Period 3 & 7
• We will examine the role the buffalo and horse played in the lives of
Indians on the Great Plains.
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Go over homework
Replacing someone on the Supreme Court
Chapter 26 Notes
Buffalo Hunt
Chapter 26 Notes
• The Sioux Indians became a dominant force on the Great Plains.
• The Pawnee, Crow, Kiowa, Cheyenne, and Sioux had become excellent
riders since Spain brought the horse to North America.
• Sioux used the horse to help with hunting Buffalo
Treaties
• The US Government signed treaty after treaty with Plains Indians.
• Promised not to bother them on their land.
• Each new treaty pushed them onto smaller and smaller tracts of land.
• After the Civil War when the trans-continental railroad was
completed and more settlers moved out onto the Great Plains
fighting with Indians increased.
• Several battles/ massacres resulted
• Sand Creek – US soldiers attacked a village of peaceful Indians
• Bozeman Trail – Sioux attacked and wiped out group of soldiers
• Little Big Horn – Sioux wiped out all of George Custer’s men
How were Indians Subdued?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The completion of the railroad
Disease
The killing off of the buffalo
War
Loss of land to treaties
Period 3 & 7
• We will examine the end of the conflict between the Plains Indians
and the US Military.
• Warm Up: Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan
• Test Topics
• Go over homework
• Wounded Knee
• Chapter 26 Notes
Eyewitness to Massacre
• Why is Phillip Wells there?
• What reason did the Medicine Man give for not fearing the soldiers?
• According to Wells, how does the shooting start?
• What happens to Wells?
• Who was at fault for Wounded Knee
Wounded Knee
• Sioux believed doing the Ghost
Dance would protect them
from bullets and return the
buffalo
• Soldiers fire on crowd of Sioux,
killing many women and
children
• Battle/Massacre of Wounded
Knee marks the end of Native
American wars
Dawes Act
• Attempt to assimilate Native Americans
• US divided up reservation land to make Indians farmers
• Carlisle school was established to teach Native American children
English
• Any reservation land not divided up among Indians was sold to
railroads
• Safety Valve Theory
• If the population got to large on the East Coast due
to immigration, move west.
• Solve the problem of unemployment because one
could always move west
• Homestead Act gave away 160 acres of land. Land
was usually dry and not great for farming
Deflation
• Due to dry conditions farmers in west grew single crop
(wheat or corn)
• Deflation (decrease in price) hurt farmers, many lost
farms
• Farmers were also at mercy of railroads. Railroads
overcharged farmers to take their goods to market.
Organizing Farmers
• The Grange attempted to organize, educate, and help
farmers
• The Farmers Alliance attempted to collectivize their buying
and selling to gain upper hand over railroad
• Alliance leads to Populist Party
• Wanted government control of railroads, telephone, and
telegraph
• Establish a graduated income tax
• Free unlimited coinage of silver
Pullman Strike
• The American Railway
Union is organized
• 1894 Pullman’s Palace
Car Company cut wages
• Workers went on strike
and the US Army was
called to break up strike
Election of 1896
• William McKinley believed
in the gold standard
(money backed by gold)
and trickle down theory
(workers do better when
business makes money)
• William Jennings Bryan
believed in unlimited
coinage of silver. Gained
support of Populist Party