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Indian Removal Act
The law authorized the president to negotiate with southern Indian tribes for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their ancestral homelands. -
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Native Americans
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California Gold Rush
Gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. This caused a gold rush. People from all over flooded to California in search of gold. This disturbed the balance between whites and Indians. -
Fort Laramie Treaty
The U.S. and the representatives of the Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho, Crow, Assiniboine, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara signed a treaty stating all traditional territorial claims of the tribes were theirs. The U.S acknowledged the land covered by the treaty to be indian territory. The natives guaranteed safe passage for settlers on the Oregon Trail and allowed roads and forts to be built on their territories in return for promises of annuity in the amount of fifty thousand dollars for fifty years. -
Dakota War of 1862
Also known as the Sioux Uprising. The Sioux declared war on white settlers, killing more than 1,000. They were eventually defeated by the U.S army. Over 400 Indians were tried for murder, 38 were publicly executed. -
Long Walk to Bosque Redondo
The deportation of the Navajo people by the U.S government. They were forced from their land to Fort Sumner. -
Treaty of Medicine Lodge
Ensured the Kiowa, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Apache, and Comanche would move onto reservation lands. -
Nez Perce Treaty
The army agrees to abandon the forts on the Bozeman Trail and Indians agree to be more civilized. -
Indian Appropriation Act
No tribe thereafter would be recognized as an independent nation and could not make treaties. -
Great Sioux War of 1876
A Series of battles between the Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne and the government of the United States. The cause of the was was the desire of the U.S government to obtain ownership of the Black Hills. -
The Battle of Little Bighorn
Ignoring the warnings of the masses Sioux army of 2,000- 4,000 men, Custer and 700 men attack the forces of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse at Little Bighorn. George Armstrong Custer and 210 under his command. -
Nez Perce War
This War occurred when the U.S army responded to some American deaths along the Salmon River. To avoid a battle that would have resulted in being forced onto a reservation, about 400 Nez Perce fled 1,500 miles. They were caught 3,000 miles south of the Canadian border. Survivors were sent to Indian Territory in Oklahoma -
Black Hills
The U.S government seized the Black Hills from the Lakota Sioux in violation of a treaty. -
Ex Parte Crow Dog Supreme Court Decision
Crow Dog, who killed another Indian, was prosecuted in federal court, found guilty, and sentenced to death. The court ruled that the U.S did not have jurisdiction and that Crow Dog must be released. -
The Dawes Severalty Act
Gave the president power to reduce the land holdings of the Indian nations across the country by allotting 160 acres to the heads of Indian families and 80 acres to individuals. -
The Ghost Dance Movement
The Ghost Dance Movement was a religious movement. According to the teachings of the Northern Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka, proper practice of the dance would reunite the living with the spirits of the dead, bring spirits of the dead to fight on their behalf, make white colonists leave, and bring peace, prosperity, and unity to Indian people. -
Wounded Creek Massacre
Near Wounded Knee Creek, The U.S 7th Cavalry found Lakota Indians encamped there. They took them 5 miles to Wounded Creek. They then disarmed the Indians however, they were reluctant to give up their rifles. A scuffle occurred; afterwards more than 1,500 Lakota lay dead.