Lesson 1: Treaties, Gold Rushes, and Native Americans
This lesson covers several events, occurring prior to 1861, that had a considerable effect on the settling of the west. They are the gold rushes in Colorado, California, and Nevada, and the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty. Also included in this lesson are the 1861 Fort Wise Treaty in Colorado, and the 1862 Minnesota Eastern Sioux Uprising. The major persons that will be studied are Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle, Governor John Evans of Colorado Territory, the Cheyenne Dog Soldiers, Brigadier General Henry H. Sibley, and Little Crow of the Eastern Sioux.
Introduction
This lesson will explore events that occurred from 1861 through 1865 while the United States was involved in the American Civil War. Not all of these events occurred in the west, but all of them effected the settlement of the Plains, and the ‘Indian Question’. In addition, two events will be studied that, though occurring prior to the time period concerned in this course, also had an extreme effect on persons involved in the western movement.
Those groups most effected by all of these events were the westward migrating pioneers and miners, the United States Army that attempted to protect them from the Indians whose homeland they crossed and eventually settled on, and the Native Americans themselves.
TALL GRASS PRAIRIE
Prior events will be looked at, though not as thoroughly studied as the period in question, because of their on-going effect. These include the 1849 California Gold rush; the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty; the discovery of gold, in 1858, on Cherry Creek, Colorado Territory that triggered the Pike’s Peak gold rush; and Nevada’s gold bonanza that began in 1859.
VIRGINIA CITY, NEVADA GOLD RUSH DAYS
A situation to keep in mind is that the bulk of the United States Army was concentrated in the eastern portion of the country during these Civil War years. This left vast areas of the west open to the Native Americans who were as nearly free to roam, hunt, and wage war as their ancestors. But the gold strikes provided a strong necessity for troops to be stationed in the west to protect miners. The Union need the gold the west was producing to finance the war.
Certain occurrences and persons of note to be dealt with during the time of the American Civil War will be studied. They include: the 1861 Fort Wise Treaty in Colorado Territory and Colorado Territorial Governor John Evans; Black Kettle, who was Peace Chief of the Southern Cheyennes; the Dog Soldiers, the most powerful of the Southern Cheyenne divisions; and most definitely, the United States’ military involvement in the west.
Also to be presented, during the Civil War period, will be the August 1862 Minnesota Eastern Sioux Uprising, including events leading up to the uprising, as well as its results and effect on the west. The persons involved in this uprising are Little Crow, the leading Chief of the Eastern Sioux of Minnesota; Trader Andrew Myrick; Brigadier General Henry H. Sibley, previously a Minnesota Indian trader, and Minnesota’s first governor; and Alexander Ramsey, second governor of Minnesota who, prior to the uprising, had been the Indian Agent.
Further reading on these subjects may be explored in:
The Indian Frontier of the American West, 1846-1890, by Robert M. Utley, chapter 3, pages 76-81, 87.
