For example, in 1864 the Sand Creek massacre took place in Colorado. Before the fight there were approximately 750 Cheyenne and Arapaho people. Once the fight was over, the troops, led by John M. Chivington, had killed around 230 Native Americans who were mostly women, elderly, and children. The next day Chivington and his men walked around the dead cutting off body parts like fingers, toes and more. The government encouraged scalping them to hang on the wall as a trophy or to turn in for money. If the men brought in a scalp of a Native American 13 years of age or older, they would get 100 pounds. If settlers brought in a scalp from a woman or a child, they would get 50 pounds.
Death of the Native American
After westward expansion, the Native American population decreased dramatically. There were 600,000 Native Americans on record in 1800 and by 1890 there were only 250,000 left. You may ask yourself “How did this happen?” There were many ways the Native Americans died, like smallpox, which some believe was on purpose. But, there were more gruesome and painful ways Native Americans died.
"Confronting America's shameful, violent history makes us stronger as a nation". Ken Burns, 2021
Consider the Trail of Tears that started in the winter of 1831. Indians were forced to make the journey across the North American frontier on foot without food, supplies, or help from the government. Some of those Native Americans were bound in chains and were forced to march. The trail was over 5,000 miles long. Tens of thousands of Native American died on the journey.
Two Mojave Indian woman playing a game (fortune-telling with bones?), ca.1900.
When the white settlers got more and more land, the US army tried to exterminate the Native Americans from the land that they were on and force them to go to reservations. Reservations typically were not by any fresh water and the soil was not ideal for growing crops like corn. The reservations were typically not by any game so it was hard to get any good sources of protein. When the government moved them, they killed the bison by the thousands as you can see in the pictures below.
“Men standing with a pile of buffalo skulls, Michigan Carbon Works | DPL DAMS.” Detroit Public Library Digital Collections
“Buffalo Hides | Photograph.” Wisconsin Historical Society