not work together
   - Dawes act allowed Indian farmers to claim homesteads further weakening tribal bonds
2. Political
   - chiefs did not work on reservations and Indian agents were in charge
   - system of honours and elders was destroyed
   - lost power to punish tribes
   - become self-sufficient
3. Economic
   - lack of horses and buffalo meant no trade system
   - not allowed to hunt buffalo or steal horses
4. Religious
   - old ceremonies banned
   - Christian missionaries ran reservations
   - couldn’t seek visions and power of medicine men undermined
5. Educational
   - children sent to military style boarding schools
   - not allowed to speak their own language, learn their history or follow their beliefs
   - destroyed entire sense of nationality and made sure they could never return to there way of life
   - alienated them
   - parents were unable to prevent

Question 15

Fort Laramie 1851

Answer 15

in 1849 the government made deals with the Comanche and Kiowa Indians this means the Indians would not attack travellers in return for land, Thomas Fitzpat4rick thought he could get a similar agreement with the Chyenne and Arapaho Indians, he did and they stopped attacking travellers along the Oregon trail in return for land, the government promised to protect them and pay the tribes/ broke treaty in 1859 when gold was discovered in 1859, white men surged through the Indians land, the Indians took their revenge and attacked travellers and railroad surveyers, the government made a new treaty which made the Indians abadon the terms of fort Laramie and were gave land among the rockies, some warriors refused to accept this and went on the warpath 1861 – fort wise treaty

Question 16

Little crows war

Answer 16

in 1849 the government made deals with the Comanche and Kiowa Indians this means the Indians would not attack travellers in return for land, Thomas Fitzpat4rick thought he could get a similar agreement with the Chyenne and Arapaho Indians, he did and they stopped attacking travellers along the Oregon trail in return for land, the government promised to protect them and pay the tribes/ broke treaty in 1859 when gold was discovered in 1859, white men surged through the Indians land, the Indians took their revenge and attacked travellers and railroad surveyers, the government made a new treaty which made the Indians abadon the terms of fort Laramie and were gave land among the rockies, some warriors refused to accept this and went on the warpath 1861 – fort wise treaty

Question 17

Sand Creek Masscare 1864

Answer 17

the Chyenne and Black Kettle chief faced similar problems on Sand Creek reservation, the Indians attacked the wagon trains and took the food leaving the settlers unharmed, after 3 years they reached an agreement, Black Kettle set up camp in Sand Creek and believed he was protected by the Government,. Colonel Chivington was in charge of the Indians, and on the 29th of November 1864 he led a raid on the Indians and killed 450 men women children and babies, even though they surrendered. Black kettle escaped and spread news, the attacks on the white people increased, both sides were horrified, and in return from stopping attacks they were given land in Oklahoma

Question 18

Red clouds war reasons for it

Answer 18

• discovery of gold in monatana

- John Bozeman created the Bozeman trail which went through the Indian land this broke the Fort Laramie treaty of 1851

Question 19

red clouds war

Answer 19

Red cloud and the Lakota Sioux began to attack the travellers along the trail, by 1866 gov had had enough at set up talks, Red Cloud discovered the army were building two more forts along the Bozeman trail and the talks broke down, he stormed out of the meeting. The Indians kept attacking travellers and those working on the forts, Red cloud was joined by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. In December 1866 Captian William Fetterman and a group of soldiers left Fort Kearney to provide protection for a wagon train, they rode into a trap set by the Indians, they were wiped out, this was called Fettermans trap. The Indians circled Fort Kearny and the US army could not leave and no traveller could move beyond the Bozeman trail.
- Red cloud was successful as he kept the Sioux bands together as well as the Araphao and Cheyenne, and kept them fighting through the winter months, he forced the US army on the defensive side. In march 1887 the government set up a peace commission to try and solve the problem, they split the Indians up and put them in individual reservations

Question 20

Reasons for the Great Sioux war

Answer 20

the norther pacific railroad was approaching Sioux hunting grounds in Dakota and in 1874 Geneal Custer led an expedition to the Black Hills and found gold, the land was the Sioux by law and it broke the 1868 fort Laramie treaty. The governmnte offered to buy the black hills for $40,000 dollars but the Indians refused. In December 1875 they were ordered to return back to their reservation after 60 days they would be considered hostile and attacked. Deep snow and appling weather made it impoosible to obey the order, by spring 1876 7,000 indians were ready for war 2,000 were warriors, sitting bull had a vision of white men falling into a Sioux camp this meant that he would have a great victory

Question 21

The Battle of Little Bighorn

Answer 21

• Battle of rosebud – on 17th of June Crazy horse and some warriors attacked Generals Cooks column and killed or injured 90 soldiers, the column could no longer attack
• General Alfred Terry was in charge of the campaign and did not want sitting bull or crazy horse to get away so he thought he knew where they were due to the indian scouts, he ordered Colonel John Gibbon to take a column eastwards and attack the camp from the north while Custer and the 7th calavary had to find and follow the indian trail
• Custer – he pushed all night and by the time he spotted the indain camp on the 25th of june 1876 his men were exhausted, he refused extra men and decided that they should attack. The indian scouts warned that they didn’t have enough bullets to kill them all but he didn’t seem to care. Ha split his men into 3 and surrounded the enemy Benteen went west, while Reno went south. Custer attacked from the north. Benteen and Reno were both stopped and custer was alone, they fought till the death but they were all killed. On the 26th june the Indians withdrew and split up