The Men Who won the West?

This week during history class, we learned about how the United States came to conquer the American midwest. After the Reconstruction fiasco, the United States decided that the South wasn't worth the hassle, so they set their sights on the unconquered lands of the great plains of the Midwest. The United states then sent thousands of troops, the Buffalo soldiers,  into the midwest in attempt to claim the land as its own. The only problem with the United States plan was there already were people living on the lands, the Native Americans. The Natives didn't exactly agree with the American's plans to force them off their lands, and this created much conflict in between the Natives and the Buffalo soldiers. For this lesson we again made our own essential question. Our class decided on, ""During Westward Expansion, did the impact of federal policy towards Native Americans and Buffalo Soldiers match the intent?"

During the mid-1800th century, the mid west was inhabited by numerous Native American tribes, including major tribes such as the Lakotas, the Nakota, and the Dakota, the Sioux, the Cheyenne, and many other

Sme Sioux men posing for a p

tribes. Many of these Native tribes followed many annual rituals such as Puberty celebrations, sun dances, Vision quests and many other types rituals. Most of these tribes heavily relied on buffalo as their main source of food, and clothes. Unfortunately, many of these tribes get displaced and destroyed after the American immigration into the West.

A Company of Buffalo Soldiers

The "Buffalo soldier" as often a nickname for the soldiers that were sent into the midwest in attempt to instill order into the lands. The Buffalo soldiers earned their nickname because the Natives thought that they had the spirit of the buffalo within them as they often fought tenaciously much like a herd of buffalo. The majority of the ranks of the Buffalo soldiers were African American soldiers that fought in the Civil war, and decided to join the army as a full time job. These Soldiers were often sent into frontier towns to build the infrastructure, often by building forts, telegraph lines, and railroads.

During the American immigration into the midwest, many conflicts arose between the Natives and the American settlers, mainly due the America's mistreatment of the Native culture. Initially the relationship between the American settlers and the Native had been relatively peaceful. This all change after the discovery of gold in California. This discovery of gold sparked America's interest and many Americans started to move through the Native's reservations in attempt to claim a share of the Californian gold. These immigrants from the U.S. sometimes forcefully moved Natives off their lands. When the Natives retaliated Dawes Act, with at first promised the equal sharing of land in between the settlers and the Natives. Unfortunately the Act ended op giving 90% of the land to the white settlers.
against this forceful relocation, many of the white settlers called for protection by the government, starting the conflict between the Natives and the American settlers. The Natives at first won decisive battles with the American Armies, unfortunately after the American defeat at the Battle of Little Bighorn, the American public's interest with the west increased, and many more American troops were deployed in the the midwest. This "war" eventually lead the American Congress into passing the

During America's expansion into the west, the Natives who once controlled the plains of the west, were forced from their homes and onto reservations which had little to no resources on them. At first the American policies seemed to want to give the Natives equal terms in land. Unfortunately after the series of wars fought between the Native tribes and the Buffalo soldiers, many the treaties that the Americans signed with the natives benefitted the white settlers the most instead of the tribes who signed them. The impact of federal policy on both Natives and Buffalo Soldiers did not match the intent of these policies, as they caused chaos among the Native tribes.