The West: Exploiting an Empire

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The West Exploiting an Empire

• Manifest Destiny
• Expand across the continent
• Crushed the culture of the American Indians
• Focus
• Uprooting of the Plains Indians
• The Mining boom
• Development of ranching
• Introduction of Agriculture to the Plains

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I. Beyond the Frontier

• Eastern Prairie Plains
• Rich soil good rainfall
• High Plains-semi arid
• Lack of water and timber
• Ineffectiveness of traditional farming tools
• Most settlers wanted to head directly to the
  Pacific Coast

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II. Crushing of the Native Americans

• A. Life of the Plains Indians
• Nomadic lifestyle, following buffalo
• Skilled equestrians
• Developed a warrior class
• Tribes divided into smaller bands
• Hard to deal federally with so many small tribes

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B. As Long as Waters Run Searching for Indian
Policy

• Regarded as one great Indian reservation
• Until GOLD was discovered in California
• Became a thoroughfare to CA. and the federal
  govt. began to confine Indians to certain areas
• Result of Sioux War 1865-1867-small reservation

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C. Final Battles on the Plains

• Small reservations failed
• Young warriors refused
• White settlers encroached
• Little Big Horn 1876
• June 25, 1876
• Custers last stand
• Wounded Knee 1890

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D. End of Tribal Life

• Eradicating Tribal Authority
• Education
• Land Policy
• Federal Law
• Dawes Act 1887
• Destroyed communal ownership
• Gave small farms to the head of the family
• Indians that left-became US Cit.
• Buffalo became exterminated by professional white
  hunters

• By 1900, only about 250,000 Indians still
  inhabited the U.S.
• Most lived in poverty

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