University:
Arizona State University
Course:
HST 200 | Historical Themes
Academic year:

2024
Views:

133

Pages:

2
Author:

Thuyoul US

ASU HST 200 (Historical Themes) Westward Expansion, 1840-1900 American Indian Submission The Lakota people and no other Plains tribe engaged in any more military conflict after Little Bighorn, notwithstanding their victory there. Instead, they either went back to living as tribe members or escaped from the dread of the surviving troops, until the U.S. As more soldiers came, they started to destroy Indian camps and compel remaining Indians to accept money for being forcibly removed from their grounds. Sitting Bull left for Canada on his own, but he came back in 1881 and went on to work in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. The Blackfoot and Crow tribes of Montana were ejected from their ancestral homeland. The Utes in Colorado handed up their territory after a short while of opposition. The majority of the Nez Perce in Idaho ceded their lands amicably, but in a remarkable incident, over eight hundred Indians attempted to flee into Canada in order to avoid American forces. The Wounded Knee Massacre in South Dakota in 1890 marked the end of the so-called Indian Wars. The Lakota people had started to perform the "Ghost Dance" on their reservation, which warned of a Messiah who would save the tribe from its misery, so frequently that White settlers started to fear there might be another revolt. The 7th Calvary was ready to apprehend those who were doing the Ghost Dance. Bigfoot led a group of Lakota Ghost Dancers that ran away, scared after Sitting Bull was killed by tribal police. The Lakotas were about ready to give up when the 7th Cavalry arrived at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, on December 29, 1890. There are conflicting reports, but it appears that a young Lakota guy accidentally discharged his rifle as he was about to put it down, which prompted American soldiers to start firing randomly at the Native Americans. With just a few hidden firearms at their disposal, the Lakotas put up very little opposition early in the battle. Ultimately, the forces massacred between 150 and 300 men, women, and children. Twenty-five American soldiers lost their lives, some from being caught in their own gunfire. Subsequently, Seventh Cavalry Captain Edward Godfrey said, "I know the men did not aim deliberately and they were greatly excited." They didn't see their sites, in my opinion. They shot quickly, yet it appeared to me that it only took a few seconds for the warriors, squaws, kids, ponies, and dogs to vanish from sight. ....fell down before that unaimed fire. Twenty of these troops received the highest military decoration in the United States, the Congressional Medal of Honor. The Indian Wars ended with one final display of ferocity. Government representatives in the United States had already started looking for a substitute for the pointless treaties and expensive wars. It was necessary to find a more efficient way to counter the public's impression of the "Indian problem." The solution came from Americanization.