Wars for the West: Key Conflicts and Policies

Big Idea

• Conflicts between Native Americans and the U.S. government over land in the West.

Main Ideas

• Encounters with Plains Indians: As settlers moved to Great Plains, they encountered native tribes.
• Treaties to Keep Land: Native Americans attempted to secure land through treaties.
• End of Traditional Life: Pressure from settlers and legislation ended the Plains Indians' way of life.

Key Terms and People

• Treaty of Fort Laramie
• Reservations
• Crazy Horse
• Treaty of Medicine Lodge
• Buffalo Soldiers
• George Armstrong Custer
• Sitting Bull
• Battle of the Little Bighorn
• Massacre at Wounded Knee
• Long Walk
• Chief Joseph
• Geronimo
• Ghost Dance
• Sarah Winnemucca
• Assimilate
• Dawes General Allotment Act

Encounters and Conflicts

• Plains Indians: Dependent on buffalo and horse for survival.
• Treaties: Fort Laramie and Medicine Lodge aimed to allocate lands and build routes.
• Reservations: Established to confine tribes, disrupting hunting practices.
• Sioux Resistance: Led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, including Battle of Little Bighorn.

Key Battles and Events

• Battle of Little Bighorn (1876): Major victory for Sioux against U.S. Army.
• Wounded Knee Massacre (1890): Marked the end of major Native American resistance.
• Apache Resistance: Led by Geronimo, symbolized long-lasting opposition.

Life on Reservations

• Difficulties: Poor land, lack of resources, forced cultural changes.
• Ghost Dance Movement: Spiritual revival that ended with the Wounded Knee Massacre.
• Dawes Act: Attempted to assimilate Native Americans and break communal lands.

Farming and Populism

Big Idea

• Creation of new communities and political movements on the Great Plains.

Main Ideas

• Resettlement and new opportunities on the Plains.
• Economic challenges led to the formation of farmers' political groups.
• Closure of the western frontier by the 1890s.

Key Terms and People

• Homestead Act
• Morrill Act
• Exodusters
• Sodbusters
• Dry farming
• Annie Bidwell
• National Grange
• Deflation
• William Jennings Bryan
• Populist Party

Settling the Plains

• Homestead Act (1862): Encouraged settlement by granting land to small farmers.
• Morrill Act: Supported agricultural and engineering education.
• Exodusters: African Americans moving from the South to the West.

Challenges and Innovations

• Farming Challenges: Difficult climate and soil; innovations like the steel plow and barbed wire helped.
• Community Building: Women played pivotal roles; churches and schools were established.

Farmers' Political Movements

• National Grange: Advocated for farmers through social and educational means.
• Free Silver Movement: Advocated for currency backed by silver to combat deflation.
• Populist Party: Demanded economic reforms, including government control of railroads.

End of the Frontier

• Oklahoma Land Rush (1889): Last major land giveaway; closure of frontier era.

Summary

• The settlement of the West was marked by significant challenges and conflict, leading to new political and social structures.