During most of the nineteenth century, the policy of the United States was to settle all American Indians on reservations where they would be out of the way of the American settlers who wanted to claim their lands. In accordance with the Constitution of the United States, the federal government negotiated treaties (international agreements) with Indian nations. These treaties often established Indian reservations that were territories which the Indian nations reserved for themselves (please note that the United States did not “give” reservations to the Indian nations). The treaties indicated these reservations were to be for the exclusive use of the Indians.
Reservations were established by treaties, by Presidential Executive Order, and by acts of Congress. Similarly, reservation boundaries could be changed, and reservations enlarged or reduced in this fashion. The Indian nations were sometimes, but not always, consulted about changes to their reservations. In addition, the Americans tended to view all Indians as one people and, blissfully unaware of cultural differences between tribes, to assign multiple tribes to a single reservation.
One of the purposes of reservations was to “civilize” Indians by acculturating them into American culture and destroying their Indian cultures. In an article in the Western Historical Quarterly, Christina Klein writes:
“Reservations were physical spaces designed to redefine the cultural space of Indians—to move them from savagery, a position wholly outside the social order, to quasi-citizenry, a position within the emerging social hierarchy, albeit on its lowest rungs.”
Historian Sherry Smith, in her book The View from Officers’ Row: Army Perceptions of Western Indians, puts it this way:
“United States Indian policy during the last half of the nineteenth century centered on the reservation system. On reservations, policymakers hoped, Indians would begin the acculturation process that would eventually usher them into the Anglo-American world.”
Corruption in the administration of Indian reservations was widespread. In an effort to stop corruption and to speed-up the assimilation of Indians, President Ulysses S. Grant instituted his Peace Policy in which the administration of reservations was given to Christian (primarily Protestant) churches. With no regard for aboriginal religious practices, it was assumed that all Indians should be forced to become Christian as a part of their assimilation into American culture.
Briefly described below are a few of the reservation events of 150 years ago, in 1875.
Alsea Reservation
In a cost-cutting move in Oregon, Congress closed the Alsea Reservation and the northern part of the Siletz Reservation. Skeptical Senators inserted a clause which required that the Indians give their consent for the closure. When the Indian people declined to consent, the Indian agent claimed that they had, in fact, indicated a willingness to consent to the closure and a federal commissioner certified their agreement.
Tillamook chief Joseph Duncan protested the removal:
“We all want to stay in our own country and take up land like the whites—Our people all think alike on this subject.”
The agent told the Indians that the American settlers would cheat them if they take up homesteads and recommended that they move. The Nestuccas also insisted that they would rather take their own land under the homestead law than be removed.
Alsea chief Albert tells the agent:
“We have houses which we built ourselves—have little farms and places, and we do not want to give them up even if our land is not fenced.”
Alsea chief William says:
“Never have we done wrong to the whites—Never have we killed a White man—Why do the Whites have sick hearts for our land?”
The arguments made no impression on the agent.
The agent called a council with the Indians. Three leaders from the Siletz Reservation—George Harney, Depot Charlie (later known as Charles Depoe), and William Strong—were hand-picked by the agent and supposedly spoke in favor of removal. The Indians were told that they could stay on the reservation by taking 20-acre homesteads which were being surveyed for them. After the council, the three Siletz men supposedly informed the agent of the Indians’ willingness to be removed. Historian E. A. Schwartz, in an article in the Oregon Historical Quarterly, reports:
“The statements attributed to unnamed Alsea Reservation people at the mouth of the Alsea by Harney, Depoe, and Strong were the only ‘consent’ ever given for removal.”
San Carlos Apache Reservation
During the nineteenth and early twentieth century, many non-Indians felt that the Yavapais were an Apache group and often labeled them as Yavapai Apaches. In terms of language, the Yavapai language is classified as Upland or Northern Yuman and thus is most closely related to Walapai (Hualapai) and Havasupai. The United States government, in its infinite ignorance, assigned the Yavapais to the San Carlos Apache reservation, far from their homelands in western Arizona.
Yavapai reservation life on the San Carlos Apache Reservation is described by Sigred Khera and Patricia Mariella, in their chapter on the Yavapais in the Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 10: Southwest:
“At San Carlos, the Yavapais were settled in an area separate from the Apaches. Relations with the Apache were basically peaceful, and intermarriage took place occasionally. Agriculture was an important part of subsistence; but due to extreme difficulties in developing a permanent irrigation system, hunting and gathering was necessary to provide supplementary food.”
In 1875, a group of about 25 Tolkepaya Yavapais left the San Carlos Apache Reservation without permission and visited the Pima and Maricopa settlements in Central Arizona. When they returned, they told the Indian agent that they had friends among the Pimas and wanted to settle there.
A little while later, a group of 27 Tolkepaya Yavapais left the reservation heading for the Pima settlements. This time the agent sent the Indian police after them. The Yavapai, even though they outnumbered the police, offered no resistance, and were escorted back to the San Carlos Apache Reservation
When a new group of Yavapais and Tonto Apaches arrived at the San Carlos Apache Reservation, they were met by the Indian agent who told them that they must surrender all their arms. All of the Indians leapt to their feet and dashed back to their camps. However, the Indian agent refused to issue rations until the weapons were surrendered.
Tonkawa
In Texas, the army terminated further allowances for the Tonkawa scouts and recommended to the Department of the Interior that a reservation be established for them in Indian Territory. In an article in Chronicles of Oklahoma, Thomas Schilz reports:
“To the Indian Office the Tonkawas were scouts on a military reservation; to the army, they were Indians squatting on government land.”
Under pressure from the War Department and Congress, the Indian Office recommended that the Tonkawa be removed to the Mescalero Apache reservation in New Mexico but noted that there were no funds available for removal.
Seneca
In New York, Congress authorized six “congressional villages” on the Seneca’s Allegheny Reservation. These villages converted “temporary” settlements which had been built for railroad workers into permanent villages. These villages occupied one-third of the reservation. The state of New York was given jurisdiction over these villages.
Crow Reservation
In Montana, stock growers and farmers complained about the proposed removal of the Crows to a reservation in the Judith Basin. As a result, President Ulysses S. Grant revoked his earlier removal order and placed the Crows on a small reservation south of the Yellowstone River. Historians Michael Malone and Richard Roeder, in their chapter in The Great Sioux War 1876-77, report:
“Once again the Indians were the losers.”
In Montana, one of suppliers to the Crow reservation is charged with fraud. One of the common fraud practices was double bagging. In his book Lost Fort Ellis: A Frontier History of Bozeman, Thomas Rust explains:
“During inspection, a bag of flour would be stamped ‘received’ and then recorded. If double sacked, after inspection the outer sack could be removed and the second sack stamped again and counted a second time.”
A grand jury in Virginia City heard the allegations. Thomas Rust reports:
“The jury returned no charges, causing the presiding judge to reprimand them for not doing their duty because the evidence clearly favored an indictment.”
Moapa Reservation
In 1875, the Moapa Reservation in Utah was reduced to 1,000 acres because of requests from non-Indian settlers, a lack of funding to support the reservation, and a lack of success in persuading the Southern Paiute to move to the reservation.
Gosiute
In Nevada, in response to the White Pine War, the Indian Bureau decided to remove the Gosiutes to a reservation where they could:
“…be free of Mormon influence and where they would find other Indians with whom they could readily affiliate.”
Two possible reservations were suggested: Uintah-Ouray Reservation in Utah and the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho. However, the Indian Bureau was unable to decide which reservation and as a result that Gosiute were not removed.
Ho-Chunk (Winnebago)
In Nebraska, about 650 of the 860 Winnebagos who had been forcibly removed from Wisconsin in 1871 have disappeared from their new reservation and returned home to Wisconsin.
Southern California Rancherias
President Ulysses S. Grant set aside several small reservations (called “rancherias”) for Indians in Southern California.
Lemhi Valley Indian Reservation
By executive order of President Ulysses S. Grant, the Lemhi Valley Indian Reservation in Idaho was created for the mixed tribes of Shoshones, Bannocks, and Sheepeaters. The reservation encompassed about 100 square miles of mountainous terrain.
Navajo Reservation
The Navajo chiefs in Arizona and New Mexico discovered that Indian agent Arny had been withholding about half of their annuity goods. The chiefs asked that Arny be replaced by Thomas V. Keans who was married to a Navajo and who spoke the language. In their petition to the government, the Navajo chiefs reported that Arny had used “threats and coercion to make us sign numerous papers of which we have no knowledge whatever.”
The Navajos seized the agency headquarters while Arny was absent and threatened to kill him if he returned. In searching the agency’s storehouses, the Navajo found that Arny had labeled the goods as his personal property. According to historian Frank McNitt, in his book The Indian Traders:
“On retiring as agent, Arny conceivably planned to open a general store.”
Sioux Reservation
In South Dakota, charges of corruption were made against the Office of Indian Affairs regarding the administration of the Sioux Reservation. According to the charges, the Indians had been given inferior beef and flour; the pork issued to them was not fit for human consumption; and that the freight contractor was paid for 212 miles while the actual distance is only 145 miles. The complaint was investigated by the government and the allegations were found to be groundless. In his book Red Cloud and the Sioux Problem, James Olson reports:
“Very little, then, came of the Great Investigation. One cannot escape the conclusion that the Commissioners either played down or failed to see the implications of much of the testimony they heard.”
Cheyenne River Reservation
In South Dakota, the Miniconjou Sioux under the leadership of Big Foot were settled on the Cheyenne River Reservation. In his biographical sketch of Big Foot in Notable Native Americans, John McDermott writes:
“Being a person accustomed to finding ways of reconciling disparate views, Big Foot sought means to adapt to white ways.”
Kickapoo
In Oklahoma, Kickapoo chief Thahpequah and other leaders began searching for a new home. They finally selected a 100,000-acre tract between the Deep Fork and Canadian Rivers.
In 1875, a band of 115 Kickapoos from Mexico under the leadership of Mosquito were removed to the new reservation in Oklahoma. The U.S. government provided each family with supplies and food for their journey.
Standing Rock Reservation
In North Dakota, the Indian agent for the Standing Rock Reservation took the Sioux leaders to Fort Abraham Lincoln where they signed a treaty with the Arikara, Mandan, and Hidatsa from the Fort Berthold Reservation to end hostilities and horse stealing between the two reservations.
Fort Peck Agency
In 1875, a tribal police force was established at the Fort Peck Agency. Most of the officers were Yanktonais and their primary job was to keep order in the tribal camps, to stop alcohol trafficking, and to prevent war parties from leaving the reservation.
In Montana, the Lower Assiniboines under the leadership of Red Stone relocated to Wolf Creek on the Fort Peck Agency. With help from the Agency staff, 50 acres of land were planted in wheat, corn, peas, potatoes, turnips, and squash. They also built fences and constructed a large root cellar.
Day schools were established for the Sioux and Assinboines at Fort Peck and Wolf Creek. The schools were built of logs and roofed with sod.
More American Indian histories
Indians 101: American Indian Reservations 150 years ago, 1874
Indians 101: Indian reservations in Washington, Oregon, and California 150 years ago, 1873
Indians 101: Indian reservations 150 years ago, 1873
Indians 101: Southwestern Indian Reservations 150 years ago, 1873
Indians 101: Indian Reservations 150 years ago, 1872
Indians 101: Councils and reservations 150 years ago, 1870
Indians 101: American Indians 150 years ago, 1874
Indians 101: American Indian religions 150 years ago, 1874
