Name _____________________________ Class _________________ Date __________________

Changes on the Western Frontier

Section 1

Cultures Clash on the Prairie

Terms and Names
Great Plains The grassland region of the United States
Treaty of Fort Laramie 1868 treaty in which the Sioux agreed to live on a reservation
Sitting Bull Leader of Hunkpapa Sioux
George A. Custer Colonel in U.S. Cavalry
assimilation Name of plan to make Native Americans part of white culture
Dawes Act Law that broke up Native American reservations
Battle of Wounded Knee U.S. massacre of Sioux at Wounded Knee Creek, South

Dakota
longhorn Sturdy cattle accustomed to dry grasslands
Chisholm Trail Major cattle route from San Antonio, Texas, through Oklahoma to Kansas
long drive Three-month long overland transport of cattle

Before You Read

In the last section, you read about Reconstruction and its effects on the nation.
In this section, you will read how Americans began settling the West in the
years following Reconstruction. This spelled disaster for Native
Americans.

As You Read
Use a diagram to take notes about the culture of the Plains Indians.
THE CULTURE OF THE PLAINS
INDIANS; SETTLERS PUSH
WESTWARD (Pages 202204)
How did the Plains Indians live?
Native Americans lived on the Great
Plains, the grasslands in the west-central
portion of the United States. They
followed a way of life that centered on the
horse and buffalo. The horse allowed them
to hunt more easily and to travel farther.
The buffalo provided food, clothing,
shelter, and other important items.
The Indians of the Great Plains lived in
small extended family groups. The men
hunted for food. The women helped
butcher the game and prepare the buffalo

hides that the men brought back to camp.

Children learned the skills they would
need as adults.
After the Civil War, thousands of white
settlers moved to the Great Plains. Some
travelled there searching for gold. Others
wanted to own land. They argued that
because Native Americans had not settled
down to improve the land, white settlers
could stake their claim.
1. What were the responsibilities of the
different members of Indian families?
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Section 1, continued

THE GOVERNMENT RESTRICTS

NATIVE AMERICANS; BLOODY
BATTLES CONTINUE (Pages 204206)
Why did Indians and settlers fight
each other?
Along the Great Plains, Native
Americans and white settlers often
clashedmainly over land and resources.
One of the more tragic clashes occurred in
1864. The army was on the side of the
settlers. The Cheyenne, living in an area of
the Colorado Territory known as Sand
Creek, had attacked settlers. In response,
the army attacked and killed about 200
Cheyenne in an incident known as the
Sand Creek Massacre.
In the Treaty of Fort Laramie, most
Sioux agreed to live on a reservation. But
Sitting Bull, an important Sioux leader,
never signed the treaty. In 1876, he defeated
army troops led by George A. Custer, at th
e Little Bighorn River. The Sioux won
decisively, killing Custer and all his soldiers.
The army recovered, however. Within
months it defeated the Sioux.

each Native American family for farming.

The plan, however, failed. Native
Americans were cheated out of the best
land. As a result, they had little success
farming. Worse yet, by 1900, whites had
killed nearly all the buffalo. Native
Americans depended on the buffalo for
their food, clothing, and shelter.
The Sioux adopted a ritual called the
Ghost Dance which they hoped would
bring the buffalo back. This made the
Army nervous. In 1890 they rounded up a
group of Sioux including Sitting Bull.
When they tried to take the Siouxs
weapons a fight broke out. Army troops
killed 300 unarmed Sioux in the Battle of
Wounded Knee.
3. What were two reasons why
assimilation failed?
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_______________________________
CATTLE BECOMES BIG BUSINESS;
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A COWBOY;
THE END OF THE OPEN RANGE

2. What were the reasons for the clashes

between the U.S. government and the
Sioux?

(Pages 208211)

What caused the cattle business

to grow?
Cattle ranching became a big business
after the Civil War. Ranchers raised
longhorns, a sturdy breed first brought to the
Americas by the Spanish. American cowboys
learned from vaqueros, the first cowboys
who worked on Spanish ranches in Mexico.
Growing cities spurred the demand for
beef. Cattle ranchers drove their cattle
over the Chisholm Trail from San
Antonio, Texas, to Kansas where they
were shipped by rail to Chicago.
Between 1866 and 1885, about 55,000
cowboys worked the plains. About 12
percent of these cowboys were Mexican.
About 25 percent were African American.

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THE GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS
ASSIMILATION; THE BATTLE OF
WOUNDED KNEE (Pages 206208)
Why did assimilation fail?
To deal with the Native American
problem, the U.S. government adopted a
plan of assimilation. In this plan, Native
Americans would give up their beliefs and
culture and become part of white culture.
To push assimilation, Congress passed
the Dawes Act in 1887. The act broke up
reservations and gave some of the land to

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Section 1, continued

wiped out many ranchers. Others started

using barbed wire to fence in their
ranches.

A cowboys life was difficult. Cowboys

worked between 10 and 14 hours a day in
all kinds of weather. They worked hard all
spring and summer. In the winter, they
lived off their savings or went from ranch
to ranch and looked for odd jobs. In the
spring, cowboys rounded up their cattle
and headed them out on the long drive.
This was the journey from the plains to the
shipping yards in Abilene, Kansas. The
days of the open range and cattle drive did
not last long. Bad weather in the 1880s

4. What two factors helped the cattle

business to grow?
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Section 1, continued

As you read about the conflicts that occurred during the settlement of the
Western frontier, answer questions about the time line below.
1858

Discovery of
Gold in Colorado

1. How did the discovery of gold affect the settlement of

the West?

1864

Sand Creek
Massacre

2. What happened at Sand Creek?

1868

Treaty of Fort
Laramie

3. What were the terms of the Treaty of Fort Laramie?

Why did it fail?

1874

Invasion by gold
miners of the
Siouxs sacred
Black Hills

1876

George
A. Custers Last
Stand

4. What happened at the Battle of Little Bighorn?

1887

The policy of
assimilation
formalized in the
Dawes Act

5. What was the purpose of the Dawes Act?

1890

The Spread of
the Ghost Dance
movement; the
death of Sitting
Bull; the Battle of
Wounded Knee

6. What happened at Wounded Knee Creek?

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