The federal government took time out from conquering the West, between 1861 to 1865, for the Civil War. The division between families and neighbors didn’t just affect Euro-Americans, it also affected Native Americans, who were once again asked to pick sides.
The South created its own Bureau of Indian Affairs that promised the return of tribal lands in exchange for joining the Confederacy in its fight against the North. Most of the Choctaw and Chickasaw people joined the Confederacy. The other nations were divided, with some supporting the North and others the South. Within the Cherokee Nation, in particular, there was much fighting about which side to support.
Regiments of Native American soldiers found themselves fighting alongside or against white and African American regiments. Many Native Americans were accomplished soldiers and leaders. A good example was Cherokee General Stand Watie.
Stand Watie was born in New Echota in the Cherokee Nation. He took his name from combining his Cherokee and Christian names. He and several family members (Elias Bou-
Dinot, Major Ridge, and John Ridge) were part of a group who advocated Cherokee removal to Indian Territory. Although they weren’t authorized to, Watie and his relatives signed the New Echota Treaty, which committed the Cherokee to removal. Watie immigrated to Indian Territory in 1837 and settled in the northeastern part of the new Cherokee Nation. While those who signed the New Echota Treaty were sentenced to death, Watie went into hiding for a fewyears after being warned of the executions. He remained the leader of the party or faction opposing John Ross, sometimes referred to as the Ridge-Watie party, until 1846 when Ross and Watie made peace.
When the Civil War began, Watie joined the Confederacy as a colonel of the Eirst Regiment of Cherokee Mounted Volunteers. Also in 1862, Watie became principal chief of the Cherokee. Watie’s regiment had many victories, and he was promoted to brigadier general in May 18 64. In the last days of the war, he was appointed commander of the Indian Division of Indian Territory. General Stand Watie was the last Confederate general to surrender to the Union in 1865.
After the war ended in victory for the North, the five nations in Indian Territory were punished for providing assistance to the Confederacy. The western half of Indian Territory was taken from them and given to the more than 20 Native American nations that were coming to Indian Territory.
A buffalo today.
THE WILD BUFFALO ARE NO MORE
About 20,000 years ago, many millions of bison, better known as American buffalo, populated the Great Plains. Although they weighed up to a ton, these huge, shaggy beasts could run up to 35 miles an hour for a long distance. This made them difficult to hunt. Early people used techniques such as buffalojumps, where they herded buffalo in a stampede off a cliff. When horses came to the Plains people, riders raced alongside buffalo and brought them down with arrows, spears, or bullets.
Native Americans wasted nothing. They killed only as only much as they could eat or carry with them, and every part of the buffalo was used. The hides kept them warm, and the bones made effective tools. Because native people never killed more than they needed, there were always enough buffalo.
When the white settlers arrived on the plains, they found that they could sell buffalo hides for a lot of money. Soon the plains were littered with the rotting bodies of buffalo as settlers took only the hides and left the meat. In the winter of 1872, more than 1.5 million buffalo hides were shipped back east. By 1880, the buffalo had almost disappeared. Their demise coincided with the large number of Native American bands entering reservations.
From a low of approximately 1,000 buffalo in the 1880s, conservation efforts have increased numbers to approximately half a million today. Most are privately owned, although 30,000 are part of conservation herds in national parks and wildlife refuges.
World History
