The history of the United States is intrinsically linked with the story of Westward Expansion and its profound impact on Native American communities. This Native American timeline details the complex and often tragic encounters as European settlers pushed across the continent, forever altering the landscape and the lives of indigenous peoples.
From the earliest days of European settlement on the Atlantic Coast, pioneers began moving west to obtain land, trade, and raise families. However, Native Americans already occupied these vast lands, creating numerous conflicts as the indigenous tribes valiantly tried to maintain their traditional lifestyles and ancestral territories.
Early Encounters and the Louisiana Purchase
By 1790, the United States government had claimed all the land east of the Mississippi River, leading to the forced displacement of many tribes westward. The landmark Louisiana Purchase in 1803 significantly expanded American territorial claims, pushing settlers further into lands held by Native American nations, as well as territories claimed by Mexico and Great Britain. The concept of Manifest Destiny, popularized in 1845, fueled the belief in the United States’ inevitable territorial expansion from the Atlantic to the Pacific, disregarding the sovereignty of existing inhabitants.
By the time of the California Gold Rush in 1849, overland trails had already been blazed westward. Following the Civil War, the Homestead Act of 1862 further accelerated this movement, sending thousands more settlers westward. These decades were marked by intensifying pressure on Native American tribes, leading to a series of devastating Indian Wars.
The Mid-19th Century: Escalating Conflicts (1850-1864)
The Plains and California: Resource Depletion and Displacement
The mid-19th century witnessed a dramatic escalation in conflicts. In 1850, vast buffalo herds, numbering around 20,000,000, roamed the plains between Montana and Texas. However, between 1850 and 1875, the extermination of these buffalo herds by sports and hide hunters severely limited the Plains Indians’ essential food supply and survival ability. Concurrently, California entered the Union in 1850. The influx of miners during the Gold Rush devastated traditional Native American food sources, forcing tribes to raid white settlements out of hunger. This period tragically became the site of one of the worst slaughters of Native Americans in U.S. history, with the population plummeting from an estimated 150,000 in 1849 to fewer than 30,000 by 1870. California began confining its remaining indigenous population to harsh military reservations in 1853, after 18 treaties promising reservation lands were secretly rejected by Congress in 1852.
Treaties, Massacres, and Uprisings
In 1851, a series of Fort Laramie treaties were signed with the Lakota, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and other Plains tribes. These treaties delineated territorial boundaries and allowed passage across Native lands in exchange for payments. This agreement, however, opened the door to increased incursions by miners and wagon trains, which became an onslaught after the Civil War.
Tragedy struck in 1855 with the Ash Hollow Massacre in Nebraska, where Colonel William Harney led 1,300 soldiers in a massacre of a Brule village, a brutal retribution for earlier killings. The Battle of Seattle in 1856 saw settlers drive Indians from their land to allow for the growth of a white town. In September 1857, the Fancher Party, a group of California-bound emigrants, became victims of the horrific Mountain Meadows Massacre in Utah, a coordinated attack by Paiute Indians and Mormon militiamen, resulting in 123 deaths.
The year 1858 brought further bloodshed. In Washington, Native American alliances, including Coeur d’Alene, Palouse, Spokan, and Skitswich warriors, initially defeated Colonel Steptoe’s forces. However, Colonel Wright later dictated harsh terms of surrender at the Coeur d’Alene mission, leading to the execution of twenty-four chiefs from various tribes, including the Yakama, Cayuse, and Walla Walla.
The Wiyot Tribe suffered a devastating attack in 1860 when white settlers from Eureka, California, massacred 188 members on Indian Island. Also in 1860, Navajo Chief Manuelito and his warriors attacked Fort Defiance in northeastern Arizona, a conflict sparked by the army’s claim to Navajo grazing lands. This ignited the Navajo War (1860-1864), culminating in the forced surrender of the Navajo to Kit Carson and the infamous Navajo Long Walk to Bosque Redondo reservation in New Mexico.
The Homestead Act and Major Conflicts
The year 1861 marked several critical events. The Arapaho and Cheyenne were forced to cede most of eastern Colorado, land previously guaranteed to them. The Hungate family was tragically slaughtered by Indians in Colorado. In an unprovoked attack, U.S. Army soldiers massacred visiting Navajo men, women, and children at Fort Wingate, New Mexico. On September 22, 1861, Apache led by Cochise attacked Pinos Altos, New Mexico. The devastating Sand Creek Massacre occurred on November 29, 1861, when Colonel John Chivington’s Colorado volunteers attacked a Cheyenne and Arapaho village, killing 163 Indians, primarily women and children, whose bodies were then mutilated.
In 1862, Congress passed the Homestead Act, opening up western lands belonging to many Indian Nations to non-Indian American settlers. This act served as a significant catalyst for further displacement and conflict. August 18, 1862, marked the beginning of Minnesota’s Sioux Uprising (or Santee War), where the Sioux declared war on white settlers, resulting in over 1,000 deaths. The U.S. Army eventually defeated them, leading to the mass execution of 38 Sioux men in Mankato, Minnesota, on December 26, 1862, after highly questionable trials. By 1864, 90% of the Santee and many Teton who sheltered them were dead or imprisoned. Following the uprising, Little Crow, the Santee Sioux chief, was killed for a bounty in 1863.
In 1864, the federal government under Kit Carson forced 8,000 Navajo men, women, and children to undertake the more than 300-mile Long Walk to Bosque Redondo, a newly designated reservation. This forced march epitomized the government’s strategy of relocation and confinement.
The Powder River Expedition and Continued Hostilities (1865 onward)
In July 1865, General Patrick Conner initiated an invasion of the Powder River Basin, targeting the Black Hills and Big Horn Mountains. His orders were chillingly explicit: “Attack and kill every male Indian over twelve years of age.” This command underscored the brutal nature of the ongoing campaigns against Native Americans in the West, marking a particularly violent phase of the Westward Expansion.
Conclusion: A Legacy of Conflict and Resilience
The Native American timeline during Westward Expansion is a stark reminder of the immense pressures faced by indigenous peoples. From the initial European settlements to the final years of the 19th century, Native American tribes endured broken treaties, forced relocations, widespread massacres, and the systematic destruction of their way of life. Despite these profound challenges, the resilience and cultural heritage of Native American nations have persisted, continuing to advocate for their rights and preserve their ancestral traditions. The legacy of this period continues to shape discussions around land rights, sovereignty, and historical justice in the United States today.
