The Trans-Mississippi West
Solving the “Indian Problem”
Conflicting View
How best to solve the “Indian Problem”
Almost from the moment of first contact, European attitudes towards Native Americans split into two camps:
Elimination● Removal
● Annihilation
Coexistence● Assimilation
Removal
Indian Removal Act of 1830Reasons for removal policy
Increased trans-Appalachian settlement Growing white population wanted access to Indian
lands
Humanitarians argued it would save Indians from extinction
Inevitable fate of peoples who resisted “superior” white civilization
Early example of philosophy of “Social Darwinism”
Removal
“Your white brothers will not trouble you; they will have no claim to the land, and you can live upon it, you and all your children, as long as the grass grows or the water runs, in peace and plenty. It will be yours forever.”
Sand Creek MassacreAnnihilation
29 November 1864
Col. John M. Chivington
Cheyenne Chief
Black Kettle
AnnihilationSlaughtering the Buffalo
Let them kill, skin, and sell until the buffalo is exterminated, as it is the only way to bring lasting peace and allow civilization to advance."
- General Philip Sheridan
AnnihilationSlaughtering the Buffalo
AnnihilationRailroads vs. Buffalo
When the railroad pushed westward through the plains, buffalo were often shot for sport as the trains passed by, the carcasses left to rot
upon the prairie.Illustration from Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper, 1871.
Annihilation/RemovalThe Indian Wars
Many Army officers, reflecting society, were ambivalent about fighting “savages.”
Despised pontificating humanitarians Disliked rapacious frontiersmen Lamented their government’s record of broken treaties
but nevertheless, carried out national policy
Annihilation/RemovalNorthern Plains
Gen. George A. Custer
Sioux Chief Sitting Bull
US Survivor - Comanche
Annihilation/RemovalNorthern Plains
Annihilation/RemovalNorthern Plains
Annihilation!
Assimilation The Dawes Severalty Act (1887)
Goal was to assimilate and “Americanize” the Native Americans
Ended tribal ownership of land Allotted 160 acres to each head of household Granted citizenship to those who accepted allotment Land held in trust for 25 years Established schools for Indian children “Excess” land sold to finance program
Assimilation