The Frontier essays

The Frontier essays During the 1850's,pioneers in the Great Plains reported that the land was good for ranching and farming, despite low rainfalls. Soon after the Civil war, ex-soldiers headed for the West looking for a living in mining, farming, or ranching. The development of the transcontinental railroad, in 1869, aided in a faster transportation of people and supplies. The one week long trip lured in many more aspiring settlers. With more white settlers coming to the West, problems started to arise over land disputes with the Indians. As the Indian's land was taken the government began to concentrate them into reservations. Some Indians still opposed this, and more fights broke out with each gold discovery in the West. In one instance, Chief Black Kettle had an armistice with the government, yet unknowingly Colonel Chivington and his 1,000 troops attacked 450 sleeping Indians. The event was called the Sand Creek massacre. Several more important Indians and their tribes went against the government, s uch as Little crow and Red cloud of the Sioux. The last battle of the Indian Wars was at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. The white soldiers with their railroads, six shot revolvers, and more professionalism, inevitably defeated the old-fashioned and ill-equipped Indians. The Indians were placed on reserves, and became very dependent of the government to provide their basic necessities. With the very scarce buffalo, little game to hunt, and poor soil the Indians needed the government funding to stay alive. The Bureau of Indian Affairs came to order and was in charge of caring for the Indians. The corrupted bureau was exposed by people like Helen Hunt Jackson and Sarah Wirnemucca, who spoke out against the abuse done to the Indians. Eventually the thought of assimilating the Indians into the white culture was pronounced. In 1887 Congress passed the Dawes act, which abolished tribes to gather and sold of reservation land to Indian families. The money was then used...