Destroying the Indian Way of Life

The Hunting and Extermination of Buffalo

Alongside the government’s reservation policy, the extermination of buffalo had a significant impact on Indians’ way of life.

The end of the buffalo

5 million buffalo are thought to have been killed between 1880 and 1883.
From 1840 to 1855, almost 13 million buffalo were killed.
Buffalo herds were split by railroads and their migration patterns destroyed.
Buffalo skin (hide) was used to make clothes.
People estimate that there were 30-60 million buffalo on the Plains at around 1850.

Who killed the buffalo?

Hunting parties would travel to the Plains to shoot buffalo for fun.
Some conspiracy theorists believe that the government killed buffalo directly, however, there isn't much proof for this.
William 'Buffalo Bill' Cody worked for the Kansas Pacific Railroad. His job was to kill buffalo - to clear the railroad tracks and feed workers. He hunted 4,282 buffalo in an 18 month period.
The Indians also used the buffalo for food and clothing, but their lifestyles were very reliant on buffalo.

Reservation life

Plains Indians' reservations were often on bad, infertile land. This meant that crop failures were likely and that the Indians were always at risk of starvation.
As the Great Sioux War and seizing of the Black Hills shows, desirable land with minerals and fertile land were taken by white settlers or the government.
The US government reduced Indian rations in 1890, at the same time as forcing them to live on smaller reservations with less fertile land.

Decreased tolerance of Indian culture

The ghost dance and Wounded Knee Massacre showed a lower level of tolerance for different cultures and lifestyles.
The appointments of people as 'reservation agents' or to the Commission of Indian Affairs aimed to teach a 'moral education' which was very in-line with white settler values rather than Indian heritage.
From the year 1871, tribal chiefs were not allowed to sign treaties anymore and decisions were forced on them.

The Attempted 'Civilisation' of Plains Indians

Towards the end of the 19th century, the government tried to teach Indians Christian and white values, and move them away from their nomadic lifestyle.

The Dawes Act, 1887

The Dawes Act in 1887 was a bit similar to the Homestead Act of 1862. Every Plains Indian family was granted 160 acres of land.
The aim was for the Indians to leave their reservations and live like homesteaders.
This aimed to end the tribal culture, close reservations, and create a single America organised around families.
The Dawes Act completely ignored the culture of a tribe and collectivism.

Outcome of the Dawes Act

Between 1887 and 1890, reservations shrunk by 50%.
The best homestead territory had often been taken by white settlers, so the Indians moved from infertile reservations to infertile homesteads.
Their culture had encouraged a reliance on the tribe. However, on a homestead, every Indian needed to have all of the specific skills needed for farming.
Singapore tried a similar policy after 1950 under Lee Kuan Yew, moving people from rural farms into apartment blocks.

Closure of the Indian frontier

In 1890, the US Census Bureau announced that the Indian Frontier was closed.
This effectively meant that because of 'rapid settlement', there wasn't a difference between wildland (which is likely to have been previously roamed by the Indians) and white settlements.
White settlers had become so far spread across America, there was no free wilderness left.
Beyond the frontier, the population density had been measured as less than two people per square mile.

Response to the closure

More and more people became interested in preserving areas of wilderness now that the frontier no longer existed. National Parks were conceived. California's Yosemite National Park was designed in 1890 to protect an area of wilderness that had not been settled yet.

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

Jump to other topics