This is a short look at the Indian Wars that cdominated the conversation around Westward Expansion from 1864 - 1890.

1. “Whensoever hostile aggressions..require a
resort to war, we must meet our duty and
convince the world that we are just friends and
brave enemies.” – Thomas Jefferson, 1806 in a
letter to Andrew Jackson
“Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial
political and moral questions of our time; the
need for man to overcome oppression and
violence without resorting to oppression and
violence.” – Martin Luther King, Jr., 1964 in a
speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize

9. • The reality of the situation was
that the Amerindian force was
much larger than expected and
Custer’s Last Stand at the
Battle of Little Big Horn
became important as a bitter
defeat for the whites.

10. • The Nez Perce tribe and their
leader Chief Joseph, tried as
best they could to avoid battles
with the whites, But, even the
group who had helped Lewis
and Clark could not avoid
bloodshed.

11. “Words do not pay for my dead
people. They do not pay for my
country now overrun by white
men. They do not protect my
father’s grave. They do not pay
for my horses and cattle. Good
words to not give my back my
children…” – Chief Joseph

12. • In 1887, the government put
legislation in place that they
believed would help the
Amerindians assimilate, which
is the process by which one
society becomes part of more
dominant society.