Lets Check in out West...

Now where are we?

We had a Civil War, a president assassinated, and 3 Amendments added to the Constitution.

Now I suggest we head out West.

Remember all those Native Americans we moved off their land? Yah, well we decided that the land we put them on had some sort of use to us.



Out on the Plains we had Sioux, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Comanche Indian Tribes.

They spent their lives peacefully following the buffalo (Actually...it was the American Bison, there really are no Buffalo in the United States...but that's ok, we can call them Buffalo.)



In 1800 there were around 60 million buffalo on the plains, by 1894 only 25 remained.

This was basically because white people sort of suck. We figured if we destroy the buffalo, the Plains Indians would have no food, no food = no Indians, no Indians = more land.

Railroads even offered special buffalo hunts. This is when a passenger could shoot buffalo from a moving train. No, seriously.


So, we had people shooting buffalo from trains. So did someone go out and pick up the dead buffalo? No...they just stayed there..rotting in the sun. This was pretty gross.

This was a big slap in the face to the Indians, because when they shot a buffalo, they used every single part of it, while the white people just let it fester and rot. Sad face.

Tensions between settlers and the Plains Indians sometimes grew violent, like the case of the Sand Creek Massacre.

Some Cheyenne's had raided some ranches in Colorado.


The U.S. Army said if the Cheyenne returned to their Reservation at Sand Creek, all would be forgiving. This however, would not be true.

When the Cheyenne returned, their Chief, Black Kettle, raised an American flag and a white flag as a sign of peace.


This is how the Army decided to react...

And so, 700 troops opened fire and killed 150 people, mostly women, children, and the elderly.

After they burnt down the Reservation, it was time to pack up and go home.





Of course there would be more things to come...