Westward Expansion: Impact on the American Indians
Westward expansion was positive for many Americans, but it had a negative impact on one group of people – the
American Indians. At the time of the Civil War, the number of Americans Indians living in the United States was
approximately 300,000. Over half were living on the Great Plains and were generally tolerant of the white man as he
crossed their lands on the way to the West Coast. Before long homesteaders, ranchers, and railroad men came and
began to claim the land as their own. They built houses and towns, fenced in the land, and crisscrossed it with railroads.
More threatening to the American Indian, however, was the killing of buffalo for their hides and for sport. Since these
animals were used for food, clothing and shelter, the slaughtering of buffalo meant death for the American Indians and
their way of life.
As more and more settlers moved onto Indians lands, war broke out. In an effort to control the situation, the United
States government entered into a number of treaties with the Indians. Many treaties called for reservations, large areas
of land reserved exclusively for American Indian use. In these treaties the Indians usually agreed to trade part of their
lands for a promise that the government would provide support for their reservation, such as food, financial aid, health
care and schools. However, the U.S. government often broke these treaties.
One of the reservations included all of western South Dakota. This land was sacred to a powerful tribe of the Northern
Plains, the Sioux. Six years after the Great Sioux Reservation was established, gold was discovered in the Black Hills of
Dakota. The U.S. government offered to buy the land, but the Sioux, encouraged by a young leader named Sitting Bull,
decided not to sell. As a result, the government sent soldiers to take the land by force. Lieutenant Colonel George
Armstrong Custer and his soldiers attacked the Sioux and their allies at Little Big Horn River. During the Battle of Little
Big Horn, Custer and his men were surrounded and killed by Sioux warriors. The victory, in large part, was credited to
the actions of a cunning Sioux warrior named Crazy Horse. The Indians may have won a great battle, but a long war was
still ahead of them.
The United States government continued to use force against other Indian tribes. One such tribe was the Nez Perce. In
1877 they were told to leave their lands in Oregon and relocate to a small reservation in Idaho. Their leader, Chief
Joseph, said no. Instead, he and a group of 800 men, women, and children headed north in an attempt to escape to
Canada. Before they could reach the border, however, they were captured by U.S. soldiers. Chief Joseph ordered his
people not to fight and said, “My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”
In the Southwest, the Navajo and Apache Indians retaliated, or fought back, when settlers took their lands and
destroyed their animals and gardens. The U.S. Army arrived, and soon most of the Navajo and Apache people were
forced onto reservations. Some small groups of Indians, however, refused to obey. Led by the Apache leader
Geronimo, these small bands of Indians continued to raid the new settlements. Eventually, the Indians of the Southwest
had no choice but to give up. Geronimo was the last Indian to formally surrender to the United States.
By the turn of the century only 225,000 Indians were living on American soil. This population decline was caused by
warfare and disease. Thousands of Indians lost their lives during the hundreds of battles fought. The Battle of
Wounded Knee is one such example where 300 Indians – men, women, and children were killed in a massacre. This was
the last armed conflict between the U.S. Army and Indians during the “Indians War.” With the westward expansion also
came the introduction of diseases unknown to the American Indians. It has been said that more American Indian lives
were lost due to disease than were lost in the wars fighting for their homelands.
Some reformers tried to help the Indians become full American citizens and to assimilate, or blend into the general
culture. They wanted the Indians to become more like the white people and give up their own distinctive culture. With
the decline of the buffalo, American Indians were encouraged to become farmers. However, many Indians had no
knowledge of farming, and others had no interest in it. In addition, reservations were typically created on land that
appeared to be of little economic or agriculture use. As a result, the assimilation approach proved unsuccessful for most
American Indians. The lives of the American Indians had been changed forever by the westward expansion of the U.S.
Impact on American Indians Summary Questions
1. Why was the buffalo so important to Indians on the Great Plains?
Name:_____________________
2. Cause and EffectCause: More and more settlers begin to move onto Indian land, building towns, fences and railroads.
Effect:
3. What are reservations? What exchange was made by Indians in order to live on reservations?
4.
List the leader of each side.
Who attacked first?
What was the result?
The Battle of Little Bighorn
5. Use the space provided to identify the following Indians:
Crazy Horse
Sitting Bull
Chief Joseph
5. What were the two leading causes of decline in Indian population during the late 1800’s?
6. What occurred during the Battle of Wounded Knee? Why is this battle significant?
7. Describe the process of assimilation.
Geronimo