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Homestead Act
The Homestead Act provided 160 acres of free land to any settler who paid a fee and lived there for at least 5 years. This took placeBasically, a person was granted free land just by living on it. Thousands of people moved westward because of all the findings. Even women were moving so they could buy their own land. This was a great step for Americans to finally have the land they wanted. -
Discovery of 1874
In 1864, settlers in Colorado were finding more silver and gold in their mines. This caused more people to want to move to Colorado in search of these treasures. People were being robbed, ranches were being burned, and many people were being killed. This caused many Native Americans to be forced to leave Colorado. The fighting finally stopped in 1865. -
Fetterman Massacre
U.S. troops were on at a fort on the Bozeman Trail. The Sioux tribe leader, Crazy Horse, distracted about 80 troops and lead them to a trap where hundreds of warriors were waiting. They destroyed every troop and therefore this battle was known as the bloodiest incident between the Sioux and the Americans. -
Treaty of Fort Laramie
A meeting was held at Fort Laramie between the Sioux Tribe and Americans. The treaty's purpose was to bring peace among the Native Americans and the white settlers. The idea was to have the Native American's sign saying that they would move further westward into reservation areas. Unfortunately, the treaty didn't do much good. There was only more fighting to follow. -
Battle of Little Bighorn
Colonel George Custer had decided to try and attack the Native Americans in North and South Dakota. His purpose for doing this was so he could say he had an amazing victory but he underestimated their strength and therefore lost his life along with all his soldier's lives. -
Ghost Dance
The Sioux were tired of things being so terrible so they decided to go to a prophet for advice. The prophets name was Wovoka. Wovoka had said that the only way to collect all of their land back from the settlers was to perform a ritual. The ritual was called the Ghost Dance and it was a way for the tribe to express their culture. Reservation Officials had decided to ban the dance so they went and tried to arrest the chief, Sitting Bull but ended up shooting him instead. -
Wounded Knee
After the death of Sitting Bull, the Lakota Sioux had fled to South Dakota at a creek called Wounded Knee. In December, the army had gone to collect the Sioux's weapons. The tribe wanted no parts of it so a battle had begun. Many people, whites and Native Americans, were killed. The battle of Wounded Knee was the last armed confliced between Native Americans and white people. The tribes had lost their struggle.
