how west was lost
TRANSCRIPT
How The West Was Lost
Plains Indians
How did Railroads help to speed western expansion?
Brought in settlers
Transport soldiers
Improved communication
Made large commercial farms possible
What were the Plains Indians like?
Most were nomadic people
Roamed the plains following herds of buffalo
Sioux, Comanche, Blackfoot
What role did railroads play in exterminating the buffalo?
Railroads cut the buffalos migratory paths in half
Buffalo served as food for rail workers
Hunting for hides
Why was this a problem for the Plains Indians?
Buffalo served as their chief resource
How did US policy towards Native Americans change when settlers started moving into the Great Plains?
Called for Indians to be moved to reservations
Why were the Plains Indians incompatible with reservation life?
Reservations were sharply defined lands set aside by the government
To small for nomadic hunters
What did the Dawes Act do?
Broke up and separated Indian Nations
Gave each family 160 acres to farm
Why didnt the Dawes Act work?
Plains Indians had been Hunters. They werent used to farming
Plains people had been nomads. They did not always understand land ownership
Speculators cheated Indians out of 86 million of the 138 million acres set aside for them