Lesson Plan Table of Contents
Debating for Land Lesson Plan
Content Introduction
European Americans have been having land disputes with Native Americans almost since they
arrived in the Americas. Throughout the years, many treaties have been signed involving land
rights, but in many cases these treaties have been misleading and sometimes even disregarded.
There continue to be court cases addressing Native American rights to land, problematic
treaties, and unreceived compensation. In preparation for this lesson, you may choose to read
more about these issues by following links on the Land Debate–For Students page.
Guided Practice
Begin by drawing the following chart on the board. Ask students to volunteer possible answers.
The purpose of this activity is not for students to know all of the correct answers for the chart,
just for them to begin thinking about the subjects. For more chart ideas, you may wish to see
Table 1 at the bottom of the American Indian Policy Center's Comparison with U. S.
Governance page.
European Americans
Native Americans
Concept of Land
(monetary value,
religious value)
Viewed in terms of monetary
value—farms, gold and coal
mining; no religious significance;
strong belief in individual land
ownership
Viewed in terms of religious
value; no monetary significance;
didn't believe the land could be
owned
Reasons for
Wanting Land
Space for farms, to find gold,
promise of free land
Religious reasons, had lived there
for centuries, place to hunt
Reasons for
Territory
Disputes
between
European and
Native
Americans
Even though many settlers
purchased land from US, many
Native Americans didn't recognize
purchase, Indian attacks,
misunderstanding of Native
American lifestyle
Depletion of food supply,
destruction of sacred grounds,
massacres, confusing treaties with
US government concerning land
ownership, spread of disease,
misuse of land
Independent Practice
Split the students in half, assigning one group to represent Native American opinions and one
group to represent European American opinions from the 19th century. For more advanced
students, split class into fourths and have one group represent Native Americans against
European policy, Native Americans for European policy, European Americans for European
policy, and European Americans against European policy.
Students should be instructed that they will be participating in a debate in which the teams will
argue about land ownership. All sides must use arguments based on historical fact and
supported by quotations from primary sources. The following subjects will be addressed:




Reasons for wanting/importance of land
Concept of land ownership (Can someone own land? If someone lives on a tract of
land, does that mean they own it?)
Various treaties made between Native Americans and the US (What was their purpose?
What did they accomplish? Were they agreed upon by both sides? Did both sides honor
them? Who wrote them?)
Possible reasons for territory disputes despite the treaties
In preparation for the debate, have students use the Internet or library to research primary
sources relevant to their assigned perspective on western land ownership and disputes during
the 1900s. All group members should skim suggested research material, then once the
members of each group have decided which articles are relevant for their argument, they may
choose to have one group member focus on one document, then compare notes. Students may
find it helpful to research the documents listed more extensively to find alternating viewpoints
and they may also wish to locate other documents. Students should be reminded that many
documents can be used to support multiple sides of the argument. The Land Debate—For
Students page may be a good place to begin research.
After students have finished researching, they should meet in their groups to discuss the
articles assigned to them. They should compile and organize their notes as they pertain to the
categories listed above (reasons for wanting land, etc.). For homework before the debate, each
student should think of a question for an opposing team relating to one of the categories given.
Conduct a classroom debate. Divide the class into their groups (2 or 4). Ask one member from
each group to volunteer to lead the debate. The representative for each group should stand
behind a podium or desk in the front of the room, and should alternate with other group
members after answering two questions. Each spokesperson should be given no longer than
three minutes to answer each question and one minute for rebuttal. The questions to be asked
should come from the remaining group members in the audience (they should already have
their questions prepared). Groups asking questions should alternate with each turn.
In addition to a spokesperson, there should be a designated time keeper to make sure that
speakers keep their answers under 3 minutes and their rebuttals under 1 minute. There should
also be two question askers (one for each group) who will pose questions, which have been
thought up by other group members, to the spokespeople.
As the debate goes on, group members should take notes on the opposing teams' arguments and
should also continue to generate questions.
The debate should end after each student has had a chance to become a spokesperson for their
team. (Depending on how many students you have, it may be more appropriate for each
spokesperson to answer only one question.)
To conclude the debate, groups should be allowed to meet for fifteen minutes so that they can
compose a closing statement summing up the main points of their argument. A volunteer
should stand at the front of the class and read the statement, which may not exceed five
minutes.
At the end of class, students should hand in the notes that they prepared for the debate and
notes that they took during the debate.
Wrap-Up Activity
Students should write a journal entry on one of the following subjects:




Prior to doing this lesson, what were your views on western land expansion? Did you
empathize more with Native or European Americans concerning land issues? After
hearing both sides of the debate, do you still feel this way? Why? (Try to include
specific examples from the debate that influenced your feelings.)
Define the term sacred land as it applies to Native Americans and as it applies to your
life. Give several examples of land or buildings that you find to be sacred vs. land that
Native Americans consider to be sacred. Why do you consider the example you gave
from your life to be sacred? How would you react if other people did not understand the
significance of your specified place and they told you never to return there? How would
you feel?
Imagine that you are a pioneer and that you sold all of your belongings in order to move
out West to collect the 160 acres of land promised to you by the Homestead Act (1862).
On your journey West, you meet a traveling artist, George Catlin, who explains to you
that the land you intend to build on originally belonged to Native Americans and that
the land is sacred to many tribes. He warns you that several of the tribes are still
arguing with the U.S. government over the land, and that you and your family will be in
danger. At this point you do not have the money or resources to return East. What will
you do? (Write a first-person narrative describing your fears and hopes, your decision
of what to do, why you chose this course of action, how you implement it, and what the
results are.)
Imagine that you are a Native American chief who used to live on the Plains, but was
relocated to the Northwest against your will. You and several other chiefs from your
tribe signed a treaty with the US government to sell your lands, but at the time, because
the idea of land ownership was unknown to you, you had no idea how adversely this
treaty would affect your tribe. Most of the compensation you were to receive, including
food and supplies, never arrived at your new settlement. Because the land and climate
are so different from that where you used to live, your people are having a difficult time
finding food and many of them have died from illness. You learn from George Catlin, a
visiting artist, that the land your people lived on is now being given away 'for free' to
European Americans due to the Homestead Act. You know that your people will not be
able to survive much longer if they stay where they are. What will you do? (Write a
first-person narrative describing your fears and hopes, your decision of what to do, why
you chose this course of action, how you implement it, and what the results are.)
Vocabulary
Dawes Act, Homestead Act, Indian Removal, Sacred Land.
Standards
National Center for History in the Schools—Historical Thinking (5–12):

Standard 2: Historical Comprehension
A. Students should be able to identify the author or source of the historical document or
narrative and assess its credibility.
B. Students should be able to reconstruct the literal meaning of a historical passage by
identifying who was involved, what happened, where it happened, what events led to
these developments, and what consequences or outcomes followed.
C. Students should be able to identify the central question(s) the historical narrative
addresses and the purpose, perspective, or point of view from which it has been
constructed.
F. Students should be able to appreciate historical perspectives—(a) describing the past
on its own terms, through the eyes and experiences of those who were there, as revealed
through their literature, diaries, letters, debates, arts, artifacts, and the like; (b)
considering the historical context in which the event unfolded—the values, outlook,
options, and contingencies of that time and place; and (c) avoiding "presentmindedness," judging the past solely in terms of present-day norms and values.

Standard 3: Historical Analysis and Interpretation
B. Students should be able to consider multiple perspectives of various peoples in the
past by demonstrating their differing motives, beliefs, interests, hopes, and fears.
C. Students should be able to analyze cause-and-effect relationships bearing in mind
multiple causation including (a) the importance of the individual in history; (b) the
influence of ideas, human interests, and beliefs; and (c) the role of chance, the
accidental and the irrational.
E. Students should be able to distinguish between unsupported expressions of opinion
and informed hypotheses grounded in historical evidence.
G. Students should be able to challenge arguments of historical inevitability by
formulating examples of historical contingency, of how different choices could have led
to different consequences.
J. Students should be able to hypothesize the influence of the past, including both the
limitations and the opportunities made possible by past decisions.

Standard 4: Historical Research Capabilities
A. Students should be able to formulate historical questions from encounters with
historical documents, eyewitness accounts, letters, diaries, artifacts, photos, historical
sites, art, architecture, and other records from the past.
B. Students should be able to obtain historical data from a variety of sources, including:
library and museum collections, historic sites, historical photos, journals, diaries,
eyewitness accounts, newspapers, and the like; documentary films, oral testimony from
living witnesses, censuses, tax records, city directories, statistical compilations, and
economic indicators.
D. Students should be able to identify the gaps in the available records and marshal
contextual knowledge and perspectives of the time and place in order to elaborate
imaginatively upon the evidence, fill in the gaps deductively, and construct a sound
historical interpretation.
F. Students should be able to support interpretations with historical evidence in order to
construct closely reasoned arguments rather than facile opinions.

Standard 5: Historical Issues—Analysis and Decision-Making
A. Students should be able to identify issues and problems in the past and analyze the
interests, values, perspectives, and points of view of those involved in the situation.
B. Students should be able to marshal evidence of antecedent circumstances and current
factors contributing to contemporary problems and alternative courses of action.
E. Students should be able to formulate a position or course of action on an issue by
identifying the nature of the problem, analyzing the underlying factors contributing to
the problem, and choosing a plausible solution from a choice of carefully evaluated
options.
United States History Standards:

Era 4: Expansion and Reform (1801–1861)
Standard 1 (5–12): The student understands United States territorial expansion
between 1801 and 1861, and how it affected relations with external powers and Native
Americans.

Era 6: The Development of the Industrial United States (1870–1900)
Standard 4 (9–12): The student understands Federal Indian policy after the Civil War.
National Council of Teachers of English:

Standard 1: Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an
understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the
world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and
the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and
nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

Standard 3: Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret,
evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions
with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts,
their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g.,
sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

Standard 7: Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and
questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a
variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their
discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.

Standard 8: Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g.,
libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information
and to create and communicate knowledge.

Standard 12: Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their
own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of
information).
Lesson Plan Table of Contents
Home | Site Info | Campfire Stories | For Teachers
Interviews | Search
Land Debate – For Students
The following Internet sites provide information concerning land rights and treaties:
PBS: Archives of the West
Variety of documents including the Dawes Act and the Homestead Act, which address
land ownership issues; as well as, eye-witness accounts of how Native Americans have
been treated in the past.
A few suggested documents available on this site:










Andrew Jackson on the Necessity of Indian Removal, 1835
Fort Laramie Treaty, 1868
Documents on the Sand Creek Massacre, 1864 – 1865
Homestead Act, 1862
The Buffalo Harvest, 1870s
Chief Joseph Speaks, 1887 – 1889
Indian Policy Reform from President Chester Arthur, 1881
Dawes Act, 1887
Selections from With the Nez Perces by Alice Fletcher in the Field, 1889 – 1890
General Nelson A. Miles on the "Sioux Outbreak" of 1890
Oklahoma State University Library
Treaty with the Sauk and Foxes, 1804.
Institute of American Indian Studies,
University of South Dakota
Treaty with the Yankton Sioux, 1858.
The Avalon Project at Yale Law School
Fort Laramie Treaty.
National Archives, Archives Library Information Center, Indians/Native
Americans
Variety of documents on current status of Native American land rights.
President Andrew Jackson's Message to Congress 'On Indian
Removal' (1830)
With the onset of westward expansion and increased contact with Indian tribes,
President Jackson set the tone for his position on Indian affairs in his message to
Congress on December 6, 1830. Jackson’s message justified the removal policy already
established by the Indian Removal Act of May 28, 1830.
The Indian Removal Act was passed to open up for settlement those lands still held by
Indians in states east of the Mississippi River, primarily Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama,
Mississippi, North Carolina, and others. Jackson declared that removal would
“incalculably strengthen the southwestern frontier.” Clearing Alabama and Mississippi
of their Indian populations, he said, would “enable those states to advance rapidly in
population, wealth, and power.”
White inhabitants of Georgia were particularly anxious to have the Cherokees removed
from the state because gold had been discovered on tribal lands. Violence was
commonplace in Georgia, and in all likelihood, a portion of the tribe would have been
decimated if they had not been removed.
Removal of the Indian tribes continued beyond Jackson’s tenure as President. The most
infamous of the removals took place in 1838, two years after the end of Jackson’s final
term, when the Cherokee Indians were forcibly removed by the military. Their journey
west became known as the “Trail of Tears,” because of the thousands of deaths along the
way.
The Search for the Site of the Sand Creek Massacre
By Christine Whitacre
A modern view of the Sand Creek site.
(National Park Service)
On November 29, 1864, approximately seven hundred soldiers led by Col. John Chivington
attacked a Cheyenne and Arapaho village in what is now southeastern Colorado. The village,
made up of around one hundred lodges, was on the banks of a meandering, intermittent
stream known as Sand Creek. Under the leadership of Cheyenne chief Black Kettle, about five
hundred Cheyenne and Arapaho people were camped at the site, believing that they were not
only at peace with the U.S. government but also under its protection. Nevertheless,
Chivington's troops, made up of volunteers from the Colorado First and Third Cavalry,
launched a surprise dawn attack that left at least 150 Cheyennes and Arapahos dead— mostly
women, children, and the elderly. During that afternoon and the following day, the soldiers
followed up the massacre by committing atrocities on the dead before withdrawing from the
field. Upon their return to Denver, the soldiers received a heroes' welcome, which included a
display of scalps and body parts that had been taken from the Indian victims. Soon, however,
the Sand Creek Massacre was recognized for what it was: a national disgrace that was
condemned by three separate federal investigations.1
Nearly 135 years after the event, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.), the only Native
American member of Congress and a Cheyenne descendant of survivors of the Sand Creek
Massacre, sponsored legislation that began the process of memorializing the massacre site.
Senator Campbell introduced Senate Bill 1695, which was signed by President Bill Clinton on
October 6, 1998, as Public Law 105-243. Known as the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic
Site Study Act of 1998, the legislation directed the National Park Service (NPS)— in
consultation with the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, the Northern Cheyenne
Tribe, the Northern Arapaho Tribe, and the State of Colorado— to complete two tasks. First,
the National Park Service was to verify the location and extent of the Sand Creek Massacre
site. Indeed, a lack of conclusive evidence as to the site's location had been the major
obstacle to earlier efforts to designate the site. Second, the National Park Service was to
evaluate a range of management alternatives for the site, including the feasibility of making
the Sand Creek Massacre site a unit of the National Park System. Congress also mandated
that the project be completed within eighteen months.
The National Park Service Sand Creek Massacre project team took a wide-ranging
multidisciplinary approach to finding the massacre site. As part of the site location effort,
Cheyenne and Arapaho descendants of the Sand Creek Massacre, a number of whom were
members of the project team, told stories of the massacre that had been handed down to
them through the generations. Historians researched maps, diaries, reminiscences, and
congressional and military investigative reports for information that might shed light on the
location of the massacre. The National Park Service also held public open houses in
southeastern Colorado, encouraging local residents to come forward with information,
including artifacts found on their land that might be evidence of the massacre. Historical
aerial photographs, the earliest dating from the 1930s, were examined for evidence of trails
leading to and from the massacre site. Before the archaeological survey got going in May
1999, the NPs team conducted a geomorphological assessment of Sand Creek that identified,
through an analysis of soil samples, those specific landforms from which 1864-era artifacts
might be recovered.
Archival documentation at the National Archives played a significant role in the successful
completion of the Sand Creek Massacre project— which led, ultimately, to Sand Creek's
authorization as a national historic site in November 2000. A map drawn by US Army
lieutenant Samuel Bonsall in 1868 that was found by archivist Scott Forsythe in the National
Archives and Record Administration - Great Lakes Region, was integral to the discovery of the
Sand Creek Massacre site. Jerome Greene, NPs lead historian for the site location study,
called the map "the most important document yet located to convincingly posit the site of the
Sand Creek Massacre."2
Historical Background
The Sand Creek Massacre is one of the most emotionally charged and controversial events in
American history; it is also, as Jerome Greene has noted, "a tragedy reflective of its time and
place."3 Although army reports of the massacre are grouped with the official records of the
Civil War, Sand Creek more closely reflects the vast cultural, social, and political changes that
were taking place in the West during the mid-nineteenth century, far removed from the
battlefields of Gettysburg and Manassas. The tragedy at Sand Creek was the culmination of
several forces, including the Colorado Gold Rush, the ambitions of local politicians and military
leaders, the clash of cultures on the western plains, and the claims of different groups of
people to the same land.
By the time the Civil War had begun, the Cheyenne and Arapaho people had been on the
western plains for decades. Under the terms of the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie, Cheyenne
and Arapaho territory included much of the front range of Colorado. But major gold strikes in
the mountains west of Denver in 1858 and 1859 precipitated a tide of Euro-American
immigration. In 1859 William Bent, the well-known trader who also served as the Colorado
and Arapaho agent in Colorado, called upon the US government to better define the territorial
rights of the Indians in the area. The result was the 1861 Treaty of Fort Wise, by which the
Cheyennes and Arapahos surrendered most of their land and received instead a much
smaller, triangular-shaped tract along and north of the upper Arkansas River in southeastern
Colorado. Sand Creek, also known as Big Sandy Creek, formed the eastern border of this
reservation.
But not all Cheyennes and Arapahos recognized the Treaty of Fort Wise, and many refused to
abide by it. By the summer of 1864, a number of conflicts between Euro-Americans and
Indians heightened an already tense situation within Colorado Territory. Colorado's territorial
governor, John Evans, as well as Col. John Chivington, who headed the US Army military
district in Colorado, interpreted the attacks upon white settlers as proof that the Indians were
preparing for war, even though evidence indicates that they were the actions of warriors
acting beyond the control of their chiefs. On June 11, 1864, Arapaho warriors attacked and
murdered the Hungate family, thirty miles from Denver. The public display of the family's
bodies, which included two young children, terrified Colorado's citizens, many of whom left
their ranches to seek protection within the walls of Denver's mint. Two weeks later on June
27, Governor Evans issued a proclamation to all "Friendly Indians of the Plains" to present
themselves to assigned military posts. The Cheyennes and Arapahos who wanted to be at
peace with the government were told to go to the military authorities at Fort Lyon, which was
along the Arkansas River near present-day Lamar, Colorado. Meanwhile, Governor Evans
began preparing for military action. On August 11, Evans received permission from federal
authorities to raise a regiment of hundred-day US Army volunteers, designated the Third
Colorado Cavalry under the command of Colonel Chivington. Also in August, Evans issued a
proclamation that contradicted his earlier one to the "Friendly Indians of the Plains," now
calling upon citizens to kill all Indians and seize their property.
At the same time that Evans and Chivington were assembling military forces, Cheyenne and
Arapaho chiefs were attempting to negotiate a peace settlement. Cheyenne chief Black Kettle
contacted Maj. Edward Wynkoop, the commander at Fort Lyon, of his desire for peace. In
response, Wynkoop led his command of First Colorado Cavalry to meet Black Kettle and the
Arapaho leader, Left Hand, at the big timbers of the Smoky Hill River near Fort Wallace,
Kansas. Here, the Cheyenne and Arapaho chiefs turned over several white captives and
consented to meet with Evans and Chivington. That meeting took place on September 28 at
Camp Weld, outside of Denver. Although the Indians departed Camp Weld believing that they
had negotiated a peace settlement, Governor Evans soon notified officials in Washington of
the tribes' continued hostilities and noted that "the winter . . . is the most favorable time for
their chastisement."4
In late October and early November, the Arapahos and Cheyennes began arriving at Fort Lyon
to comply with what they believed were the conditions of the peace settlement. Maj. Scott
Anthony, the fort's new commander, instructed the Indians to camp at an area approximately
forty miles north-northeast of the fort. Simultaneously, however, the army was already
initiating its attack. On November 14, Chivington's troops began marching out of Denver. The
troops reached Fort Lyon midday on November 28. At approximately 8 P.M., now joined by
troops from Fort Lyon, Chivington's men began an all-night ride towards the Cheyenne and
Arapaho encampment on Sand Creek, following an old Indian trail that led to the site.
At dawn on November 29, Chivington's forces, equipped with four twelve-pounder mountain
howitzer guns, attacked the village. Many of the villagers who survived the initial attack fled
upstream to the north. Approximately one mile above the village, according to most accounts,
the Indians sheltered themselves in hastily dug trenches along the banks of the creek. The
soldiers followed the Indians to this area, known as the "sandpits," bringing with them at
least two mountain howitzers. By day's end, at least 150 Indians had been killed. On the
army's side, ten soldiers died. Afterwards, Chivington ordered his men to plunder and burn
the village. After the massacre, Cheyenne and Arapaho survivors began making their way
northeast to the camps of their kinsmen along the forks of the Smoky Hill River.
Previous Efforts to Locate the Sand Creek Massacre Site
Although most historic accounts of the Sand Creek Massacre placed it at the "Big South Bend"
of Sand Creek, its exact location became obscured over time. As Mildred Red Cherries of the
Northern Cheyenne noted at project meetings, the Sand Creek Massacre became "lost," even
to the descendants of those who had survived the attack. The massacre site was left
unmarked and, by the turn of the century, there was little evidence of the terrible events of
November 29, 1864. In 1908, army veterans who had participated in the massacre planned a
reunion at the site. However, upon reaching the banks of Sand Creek, even they could not
agree on its location.
On August 6, 1950, the Colorado Historical Society erected a Sand Creek Massacre historical
marker on State Highway 96 near the town of Chivington, Colorado. On that same day, the
historical society participated in a second dedication ceremony approximately fifteen miles to
the north, on property now owned by Bill and Jredia Dawson. Here, overlooking an
approximate 90-degree bend of Sand Creek, the local community placed a second marker,
designating it as the site of the massacre. Tribal members also returned to the area, using
their traditional tribal knowledge and oral histories to identify the massacre site. In 1978 the
Arrow Keeper of the Cheyenne Tribe recognized what is now referred to as the Dawson South
Bend as the Sand Creek Massacre site when he blessed it as "Cheyenne earth."
Still, there were those who disagreed that the site had been found. Many observers were
troubled by the lack of physical evidence of either the village site or the military's
ammunition. In particular, critics questioned why no evidence of Civil War-era ammunition,
including twelve-pounder mountain howitzer ordnance, had been found at the Dawson South
Bend. The Sand Creek Massacre was the only Civil War - era event in Colorado in which the
army used such guns, and many believed that the discovery of howitzer-related artifacts
would offer significant proof of the site location.
In the early 1990s, amateur archaeologists and metal detector hobbyists who had surveyed
the Dawson South Bend, but had not found artifacts associated with the Sand Creek
Massacre, approached the Colorado Historical Society with their findings. In response, the
Colorado Historical Society initiated a project to identify the location of the massacre. In 1994
the society asked Richard Ellis of Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado, to develop a project
to verify the location of the Sand Creek Massacre. As an important first step, Ellis and the
Colorado Historical Society began consulting with descendants of Cheyenne victims of the
Sand Creek Massacre. In 1997 Ellis also asked archaeologists Douglas Scott of the National
Park Service, William Lees of the Oklahoma Historical Society, and Anne Bond of the Colorado
Historical Society, in cooperation with other volunteers and metal-detector organizations, to
conduct reconnaissance-level archaeological surveys of two possible Sand Creek Massacre
sites. The team surveyed the "vee" of the Dawson South Bend as well as another large bend
of Sand Creek, often referred to as the "North Bend," which was approximately ten miles
north of the Dawson South Bend. But the state-funded Fort Lewis College project was unable
to conclusively identify the location of the Sand Creek Massacre site. No 1864-era artifacts
were found in the North Bend, and only twelve 1864-era items were found in the Dawson
South Bend, either through the 1997 survey or later by the landowner. As a result, although
there was now growing interest in designating the Sand Creek Massacre as a national historic
site, there was still no definitive physical evidence, or consensus, regarding its location.
National Park Service Efforts to Locate the Site
Following the passage of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Study Act in October
1998, the responsibility for the Sand Creek Massacre project was delegated to the
Intermountain Regional Office of the National Park Service, headquartered in Denver. A
project team was assembled that included historians, ethnographers, archaeologists,
geomorphologists, and other disciplines.5
As mandated by Congress, the major goal of the Sand Creek Massacre site location study was
to map the "location and extent" of the Sand Creek Massacre. One of the team's first tasks
was to identify all potential locations of the massacre. The methodology was based on two
basic principles. First, all possible sites would be evaluated according to the evidence; there
was no presumption as to the "right" location of the massacre site. Second, the project team
would follow four major lines of evidence: 1) historical research, 2) oral histories, 3)
traditional tribal knowledge, and 4) physical evidence of the site, as determined by
reconnaissance-level archaeological survey.
The archaeological survey was scheduled for May 1999. Evaluation of oral histories, traditional
tribal methods, aerial photographs, historical research, and geomorphology was to be
completed first. The archaeological survey could then focus on those areas that were the most
likely locations of the Sand Creek Massacre and which were most likely to have physical
evidence of the massacre.
Historical Research
Historical research efforts involved examination of a large number of published and
manuscript historical maps for information about streams, trails, roads, land use, ownership,
and other data that might help pinpoint the site. Among the most important sources of
information were four maps drawn or annotated by George Bent, a mixed-blood Cheyenne
survivor of the massacre. One of the maps, drawn by George Hyde and annotated by George
Bent, places the Sand Creek Massacre in the North Bend of Sand Creek. As noted earlier, the
1997 state-funded archaeological survey of this area uncovered no massacre-related
artifacts.6 The second map, also drawn by Hyde and annotated by Bent, places the massacre
site below the confluence of Rush and Sand Creeks, approximately twenty miles south of the
Dawson South Bend.7 The remaining two maps, which were drawn by George Bent
approximately forty years after the Sand Creek Massacre, focus on the massacre site itself.
These maps show the placement of Indian encampments within the village, the location of the
sandpits area in relationship to the village, and the troop movements. These two maps, one
of which is in the collection of the Oklahoma Historical Society and the other in the archives at
the University of Colorado Library at Boulder, also show that the massacre occurred near a
90-degree bend of Sand Creek, a configuration that greatly resembles the Dawson South
Bend.8
In addition to the Bent maps, a manuscript map drawn by US Army lieutenant Samuel Bonsall
in 1868 also contained significant information that pertained directly to the location of the
Sand Creek Massacre.9 In 1992, while processing records associated with nineteenth-century
military activities in the Trans-Mississippi West, archivist Scott Forsythe found the Bonsall
map in Record Group 77, Records of the Army Corps of Engineers, in the National Archives
and Records Administration - Great Lakes Region in Chicago. "It is unusual that records such
as the engineering officer records of the Department of the Platte would have found their way
into a regional archives facility but, through unknown circumstances, these records ended up
with the Chicago district of the Corps of Engineers and were transferred into the holdings of
the Great Lakes Region," noted Forsythe. The discovery of the Bonsall map was memorable
for Forsythe, because he was well acquainted with Sand Creek and understood the map's
reference to "Chivingtons Massacre." A few years after finding the Bonsall map, Forsythe
learned of the upcoming State of Colorado-Fort Lewis College project to locate the site of the
Sand Creek Massacre. Forsythe subsequently contacted the Colorado Historical Society and, in
1996, sent them a copy of the Bonsall map.10 In 1998, when the National Park Service
efforts to locate the Sand Creek Massacre site began, Colorado state historian David Halaas
gave a copy of the map to NPs historian Jerome Greene.
The Bonsall map was drawn by 2nd Lt. Samuel W. Bonsall, Third Infantry, who was stationed
at Fort Lyon in 1868; the map documents the route of Bonsall's detachment of eleven infantry
soldiers from Fort Lyon to Cheyenne Wells, Colorado. Bonsall and his men were escorting Lt.
Gen. William T. Sherman east following a tour of frontier sites. The map was prepared in June
1868, within four years of the Sand Creek Massacre, in accordance with US Army regulations.
Rendered in the form of a strip map and journal, the map is graphically detailed with regard
to landmarks and place names, including time and mileage readings. The map shows the site
of "Chivingtons Massacre" in relative placement to two landmarks. Bonsall placed
"Chivingtons Massacre" between a point, south of the massacre site, where the road from Fort
Lyon crossed Sand Creek, and a point approximately six miles north from it, where that same
road branched into "three forks." Between these points, the lieutenant drew a bold line,
approximately two miles long, representing the extent of the massacre site.
The significance of the Bonsall map became even more apparent when it was compared to
historical aerial photographs of the massacre site. Art Ireland, an NPs archaeologist on the
project team, examined a series of historical and contemporary aerial photographs for
evidence of landmarks that had been delineated on the Bonsall map. In particular, Ireland
searched for segments of the historic trail that the army may have traveled between Fort
Lyon and the massacre site, including the point at which it crossed Sand Creek. Ireland also
examined the photographs for evidence of "three forks," that point six miles north of the
massacre at which the trail branched into three separate routes.
The earliest aerial photographs of the Sand Creek area were taken in 1936 - 1937 by the Soil
Conservation Service.11 These photographs, taken nearly seventy years after the massacre,
precisely confirm the "three forks" point as delineated on Bonsall's map. The photographs,
which indicate that the area had changed relatively little since the time of the account, also
clearly show a road leading to and from Fort Lyon. Thus, prior to the archaeological survey of
the Sand Creek Massacre site, Greene— primarily based on an analysis of the Bonsall map
and its comparison to the 1936 - 1937 aerial photographs— concluded that the village
attacked by Chivington's troops on November 29, 1864, was approximately one mile north of
the "vee" of the Dawson South Bend, the site traditionally believed to be the massacre site.
Oral Histories
The oral histories of descendants of the Cheyenne and Arapaho survivors of the massacre
were significant sources of information. From the beginning of the project, the National Park
Service had been committed to the collection of oral historical data as one of the primary lines
of evidence in locating the Sand Creek Massacre site. Between April 1999 and February 2000,
thirty-two Cheyenne and Arapaho descendants of survivors of the Sand Creek Massacre gave
oral history accounts, which they permitted to be recorded and transcribed.12
The Sand Creek Massacre oral history project specifically focused on information that would
help identify the location of the massacre site. In particular, descendants were asked specific
questions about topics such as geographic landforms, physical descriptions of the size and
extent of the Indian encampment, and information on trails that led to the site. Several
geographic elements recurred in the oral history interviews. Among these was the oftenstated need for the campsite to have been located close to water, both for the people and for
their horses. In particular, a number of interviewees said that Cheyennes always followed
watercourses and always camped by water. Many said that there was no flowing water in
Sand Creek at the time of the massacre. While horses could have drunk from the standing
pools, oral history accounts indicated that people would have dug for water or used spring
water. Several people emphasized the importance of an available spring as a source of
drinking water, noting that it is against traditional Cheyenne belief to drink from a source of
water that had been standing overnight. The information on the water source was of
particular significance because an extant spring is approximately two miles east of the
Dawson South Bend. The proximity of this spring supported the Cheyenne belief that the
Dawson South Bend was the area of the Indian encampment.
Interviewees also revealed information on the proximity of the sandpits area to the village
site. Several people recounted that the majority of people in the village were women,
children, and the elderly, who could not have run very far from their lodges before seeking
out hiding places. Other stories noted the presence of rocky hiding places. In particular,
Northern Arapaho interviewees gave accounts of limestone outcroppings in the area, which
survivors had used as shelter. Several people mentioned the presence of hills and trees near
the massacre site. Interviewees also provided details about the size of the encampment, in
terms of both geographic space and number of lodges. Many also discussed the makeup of
the encampment, particularly the relative placement of the Cheyenne and Arapaho groups.
However, with important exceptions— such as the description of the massacre site provided
by Southern Cheyenne descendant Laird Cometsevah— geographic details of the massacre
site were generally nonspecific as to exact location. (Some interviewees expressed a
reluctance to provide more detail because of the often-stated fear of government retribution,
extreme emotion, or the belief that the stories belong to the families only.) As NPs
ethnographer Alexa Roberts observed, geographic details in the oral histories of the Sand
Creek Massacre were peripheral to the descriptions of the atrocities committed during that
event. Overwhelmingly, the oral histories provided powerful testimony to the horrors of the
events of November 29, 1864, and the devastating effects of the massacre on families and
the tribes that linger to this day. Although accounts of physical features associated with the
site varied among the oral history accounts, every story shared "the sense of chaos, running,
scattering, horror, fear, and blood."13
Summer 2001, Vol. 33, No. 2
The Search for the Site of the Sand Creek Massacre, Part 2
By Christine Whitacre
Mildred Red Cherries uncovers artifacts
from the Sand Creek Massacre site.
(National Park Service)
Traditional Tribal Methods
As part of the site location study, Cheyenne and Arapaho spiritual leaders and elders also
agreed to employ traditional tribal methods to help determine the location of the massacre.
Descendants of survivors of the Sand Creek Massacre had often stated that there are ways
other than oral histories or written accounts by which they know of the location of the
massacre site. Among the traditional ways mentioned most frequently is sensing a spiritual
presence or hearing the voices of women, children, horses, or other animals while present on
the site. The National Park Service understood that these methods were often private in
nature and could not be used effectively in the presence of non-Indians but agreed to assist in
these investigations to whatever extent possible.
The Sand Creek Massacre, Volume One: Site Location Study includes an account given by
Robert Toahty, a descendant of an Arapaho survivor of Sand Creek. Based on visions that he
saw at the site, Toahty believes that the people killed at Sand Creek are scattered for about
two miles in the creek bed north of the stone monument in the vicinity of the Dawson South
Bend. Other descendants noted hearing the voices of both people and horses. Southern
Cheyenne descendant Laird Cometsevah described hearing voices in the Dawson South Bend
while on site during both the 1997 and 1999 archaeological field sessions. And, as noted
earlier, the Cheyenne Arrow Keeper blessed the Dawson South Bend as "Cheyenne earth" in
1978, thereby designating it as the Sand Creek Massacre site.
Archaeological Survey
By the time the archaeological survey began in May 1999, a number of draft reports—
including the historical documentation report by Jerome Greene— had been completed. The
results of these efforts, as well as preliminary information from the oral history interviews and
traditional tribal methods, indicated five areas as potential sites of the Sand Creek Massacre.
The research also indicated that the massacre did not take place in a small isolated area.
According to a variety of accounts, the massacre was a running engagement that occurred
along a stretch of Sand Creek approximately five to six miles in length. Encompassed within
this area were the Indian village site, the sandpits, and areas of Indian and troop movements.
An underlying assumption of the site location study was that the Cheyenne and Arapaho
village site, and possibly the sandpits area, might contain enough intact archaeological
remains to identify the massacre site. Historical archaeology has been very successful in
verifying the location of various battle sites throughout the Trans-Mississippi West. The
investigations at Sand Creek used metal detecting and other remote-sensing applications to
identify cultural material associated with the Indian village and the military. Remote-sensing
equipment minimized disturbance to the landowners' pastures and fields and to any human
remains below.
In preparation for the archaeological investigations, the National Park Service commissioned a
geomorphological survey of the Sand Creek area. Geomorphologists analyzed soil samples to
determine if a site was likely to contain physical evidence of the 1864 massacre and if it
contained a layer of soil dating from the 1864 era. Dating the soil layers was particularly
important along Sand Creek, as many people speculated that the layer that contained the
Sand Creek Massacre artifacts might have been lost to flooding and wind erosion. Test results
indicated that the alignment of Sand Creek had not changed substantially over time,
eliminating that as a factor in locating the site. In addition, the geomorphologists concluded
that the area in the vicinity of the Dawson South Bend had not been substantially disturbed
by erosion or agricultural practices, at least not to the extent that such activities would have
destroyed all archaeological evidence of the Sand Creek Massacre.
In May 1999, NPS archeologist Douglas D. Scott oversaw the archaeological reconnaissance
survey of several areas along Sand Creek. The investigation, which included NPS staff,
volunteers, landowners, and several members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, resulted
in the collection of nearly four hundred artifacts that, according to archaeological analysis,
confirmed the location of Black Kettle's village in the area projected by Jerome Greene's
historical research. The greatest numbers of artifacts were concentrated in Section 24,
Township 17 South, Range 46 West, at the northern edge of the Dawson South Bend. Found
here were Civil War-era tin cups, cans, horseshoes, horseshoe nails, plates, bowls, knives,
fork, spoons, barrel hoops, a coffee grinder, a coffee pot, iron arrowheads, bullets, and case
shot fragments. As archeologist Douglas Scott observed, the majority of the artifacts are
objects typical of Native American encampments of the nineteenth century and, when
compared to lists of trade and annuity goods known or requested for distribution to the
Cheyennes and Arapahos in southern Colorado, "demonstrate a striking degree of
concordance."14 The team also found a variety of iron objects modified for Native American
uses. These artifacts include knives altered to awls, iron wire altered to awls, fleshers or hide
scrapers, strap iron altered by filed serrations as hide preparation devices, and several iron
objects altered by filing to serve an as-yet unidentified cutting or scraping purpose. Cheyenne
and Arapaho members of the archaeological team identified many of these artifacts. Among
them was a crescent-shaped object identified as a Cheyenne man's breast ornament.15
Many of the artifacts showed evidence that they had been intentionally broken, a pattern of
destruction typical of U.S. Army actions of the period. The arms and ammunition that were
found are likewise consistent with those carried by the cavalry units that participated in the
massacre. In particular, the archaeological fieldwork uncovered fragments of twelve-pounder
mountain howitzer shells.
Identification of the Location and Extent of the Sand Creek Massacre Site
By fall of 1999, the end of the first project year, the National Park Service believed that the
first task mandated by the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Study Act— identifying
the location and extent of the massacre site— had been accomplished.
Jerome Greene's review of historical documents, primarily the 1868 Bonsall map, had
indicated that Section 24, Township 17 South, Range 46 West, was the likely site of the
village. And, indeed, the archaeological survey uncovered approximately four hundred
artifacts in a concentrated area within this section, the type and distribution of which are
consistent with an Indian village of approximately five hundred people. Also within this
artifact concentration— among the shattered plates, utensils, hide scrapers, awls, and trade
items that had once been part of the daily lives of the Cheyennes and Arapahos who had
camped here— the survey team found evidence of the ammunition and weapons used to
attack and kill them. Although no conclusive evidence of the sandpits was found during the
1999 archaeological survey, historical accounts indicate they were anywhere from three
hundred yards to two-plus miles upstream of the village, but most likely at around onequarter mile to one mile. As such, Greene concluded that the probable location of the sandpits
is in Sections 13 and 14, Township 17 South, Range 46 West. Among the artifacts that had
been found in this area were shell fragments from twelve-pounder mountain howitzers, which
were known to have been used in the sandpits area.16
However, at an October 1999 project meeting, the Cheyenne tribal representatives to the
project team, as well as the representative of the State of Colorado, disagreed with the
conclusions of the National Park Service as to the location of the village and the sandpits. As
noted earlier, Cheyenne tradition held that the village lay within the "vee" of the Dawson
South Bend, not at its northern edge, where the artifact concentration was found. Cheyenne
representatives and Colorado state historian David Halaas also pointed to the two sketch
maps drawn by George Bent that showed the Indian encampment as being within the "vee" of
the bend. While NPS historians found the Bent maps to be valuable tools in terms of placing
the relative locations of specific encampments, they also believed that they lacked scale and
immediacy to the event. Moreover, while the National Park Service believes that the
placement of the village at the northern edge of the Dawson South Bend does not conflict
with most oral history accounts of the massacre, that view is not shared by all of the tribal
representatives to the project. The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and the
Northern Cheyenne Tribe believe that the oral histories are strong evidence that the village is
located in the "vee" of the Dawson South Bend.
If, as the representatives of those tribes believe, the village was in the "vee" of the Dawson
South Bend, then what is the concentration of artifacts approximately one mile north in
Section 24? Laird Cometsevah, great-grandson of Cometsevah, who was a survivor of the
Sand Creek Massacre, believes the artifacts may be evidence of the sandpits, or perhaps a
later Euro-American settlement in the area. Others believe the artifacts may be the northern
edge of the village, the area where the soldiers bivouacked after the massacre, or both.
The Northern Arapaho representatives of the project team concur with the conclusions drawn
by the National Park Service with regard to the location of the village site and the sandpits.
However, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe
maintain that additional archaeological survey work will provide proof that the village was,
indeed, within the crux of the Dawson South Bend. While the distance between these two
contested village locations is less than one mile— and are both located within the Dawson
South Bend— they also reflect a much wider gulf between interpretations of "truth" and of
scientific evidence versus cultural knowledge. They also represent, in a broader sense, a
continuing distrust of the U.S. government by tribal members, a relationship at least partially
rooted in the Sand Creek Massacre itself.
While there was no consensus regarding these issues, all members of the project team also
recognized the importance of the larger effort to memorialize and protect the Sand Creek
Massacre site. Ultimately, the entire team— the National Park Service, the Cheyenne and
Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, the Northern Arapaho Tribe, the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, and
the State of Colorado— agreed on a map that delineated the boundaries of the Sand Creek
Massacre site (which extends approximately five and a half miles in length and two miles in
width). All parties agreed that all the significant events of the massacre— including the
Cheyenne and Arapaho village site, the sandpits, the area of Indian flight, and the point from
which Chivington and his troops launched their attack— are located within that boundary.
Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell concurred that this map met the intent of the Sand Creek
Massacre National Historic Site Study Act to define the "location and extent" of the massacre
site, which allowed the project to move forward. The final site location study includes the
various viewpoints, including interpretive maps, as to the locations of the components of the
massacre site. The study also notes that while there is no consensus regarding the exact
location of some elements of the massacre, project team members believe that additional
archaeological work may resolve some of these issues.
Authorization to Establish the Sand Creek Massacre Site as a National Historic Site
The final task of the project team was to develop management alternatives for the Sand
Creek Massacre, including an assessment as to whether or not the Sand Creek Massacre site
would be a feasible and suitable addition to the National Park Service. Under Alternative 1,
the "no action alternative," the site would remain under private ownership. Alternative 2
proposed the creation of a Sand Creek Massacre memorial on a small portion of the site,
approximately fifteen hundred acres of land. Visitors would be able to visit a memorial that
would stand on a bluff overlooking the massacre site, but they would not have access to most
of the site. Alternative 3 proposed the establishment of a Sand Creek Massacre Historic Site,
which would provide the greatest protection for the site while allowing for visitor access. The
historic site boundary would include the entire massacre site, as well as additional land to
provide for visitor facilities and to protect critical viewsheds, encompassing approximately
12,480 acres of land.
In July 2000 the National Park Service submitted to Congress the results of the site location
study, the three proposed management alternatives, and the public response to them. Soon
thereafter, Senator Campbell introduced Senate Bill 2950, the Sand Creek Massacre National
Historic Site Establishment Act of 2000, which supported the establishment of a 12,480-acre
national historic site as described in Alternative 3.
On November 7, 2000, President Bill Clinton signed the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic
Site Establishment Act, which became Public Law 106-465. The law recognizes the importance
of the Sand Creek Massacre as ""a nationally significant element of frontier military and
Native American history; and a symbol of the struggles of Native American tribes to maintain
their way of life on ancestral land." It also authorizes the secretary of the interior— upon the
acquisition of sufficient land that will "provide for the preservation, memorialization,
commemoration, and interpretation of the Sand Creek Massacre"— to establish the site as a
national historic site. Moreover, the law provides "opportunities for the tribes and the State to
be involved in the formulation of general management plans and educational programs for the
national historic site." Public Law 106-465 also supports special rights of access within the site
for the Indian tribes. It also specifically states that all land within the historic site is to be
acquired from willing sellers only.
As of March 2000, Congress had not yet appropriated funding for land acquisition within the
12,480-acre boundary of the authorized national historic site. Once that funding is
appropriated, the federal government will begin negotiations with willing sellers within the
site— an effort that will, hopefully, result in the long-sought-after protection and designation
of Sand Creek as a national historic site.
Teaching With Documents:
The Homestead Act of 1862
Background
On January 1, 1863, Daniel Freeman, a Union Army scout, was scheduled to leave Gage
County, Nebraska Territory, to report for duty in St. Louis. At a New Year's Eve party the
night before, Freeman met some local Land Office officials and convinced a clerk to open the
office shortly after midnight in order to file a land claim. In doing so, Freeman became one of
the first to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the Homestead Act, a law signed
by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862. At the time of the signing, 11 states had left
the Union, and this piece of legislation would continue to have regional and political
overtones.
The distribution of Government lands had been an issue since the Revolutionary War. At the
time of the Articles of Confederation, the major controversy related to land measurement and
pricing. Early methods for allocating unsettled land outside the original 13 colonies were
arbitrary and chaotic. Boundaries were established by stepping off plots from geographical
landmarks. As a result, overlapping claims and border disputes were common. The Land
Ordinance of 1785 finally implemented a standardized system of Federal land surveys that
eased boundary conflicts. Using astronomical starting points, territory was divided into a 6mile square called a township prior to settlement. The township was divided into 36 sections,
each measuring 1 square mile or 640 acres each. Sale of public land was viewed as a means
to generate revenue for the Government rather than as a way to encourage settlement.
Initially, an individual was required to purchase a full section of land at the cost of $1 per acre
for 640 acres. The investment needed to purchase these large plots and the massive amount
of physical labor required to clear the land for agriculture were often insurmountable
obstacles
By 1800, the minimum lot was halved to 320 acres, and settlers were allowed to pay in 4
installments, but prices remained fixed at $1.25 an acre until 1854. That year, federal
legislation was enacted establishing a graduated scale that adjusted land prices to reflect the
desirability of the lot. Lots that had been on the market for 30 years, for example, were
reduced to 12 ½ cents per acre. Soon after, extraordinary bonuses were extended to veterans
and those interested in settling the Oregon Territory, making homesteading a viable option
for some. But basically, national public-land-use policy made land ownership financially
unattainable for most would-be homesteaders.
Before and after the Mexican-American war in the mid 1800s, popular pressure to change
policy arose from the evolving economy, new demographics, and shifting social climate of
early 19th-century America. In the 1830s and 1840s, rising prices for corn, wheat, and cotton
enabled large, well-financed farms, particularly the plantations of the South, to force out
smaller ventures. Displaced farmers then looked westward to unforested country that offered
more affordable development. Prior to the war with Mexico (1846–48), people settling in the
West demanded “preemption,” an individual's right to settle land first and pay later
(essentially an early form of credit). Eastern economic interests opposed this policy as it was
feared that the cheap labor base for the factories would be drained. After the war with
Mexico, a number of developments supported the growth of the homestead movement.
Economic prosperity drew unprecedented numbers of immigrants to America, many of whom
also looked westward for a new life. New canals and roadways reduced western dependence
on the harbor in New Orleans, and England's repeal of its corn laws opened new markets to
American agriculture.
Despite these developments, legislative efforts to improve homesteading laws faced
opposition on multiple fronts. As mentioned above, Northern factories owners feared a mass
departure of their cheap labor force and Southern states worried that rapid settlement of
western territories would give rise to new states populated by small farmers opposed to
slavery. Preemption became national policy in spite of these sectional concerns, but
supporting legislation was stymied. Three times—in 1852, 1854, and 1859—the House of
Representatives passed homestead legislation, but on each occasion, the Senate defeated the
measure. In 1860, a homestead bill providing Federal land grants to western settlers was
passed by Congress only to be vetoed by President Buchanan.
With the secession of Southern states from the Union and therefore removal of the slavery
issue, finally, in 1862, the Homestead Act was passed and signed into law. The new law
established a three-fold homestead acquisition process: filing an application, improving the
land, and filing for deed of title. Any U.S. citizen, or intended citizen, who had never borne
arms against the U.S. Government could file an application and lay claim to 160 acres of
surveyed Government land. For the next 5 years, the homesteader had to live on the land
and improve it by building a 12-by-14 dwelling and growing crops. After 5 years, the
homesteader could file for his patent (or deed of title) by submitting proof of residency and
the required improvements to a local land office.
Local land offices forwarded the paperwork to the General Land Office in Washington, DC,
along with a final certificate of eligibility. The case file was examined, and valid claims were
granted patent to the land free and clear, except for a small registration fee. Title could also
be acquired after a 6-month residency and trivial improvements, provided the claimant paid
the government $1.25 per acre. After the Civil War, Union soldiers could deduct the time they
served from the residency requirements.
Some land speculators took advantage of a legislative loophole caused when those drafting
the law's language failed to specify whether the 12-by-14 dwelling was to be built in feet or
inches. Others hired phony claimants or bought abandoned land. The General Land Office was
underfunded and unable to hire a sufficient number investigators for its widely scattered local
offices. As a result, overworked and underpaid investigators were often susceptible to bribery.
Physical conditions on the frontier presented even greater challenges. Wind, blizzards, and
plagues of insects threatened crops. Open plains meant few trees for building, forcing many
to build homes out of sod. Limited fuel and water supplies could turn simple cooking and
heating chores into difficult trials. Ironically, even the smaller size of sections took its own
toll. While 160 acres may have been sufficient for an eastern farmer, it was simply not
enough to sustain agriculture on the dry plains, and scarce natural vegetation made raising
livestock on the prairie difficult. As a result, in many areas, the original homesteader did not
stay on the land long enough to fulfill the claim.
Homesteaders who persevered were rewarded with opportunities as rapid changes in
transportation eased some of the hardships. Six months after the Homestead Act was passed,
the Railroad Act was signed, and by May 1869, a transcontinental railroad stretched across
the frontier. The new railroads provided easy transportation for homesteaders, and new
immigrants were lured westward by railroad companies eager to sell off excess land at
inflated prices. The new rail lines provided ready access to manufactured goods and catalog
houses like Montgomery Ward offered farm tools, barbed wire, linens, weapons, and even
houses delivered via the rails.
On January 1, 1863, Daniel Freeman and 417 others filed claims. Many more pioneers
followed, populating the land, building towns and schools and creating new states from the
territories. In many cases, the schools became the focal point for community life, serving as
churches, polling places and social gathering locations. In 1936, the Department of the
Interior recognized Freeman as the first claimant and established the Homestead National
Monument, near a school built in 1872, on his homestead near Beatrice, Nebraska. Today, the
monument is administered by the National Park Service, and the site commemorates the
changes to the land and the nation brought about by the Homestead Act of 1862. By 1934,
over 1.6 million homestead applications were processed and more than 270 million acres—10
percent of all U.S. lands—passed into the hands of individuals. The passage of the Federal
Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 repealed the Homestead Act in the 48 contiguous
states, but it did grant a ten-year extension on claims in Alaska.
The Documents
Daniel Freeman's Homestead Application
Click to Enlarge
Daniel Freeman's Proof of Improvements
Click to Enlarge
Daniel Freeman's Certificate of Eligibility
Click to Enlarge
Image Top Right:
A family poses with the wagon in which they live and travel daily during their pursuit of a homestead,
1886.
Article Citation
Potter, Lee Ann and Wynell Schamel. "The Homestead Act of 1862." Social Education 61, 6 (October
1997): 359-364.
Teaching With Documents:
Maps of Indian Territory, the Dawes Act, and Will Rogers'
Enrollment Case File
Background
Federal Indian policy during the period from 1870 to 1900 marked a departure from earlier
policies that were dominated by removal, treaties, reservations, and even war. The new policy
focused specifically on breaking up reservations by granting land allotments to individual
Native Americans. Very sincere individuals reasoned that if a person adopted white clothing
and ways, and was responsible for his own farm, he would gradually drop his Indianess and
be assimilated into the population. Then there would be no more necessity for the
government to oversee Indian welfare in the paternalistic way it had been obligated to do, or
provide meagre annuities that seemed to keep the Indian in a subservient and poverty
stricken position.
On February 8, 1887, Congress passed the Dawes Act, named for its author, Senator Henry
Dawes of Massachusetts. Also known as the General Allotment Act, the law allowed for the
president to break up reservation land, which was held in common by the members of a tribe,
into small allotments to be parceled out to individuals. Thus, Native Americans registering on
a tribal "roll" were granted allotments of reservation land. “To each head of a family, onequarter of a section; To each single person over eighteen years of age, one-eighth of a
section ; To each orphan child under eighteen years of age, one-eighth of a section; and To
each other single person under eighteen years now living, or who may be born prior to the
date of the order of the President directing an allotment of the lands embraced in any
reservation, one-sixteenth of a section…”
Section 8 of the act specified groups that were to be exempt from the law. It stated that "the
provisions of this act shall not extend to the territory occupied by the Cherokees, Creeks,
Choctaws, Chickasaws, Seminoles, and Osage, Miamies and Peorias, and Sacs and Foxes, in
the Indian Territory, nor to any of the reservations of the Seneca Nation of New York Indians
in the State of New York, nor to that strip of territory in the State of Nebraska adjoining the
Sioux Nation on the south."
Subsequent events, however, extended the act's provisions to these groups as well. In 1893,
President Grover Cleveland appointed the Dawes Commission to negotiate with the
Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles, who were known as the Five
Civilized Tribes. As a result of these negotiations, several acts were passed that allotted a
share of common property to members of the Five Civilized Tribes in exchange for abolishing
their tribal governments and recognizing state and federal laws.
In order to receive the allotted land, members were to enroll with the Bureau of Indian
Affairs. Once enrolled, the individual's name went on the "Dawes rolls." This process assisted
the BIA and the secretary of the interior in determining the eligibility of individual members
for land distribution.
The purpose of the Dawes Act and the subsequent acts that extended its initial provisions was
purportedly to protect Indian property rights, particularly during the land rushes of the 1890s,
but in many instances the results were vastly different. The land allotted to the Indians
included desert or near-desert lands unsuitable for farming. In addition, the techniques of
self-sufficient farming were much different from their tribal way of life. Many Indians did not
want to take up agriculture, and those who did want to farm could not afford the tools,
animals, seed, and other supplies necessary to get started. There were also problems with
inheritance. Often young children inherited allotments that they could not farm because they
had been sent away to boarding schools. Multiple heirs also caused a problem; when several
people inherited an allotment, the size of the holdings became too small for efficient farming.
The documents featured here include maps of Indian Territory before and after enactment of
the Dawes Act and two documents from the 21-page enrollment application of American
humorist Will Rogers.
Resources
The Dawes Act or General Allotment Act of 1887. U.S. Statutes at Large 24:388-91 (Available
online from Our Documents at
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=50&page=transcript).
Kelly, Lawrence C. Federal Indian Policy. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1990.
The Documents
Map of Indian Territory
(Oklahoma), 1885
Click to Enlarge
National Archives and Records Administration
Records of the General Land Office
Record Group 49
Map of Indian Territory
(Oklahoma), 1891
Click to Enlarge
National Archives and Records Administration
Records of the General Land Office
Record Group 49
INDIAN AFFAIRS: LAWS AND TREATIES
Vol. II, Treaties
Compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler. Washington : Government Printing Office,
1904.
TREATY WITH THE SAUK AND FOXES, 1804.
Nov. 3, 1804. | 7 Stat., 84. | Ratified Jan. 25, 1805. |
Proclaimed Feb. 21, 1805.
Page Images: 74 | 75 | 76 | 77
Margin Notes
Indians taken under protection of United States.
Boundaries.
Goods to be delivered to the Indian tribes at St. Louis
every year.
Indians to be secured in their possessions, etc.
Retaliation restrained.
Offenders on both sides to be apprehended and
punished.
Stolen horses to be restored to the proper owner.
Intruders on Indian lands to be removed.
Indians may hunt on lands ceded to United States.
None but authorized traders to reside among the
Saukes and Foxes.
Trading house or factory to be established.
Peace to be made between certain tribes under the
direction of United States.
Cession of land for the establishment of a military post.
Traders, etc., to be free from any toll or exaction.
Treaty, when to take effect.
Page 74
A treaty between the United States of America and the United tribes of Sac and Fox
Indians.
ARTICLES of a treaty made at St. Louis in the district of Louisiana between William
Henry Harrison, governor of the Indiana territory and of the district of Louisiana,
superintendent of Indian affairs for the said territory and district, and commissioner
plenipotentiary of the United States for concluding any treaty or treaties which may be
found necessary with any of the north western tribes of Indians of the one part, and the
chiefs and head men of the united Sac and Fox tribes of the other part.
ARTICLE 1.
The United States receive the united Sac and Fox tribes into their friendship and
protection, and the said tribes agree to consider themselves under the protection of the
United States, and of no other power whatsoever.
ARTICLE 2.
The general boundary line between the lands of the United States and of the said Indian
tribes shall be as follows, to wit: Beginning at a point on the Missouri river opposite to
the mouth of the Gasconade river; thence in a direct course so as to strike the river
Jeffreon at the distance of thirty miles from its mouth, and down the said Jeffreon to the
Mississippi, thence up the Mississippi to the mouth of the Ouisconsing river and up the
same to a point which shall be thirty-six miles in a direct line from the mouth of the said
river, thence by a direct line to the point where the Fox river (a branch of the Illinois)
leaves the small lake called Sakaegan, thence down the Fox river to the Illinois river, and
down the same to the Mississippi. And the said tribes, for and in consideration of the
friendship and protection of the United States which is now extended to them, of the
goods (to the value of two thousand two hundred and thirty-four dollars and fifty cents)
which are now delivered, and of the annuity hereinafter stipulated to be paid, do hereby
cede and relinquish forever to the United States, all the lands included within the abovedescribed boundary
Page 75
ARTICLE 3.
In consideration of the cession and relinquishment of land made in the preceding article,
the United States will deliver to the said tribes at the town of St. Louis or some other
convenient place on the Mississippi yearly and every year goods suited to the
circumstances of the Indians of the value of one thousand dollars (six hundred of which
are intended for the Sacs and four hundred for the Foxes) reckoning that value at the first
cost of the goods in the city or place in the United States where they shall be procured.
And if the said tribes shall hereafter at an annual delivery of the goods aforesaid, desire
that a part of their annuity should be furnished in domestic animals, implements of
husbandry and other utensils convenient for them, or in compensation to useful artificers
who may reside with or near them, and be employed for their benefit, the same shall at
the subsequent annual delivery be furnished accordingly.
ARTICLE 4.
The United States will never interrupt the said tribes in the possession of the lands which
they rightfully claim, but will on the contrary protect them in the quiet enjoyment of the
same against their own citizens and against all other white persons who may intrude
upon them. And the said tribes do hereby engage that they will never sell their lands or
any part thereof to any sovereign power, but the United States, nor to the citizens or
subjects of any other sovereign power, nor to the citizens of the United States.
ARTICLE 5.
Lest the friendship which is now established between the United States and the said
Indian tribes should be interrupted by the misconduct of individuals, it is hereby agreed
that for injuries done by individuals no private revenge or retaliation shall take place,
but, instead thereof, complaints shall be made by the party injured to the other—by the
said tribes or either of them to the superintendent of Indian affairs or one of his deputies,
and by the superintendent or other person appointed by the President, to the chiefs of the
said tribes. And it shall be the duty of the said chiefs upon complaint being made as
aforesaid to deliver up the person or persons against whom the complaint is made, to the
end that he or they may be punished agreeably to the laws of the state or territory where
the offence may have been committed; and in like manner if any robbery, violence or
murder shall be committed on any Indian or Indians belonging to the said tribes or either
of them, the person or persons so offending shall be tried, and if found guilty, punished
in the like manner as if the injury had been done to a white man. And it is further agreed,
that the chiefs of the said tribes shall, to the utmost of their power exert themselves to
recover horses or other property which may be stolen from any citizen or citizens of the
United States by any individual or individuals of their tribes, and the property so
recovered shall be forthwith delivered to the superintendent or other person authorized to
receive it, that it may be restored to the proper owner; and in cases where the exertions of
the chiefs shall be ineffectual in recovering the property stolen as aforesaid, if sufficient
proof can be obtained that such property was actually stolen by any Indian or Indians
belonging to the said tribes or either of them, the United States may deduct from the
annuity of the said tribes a sum equal to the value of the property which has been stolen.
And the United States hereby guarantee to any Indian or Indians of the said tribes a full
indemnification for any horses or other property which may be stolen from them by any
of their citizens; provided that the property so stolen cannot be recovered and that
sufficient proof is produced that it was actually stolen by a citizen of the United States.
ARTICLE 6.
If any citizen of the United States or other white person should form a settlement upon
lands which are the property of the Sac and Fox tribes, upon complaint being made
thereof to the superintendent or other person having charge of the affairs of the Indians,
such intruder shall forthwith be removed.
Page 76
ARTICLE 7.
As long as the lands which are now ceded to the United States remain their property, the
Indians belonging to the said tribes, shall enjoy the privilege of living and hunting upon
them.
ARTICLE 8.
As the laws of the United States regulating trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes,
are already extended to the country inhabited by the Saukes and Foxes, and as it is
provided by those laws that no person shall reside as a trader in the Indian country
without a license under the hand [and] seal of the superintendent of Indian affairs, or
other person appointed for the purpose by the President, the said tribes do promise and
agree that they will not suffer any trader to reside amongst them without such license;
and that they will from time to time give notice to the superintendent or to the agent for
their tribes of all the traders that may be in their country.
ARTICLE 9.
In order to put a stop to the abuses and impositions which are practiced upon the said
tribes by the private traders, the United States will at a convenient time establish a
trading house or factory where the individuals of the said tribes can be supplied with
goods at a more reasonable rate than they have been accustomed to procure them.
ARTICLE 10.
In order to evince the sincerity of their friendship and affection for the United States and
a respectful deference for their advice by an act which will not only be acceptable to
them but to the common Father of all the nations of the earth; the said tribes do hereby
solemnly promise and agree that they will put an end to the bloody war which has
heretofore raged between their tribes and those of the Great and Little Osages. And for
the purpose of burying the tomahawk and renewing the friendly intercourse between
themselves and the Osages, a meeting of their respective chiefs shall take place, at which
under the direction of the above-named commissioner or the agent of Indian affairs
residing at St. Louis, an adjustment of all their differences shall be made and peace
established upon a firm and lasting basis.
ARTICLE 11.
As it is probable that the government of the United States will establish a military post at
or near the mouth of the Ouisconsing river; and as the land on the lower side of the river
may not be suitable for that purpose, the said tribes hereby agree that a fort may be built
either on the upper side of the Ouisconsing or on the right bank of the Mississippi, as the
one or the other may be found most convenient; and a tract of land not exceeding two
miles square shall be given for that purpose. And the said tribes do further agree, that
they will at all times allow to traders and other persons travelling through their country
under the authority of the United States a free and safe passage for themselves and their
property of every description. And that for such passage they shall at no time and on no
account whatever be subject to any toll or exaction.
ARTICLE 12.
This treaty shall take effect and be obligatory on the contracting parties as soon as the
same shall have been ratified by the President by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate of the United States.
In testimony whereof, the said William Henry Harrison, and the chiefs and head men of
the said Sac and Fox tribes, have hereunto set their hands and affixed their seals.
Done at Saint Louis, in the district of Louisiana, on the third day of November, one
thousand eight hundred and four, and of the independence of the United States the
twenty-ninth.
William Henry Harrison, [L. S.]
Layauvois, or Lalyurva, his x mark, [L. S.]
Pashepaho, or the giger, his x mark, [L. S.]
Quashquame, or jumping fish, his x mark, [L. S.]
Outchequaka, or sun fish, his x mark, [L. S.]
Hahshequarhiqua, or the bear, his x mark, [L. S.]
Page 77
In presence of (the words “a branch of the Illinois,” in the third line of the second article,
and the word “forever,” in the fifth line of the same article, being first interlined)—
Wm. Prince, secretary to the commissioner,
John Griffin, one of the judges of the Indiana Territory,
J. Bruff, major artillery, United States,
Amos Stoddard, captain, Corps Artillerists,
P. Chouteau,
Vigo,
S. Warrel, lieutenant, United States Artillery,
D. Delamay.
Joseph Barron,
Hypolite Bolen, his x mark,
Sworn interpreters.
ADDITIONAL ARTICLE.
It is agreed that nothing in this treaty contained, shall affect the claim of any individual
or individuals who may have obtained grants of land from the Spanish government, and
which are not included within the general boundary line laid down in this treaty,
provided that such grant have at any time been made known to the said tribes and
recognized by them.
Fort Laramie Treaty, 1868
ARTICLES OF A TREATY MADE AND CONCLUDED BY AND
BETWEEN
Lieutenant General William T. Sherman, General William S. Harney, General Alfred H. Terry,
General O. O. Augur, J. B. Henderson, Nathaniel G. Taylor, John G. Sanborn, and Samuel F. Tappan,
duly appointed commissioners on the part of the United States, and the different bands of the Sioux
Nation of Indians, by their chiefs and headmen, whose names are hereto subscribed, they being duly
authorized to act in the premises.
ARTICLE I.
From this day forward all war between the parties to this agreement shall for ever cease. The
government of the United States desires peace, and its honor is hereby pledged to keep it. The Indians
desire peace, and they now pledge their honor to maintain it.
If bad men among the whites, or among other people subject to the authority of the United States,
shall commit any wrong upon the person or property of the Indians, the United States will, upon proof
made to the agent, and forwarded to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Washington city, proceed
at once to cause the offender to be arrested and punished according to the laws of the United States,
and also reimburse the injured person for the loss sustained.
If bad men among the Indians shall commit a wrong or depredation upon the person or property of
nay one, white, black, or Indian, subject to the authority of the United States, and at peace therewith,
the Indians herein named solemnly agree that they will, upon proof made to their agent, and notice by
him, deliver up the wrongdoer to the United States, to be tried and punished according to its laws,
and, in case they willfully refuse so to do, the person injured shall be reimbursed for his loss from the
annuities, or other moneys due or to become due to them under this or other treaties made with the
United States; and the President, on advising with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, shall prescribe
such rules and regulations for ascertaining damages under the provisions of this article as in his
judgment may be proper, but no one sustaining loss while violating the provisions of this treaty, or
the laws of the United States, shall be reimbursed therefor.
ARTICLE II.
The United States agrees that the following district of country, to wit, viz: commencing on the east
bank of the Missouri river where the 46th parallel of north latitude crosses the same, thence along
low-water mark down said east bank to a point opposite where the northern line of the State of
Nebraska strikes the river, thence west across said river, and along the northern line of Nebraska to
the 104th degree of longitude west from Greenwich, thence north on said meridian to a point where
the 46th parallel of north latitude intercepts the same, thence due east along said parallel to the place
of beginning; and in addition thereto, all existing reservations of the east back of said river, shall be
and the same is, set apart for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of the Indians herein
named, and for such other friendly tribes or individual Indians as from time to time they may be
willing, with the consent of the United States, to admit amongst them; and the United States now
solemnly agrees that no persons, except those herein designated and authorized so to do, and except
such officers, agents, and employees of the government as may be authorized to enter upon Indian
reservations in discharge of duties enjoined by law, shall ever be permitted to pass over, settle upon,
or reside in the territory described in this article, or in such territory as may be added to this
reservation for the use of said Indians, and henceforth they will and do hereby relinquish all claims or
right in and to any portion of the United States or Territories, except such as is embraced within the
limits aforesaid, and except as hereinafter provided.
ARTICLE III.
If it should appear from actual survey or other satisfactory examination of said tract of land that it
contains less than 160 acres of tillable land for each person who, at the time, may be authorized to
reside on it under the provisions of this treaty, and a very considerable number of such persons hsall
be disposed to comence cultivating the soil as farmers, the United States agrees to set apart, for the
use of said Indians, as herein provided, such additional quantity of arable land, adjoining to said
reservation, or as near to the same as it can be obtained, as may be required to provide the necessary
amount.
ARTICLE IV.
The United States agrees, at its own proper expense, to construct, at some place on the Missouri river,
near the centre of said reservation where timber and water may be convenient, the following
buildings, to wit, a warehouse, a store-room for the use of the agent in storing goods belonging to the
Indians, to cost not less than $2,500; an agency building, for the residence of the agent, to cost not
exceeding $3,000; a residence for the physician, to cost not more than $3,000; and five other
buildings, for a carpenter, farmer, blacksmith, miller, and engineer-each to cost not exceeding $2,000;
also, a school-house, or mission building, so soon as a sufficient number of children can be induced
by the agent to attend school, which shall not cost exceeding $5,000.
The United States agrees further to cause to be erected on said reservation, near the other buildings
herein authorized, a good steam circular saw-mill, with a grist-mill and shingle machine attached to
the same, to cost not exceeding $8,000.
ARTICLE V.
The United States agrees that the agent for said Indians shall in the future make his home at the
agency building; that he shall reside among them, and keep an office open at all times for the purpose
of prompt and diligent inquiry into such matters of complaint by and against the Indians as may be
presented for investigation under the provisions of their treaty stipulations, as also for the faithful
discharge of other duties enjoined on him by law. In all cases of depredation on person or property he
shall cause the evidence to be taken in writing and forwarded, together with his findings, to the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, whose decision, subject to the revision of the Secretary of the
Interior, shall be binding on the parties to this treaty.
ARTICLE VI.
If any individual belonging to said tribes of Indians, or legally incorporated with them, being the head
of a family, shall desire to commence farming, he shall have the privilege to select, in the presence
and with the assistance of the agent then in charge, a tract of land within said reservation, not
exceeding three hundred and twenty acres in extent, which tract, when so selected, certified, and
recorded in the "Land Book" as herein directed, shall cease to be held in common, but the same may
be occupied and held in the exclusive possession of the person selecting it, and of his family, so long
as he or they may continue to cultivate it.
Any person over eighteen years of age, not being the head of a family, may in like manner select and
cause to be certified to him or her, for purposes of cultivation, a quantity of land, not exceeding
eighty acres in extent, and thereupon be entitled to the exclusive possession of the same as above
directed.
For each tract of land so selected a certificate, containing a description thereof and the name of the
person selecting it, with a certificate endorsed thereon that the same has been recorded, shall be
delivered to the party entitled to it, by the agent, after the same shall have been recorded by him in a
book to be kept in his office, subject to inspection, which said book shall be known as the "Sioux
Land Book."
The President may, at any time, order a survey of the reservation, and, when so surveyed, Congress
shall provide for protecting the rights of said settlers in their improvements, and may fix the character
of the title held by each. The United States may pass such laws on the subject of alienation and
descent of property between the Indians and their descendants as may be thought proper. And it is
further stipulated that any male Indians over eighteen years of age, of any band or tribe that is or shall
hereafter become a party to this treaty, who now is or who shall hereafter become a resident or
occupant of any reservation or territory not included in the tract of country designated and described
in this treaty for the permanent home of the Indians, which is not mineral land, nor reserved by the
United States for special purposes other than Indian occupation, and who shall have made
improvements thereon of the value of two hundred dollars or more, and continuously occupied the
same as a homestead for the term of three years, shall be entitled to receive from the United States a
patent for one hundred and sixty acres of land including his said improvements, the same to be in the
form of the legal subdivisions of the surveys of the public lands. Upon application in writing,
sustained by the proof of two disinterested witnesses, made to the register of the local land office
when the land sought to be entered is within a land district, and when the tract sought to be entered is
not in any land district, then upon said application and proof being made to the Commissioner of the
General Land Office, and the right of such Indian or Indians to enter such tract or tracts of land shall
accrue and be perfect from the date of his first improvements thereon, and shall continue as long as be
continues his residence and improvements and no longer. And any Indian or Indians receiving a
patent for land under the foregoing provisions shall thereby and from thenceforth become and be a
citizen of the United States and be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of such citizens, and
shall, at the same time, retain all his rights to benefits accruing to Indians under this treaty.
ARTICLE VII.
In order to insure the civilization of the Indians entering into this treaty, the necessity of education is
admitted, especially of such of them as are or may be settled on said agricultural reservations, and
they, therefore, pledge themselves to compel their children, male and female, between the ages of six
and sixteen years, to attend school, and it is hereby made the duty of the agent for said Indians to see
that this stipulation is strictly complied with; and the United States agrees that for every thirty
children between said ages, who can be induced or compelled to attend school, a house shall be
provided, and a teacher competent to teach the elementary branches of an English education shall be
furnished, who will reside among said Indians and faithfully discharge his or her duties as a teacher.
The provisions of this article to continue for not less than twenty years.
ARTICLE VIII.
When the head of a family or lodge shall have selected lands and received his certificate as above
directed, and the agent shall be satisfied that he intends in good faith to commence cultivating the soil
for a living, he shall be entitled to receive seeds and agricultural implements for the first year, not
exceeding in value one hundred dollars, and for each succeeding year he shall continue to farm, for a
period of three years more, he shall be entitled to receive seeds and implements as aforesaid, not
exceeding in value twenty-five dollars. And it is further stipulated that such persons as commence
farming shall receive instruction from the farmer herein provided for, and whenever more than one
hundred persons shall enter upon the cultivation of the soil, a second blacksmith shall be provided,
with such iron, steel, and other material as may be needed.
ARTICLE IX.
At any time after ten years fro the making of this treaty, the United States shall have the privilege of
withdrawing the physician, farmer, blacksmith, carpenter, engineer, and miller herein provided for,
but in case of such withdrawal, an additional sum thereafter of ten thousand dollars per annum shall
be devoted to the education of said Indians, and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall, upon
careful inquiry into their condition, make such rules and regulations for the expenditure of said sums
as will best promote the education and moral improvement of said tribes.
ARTICLE X.
In lieu of all sums of money or other annuities provided to be paid to the Indians herein named under
any treaty or treaties heretofore made, the United States agrees to deliver at the agency house on the
reservation herein named, on or before the first day of August of each year, for thirty years, the
following articles, to wit:
For each male person over 14 years of age, a suit of good substantial woollen clothing, consisting of
coat, pantaloons, flannel shirt, hat, and a pair of home-made socks.
For each female over 12 years of age, a flannel shirt, or the goods necessary to make it, a pair of
woollen hose, 12 yards of calico, and 12 yards of cotton domestics.
For the boys and girls under the ages named, such flannel and cotton goods as may be needed to make
each a suit as aforesaid, together with a pair of woollen hose for each.
And in order that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs may be able to estimate properly for the articles
herein named, it shall be the duty of the agent each year to forward to him a full and exact census of
the Indians, on which the estimate from year to year can be based.
And in addition to the clothing herein named, the sum of $10 for each person entitled to the beneficial
effects of this treaty shall be annually appropriated for a period of 30 years, while such persons roam
and hunt, and $20 for each person who engages in farming, to be used by the Secretary of the Interior
in the purchase of such articles as from time to time the condition and necessities of the Indians may
indicate to be proper. And if within the 30 years, at any time, it shall appear that the amount of money
needed for clothing, under this article, can be appropriated to better uses for the Indians named
herein, Congress may, by law, change the appropriation to other purposes, but in no event shall the
amount of the appropriation be withdrawn or discontinued for the period named. And the President
shall annually detail an officer of the army to be present and attest the delivery of all the goods herein
named, to the Indians, and he shall inspect and report on the quantity and quality of the goods and the
manner of their delivery. And it is hereby expressly stipulated that each Indian over the age of four
years, who shall have removed to and settled permanently upon said reservation, one pound of meat
and one pound of flour per day, provided the Indians cannot furnish their own subsistence at an
earlier date. And it is further stipulated that the United States will furnish and deliver to each lodge of
Indians or family of persons legally incorporated with the, who shall remove to the reservation herein
described and commence farming, one good American cow, and one good well-broken pair of
American oxen within 60 days after such lodge or family shall have so settled upon said reservation.
ARTICLE XI.
In consideration of the advantages and benefits conferred by this treaty and the many pledges of
friendship by the United States, the tribes who are parties to this agreement hereby stipulate that they
will relinquish all right to occupy permanently the territory outside
their reservations as herein defined, but yet reserve the right to hunt on any lands north of North
Platte, and on the Republican Fork of the Smoky Hill river, so long as the buffalo may range thereon
in such numbers as to justify the chase. And they, the said Indians, further expressly agree:
1st. That they will withdraw all opposition to the construction of the railroads now being built on the
plains.
2d. That they will permit the peaceful construction of any railroad not passing over their reservation
as herein defined.
3d. That they will not attack any persons at home, or travelling, nor molest or disturb any wagon
trains, coaches, mules, or cattle belonging to the people of the United S
tates, or to persons friendly therewith.
4th. They will never capture, or carry off from the settlements, white women or children.
5th. They will never kill or scalp white men, nor attempt to do them harm.
6th. They withdraw all pretence of opposition to the construction of the railroad now being built
along the Platte river and westward to the Pacific ocean, and they will not in future object to the
construction of railroads, wagon roads, mail stations, or other works of utility or necessity, which
may be ordered or permitted by the laws of the United States. But should such roads or other works
be constructed on the lands of their reservation, the government will pay the tribe whatever amount of
damage may be assessed by three disinterested commissioners to be appointed by the President for
that purpose, one of the said commissioners to be a chief or headman of the tribe.
7th. They agree to withdraw all opposition to the military posts or roads now established south of the
North Platte river, or that may be established, not in violation of treaties heretofore made or hereafter
to be made with any of the Indian tribes.
ARTICLE XII.
No treaty for the cession of any portion or part of the reservation herein described which may be held
in common, shall be of any validity or force as against the said Indians unless executed and signed by
at least three-fourths of all the adult male Indians occupying or interested in the same, and no cession
by the tribe shall be understood or construed in such manner as to deprive, without his consent, any
individual member of the tribe of his rights to any tract of land selected by him as provided in Article
VI of this treaty.
ARTICLE XIII.
The United States hereby agrees to furnish annually to the Indians the physician, teachers, carpenter,
miller, engineer, farmer, and blacksmiths, as herein contemplated, and that such appropriations shall
be made from time to time, on the estimate of the Secretary of the Interior, as will be sufficient to
employ such persons.
ARTICLE XIV.
It is agreed that the sum of five hundred dollars annually for three years from date shall be expended
in presents to the ten persons of said tribe who in the judgment of the agent may grow the most
valuable crops for the respective year.
ARTICLE XV.
The Indians herein named agree that when the agency house and other buildings shall be constructed
on the reservation named, they will regard said reservation their permanent home, and they will make
no permanent settlement elsewhere; but they shall have the right, subject to the conditions and
modifications of this treaty, to hunt, as stipulated in Article XI hereof.
ARTICLE XVI.
The United States hereby agrees and stipulates that the country north of the North Platte river and east
of the summits of the Big Horn mountains shall be held and considered to be unceded. Indian
territory, and also stipulates and agrees that no white person or persons shall be permitted to settle
upon or occupy any portion of the same; or without the consent of the Indians, first had and obtained,
to pass through the same; and it is further agreed by the United States, that within ninety days after
the conclusion of peace with all the bands of the Sioux nation, the military posts now established in
the territory in this article named shall be abandoned, and that the road leading to them and by them
to the settlements in the Territory of Montana shall be closed.
ARTICLE XVII.
It is hereby expressly understood and agreed by and between the respective parties to this treaty that
the execution of this treaty and its ratification by the United States Senate shall have the effect, and
shall be construed as abrogating and annulling all treaties and agreements heretofore entered into
between the respective parties hereto, so far as such treaties and agreements obligate the United States
to furnish and provide money, clothing, or other articles of property to such Indians and bands of
Indians as become parties to this treaty, but no further.
In testimony of all which, we, the said commissioners, and we, the chiefs and headmen of the Brule
band of the Sioux nation, have hereunto set our hands and seals at Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory,
this twenty-ninth day of April, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
N. G. TAYLOR,
W. T. SHERMAN,
Lieutenant General
WM. S. HARNEY,
Brevet Major General U.S.A.
JOHN B. SANBORN,
S. F. TAPPAN,
C. C. AUGUR,
Brevet Major General
ALFRED H. TERRY,
Brevet Major General U.S.A.
Attest:
A. S. H. WHITE, Secretary.
Executed on the part of the Brule band of Sioux by the chiefs and headman whose names are hereto
annexed, they being thereunto duly authorized, at Fort Laramie, D. T., the twenty-ninth day of April,
in the year A. D. 1868.
MA-ZA-PON-KASKA, his X mark, Iron Shell.
WAH-PAT-SHAH, his X mark, Red Leaf.
HAH-SAH-PAH, his X mark, Black Horn.
ZIN-TAH-GAH-LAT-WAH, his X mark, Spotted Tail.
ZIN-TAH-GKAH, his X mark, White Tail.
ME-WAH-TAH-NE-HO-SKAH, his X mark, Tall Man.
SHE-CHA-CHAT-KAH, his X mark, Bad Left Hand.
NO-MAH-NO-PAH, his X mark, Two and Two.
TAH-TONKA-SKAH, his X mark, White Bull.
CON-RA-WASHTA, his X mark, Pretty Coon.
HA-CAH-CAH-SHE-CHAH, his X mark, Bad Elk.
WA-HA-KA-ZAH-ISH-TAH, his X mark, Eye Lance.
MA-TO-HA-KE-TAH, his X mark, Bear that looks behind.
BELLA-TONKA-TONKA, his X mark, Big Partisan.
MAH-TO-HO-HONKA, his X mark, Swift Bear.
TO-WIS-NE, his X mark, Cold Place.
ISH-TAH-SKAH, his X mark, White Eye.
MA-TA-LOO-ZAH, his X mark, Fast Bear.
AS-HAH-HAH-NAH-SHE, his X mark, Standing Elk.
CAN-TE-TE-KI-YA, his X mark, The Brave Heart.
SHUNKA-SHATON, his X mark, Day Hawk.
TATANKA-WAKON, his X mark, Sacred Bull.
MAPIA SHATON, his X mark, Hawk Cloud.
MA-SHA-A-OW, his X mark, Stands and Comes.
SHON-KA-TON-KA, his X mark, Big Dog.
Attest:
ASHTON S. H. WHITE, Secretary of Commission.
GEORGE B. WITHS, Phonographer to Commission.
GEO. H. HOLTZMAN.
JOHN D. HOWLAND.
JAMES C. O'CONNOR.
CHAR. E. GUERN, Interpreter.
LEON T. PALLARDY, Interpreter.
NICHOLAS JANIS, Interpreter.
Executed on the part of the Ogallalla band of Sioux by the chiefs and headmen whose names are
hereto subscribed, they being thereunto duly authorized, at Fort Laramie, the 25th day of May, in the
year A. D. 1868.
TAH-SHUN-KA-CO-QUI-PAH, his mark, Man-afraid-of-his-horses.
SHA-TON-SKAH, his X mark, White Hawk.
SHA-TON-SAPAH, his X mark, Black Hawk.
EGA-MON-TON-KA-SAPAH, his X mark, Black Tiger
OH-WAH-SHE-CHA, his X mark, Bad Wound.
PAH-GEE, his X mark, Grass.
WAH-NON SAH-CHE-GEH, his X mark, Ghost Heart.
COMECH, his X mark, Crow.
OH-HE-TE-KAH, his X mark, The Brave.
TAH-TON-KAH-HE-YO-TA-KAH, his X mark, Sitting Bull.
SHON-KA-OH-WAH-MEN-YE, his X mark, Whirlwind Dog.
HA-KAH-KAH-TAH-MIECH, his X mark, Poor Elk.
WAM-BU-LEE-WAH-KON, his X mark, Medicine Eagle.
CHON-GAH-MA-HE-TO-HANS-KA, his X mark, High Wolf.
WAH-SECHUN-TA-SHUN-KAH, his X mark, American Horse.
MAH-KAH-MAH-HA-MAK-NEAR, his X mark, Man that walks under the ground.
MAH-TO-TOW-PAH, his X mark, Four Bears.
MA-TO-WEE-SHA-KTA, his X mark, One that kills the bear.
OH-TAH-KEE-TOKA-WEE-CHAKTA, his X mark, One that kills in a hard place.
TAH-TON-KAH-TA-MIECH, his X mark, The Poor Bull.
OH-HUNS-EE-GA-NON-SKEN, his X mark, Mad Shade.
SHAH-TON-OH-NAH-OM-MINNE-NE-OH-MINNE, his X mark, Whirling hawk.
MAH-TO-CHUN-KA-OH, his X mark, Bear's Back.
CHE-TON-WEE-KOH, his X mark, Fool Hawk.
WAH-HOH-KE-ZA-AH-HAH, his X mark,
EH-TON-KAH, his X mark, Big Mouth.
MA-PAH-CHE-TAH, his X mark, Bad Hand.
WAH-KE-YUN-SHAH, his X mark, Red Thunder.
WAK-SAH, his X mark, One that Cuts Off.
CHAH-NOM-QUI-YAH, his X mark, One that Presents the Pipe.
WAH-KE-KE-YAN-PUH-TAH, his X mark, Fire Thunder.
MAH-TO-NONK-PAH-ZE, his X mark, Bear with Yellow Ears.
CON-REE-TEH-KA, his X mark, The Little Crow.
HE-HUP-PAH-TOH, his X mark, The Blue War Club.
SHON-KEE-TOH, his X mark, The Blue Horse.
WAM-BALLA-OH-CONQUO, his X mark, Quick Eagle.
TA-TONKA-SUPPA, his X mark, Black Bull.
MOH-TOH-HA-SHE-NA, his X mark, The Bear Hide.
Attest:
S. E. WARD.
JAS. C. O'CONNOR.
J. M. SHERWOOD.
W. C. SLICER.
SAM DEON.
H. M. MATHEWS.
JOSEPH BISS
NICHOLAS JANIS, Interpreter.
LEFROY JOTT, Interpreter.
ANTOINE JANIS, Interpreter.
Executed on the part of the Minneconjou band of Sioux by the chiefs and headmen whose names are
hereunto subscribed, they being thereunto duly authorized.
HEH-WON-GE-CHAT, his X mark, One Horn.
OH-PON-AH-TAH-E-MANNE, his X mark, The Elk that Bellows Walking.
HEH-HO-LAH-ZEH-CHA-SKAH, his X mark, Young White Bull.
WAH-CHAH-CHUM-KAH-COH-KEEPAH, his X mark, One that is Afraid of Shield.
HE-HON-NE-SHAKTA, his X mark, The Old Owl.
MOC-PE-A-TOH, his X mark, Blue Cloud.
OH-PONG-GE-LE-SKAH, his X mark, Spotted Elk.
TAH-TONK-KA-HON-KE-SCHUE, his X mark, Slow bull.
SHONK-A-NEE-SHAH-SHAH-ATAH-PE, his X mark, The Dog Chief.
MA-TO-TAH-TA-TONK-KA, his X mark, Bull Bear.
WOM-BEH-LE-TON-KAH, his X mark, The Big Eagle.
MATOH, EH-SCHNE-LAH, his X mark, The Lone Bear.
MA-TOH-OH-HE-TO-KEH, his X mark, The Brave Bear.
EH-CHE-MA-KEH, his X mark, The Runner.
TI-KI-YA, his X mark, The Hard.
HE-MA-ZA, his X mark, Iron Horn.
Attest:
JAS. C O'CONNOR,
WM. D. BROWN,
NICHOLAS JANIS,
ANTOINE JANIS,
Interpreters.
Executed on the part of the Yanctonais band of Sioux by the chiefs and headmen whose names are
hereto subscribed, they being thereunto duly authorized:
MAH-TO-NON-PAH, his X mark, Two Bears.
MA-TO-HNA-SKIN-YA, his X mark, Mad Bear.
HE-O-PU-ZA, his X mark, Louzy.
AH-KE-CHE-TAH-CHE-KA-DAN, his X mark, Little Soldier.
MAH-TO-E-TAN-CHAN, his X mark, Chief Bear.
CU-WI-TO-WIA, his X mark, Rotten Stomach.
SKUN-KA-WE-TKO, his X mark, Fool Dog.
ISH-TA-SAP-PAH, his X mark, Black Eye.
IH-TAN-CHAN, his X mark, The Chief.
I-A-WI-CA-KA, his X mark, The One who Tells the Truth.
AH-KE-CHE-TAH, his X mark, The Soldier.
TA-SHI-NA-GI, his X mark, Yellow Robe.
NAH-PE-TON-KA, his X mark, Big Hand.
CHAN-TEE-WE-KTO, his X mark, Fool Heart.
HOH-GAN-SAH-PA, his X mark, Black Catfish.
MAH-TO-WAH-KAN, his X mark, Medicine Bear.
SHUN-KA-KAN-SHA, his X mark, Red Horse.
WAN-RODE, his X mark, The Eagle.
CAN-HPI-SA-PA, his X mark, Black Tomahawk.
WAR-HE-LE-RE, his X mark, Yellow Eagle.
CHA-TON-CHE-CA, his X mark, Small Hawk, or Long Fare.
SHU-GER-MON-E-TOO-HA-SKA, his X mark, Fall Wolf.
MA-TO-U-TAH-KAH, his X mark, Sitting Bear.
HI-HA-CAH-GE-NA-SKENE, his X mark, Mad Elk.
Arapahoes.
LITTLE CHIEF, his X mark.
TALL BEAR, his X mark.
TOP MAN, his X mark.
NEVA, his X mark.
THE WOUNDED BEAR, his X mark.
WHIRLWIND, his X mark.
THE FOX, his X mark.
THE DOG BIG MOUTH, his X mark.
SPOTTED WOLF, his X mark.
SORREL HORSE, his X mark.
BLACK COAL, his X mark.
BIG WOLF, his X mark.
KNOCK-KNEE, his X mark.
BLACK CROW, his X mark.
THE LONE OLD MAN, his X mark.
PAUL, his X mark.
BLACK BULL, his X mark.
BIG TRACK, his X mark.
THE FOOT, his X mark.
BLACK WHITE, his X mark.
YELLOW HAIR, his X mark.
LITTLE SHIELD, his X mark.
BLACK BEAR, his X mark.
WOLF MOCASSIN, his X mark.
BIG ROBE, his X mark.
WOLF CHIEF, his X mark.
Witnesses:
ROBERT P. MCKIBBIN,
Captain 4th Infantry, and Bvt. Lieut. Col. U. S. A.,
Commanding Fort Laramie.
WM. H. POWELL,
Brevet Major, Captain 4th Infantry.
HENRY W. PATTERSON,
Captain 4th Infantry.
THEO E. TRUE,
Second Lieutenant 4th Infantry.
W. G. BULLOCK.
FORT LARAMIE, WYOMING TERRITORY
November 6, 1868.
MAH-PI-AH-LU-TAH, his X mark, Red Cloud.
WA-KI-AH-WE-CHA-SHAH, his X mark, Thunder Man.
MA-ZAH-ZAH-GEH, his X mark, Iron Cane.
WA-UMBLE-WHY-WA-KA-TUYAH, his X mark, High Eagle.
KO-KE-PAH, his X mark, Man Afraid.
WA-KI-AH-WA-KOU-AH, his X mark, Thunder Flying Running.
Witnessess:
W. MCE. DYE,
Brevet Colonel U. S. Army,
Commanding.
A. B. CAIN,
Captain 4th Infantry, Brevet Major U. S. Army.
ROBT. P. MCKIBBIN,
Captain 4th Infantry, Bvt. Lieut. Col. U. S. Army.
JNO. MILLER,
Captain 4th Infantry.
G. L. LUHN,
First Lieutenant 4th Infantry, Bvt. Capt. U. S. Army.
H. C. SLOAN,
Second Lieutenant 4th Infantry.