Indians And America In 1890's

The 1890's was a period of transition for the American people, and America itself. On July 3rd, Idaho became the 43 U.S. state, while seven days later, Wyoming became the 44th. The Daughters of the American Revolution was founded, and for the first time a prisoner was put to death on the Electric Chair, and it all happened in the same year. It is no surprise, then, that America was looking to fortify itself, for any eventuality that could occur from within and without. America conducted relations with the Indians of the west during this time, with a cunning ruthlessness, as seen in The Dawes Act, the Battle of Wounded Knee, and the creation of Indian Boarding Schools. Although alternatives to these actions would have weakened America, they are still considered hostile in nature, due to the common lack of understanding that these acts and occurrences were thought to be necessary to keep America strong at the time.

On February 8, 1887, the Dawes Act, also known as the General Allotment Act, was enacted by President Grover Cleveland, to react to the pressure of Americans, by opening Indian Reservation Land to settlement by Non-Indians. Unfortunately for the Indians, the Act itself had the opposite effect of what was envisioned by both their support groups, and themselves, but fulfilled its purpose. The act broke up the reservation lands in the west, into privately owned parcels, with the idea that the assimilation process would be complete, when Indians who had not moved away before, had bought land, and formed a family unit on their own property. Contrary to the Indian way of life, where males went hunting, and women preformed agricultural duties, the males were forced to take the fields, while women were domesticated, due to the lack of hunting grounds. This was, in effect, the purpose of the act; to make Indians... Americans. The land not used by the Indians -- who were granted plots diagonal to each other -- was sold to both companies, and private citizens, creating a checkerboard of Indians and Americans. It was Senator Henry L. Dawes in 1897, who said: "We must fight until every Indian shall stand panopolied in the armor of a self-supporting citizen of the United States.", and America truly took that to heart in this instance.

The Massacre of Indians at Wounded Knee, on December 29, 1890, was the second to last battle of the Indian Wars (the last being a skirmish at Drexel Mission), and was a prime example of both the ruthlessness, and the intelligence of the American Army, specifically the 7th Cavalry. After Chief Sitting Bull's tolerance for the Ghost Dance religion, was misconstrued as full support, he was arrested by a group of 43 Indian police. After Sitting Bull's arrest, 38 of his tribesmen, elected his brother, Big Foot, as leader, and supported him because of his reputation as peacekeeper. As Big Foot began to move his tribesmen, who were joined by other Indians, he was intercepted by 200 men from the 7th Cavalry, who were lead by Major Samuel Whiteside. After escorting Big Foot to a medic, due to suspicions of pneumonia, the tribe was brought to their camp at Wounded Knee, and was given tents and rations there. Over night, Colonel James W. Forsyth, with the rest of the 7th Cavalry arrived at Whiteside's camp, and took over command there, with the intention of moving the Indians to Omaha, Nebraska, where there was a military camp. In the morning, the Lakota were summoned to a meeting within their temporary residence, and the Army began to disarm them. After receiving so few weapons voluntarily, the Army seized personal belongings from tents, and ones that were held on person... anything that could be used as a weapon was taken. After Black Coyote refused to be searched, the Indians "Started shooting first in a pre-arranged action, signaled by one brave throwing dirt into the air." The Cavalry open fired, and after the gun smoke cleared, approximately 150 Lakota were found dead, with only 25 U.S. casualties. On the home front, the public applauded this action, bestowing over 20 Medals of Honor to the 7th, and even though Army court removed