The end of the Civil War did not bring peace to Indian Territory (I.T.)

• Tribes fought with each other and settlers
• U.S. troops were placed back at forts
• Railroads began to be built
  • Buffalo provided meat for workers
  • Buffalo hides became popular - whites killed most of the buffalo
    • This ended Plains Indians way of life
    • They depended on buffalo for food and clothing
    • Now forced onto reservation and to depend on US govt. for food and supplies

• Stagecoach returned to Indian Territory
• Butterfield Stage
  • Overland mail in Indian Territory
  • Traveled from Baxter Springs to El Peso, Texas.
  • Traveled very hard
  • few places to stay
• Steamboats traveled to Ft. Gibson
  • Brought goods into Indian Territory (I.T.)

• Buy 160 acres for $1.25 acre
• Live on it for 5 years

• Made way for transcontinental railroad
  • Union Pacific Company - built west over Rocky Mts.
    • Started at Omaha, Nebraska
    • Used Irish immigrants
  • Central Pacific Company - built east from California
    • Started at Sacramento
    • Used Chinese immigrants
• 1865 - Southern Branch of the Union Pacific oraganized
  • Later known as: Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railway Company
  • The MK&T - "Katy" - Was to build from Kansas to Texas

1864 - Cheyenne & Chief Black Kettle

• Forced from Colorado
• Given land in the Cherokee Outlet
• As buffalo killed, began to ride off land to hunt
• Joined Kiowa and Comanche in attacking settlers, wagon trains, and RR crews

1868 - Camp Supply built on North Fork of Canadian River

• Gen. Phillip Sheridan warned Cheyenne to stay on land
• Winter - Cheyenne joined other tribes along North Fork and Washita Rivers
• In November, Cheyenne went to Ft. Cobb - welcomed
• As they left - General Sheridan ordered George Armstrong Custer to attack the Indians
• 100s of Indians killed - including Black Kettle
• Battle of Washita

 
1869 - Ft. Sill built in middle of the Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache reservation near present day Lawton.

• Conditions terrible - unsalted meat and 10 crackers / day became known as Camp Starvation
• Life was dangerous - plain Indians great fighters
• Buffalo Soldiers - black soldiers - built most of Ft. Sill
• Ft. Sill - largest fort west of Miss. River
• Most forts - 50 men
• Ft. Sill had over 500 men
• After few years conditions improved
• Limestone buildings, gardens, church, and general store
• Built race track
• Had built road to Texas border

• Kiowa and Comanche led by Quanah Parker continued to raid Texas settlements
• 1874 - U.S. said all Indians must be on reservations by August
• Any Indians off reservation considered renegades - outlaws
• Red River Campaign - force Plains Indians back to reservations
  • 300 U.S. troops from I.T. and New Mexico
  • 14 battles fought before Indians gave up
  • Quanah Parker surrendered in June 1875
  • Many Indians sent to prison in Florida

• By this time, firearms and metal weapons were common among Native Americans.
   
• For the most part, any arrows that were used were metal tipped.

Click on the map to see the areas occupied by each tribe, location of army forts, and major battles.

	This picture of Geronimo (far right) and three Apache braves was taken some time before his surrender in 1886.

 

Buffalo (American Bison - Bison bison)

• Independent hunters provided meat
• Buffalo Bill Cody - killed over 4000 buffalo for Union Pacific
• Early hunters used meat and hides
• 1871 - new tanning process caused price of hides to soar
• 1872 - Rath and Wright Co. shipped over 200,000 hides
  

• So many hunters came that the buffalo were wiped out
• Buffalo skinned and rest left to rot
• Last buffalo herd was seen in 1877
• From 1871 - 1877 about 6 million hides shipped from the plains

 
Cattle Country - Beef becoming very popular in northern restaurants

• Longhorn cattle most common used
• Cattle in Texas = $5 (surplus)
• Cattle in Chicago or New York = $100
• Railheads - towns in Kansas along RR where ranchers could ship supplies
• Cattle cars built to haul live cattle to the east
• 1st refrigerated RR cars built - fans blew across ice, could ship meat instead of live cattle

• Cattle Trails:
  • 1st around 1866 - East Shawnee Trail (old Texas Road)
  • Indians and Farmers in Missouri protested
  • Cattle brought tick fever
  • Most famous was Chisholm Trail - developed by Jesse Chisholm (highway 81)
  • Drovers - took the cattle along the trail
  • 1866 - 1885 over 6 million cattle driven north
  • By 1885, RR's had been built south and west and the cattle drives were no longer needed

• Indians began to lease the land to Texas cattleman
• Much $$$ made for the Indians