Closing the Frontier

Riches of the West• The Comstock Lode- Nevada territory 1857

o Named for an unsuccessful prospectoro Richest silver strike in American Historyo Virginia City rose to incredible prominence in the

1870s

• 1860s to 1880s- western cattle boomo profitable because of the railroado Invention of barbed wire made stable farms more

practical

Tragedy of the Plains Indians

• 30 year conflict- Federal government attempting to force the plains indians onto reservations

• Santee Sioux- Minnesota 1862o Natives, confined to small territory, didn’t receive

promised federal aid- rose up and killed 500 settlerso Federal response- 1800 captured, 38 hung- largest

mass execution in US history

Sandy Creek Massacre• 1864- armed forces busy in Civil War, Colorado milita was in

charge

• Cheyenne in the region had attacked settlers- led by Black Kettleo Chivington and his millitia rode onto the reservation- white flag

flying over Black Kettle’s teepee

• Began with cannon fire, then soldiers charged, killing anyone they foundo Mostly women and childreno “Kill them big and small”o 150 dead

• Condemned in Congress but no real action taken

Battle of Little Big Horn• Single most studied military engagement in American history

• Armstrong Custer- graduated last in his class at West Point, but became the youngest brevet general in American history (25)o Fought at Gettysburg and spent time serving in the South before

taking command of the 7th Cavalry

• Gold rush into the black hills, many Sioux and Cheyenne decided to resist

• June 25, 1876- Custer decided to pursue what he thought was a retreating village along the Little Big Horn river in modern Montana(emboldened by previous victory/massacre)o “Village” was much larger then he thought- 8000 nativeso All 645 of Custer’s men, and Custer himself were killed

• Plains Indians confined to reservations less than a year later

Nez Perce• Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce- relocation to reservation in

Idaho- violence broke out, so the tribe rano 1600 miles and 3 month attempted escape to Canadao After 13 battles, surrendered in a Montana snowstorm, 40

miles from the border

• Treaty said they would be taken to Idaho, but went to Oklahoma instead- half died from disease on the way

Wounded Knee• Practice of the Ghost Dance among the Sioux alarmed

white settlers

• Officials ordered the arrest of Sitting Bull, but he was killed in the struggle

• Captured his followers and brought them to a cavalry camp at Wounded Knee Creek

• Confusion as they were being disarmed, someone fired, and then a soldier used a machine gun to plow down 200 men, women and children

Kill the Indian Save the Man

• Indian Boarding Schools- children of the reservation forcibly taken from their families and cultures and taught American cultureo Assimilation- to cause a person to become a part of

a different society or groupo Forbid the use of native language or practicing

native relgions or traditions

Geronimo• Final Indian chief to give in to federal regulations

• Led the Chiracahua Apaches in New Mexico and Arizona

• Secret camp in the Sierra Madres in the 1880s

• Continually escaping and returning to the reservations, so after his final surrender in 1886 Geronimo and 450 apaches were taken to Florida for confinement