Fort Laramie Treaty & Indian Appropriations Act

US Government Policy

As manifest destiny and US government policy showed, the US government wanted the settlers to spread across North America.

Previous government legislation

In 1830, President Andrew Jackson had signed the 'Indian Removal Act'. This forced the Indians to move all of their people from the east of the Mississippi River to the west of the Mississippi River. This was a 'forced resettlement' that made roughly 50,000 Plains Indians move west.
In 1834, the Indian Trade and Intercourse Act formed a boundary between USA and Indian Territory, banning Americans from buying or renting land from the Indians. It effectively stopped them from using Indian land.

Causes of tensions between settlers and Indians

More migrants were travelling along the Oregon Trail and more farmers were settling in the Great Plains. This meant that the migrants and settlers were competing with the Indians for food, water and other resources.

The Fort Laramie Treaty, 1868

In 1868, the US government signed a treaty with representatives of the Plains Indian tribes.
It secured safe passage along the Oregon Trail for all travellers.
Settlers would be permitted to settle and build on the land along the trail.
In exchange, the Plains Indians would receive an annual payment of $50,000.
The Treaty was also supposed to end wars between the Indian tribes, but within a few years, the Crow and Cheyenne tribes were back at war.
Fort Laramie also introduced railroad surveyors and military posts in Indian territory, whilst tribes had to pay fines if they attacked white settlers.

The Indian Appropriations Act, 1851

As well as the Fort Laramie Treaty, the US government passed the Indian Appropriations Act.
This act moved nomadic tribes into enclosed areas called 'reservations'. These reservations would be protected by the US government.
Theoretically, reservations would preserve areas of land for the Plains Indians to continue their lives undisturbed by settlers and migrants.
However, the shift imposed White Settler property rights on the Indians and undermined their nomadic lifestyle and independence.
- The reservations effectively forced the Plains Indians to live in a smaller area of land.
More settlers moved to the Plains and travelled the Oregon Trail.

1The Early Settlement of the West, c1835-c1862

1.1The Plains Indians: Beliefs & Way of Life

1.1.1The Plains Indians - Social Structure

1.1.2The Plains Indians - Way of Life

1.1.3End of Topic Test - Social & Tribal Structures

1.1.4Grade 9 - The Plains Indians

1.2Migration & Early Settlement

1.2.1The Oregon Trail & Gold Rush

1.2.2Manifest Destiny

1.2.3Major Migrations - Donner, Mormon & Farmer

1.2.4End of Topic Test - Migration and Early Settlement

1.2.5Grade 9 - The Early Settlement of the West

1.3Conflict & Tension

1.3.1Fort Laramie Treaty & Indian Appropriations Act

1.3.2Lawless Towns

1.3.3End of Topic Test - Conflict & Tension

2Development of the Plains, c.1862–c.1876

2.1The Development of Settlement in the West

2.1.1Causes of the American Civil War

2.1.2The American Civil War

2.1.3Homesteading & Railroads 1862-1876

2.1.4Continuing Law & Order Problems 1862-1876

2.1.5Ranching, Cattle & Cowboys 1862-1876

2.1.6End of Topic Test - Development of the Plains

2.2Changes in the Way of Life of the Plains Indians

2.2.1Impact of Railroads & Settlers 1862-1876

2.2.2Impact of the Peace Policy & Reservations

2.2.3The Indian Wars (1862-1868)

2.2.4End of Topic Test - Changes in the Way of Life

2.2.5Grade 9 - Development of the Plains

3Conflicts & Conquest, c.1876–c.1895

3.1Changes in Farming & Settlement

3.1.1Farming & the Cattle Industry 1876-1895

3.1.2The Exoduster Movement & Oklahoma Land Rush

3.1.3End of Topic Test - Exodusters, Land Rush & Cattle

3.2Conflict & Tension

3.2.1Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp and the Range Wars

3.2.2Little Big Horn, the Ghost Dance & Wounded Knee

3.2.3Destroying the Indian Way of Life

3.2.4End of Topic Test - Conflict and Tension

3.2.5Grade 9 - Conflicts & Tension

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