The Destruction of Indigenous America

A Note on This Document

This comprehensive documentary history examines the systematic destruction of Indigenous peoples in what is now the United States from 1492 to the 20th century. Through detailed regional analyses, population data, survivor testimony, and historical records, the document chronicles how an estimated 5-8 million Indigenous people were reduced to 250,000 by 1900—a 95-97% population decline.

The document covers six geographic regions (Northeast, Southeast, Great Plains, Southwest, California, and Northwest), documenting specific tribal nations, major events, and the mechanisms of destruction: military violence and massacres, deliberate starvation policies including buffalo extermination, forced removal and death marches (Trail of Tears), disease as a weapon, legal genocide including bounty systems and enslavement, the reservation concentration system, and cultural genocide through 367+ boarding schools.

Key findings include explicit genocidal intent from military and political leaders, California’s state-funded extermination program resulting in 89% population loss in 52 years, the deliberate buffalo extermination (30-60 million to under 1,000) to starve Plains peoples, 100,000+ children forcibly removed to boarding schools where 10,000-40,000+ died, and systematic treaty violations across all regions.

This document exists to honor the victims, name the perpetrators, and provide an unflinching account of events that meet every criterion of the UN Genocide Convention. The truth is documented through military correspondence, congressional records, survivor accounts, and statistical evidence. Indigenous peoples survived this genocide and continue to fight for justice, truth, and the return of stolen lands.

The Scope of Destruction

Before Contact

When European colonizers first arrived in what would become the United States, they encountered a land that was not wilderness, but home. Conservative estimates place the Indigenous population of North America at 8-12 million people north of present-day Mexico, though some scholars argue for figures as high as 18 million. These were not scattered bands of nomads, but complex societies:

The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy had developed a sophisticated democratic system that would later influence American constitutional thought
Cahokia, near present-day St. Louis, was a city of 20,000-40,000 people in the 12th century—larger than London at the time
The Ancestral Puebloans built multi-story apartment complexes and developed extensive irrigation systems
California alone was home to over 300,000 people speaking more than 100 distinct languages

These were nations with diplomatic relationships, trade networks spanning thousands of miles, agricultural innovations, astronomical knowledge, and oral histories stretching back centuries.

After Contact: The Scale of Loss

By 1900, the Indigenous population of the United States had been reduced to approximately 250,000 people—a decline of roughly 95-97%.

This was not primarily the result of “inevitable” disease, though disease was deliberately weaponized. This was not simply “conflict,” though there was systematic military violence. This was not merely “relocation,” though forced removals killed thousands.

This was genocide. It meets the United Nations definition established in 1948:

Acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, including:

Killing members of the group

Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group

Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction

Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group

Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

Every single criterion was met, repeatedly, across centuries and thousands of miles.

Primary Mechanisms of Destruction

1. Disease as Weapon (1500s-1800s)

While some diseases spread unintentionally through initial contact, the historical record shows clear instances of biological warfare:

Documented Cases:

1763: British officers at Fort Pitt deliberately distributed smallpox-infected blankets to Delaware and Shawnee peoples during Pontiac’s War, documented in military correspondence
1837: The U.S. Army withheld smallpox vaccinations from Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara peoples along the Missouri River, despite having adequate supplies. The Mandan population fell from approximately 2,000 to fewer than 150 people within months.

The “Virgin Soil Epidemic” Myth: Popular narratives suggest disease alone, through “virgin soil epidemics,” caused 90% of Indigenous deaths. This oversimplifies reality:

Many Indigenous peoples had robust medical knowledge and successfully quarantined infected individuals
Disease mortality rates increased dramatically when populations were forcibly concentrated, deprived of food sources, or subjected to death marches
The highest death rates occurred when disease was combined with warfare, starvation, and trauma

2. Military Violence and Massacres (1600s-1890s)

Systematic military campaigns targeted Indigenous peoples for extermination. These were not battles between equal forces, but deliberate attacks on civilians:

Defining Characteristics:

Targeting of women, children, and elders
Destruction of food supplies and villages before winter
Mutilation of bodies as terror tactics
Attacks during peace negotiations or under flags of truce

Major massacres will be detailed in regional sections

3. Starvation Policy (1860s-1890s)

U.S. policy explicitly sought to destroy Indigenous food sources to force compliance:

Buffalo Extermination:

Pre-1800: 30-60 million buffalo sustained Plains peoples
1870s: U.S. government encouraged mass slaughter; military commanders openly stated the goal was to starve Indigenous peoples
By 1890: Fewer than 1,000 buffalo remained
General Philip Sheridan: “Let them kill, skin, and sell until the buffalo is exterminated, as it is the only way to bring lasting peace and allow civilization to advance.”

Destruction of Food Sources:

Burning of cornfields and orchards
Slaughter of horses and livestock
Poisoning of water sources
Prevention of hunting and fishing on traditional lands

4. Forced Removal (1830s-1850s)

The Indian Removal Act of 1830 codified ethnic cleansing:

Trail of Tears Statistics:

Cherokee: ~16,000 removed, 4,000-8,000 died (25-50%)
Choctaw: ~15,000 removed, ~2,500 died (17%)
Creek: ~20,000 removed, ~3,500 died (17%)
Chickasaw: ~4,000 removed, ~500 died (12%)
Seminole: ~3,000 removed after devastating war

These were death marches conducted in winter, with inadequate food, clothing, and shelter. Children and elders died first. The survivors were deposited on unfamiliar land, often already occupied by other Indigenous peoples.

5. Reservation Confinement (1850s-present)

Reservations were concentration camps by design:

Characteristics:

Placed on poorest land, often far from traditional territories
Insufficient in size to support traditional lifeways
Subject to repeated size reductions as settlers wanted more land
Dependent on federal government for food and supplies
Rations deliberately kept insufficient to maintain control
Movement restricted, traditional practices banned

6. Cultural Genocide (1870s-1960s)

The deliberate destruction of Indigenous cultures:

Boarding Schools:

367 boarding schools operated from 1870s-1960s
Children forcibly taken from families (federal agents could imprison parents who refused)
“Kill the Indian, save the man” – Captain Richard Pratt, 1892
Children beaten for speaking their languages
Rampant physical and sexual abuse
Unmarked graves being discovered today (thousands of children died)

Banned Practices:

Sun Dances, potlatches, and religious ceremonies (banned until 1978)
Speaking Indigenous languages
Traditional hairstyles and clothing
Traditional governance systems

Timeline of Destruction: Major Policy Milestones

1492-1600: Initial contact; disease begins devastating coastal populations

1622-1890: Continuous warfare and displacement across expanding colonial/American frontier

1830: Indian Removal Act signed by Andrew Jackson

1831-1850: Trail of Tears era; forced removal of Southeast nations

1851: First Fort Laramie Treaty (immediately violated)

1862: Dakota War and mass execution (largest in U.S. history)

1864: Sand Creek Massacre; Long Walk of the Navajo begins

1868: Washita Massacre

1870s-1890s: Buffalo extermination; final Plains Wars

1876: Battle of Little Bighorn (Indigenous victory followed by intensified extermination efforts)

1887: Dawes Act (Allotment) – stripped 90 million acres from Indigenous control

1890: Wounded Knee Massacre – last major military action

1924: Indian Citizenship Act (Indigenous peoples granted citizenship in their own land)

1978: American Indian Religious Freedom Act (religious practices finally legal again)

Part I: The Northeast – First Contact, First Betrayals

Overview: The Northeast Before Colonization

The Northeast was home to dozens of distinct nations, generally divided into two major language families:

Algonquian-speaking peoples: Wampanoag, Pequot, Narragansett, Massachusett, Mohegan, Abenaki, Lenape (Delaware), and many others

Iroquoian-speaking peoples: Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, later joined by Tuscarora), Huron-Wendat

Pre-Contact Population Estimates:

Total Northeast region: 500,000-1,000,000 people
Wampanoag Confederation: ~50,000-70,000
Pequot: ~13,000-16,000
Narragansett: ~20,000-25,000
Lenape: ~20,000-30,000
Haudenosaunee Confederacy: ~20,000-25,000

The Wampanoag: From “First Thanksgiving” to Near-Extermination

Population Timeline:

1600: ~50,000-70,000
1620: ~12,000 (disease had already devastated coastal populations)
1676: ~3,000 (after King Philip’s War)
1700: ~1,000
Today: ~4,000-5,000 enrolled members (recovery still ongoing)

The Truth Behind the Mythology:

The “First Thanksgiving” story taught in schools carefully omits critical context:

1616-1619: A plague (likely introduced by European traders) killed approximately 75% of coastal Wampanoag and neighboring peoples before the Pilgrims arrived. When colonists arrived, they found cleared land and stored corn—evidence of thriving communities recently destroyed.
1620-1621: Tisquantum (Squanto) helped the Pilgrims survive not out of naive generosity but as a calculated diplomatic move. He had been kidnapped by English traders in 1614, sold into slavery in Spain, escaped to England, and returned in 1619 to find his entire village (Patuxet) dead from disease. He saw alliance as potential protection for his people.
1621 Gathering: The three-day harvest gathering was not an early Thanksgiving but a diplomatic summit. The Wampanoag sachem Ousamequin (Massasoit) came with 90 men—more than twice the number of colonists—as a show of strength and to negotiate a treaty.

What Happened Next:

As more colonists arrived, attitudes shifted from tentative diplomacy to colonial entitlement:

1630s-1660s: Steady encroachment

English population exploded from ~2,000 (1630) to ~33,000 (1660)
Colonists declared Indigenous lands “legally vacant” if not permanently inhabited
Colonists’ livestock destroyed Indigenous crops; colonists blamed Indigenous peoples for not fencing their fields (on their own land)
Increasing violence and legal restrictions on Indigenous peoples

King Philip’s War (1675-1676):

By 1675, Ousamequin’s son Metacom (called “King Philip” by colonists) led a confederated resistance against colonial expansion.

Scale of Destruction:

Deadliest war per capita in American history
~5,000 Indigenous people killed in combat
~2,000 more Indigenous people died of starvation and disease
~1,000 Indigenous people sold into slavery in the Caribbean
12 of 90 colonial towns destroyed
~2,500 colonists killed (40% of English military-age men in New England)

The Ending:

Metacom betrayed by an informer and killed; his head displayed on a pike in Plymouth for 25 years
His wife and 9-year-old son sold into slavery in the Caribbean
Colonial authorities declared the land “legally cleared” for settlement
Surviving Wampanoag scattered, enslaved, or confined to marginal lands

The Pequot: Genocide as Colonial Policy

Population Timeline:

1630: ~13,000-16,000
1637: ~3,000 (after Mystic Massacre)
1910: ~66 (census count—the nadir)
Today: ~3,000 enrolled members

The Pequot War (1636-1638):

This war established the template for colonial genocide:

Mystic Massacre (May 26, 1637):

English colonists and Narragansett allies surrounded the fortified Pequot village of Mystic before dawn
Set the village on fire, shooting anyone who tried to escape
400-700 Pequot people burned alive, mostly women, children, and elders (warriors were away)
Colonial leader John Mason: “It was a fearful sight to see them frying in the fire… horrible was the stink and scent thereof, but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and they gave praise thereof to God.”
Even the Narragansett allies were horrified by the brutality, calling it “too furious and slays too many men”

Aftermath:

Bounties placed on Pequot scalps
Survivors hunted systematically
Captured Pequot people sold into slavery in the Caribbean and Bermuda
1637 Treaty: Pequot Nation declared “dissolved”; survivors forbidden from using the name “Pequot”
Children distributed to English families and other tribes as servants

Legal Precedent: The Pequot War established that Indigenous peoples could be:

Collectively punished
Subjected to total war including civilians
Enslaved
Legally erased as nations

This became the model for future colonial policy.

The Narragansett: Betrayal and Destruction

Population Timeline:

1600: ~20,000-25,000
1676: ~3,000
1900: ~500
Today: ~2,400 enrolled members

The Narragansett Pattern:

The Narragansett initially allied with English colonists, providing crucial support during the Pequot War. This alliance meant nothing when colonists wanted Narragansett land.

Great Swamp Massacre (December 19, 1675):

During King Philip’s War, colonial forces attacked a fortified Narragansett winter camp in Rhode Island
~600 Narragansett killed, mostly women, children, and elders
The fort was burned; those who escaped died of exposure in the winter
Colonial forces intentionally chose winter to maximize casualties
Survivors scattered; the Narragansett political structure was shattered

Land Theft Timeline:

1642: Narragansett territory covered ~3,000 square miles (almost all of Rhode Island)
1700: Reduced to ~200 square miles through fraudulent treaties
1880: Reduced to ~2 square miles after state of Rhode Island illegally “detribalized” the Narragansett and seized remaining land
1978: Federal recognition restored after century-long legal battle

The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy: Survival Through Strength

Population Timeline:

1600: ~20,000-25,000
1650: ~15,000 (after disease and warfare with French/Huron)
1779: ~12,000
1900: ~15,000
Today: ~125,000 total (including Canadian territories)

The Confederacy:

The Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse) created one of the world’s oldest participatory democracies, the Great Law of Peace (Gayanashagowa), possibly dating to 1142 CE:

Sophisticated system of checks and balances
Clan mothers selected male leaders (who could be removed)
Unanimous consent required for war
Influenced Benjamin Franklin and American constitutional thought

Strategic Survival:

Unlike many nations, the Haudenosaunee maintained significant power through:

Strategic diplomacy (playing French and English against each other)
Military strength
Political sophistication
Strategic location controlling trade routes

The Sullivan Campaign (1779):

During the American Revolution, most Haudenosaunee nations allied with the British (correctly seeing American expansion as the greater threat). George Washington ordered “total destruction and devastation” of Haudenosaunee territories.

General John Sullivan’s Orders from Washington: “The immediate objects are the total destruction and devastation of their settlements… I would recommend… that the country may not be merely overrun but destroyed… the total ruin of their settlements is necessary.”

The Campaign:

40+ Haudenosaunee towns destroyed
~160,000 bushels of corn destroyed
Orchards cut down (some trees 100+ years old)
Winter supplies burned
Conducted in late summer/early fall to maximize winter starvation
Haudenosaunee nicknamed Washington “Town Destroyer”

Results:

Thousands died of starvation and exposure during the winter of 1779-1780
Forced dependence on British supplies
After American victory, massive land cessions forced through fraudulent treaties
By 1800, Haudenosaunee territory reduced from ~25 million acres to ~100,000 acres

The Lenape (Delaware): Three Centuries of Displacement

Population Timeline:

1600: ~20,000-30,000
1700: ~10,000
1800: ~5,000
1900: ~2,000
Today: ~16,000 enrolled members (across three federally recognized tribes in Oklahoma and Wisconsin, plus descendants in Ontario)

The Walking Purchase (1737):

This fraudulent treaty exemplifies the legal theft that accompanied military conquest:

The Setup:

1686: Original treaty with William Penn stated Lenape would sell land extending as far as a man could walk in a day and a half
1737: Penn’s sons claimed they found the original deed and wanted to execute the walk
The Lenape remembered the agreement as a leisurely walk (perhaps 20-30 miles)

The Reality:

Penn’s sons hired the three fastest runners in the colony
They cleared a path beforehand
The runners covered ~60 miles, far beyond traditional territory
The Lenape protested it was fraudulent
Colonial authorities sided with the Penn family
1,200 square miles stolen through deceit

Forced Westward Migration:

1740s: Pushed from Pennsylvania homeland to Ohio
1770s-1790s: Caught in frontier warfare during Revolution
1778: Gnadenhutten Massacre – 96 peaceful Christian Lenape (mostly women and children) murdered by Pennsylvania militia
1794: After defeat at Battle of Fallen Timbers, forced to cede Ohio lands
1818-1820s: Forced to Missouri
1830s: Forced to Kansas
1867: Final removal to Oklahoma (then Indian Territory)

Three Centuries, Twelve Removals: The Lenape were forcibly moved at least twelve times, each time promised “permanent” land, each time betrayed when settlers wanted the territory.

Northeast Summary: The Pattern Established

What Happened in the Northeast:

Pre-contact population: ~500,000-1,000,000
By 1700: ~100,000
Population decline: ~80-90% in first century

Methods Perfected:

Disease (sometimes deliberately spread) softened resistance
Initial diplomacy and treaties to gain foothold
Demographic overwhelm through colonial population growth
Economic pressure (livestock, land enclosure, debt)
Legal theft through fraudulent treaties
Outright military violence when resistance occurred
Collective punishment of civilians
Systematic destruction of food supplies
Enslavement and family separation
Forced displacement to increasingly marginal lands

Why the Northeast Matters: This region established the colonial playbook that would be repeated, refined, and intensified as expansion continued westward. Every justification, every legal fiction, every military tactic used to destroy Indigenous peoples across the continent was first tested in the Northeast.

The myths we tell about this history—friendly Indians helping helpless colonists—serve to obscure the calculated, systematic nature of what occurred.

Part II: The Southeast – “Civilized” Meant Nothing

Overview: The Southeast Before Removal

The Southeast was home to complex societies with:

Sophisticated agriculture (Three Sisters: corn, beans, squash)
Large towns with ceremonial mounds
Extensive trade networks
Matrilineal clan systems
Advanced governance structures

Major Nations:

Cherokee (Tsalagi)
Choctaw (Chahta)
Chickasaw (Chikasha)
Creek/Muscogee (Mvskoke)
Seminole (formed from Creek and other peoples)

These five nations would be called the “Five Civilized Tribes” by colonists—a racist designation implying other Indigenous peoples were “uncivilized,” but also a tacit admission that these nations had adopted many European practices. This adoption would prove meaningless.

Pre-Removal Population Estimates:

Cherokee: ~40,000-45,000
Choctaw: ~18,000-20,000
Chickasaw: ~5,000-7,000
Creek: ~25,000-30,000
Seminole: ~5,000-8,000
Total: ~93,000-110,000

The Cherokee: Adaptation, Betrayal, and the Trail of Tears

Population Timeline:

1650: ~50,000
1820: ~15,000 (after disease and frontier wars)
1835: ~22,000 (population recovering)
1839: ~14,000-18,000 (after Trail of Tears)
1900: ~28,000
Today: ~450,000 enrolled members (across three federally recognized tribes)

The Adaptation Strategy:

The Cherokee Nation made a calculated decision to adopt European practices to resist removal:

1820s Cherokee Nation:

Written constitution (1827) modeled after U.S. Constitution
Supreme court, legislature, executive branch
Written language: Sequoyah’s syllabary (1821) – achieved mass literacy within years
Newspaper: Cherokee Phoenix (1828) – bilingual, first Native American newspaper
Schools, mills, plantations
Many Cherokee were Christian
Mixed economy of agriculture and commerce
Treaty relationships with U.S. government

The Problem: None of this mattered. Georgians wanted Cherokee land, especially after gold was discovered there in 1829.

The Legal Battle:

The Cherokee Nation took Georgia to the U.S. Supreme Court—and won.

Worcester v. Georgia (1832):

Supreme Court ruled that Cherokee Nation was sovereign
Georgia had no right to impose state laws on Cherokee territory
Treaties were binding
President Andrew Jackson (apocryphally): “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it.”

The Reality: Jackson refused to enforce the Court’s decision. He wanted removal.

The Treaty of New Echota (1835):

The Fraud:

Negotiated with a tiny faction (~100 people) without authorization from the Cherokee government
Principal Chief John Ross and the elected Cherokee government opposed it
~16,000 Cherokee signed petition against the treaty
U.S. Senate ratified it anyway by one vote
Cherokee leaders who signed (Treaty Party) knew they were violating Cherokee law and would face execution

What the Treaty Did:

Ceded all Cherokee land east of Mississippi (~7 million acres)
Set compensation at $5 million (roughly $0.70 per acre—far below market value)
Required removal within two years

Cherokee Response:

Chief John Ross traveled to Washington D.C. repeatedly to protest
Cherokee people refused to leave
By May 1838 deadline, fewer than 2,000 of 16,000 had moved voluntarily
Government sent in the military

The Trail of Tears (1838-1839):

Phase 1: Roundup (May-October 1838)

U.S. Army built 31 prison camps
7,000 soldiers deployed to force Cherokee from their homes
Families given minutes to gather possessions
Houses looted and burned while families watched
People pulled from fields, from church services, from meals
Families separated
Held in overcrowded camps for months in summer heat
Dysentery, measles, whooping cough spread in camps

Phase 2: Forced March (October 1838-March 1839)

~16,000 Cherokee forced to walk ~1,000 miles
Started in late fall/winter for maximum hardship
Multiple routes, but all brutal
15-20 miles per day in chains or under guard
Inadequate food, clothing, shelter
Wagons only for supplies and the very sick
Children, elders, pregnant women forced to walk

Causes of Death:

Exposure (winter temperatures, inadequate clothing)
Starvation (insufficient rations)
Disease (cholera, dysentery, measles, whooping cough)
Exhaustion
Despair (documented suicides)

Death Toll:

Conservative estimate: 4,000 dead (25%)
Other estimates: 6,000-8,000 dead (37-50%)
Unknown number died in camps before march began
Unknown number died shortly after arrival

First-Hand Account: Private John Burnett, U.S. Army escort (later wrote): “I saw the helpless Cherokees arrested and dragged from their homes… I saw them loaded like cattle or sheep into six hundred and forty-five wagons and started toward the west… One can never forget the sadness and solemnity of that morning… The trail of the exiles was a trail of death. They had to sleep in the wagons and on the ground without fire. I have known as many as twenty-two of them to die in one night of pneumonia.”

Arrival:

Surviving Cherokee arrived in present-day Oklahoma (then Indian Territory)
Land was unfamiliar, already occupied by other displaced nations
No homes, infrastructure, or resources prepared
Had to start over with nothing
Political divisions (Treaty Party vs. Ross Party) led to Cherokee Civil War

The Signers: Three principal Cherokee signers of the Treaty of New Echota were assassinated in 1839 as traitors under Cherokee law: Major Ridge, John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot. They had known this would happen. Major Ridge reportedly said before signing: “I have signed my death warrant.”

The Choctaw: First to Walk the Trail

Population Timeline:

1650: ~25,000
1830: ~19,000-20,000
1834: ~12,500 (after removal)
Today: ~223,000 enrolled members

Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek (1830):

The Choctaw were the first nation removed under the Indian Removal Act:

The Coercion:

Treaty negotiated under extreme pressure and bribery
Choctaw leaders given alcohol
Offered individual allotments if they agreed to removal
Threatened with state law if they refused

The Agreement:

Ceded 11 million acres (most of Mississippi)
Promised: land in Indian Territory, compensation, annuities, schools
Reality: Almost none of the promises kept

The Removal (1831-1833):

Three Waves, Three Winters: The Choctaw removal occurred in three contingents, each in winter.

First Removal (Fall 1831-Winter 1832):

~4,000 Choctaw
Worst-planned contingent
Left in November (late start)
Record cold winter (“The Winter of Deep Snow”)
Rivers frozen, couldn’t cross
Inadequate supplies
Approximately 2,500 died (62.5%)

Second Removal (Fall 1832-Winter 1833):

~6,000 Choctaw
Contracted to private company (who cut corners)
Disease outbreak (cholera)
Starvation
Insufficient clothing
Approximately 500-1,000 died (8-17%)

Third Removal (Winter 1833):

~5,000 Choctaw
Better organized than first two
Still inadequate
Approximately 500 died (10%)

Total Death Toll: ~3,500-4,000 (18-20% of population)

Choctaw Testimony: A Choctaw leader to the Arkansas Gazette (1832): “We were driven from our homes… We are men… we have women and children, and why should we come? I thought that the President would send some good men to see that we were comfortable… but instead of that, we were turned over to some speculators who made money out of our miseries.”

Aftermath:

Arrived to find land already occupied by Plains tribes
No infrastructure
Promises of supplies unfulfilled
Many died in first years from disease and starvation in unfamiliar environment

Those Who Stayed:

Treaty allowed Choctaw to claim individual allotments and stay
Most who tried were defrauded of their allotments
Subjected to Mississippi state law (no rights)
Became sharecroppers on their own former land

The Creek (Muscogee): Resistance and Punishment

Population Timeline:

1700: ~30,000
1830: ~22,000
1837: ~16,000 (after removal)
Today: ~86,000 enrolled members

Background:

The Creek Confederacy was a sophisticated political union of dozens of towns, each autonomous but united for defense and diplomacy. They had been fighting encroachment for decades.

Creek War of 1813-1814:

Civil war within Creek Nation over how to respond to U.S. expansion
Red Sticks (traditionalists) fought U.S.-allied Lower Creeks and Americans
Andrew Jackson led U.S. forces
Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814): ~800 Red Stick warriors killed
Treaty of Fort Jackson (1814): Forced Creek to cede 23 million acres—even the Creek who fought WITH the U.S.

This was Andrew Jackson’s template.

Treaty of Washington (1826) and Treaty of Cusseta (1832):

Fraudulent individual allotment schemes
Creek supposed to receive individual plots
Speculators, with government complicity, defrauded Creek of almost all land
By 1835, ~20,000 Creek were landless in Alabama

Second Creek War (1836):

Desperate, starving Creek raided settlements for food
Government used this as excuse for military removal
~2,500 Creek warriors captured and sent in chains to Oklahoma
Marched through winter in irons

The Removal (1836-1837):

~20,000 Creek forcibly removed
Approximately 3,500 died in transit or shortly after (17-18%)
Many died in chains
Families separated and sold to cover “removal costs”

Eyewitness Account: An Alabama newspaper (1836): “A tide of emigration… the road literally filled with the procession… many were suffering from the most abject poverty… Their only covering—in the midst of this inclement weather, was a ragged piece of old blankets.”

The Chickasaw: Removal by “Agreement”

Population Timeline:

1700: ~8,000
1830: ~5,000-6,000
1838: ~4,500 (after removal)
Today: ~70,000 enrolled members

Treaty of Pontotoc Creek (1832):

Chickasaw negotiated more favorable terms than other nations
Agreed to removal in exchange for:
- Payment for land
- Right to find their own land in Indian Territory
- Self-funded removal (using proceeds from land sales)

The Reality:

Land sales were systematically defrauded
Government delayed payments
Chickasaw received fraction of land’s value
Those without funds were removed forcibly anyway

The Removal (1837-1838):

Smaller numbers made removal less catastrophic
Better organized than other removals
Death toll lower: ~500-600 (10-12%)
Still traumatic, still deadly, still theft

Why the Difference? The Chickasaw Nation was relatively wealthy and politically sophisticated. They leveraged this to negotiate better terms. But removal still happened, people still died, and the land was still stolen.

The Seminole: Wars of Resistance

Population Timeline:

1820: ~5,000-8,000 (including Black Seminoles)
1858: ~3,000 (after three wars and removal)
Today: ~18,000 enrolled members

Who Were the Seminole?

“Seminole” means “runaway” or “separatist”
Formed in Florida from Creek refugees, other Indigenous peoples, and formerly enslaved Black people
Black Seminoles were free people, not enslaved
Sophisticated guerrilla fighters
Never formally surrendered

Why Florida Wanted Them Gone:

Settlers wanted land
Seminole territory was refuge for escaped enslaved people (this was primary)
Spain had ceded Florida to U.S. (1821); U.S. wanted total control

First Seminole War (1817-1818):

Andrew Jackson invaded Florida (still Spanish territory)
Burned Seminole towns
Captured Spanish forts
Pressured Spain to cede Florida

Treaty of Moultrie Creek (1823):

Seminole confined to central Florida reservation
Land inadequate for subsistence
No access to coast

Treaty of Payne’s Landing (1832):

Fraudulent treaty signed by 7 unauthorized representatives
Required Seminole to move to Oklahoma and merge with Creek
Seminole Nation refused to recognize treaty
Government insisted it was binding

Second Seminole War (1835-1842):

The Longest and Costliest Indian War:

7 years of guerrilla warfare
Cost: $40-60 million (equivalent to ~$1-1.5 billion today)
1,500 U.S. soldiers killed
Brutal tactics on both sides

Key Events:

Dade Massacre (1835): Seminole warriors ambushed U.S. troops; 107 of 110 soldiers killed
Osceola’s Capture (1837): Seminole leader Osceola captured under flag of truce (violated diplomatic norms); died in prison
Bloodhound Campaign: U.S. imported Cuban bloodhounds to track Seminole in swamps (failed)

U.S. Tactics:

Destroy crops and villages systematically
Capture women and children to force warrior surrender
Offer rewards for captured Seminole
Capture under flags of truce (repeatedly)

Removal During War:

U.S. deported ~4,000 Seminole to Oklahoma during war
Many died en route or shortly after
Separated from Black Seminoles (many re-enslaved)

Third Seminole War (1855-1858):

Sparked by survey party trespassing on remaining Seminole land
Another 3 years of fighting
~200 more Seminole removed
~200-300 Seminole remained in Everglades

The Unconquered: Several hundred Seminole retreated into the Everglades and never surrendered. Their descendants remain in Florida today. The Seminole Tribe of Florida never signed a peace treaty with the United States.

Southeast Summary: The Failure of “Civilization”

The Premise: For decades, U.S. policy claimed Indigenous peoples needed to “civilize”—adopt European practices, Christianity, agriculture, written language, European-style governance. Once “civilized,” they would be accepted.

The Reality: The Cherokee had:

A written language and literacy
A constitution and courts
Christianity
European-style agriculture
Won in the Supreme Court

None of it mattered.

Total Southeast Removal:

Approximately 93,000-110,000 people forcibly removed
Approximately 15,000-20,000 died (15-20% mortality rate)
25+ million acres of prime agricultural land stolen
Removal costs: ~$75 million (equivalent to ~$2 billion today)

What This Proved: The policy was never about “civilization.” It was always about land. Indigenous peoples could adapt, negotiate, win in court, fight, or submit—nothing prevented their removal when Americans wanted their territory.

Andrew Jackson’s policy was ethnic cleansing, plain and simple.

Those Who Stayed: Several thousand from each nation avoided removal:

Hid in remote areas
Claimed individual allotments (most defrauded)
Became legally “non-existent” in their own homeland
Suffered under state laws that denied them rights
Today represented by Eastern Band of Cherokee, Mississippi Band of Choctaw, and others

Modern Reckoning: In 2022, the U.S. Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland (first Native American Cabinet secretary, member of Laguna Pueblo) formally apologized for the federal boarding school system. No similar apology has been issued for the Trail of Tears.

Part III: The Great Plains – Starvation as Military Strategy

Overview: The Plains Before Conquest

The Great Plains was home to dozens of nations, often categorized as:

Nomadic/Semi-Nomadic Peoples:

Lakota (Sioux)
Cheyenne
Arapaho
Comanche
Kiowa
Blackfeet

Agricultural/Semi-Agricultural Peoples:

Pawnee
Mandan
Hidatsa
Arikara

Pre-Contact Population Estimates:

Total Plains region: ~400,000-500,000
Lakota: ~25,000-30,000
Cheyenne: ~3,500-4,000
Arapaho: ~3,000-4,000
Comanche: ~20,000-30,000
Pawnee: ~10,000-12,000

The Buffalo Economy: Everything centered on the buffalo:

Food (meat preserved for winter)
Shelter (hides for tipis)
Clothing and bedding
Tools (bones, sinew, horns)
Trade goods
Spiritual significance

Pre-1800 Buffalo Population: 30-60 million 1890 Buffalo Population: <1,000

This was not accidental.

The Buffalo Extermination: Genocide by Starvation

The Strategy:

U.S. military leaders explicitly articulated that destroying the buffalo would destroy Plains peoples’ ability to survive independently.

General Philip Sheridan (1870s): “The buffalo hunters have done more in the past two years to settle the vexed Indian question than the entire regular army has done in the past thirty years. They are destroying the Indians’ commissary… For the sake of lasting peace, let them kill, skin, and sell until the buffalo is exterminated, as it is the only way to bring lasting peace and allow civilization to advance.”

Secretary of Interior Columbus Delano (1873): “The buffalo are disappearing rapidly, but not faster than I desire. I regard the destruction of such game as Indians subsist upon as facilitating the policy of the Government, of destroying their hunting habits, coercing them on reservations, and compelling them to begin to adopt the habits of civilization.”

General William Sherman: “We can never give [the Sioux] any lasting peace until they have been completely obliterated or forced to live on reservations.”

The Method:

1860s-1870s: Industrial Slaughter

Transcontinental railroad divided buffalo herds (1869)
Professional buffalo hunters hired by railroad companies and government
New tanning processes made buffalo hides commercially valuable (1871)
Hunters killed for hides only, left carcasses to rot
5,000+ buffalo killed per day at peak
Poisoned watering holes to maximize kills
Shot nursing mothers preferentially (calves died too)

The Numbers:

1800: 30-60 million buffalo
1870: ~15 million
1875: ~5 million
1880: ~1 million
1885: ~300
1890: <1,000

The Impact: Plains peoples faced mass starvation. Traditional lifeways became impossible. This was the goal.

The Sand Creek Massacre (1864): Peacetime Atrocity

Population Impact:

Cheyenne and Arapaho population ~6,500 before massacre
~230 killed at Sand Creek
Survivors scattered, traumatized
Sparked decades of retaliatory warfare

The Setup:

Background:

Colorado Territory in gold rush era
Treaties had established Cheyenne and Arapaho lands
Settlers wanted those lands
Territorial Governor John Evans wanted military glory
Colonel John Chivington commanded Colorado militia

Black Kettle’s Band:

Led by peace chief Black Kettle
~750 Cheyenne and Arapaho camped at Sand Creek
Under explicit protection of U.S. Army
Flying American flag over camp as instructed
Had recently met with Army officers about peace

The Attack (November 29, 1864):

Dawn Assault:

675 Colorado militia attacked the sleeping camp
Black Kettle raised American flag and white flag
Troops ignored flags, continued firing
Attacked for 8 hours
Systematic mutilation of bodies

Victims:

~150-230 killed (estimates vary)
Two-thirds were women and children
Pregnant women killed, fetuses cut from bodies
Children killed while holding white flags
Elderly killed in their beds

Specific Atrocities (Congressional testimony):

Scalping (including children and infants)
Genital mutilation (worn as trophies)
Body parts taken as souvenirs
Fetuses cut from pregnant women
Children shot at point-blank range while begging for mercy

Chivington’s Orders: “Kill and scalp all, big and little; nits make lice.”

The Aftermath:

Immediate:

Chivington’s militia returned to Denver as heroes
Paraded through streets with scalps and body parts
Displayed severed genitals between acts at theater
Congressional investigation later condemned massacre
No one was punished

Long-term:

Black Kettle survived, continued advocating for peace
1868: Killed by Custer’s forces at Washita (another “peaceful” camp)
Plains Wars intensified
Cheyenne and Arapaho never forgot

One Survivor’s Account: George Bent (half-Cheyenne, son of trader William Bent): “There seemed to be indiscriminate slaughter of men, women, and children… I saw one little child about three years old who had been hid in the sand; two soldiers drew their pistols and shot him.”

The Dakota War and Mass Execution (1862)

Population Impact:

Dakota (Santee Sioux): ~7,000 before war
~500-800 Dakota killed in war
38 Dakota men executed in largest mass execution in U.S. history
1,700 Dakota imprisoned
Entire nation expelled from Minnesota
Today: ~20,000 enrolled members (scattered across reservations)

The Causes:

Treaty Violations:

Treaty of Traverse des Sioux (1851): Dakota ceded 24 million acres for promises of:
- Cash annuities
- Reservation on Minnesota River
- Payment for land
Reality: Payments delayed, stolen by agents
Reservation reduced repeatedly
Traditional hunting grounds gone
Crop failures in 1861

Starvation:

By summer 1862, Dakota were starving
Annuity payments (already late) didn’t arrive
Government warehouses full of food
Traders refused credit
Trader Andrew Myrick: “If they are hungry, let them eat grass or their own dung.”

The War (August-September 1862):

Outbreak:

August 17: Four young Dakota men killed five settlers
Dakota leaders debated response (some wanted peace, others war)
Little Crow led war faction (reluctantly—he knew it was doomed)
August 18: Dakota attacked agency, killed Myrick first (found with grass stuffed in mouth)

Six Weeks of Warfare:

~500-800 Dakota warriors involved (small number)
Hit settlements across southwestern Minnesota
U.S. deployed ~3,000 troops
Dakota inflicted ~500 casualties on U.S. forces/settlers
Civilian deaths: ~500-800 (including Dakota)

Military Defeat:

Battle of Wood Lake (September 23): Dakota defeated
Most fled west to Dakota Territory
~2,000 Dakota surrendered or captured

The Trials:

Military Tribunals:

392 Dakota men tried by military commission
Trials lasted 5-10 minutes each
No defense attorneys
Little evidence presented
Testimony often in English (most didn’t speak English)
303 sentenced to death

The Convictions:

Convicted for “participating” in war
Many convicted solely for being present at battles
Several convicted for not fighting (accused of not preventing war)
Some convicted for stealing food while starving

Lincoln’s Review:

Public demanded mass execution
Minnesota newspapers called for extinction of Dakota people
Lincoln personally reviewed all 303 cases
Commuted 264 sentences
38 approved for execution

The Execution (December 26, 1862):

Mankato, Minnesota:

38 Dakota men hanged simultaneously
Largest mass execution in U.S. history
Bodies buried in shallow grave
Doctors dug up bodies for medical research
Estimated 4,000 spectators cheered

Those Hanged:

Some were warriors who fought in battles (legitimate combatants)
Some were present but didn’t kill anyone
At least two were proven innocent later
All buried in mass grave

The Aftermath:

Concentration Camp:

1,700 Dakota (mostly women, children, elders) imprisoned at Fort Snelling
Held in wooden stockade through winter
Inadequate shelter, food, sanitation
~300 died of disease and exposure (mostly children)

Bounties:

Minnesota offered bounties for Dakota scalps
$25 for each Dakota killed or captured (equivalent to ~$700 today)
Vigilantes hunted Dakota throughout state

Ethnic Cleansing:

All Dakota expelled from Minnesota by law
Those not imprisoned fled west
Act of Congress (1863) abrogated all treaties
Declared all reservation land forfeit
Even “friendly” Dakota who didn’t fight were expelled

Little Crow:

Fled to Canada, returned in 1863 to gather food
Shot while picking berries with his son
Body displayed in town, later in state capitol
Scalp and skull kept in Minnesota Historical Society until 1971

The Washita Massacre (1868): Black Kettle’s Final Stand

November 27, 1868: Four years after Sand Creek, Black Kettle—who survived that massacre and continued advocating for peace—was killed in another attack on a peaceful camp.

The Setting:

Black Kettle’s band camped on Washita River (Oklahoma)
Under protection of Fort Cobb
Flying white flag
Had recently met with military for peace talks

The Attack:

Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer’s 7th Cavalry attacked at dawn
Band playing “Garryowen” during charge
~100 Cheyenne killed (half were women and children)
Black Kettle and his wife shot while fleeing
Bodies fell into river together

Custer’s Methods:

Killed 800+ horses to prevent escape/pursuit
Burned winter stores
Took 53 women and children hostage
Left behind his own men (surrounded, later killed)

The Pattern: Sand Creek, Washita, and dozens of other “battles” followed the same pattern:

Attack peaceful camps
Dawn raids on sleeping people
Kill women, children, elders disproportionately
Burn food and shelter before winter
Call it a military victory

The Battle of Little Bighorn (1876): Indigenous Victory and Retribution

June 25-26, 1876:

Context:

Black Hills gold rush (1874)
Black Hills sacred to Lakota, protected by treaty
Government demanded Lakota sell Black Hills
Lakota refused
Government declared all “non-reservation” Lakota hostile
Ordered military campaign despite being treaty violation

The Forces:

U.S.: 7th Cavalry under Custer, ~650 soldiers total
Lakota, Cheyenne, Arapaho: 1,500-2,500 warriors (estimates vary)
Leaders: Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Gall

The Battle:

Custer divided his forces (tactical error)
Attacked large village on Little Bighorn River
Indigenous forces outnumbered Custer’s direct command 10:1 or more
Custer and 268 soldiers killed in less than an hour
Total U.S. casualties: 268 killed, 55 wounded

Why the Indigenous Won:

Superior numbers (for once)
Fighting for families (village under attack)
Superior tactics and knowledge of terrain
Custer’s arrogance (split forces, refused backup)

The Aftermath:

Immediate Response:

National outrage
Custer martyred (his errors ignored)
Army reinforcements flooded the region
Intensified campaigns against all Plains peoples

The Revenge:

U.S. confiscated Black Hills despite treaty (still unresolved today)
Sitting Bull fled to Canada (returned 1881, imprisoned)
Crazy Horse surrendered (1877), later killed while “resisting arrest”
Hunting parties pursued across Canadian border
Food supplies systematically destroyed
Survivors forced onto reservations

What Victory Cost: Little Bighorn was the last major Indigenous victory. It guaranteed total war until every Plains nation was confined to reservations.

Wounded Knee Massacre (1890): The Final Slaughter

December 29, 1890:

Context: The Ghost Dance Movement

1889-1890:

Wovoka (Paiute prophet) taught the Ghost Dance
Promised return of buffalo, dead relatives
Would make white people disappear
Peaceful spiritual movement
Spread rapidly among desperate reservation peoples

Lakota Adaptation:

Some Lakota added that Ghost Shirts would protect from bullets
U.S. officials panicked (saw it as resistance/preparation for war)
Banned Ghost Dance on reservations
Ordered arrest of leaders

Sitting Bull’s Death (December 15, 1890):

Indian Police sent to arrest Sitting Bull
Scuffle, Sitting Bull shot in head
His supporters killed several police
6 police, 8 Lakota killed

Big Foot’s Band:

After Sitting Bull’s death:

Chief Big Foot (Spotted Elk) led ~350 Lakota (mostly women/children) toward Pine Ridge
Seeking safety/sanctuary
Big Foot sick with pneumonia
Intercepted by 7th Cavalry (Custer’s old unit)
Escorted to Wounded Knee Creek

The Massacre:

Morning of December 29:

~350 Lakota surrounded by ~500 troops
Four Hotchkiss guns (small cannons) positioned on hills
Troops ordered to disarm the Lakota
Tense situation; troops searched men roughly
Deaf man named Black Coyote didn’t want to surrender rifle (expensive)
Scuffle, gun discharged
Troops opened fire

The Slaughter:

Initial volleys killed many in close quarters
Lakota tried to flee
Hotchkiss guns fired 50 explosive shells per minute into fleeing people
Pursued and killed people up to two miles away
Killed wounded and dying
Many bodies found miles away, frozen in escape positions

Death Toll:

~300 Lakota killed (200+ were women and children)
51 wounded initially (many died later)
25 soldiers killed (mostly by friendly fire)
Bodies left frozen on battlefield for three days
Survivors found babies nursing on dead mothers

Burial:

January 1: Blizzard passed, burial party arrived
Bodies frozen in grotesque positions
Mass grave dug
Bodies thrown in together
Some wounded still alive, buried anyway
Photographer present (famous photos exist)

The Response:

Military:

20 soldiers awarded Medal of Honor for Wounded Knee
Officially called a “battle”
Described as soldiers “defending” themselves

Lakota:

Recognized as massacre
Survivors traumatized for life
Marked end of armed resistance
“The dream died there in the frozen blood” – Black Elk

Modern Reckoning:

Medals of Honor still not rescinded despite decades of protest
1990: U.S. Congress expressed “deep regret” (not apology)
Site is National Historic Landmark
Lakota still seek return of land and proper acknowledgment

Plains Summary: The Buffalo Strategy Worked

What Happened:

Pre-1850 Plains population: ~400,000-500,000
1900 Plains population: ~250,000 (50% decline)
Buffalo: 30-60 million → <1,000 (99.9% decline)

The Strategy:

Destroy the buffalo (food, housing, economy)
Force starvation
Attack any who resisted
Target peaceful camps to break spirits
Pursue refugees across borders
Confine survivors to reservations
Enforce dependence on government rations

Why It Worked:

Indigenous peoples had no alternative food source
Traditional territories denied
Hunting impossible without buffalo
Resistance crushed militarily
Starvation left no choice but reservation

The Reservations:

Placed on worst land
Repeatedly reduced in size
Rations kept insufficient as control method
Traditional practices banned
Children taken to boarding schools
Designed to destroy culture while people slowly died

The Proof It Was Intentional: Dozens of military and political leaders explicitly stated the goal was extermination or forced cultural death. The buffalo slaughter was policy, not accident. The starvation was strategy, not consequence.

Part IV: The Southwest – Scorched Earth

Overview: The Southwest Before Conquest

The Southwest region encompasses present-day Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Utah, Colorado, and Texas. Home to:

Pueblo Peoples:

Hopi, Zuni, Acoma, Taos, and 15+ other pueblos
Ancient civilizations (Ancestral Puebloans built cliff dwellings)
Agricultural societies with complex irrigation
Survived Spanish colonization (barely)

Athabaskan Peoples:

Navajo (Diné)
Apache (multiple bands: Chiricahua, Mimbres, Jicarilla, Mescalero, Western Apache)
Semi-nomadic pastoralists and raiders

Pre-Contact Population Estimates:

Pueblo peoples: ~100,000 (1500) → ~20,000 (1700 after Spanish)
Navajo: ~15,000-20,000 (1800)
Apache: ~8,000-10,000 (1850)

By the time the U.S. took control (1848), these peoples had already survived 250+ years of Spanish and Mexican rule. The U.S. would prove worse.

The Navajo: The Long Walk and Bosque Redondo

Population Timeline:

1860: ~15,000-20,000
1864: ~9,000 survived to reach Bosque Redondo
1868: ~8,000 survived imprisonment to return home
Today: ~400,000 enrolled members (largest reservation, largest tribe)

The Context:

Navajo Territory:

Dinétah: Navajo homeland in modern Arizona/New Mexico
~26,000 square miles of canyons, mesas, high desert
Sacred sites: Canyon de Chelly, four sacred mountains
Economy: Sheep herding, weaving, some agriculture, trade

U.S. Arrival:

1846: U.S. conquered New Mexico from Mexico
Promised to protect settlers from “Indian raids”
Navajo and Apache had raided Mexican settlements for centuries
Complex history of mutual raiding and trading
U.S. saw only “hostile Indians”

Failed Treaties:

Multiple treaties signed (1849, 1858, 1861)
All violated by both sides
Settlers encroached on Navajo land
Navajo continued raids
Violence escalated

Kit Carson’s Campaign (1863-1864):

The Orders: Brigadier General James Carleton ordered Colonel Kit Carson (famous frontiersman) to force all Navajo to surrender and relocate to Bosque Redondo, a desolate reservation 300 miles away.

Carleton to Carson: “Say to them ‘Go to Bosque Redondo, or we will pursue and destroy you. We will not make peace with you on any other terms… You have deceived us too often… This war shall be pursued until you cease to exist or move.'”

The Method: Scorched Earth

Summer/Fall 1863:

Carson led ~700 troops through Navajo territory
Burned hogans (homes)
Destroyed cornfields
Killed sheep and horses (thousands)
Poisoned wells
Cut down peach orchards (3,000+ trees at Canyon de Chelly alone—some 100+ years old)
Pursued refugees into canyons
Killed anyone who resisted

The Goal: Starvation. Make it impossible to survive in Dinétah.

The Strategy Worked:

By winter 1863-64, Navajo were starving
Traditional storage depleted
No seeds for spring planting
Livestock gone
Water sources controlled by Army
Surrender or die

The Surrender:

Winter 1863-64:

Groups of Navajo began surrendering
Brought to Fort Canby (later Fort Defiance)
Held in camps awaiting removal
Many died waiting from disease and exposure

The Long Walk (1864):

The March:

53 different forced marches between 1864-1866
~9,000 Navajo forced to walk ~300-400 miles
Different routes, but all brutal
Largest groups: March and April 1864

Conditions:

Forced to walk 15 miles per day
Insufficient food and water
Those who couldn’t keep pace were shot
Pregnant women gave birth on trail (babies often died)
Elderly who fell behind were killed
Dysentery epidemic
Winter marches particularly deadly

Death Toll During March:

Conservative estimate: 200-300 died
Many estimates higher: up to 1,000
Doesn’t include those who died before march
Doesn’t include those who died shortly after arrival

Survivors’ Accounts: “We were marched off without ceremony. We were treated like animals. Those who couldn’t keep up were shot.”

“My grandmother used to tell me about the Long Walk. She said people would cry out for food but there was none to give. The soldiers would shoot anyone who stopped.”

Bosque Redondo: The Concentration Camp

Fort Sumner, New Mexico:

40 square miles of flat, treeless plain
Alkaline water
Poor soil
300 miles from Dinétah
Shared with 400 Mescalero Apache (tensions inevitable)

The Plan: “Civilize” the Navajo:

Force them to farm (on unsuitable land)
Make them dependent on government
Destroy traditional culture
Christian conversion
Assimilation

The Reality (1864-1868):

Environmental Disasters:

Crops failed (alkali soil, inadequate water, pests)
Firewood scarce (had to walk miles to gather)
Water made people sick
Floods destroyed crops and shelters

Overcrowding:

Designed for 5,000, held 9,000+ Navajo plus Apache
Inadequate shelter
No trees for traditional hogans
Issued tents (insufficient for winter)

Disease:

Smallpox outbreaks
Dysentery constant
Measles, whooping cough
No adequate medical care
Mass graves

Starvation:

Rations consistently short
Quality terrible (rancid, moldy)
Distribution irregular
People ate “anything” – roots, cactus, wild plants
Soldiers kept best supplies

Violence:

Comanche raids (Navajo couldn’t defend themselves)
Sexual assault of women by soldiers (documented)
Beatings for “infractions”
Forced labor

Death Toll at Bosque Redondo:

Estimates: 2,000-3,000 died (20-30% of population)
Disease was primary killer
Starvation second
Violence third
Despair (documented suicides)

The Escape: ~2,000 Navajo never surrendered, remained in remote canyons. Others escaped Bosque Redondo.

The Treaty of 1868:

The Failure:

Even the Army admitted Bosque Redondo was a disaster
Cost: $1.5 million/year (equivalent ~$30 million today)
Crops failed every year
People dying
No “civilization” happening

The Negotiation:

Navajo leaders negotiated return to homeland
Barboncito (Navajo leader): “I hope to God you will not ask us to go to any other country except our own… When the Navajo were first created, four mountains and four rivers were pointed out to us… That was to be our country.”

Treaty Terms (June 1, 1868):

Navajo could return to portion of Dinétah
3.5 million acres (only ~13% of traditional territory)
Government would provide sheep, tools, seeds
Schools would be built
Promise of rations for 10 years

The Return:

June-July 1868: ~8,000 Navajo walked home
10-mile-per-day pace (slower than Long Walk)
Joyous but exhausted
Arrived to find much of homeland still occupied or destroyed

What They Found:

Homes burned
Orchards destroyed
Fields fallow for 4 years
Had to rebuild everything
But they were home

Long-term Impact:

~3,000 died total (Long Walk + Bosque Redondo) – ~20% of population
Entire economy destroyed (had to rebuild flocks from ~15,000 sheep given by government)
Traditional territory permanently reduced
Trauma passed through generations
But: Unlike most nations, Navajo got to return home

The Apache: 25 Years of Resistance

Population Timeline:

1850: ~8,000-10,000 (all Apache bands combined)
1886: ~5,000-6,000
1900: ~4,000
Today: ~110,000 enrolled members (across multiple tribes)

Who Were the Apache?

Not a unified nation but multiple independent bands:

Chiricahua (Cochise, Geronimo)
Mimbres/Bedonkohe (Mangas Coloradas, Victorio)
Jicarilla
Mescalero
Western Apache (White Mountain, Cibecue, others)

Each band operated independently with its own leaders and territory.

Economy:

Semi-nomadic
Hunting and gathering
Some agriculture
Raiding (primarily Mexico, but also settlers)
Horse culture

Why the Long Resistance?

Terrain: Mountainous, dry, harsh – Apache knew every hiding place
Mobility: Could cover 70+ miles a day on foot
Tactics: Guerrilla warfare, hit-and-run raids
Motivation: This was their homeland
Leadership: Skilled military leaders like Cochise, Victorio, Geronimo

The Bascom Affair (1861): How It Started

The Incident:

January 1861: Boy (Mickey Free) kidnapped by raiders
2nd Lieutenant George Bascom accused Cochise’s Chiricahua band
Cochise came to parley under white flag
Bascom tried to take Cochise hostage
Cochise escaped (cut through tent), but family captured
Cochise took hostages in retaliation
Negotiations failed
Both sides killed hostages

Result:

Cochise declared war
Would fight for 11 years
Apache Wars escalated

The Apache Wars (1861-1886): 25 Years

Phase 1: The Civil War Years (1861-1865)

Union troops withdrawn for Civil War
Confederate troops in New Mexico/Arizona
Apache raided with relative freedom
Miners, settlers, travelers killed
Trade and communication routes disrupted

Phase 2: Post-War Intensification (1865-1872)

U.S. Strategy:

More troops deployed
Bounties for Apache scalps (public and private)
Scorched earth tactics (destroy food, water sources)
Force concentration on reservations
“Pursue unto extermination”

Camp Grant Massacre (1871):

~150 Aravaipa Apache peacefully camped near Camp Grant, Arizona
Under military protection, had surrendered
Vigilante force (Tucson citizens, Tohono O’odham allies) attacked at dawn
~144 Apache killed, mostly women and children
Only 8 men present (others away hunting)
Children taken as slaves (27 adopted out)
Federal trial: All acquitted in 19 minutes
Set pattern: “peaceful” Apache weren’t safe either

Cochise’s Reservation (1872-1874):

Cochise agreed to peace in exchange for reservation in traditional territory
Promised: Chiricahua Reservation in Arizona
Kept peace until death (1874)

The Betrayal:

1876: Government closed Chiricahua Reservation
Forced Chiricahua to San Carlos Reservation (overcrowded, disease-ridden)
Broke promise made to Cochise
Many Apache fled reservation
Wars resumed

Victorio’s War (1879-1880):

Victorio (Mimbres/Bedonkohe leader):

Tried reservation life multiple times
Each time, promises broken
1879: Fled San Carlos with ~300 followers
Led 18-month campaign across New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Mexico

The Campaign:

Guerrilla warfare masterclass
Defeated larger forces repeatedly
Supplied themselves by raiding
U.S. and Mexican forces couldn’t catch him

The End:

October 1880: Mexican forces ambushed Victorio at Tres Castillos, Mexico
~60 warriors killed including Victorio
~68 women and children captured
Remaining followers scattered

Geronimo’s Resistance (1881-1886):

Geronimo (Goyaale – “One Who Yawns”):

Bedonkohe Apache
Medicine man and war leader
Mexicans killed his wife, children, and mother (1858)
Spent decades fighting both Mexico and U.S.

The Breakouts:

1881: Fled San Carlos (hated the reservation)
1882: Captured, returned to San Carlos
1883: Fled again with ~120 followers
1884: Returned (temporarily)
1885: Final breakout with ~35 warriors, ~100 women/children

The Final Campaign (1885-1886):

U.S. Resources:

5,000 U.S. troops (25% of standing army)
500 Indian scouts
Mexican military cooperation
Telegraph lines for coordination
Hundreds of miles covered

Geronimo’s Force:

~35 warriors maximum (often fewer)
Plus women, children, elders
Moved constantly
Raided for supplies
Evaded thousands of troops for 18 months

The Pursuit: Led by General George Crook, then General Nelson Miles:

Relentless pursuit
Used Apache scouts to track Apache
Captured families to pressure warriors
Promised fair treatment if surrendered

The Surrender (September 4, 1886):

The Promise:

General Miles promised: Geronimo and followers would be held in Florida temporarily
Then could return to reservation
Families would be reunited

The Reality:

Geronimo and ~38 followers loaded on train to Florida
Held as prisoners of war (not prisoners, prisoners of WAR)
Families separated
Never allowed to return to Arizona

The Betrayal Multiplied:

~400 Apache scouts who fought FOR the U.S. also imprisoned
Their families imprisoned
All Chiricahua Apache arrested (500+ people)
Sent to Florida as prisoners of war
Even those who never fought
Penalizing loyalty

Imprisonment (1886-1913):

Florida (1886-1888):

Held at Fort Marion, Fort Pickens
Humid, hot climate (opposite of Arizona)
Children sent to Carlisle Indian School (Pennsylvania)
Disease rampant: tuberculosis, malaria
~119 died in first year
Promised return never happened

Alabama (1888-1894):

Moved to Mount Vernon Barracks
Conditions slightly better but still prison
More disease, more deaths
Still not home

Oklahoma (1894-1913):

Moved to Fort Sill
Remained prisoners of war
Given small farms
Geronimo became celebrity (displayed at fairs, expositions)
Never allowed to return to Arizona

Geronimo’s Death (1909):

Died at Fort Sill, Oklahoma
Still a prisoner of war
Never saw Arizona again
Requested burial in Arizona – denied
Last words reportedly: “I should have never surrendered. I should have fought until I was the last man alive.”

Final Release (1913):

After 27 years as prisoners of war
Survivors given choice: Stay in Oklahoma or go to Mescalero Reservation (New Mexico)
Most chose Mescalero (closer to home)
Still not allowed in Arizona (state law forbade Apache presence until 1920s)

Death Toll: During 27 years of imprisonment:

~250-300 of 500 original prisoners died (~50-60%)
Primary causes: Tuberculosis, malaria, pneumonia, despair
Children particularly vulnerable
Families destroyed

The Pueblo Peoples: Survival Through Endurance

Population Timeline:

1500: ~100,000
1700: ~20,000 (after Spanish colonial period)
1848: ~10,000 (U.S. takeover)
1900: ~8,000
Today: ~60,000+ (across 19 pueblos)

Why Different?

The Pueblo peoples were largely spared the worst of U.S. violence because:

Spain had already brutalized them for 250 years
They lived in permanent towns (not “nomadic” threat)
They were agricultural (not “raiders”)
They had Spanish land grants (some legal protection)
They were visibly “civilized” by European standards

But Still Suffered:

Land theft through legal manipulation
Water rights stolen
Religious practices banned until 1978
Children taken to boarding schools
Poverty and disease
Marginalized in own homeland

Their Survival:

Maintained pueblo governments (some of oldest continuous governments in North America)
Preserved languages and religions (secretly when necessary)
Adapted without completely assimilating
Today: All 19 pueblos still exist as sovereign nations

Southwest Summary: Different Methods, Same Goal

What Happened:

Navajo: Scorched earth → concentration camp → 20% death toll
Apache: 25 years of war → imprisonment → 50% death toll
Pueblo: Legal theft and marginalization after Spanish had already done the killing

Methods:

Navajo: Starvation strategy → forced removal → concentration camp → partial return
Apache: Military pursuit → imprisonment of all → deaths in exile → no return
Pueblo: Legal dispossession → cultural suppression → survival through endurance

The Pattern: Whether through military force, starvation, imprisonment, or legal theft, the goal was always the same: Remove Indigenous peoples from land Americans wanted.

What Made the Southwest Unique:

Harshest environment (worked in Indigenous peoples’ favor for resistance)
Longest sustained military campaign (Apache Wars: 25 years)
Most extreme imprisonment (27 years as POWs)
Only region where large numbers were sent into permanent exile

The Cost:

Thousands dead
Cultures nearly destroyed
Languages endangered
Traditional territories lost
But unlike California: They survived as peoples

Part V: California – The Fastest Genocide

Overview: California Before the Gold Rush

California was the most densely populated region of North America north of Mexico.

Pre-Contact Diversity:

100+ distinct languages
500+ village communities
Incredibly diverse ecosystems: coast, valleys, mountains, deserts
Each region supported different lifeways
No large political confederations (village-level organization)
Complex trade networks

Major Language Families:

Hokan, Penutian, Uto-Aztecan, Athabaskan, Yukian, and others
More linguistic diversity than all of Europe

Some Known Peoples:

Chumash (coast)
Yokuts (Central Valley)
Pomo (north coast)
Miwok (Sierra foothills)
Yurok (northwest)
Cahuilla (south)
Hundreds more

Pre-Contact Population:

Conservative estimate: 310,000
Higher estimates: 340,000+
~13% of Indigenous population in present-day U.S.

After Contact Population:

1848 (U.S. takeover): ~150,000 (Spanish missions had already killed half)
1860: ~35,000 (12 years of American rule)
1900: ~16,000 (nadir)
Population decline: 95% in 52 years

This was genocide in its most rapid, brutal form.

The Spanish/Mexican Period (1769-1848): The Missions

California Missions:

21 missions established by Franciscan missionaries
Supposedly to “civilize” and convert Indigenous peoples
Actually functioned as forced labor camps

The Reality:

Indigenous people captured/coerced into missions
Forced conversion
Forced labor (agriculture, construction)
Flogging for infractions
Imprisonment for attempting to leave
Disease epidemics (measles, smallpox, syphilis)
High death rates, especially children
~100,000 Indigenous people died in missions

By 1848, Spanish/Mexican rule had reduced California Indigenous population to ~150,000 (from ~310,000).

Then the Americans arrived. It got worse.

The Gold Rush (1848-1855): Mass Murder

The Trigger:

January 24, 1848: Gold discovered at Sutter’s Mill

U.S. took California from Mexico (Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 1848)
Gold rush began immediately
300,000 people flooded California between 1848-1855
Indigenous peoples were in the way

Peter Burnett, First Governor of California (1851): “A war of extermination will continue to be waged between the two races until the Indian race becomes extinct.”

This was official policy.

The Methods:

1. Mass Killings / Massacres

These weren’t “battles” – they were deliberate slaughter of civilians:

Indian Island Massacre (1860):

Wiyot people held annual World Renewal ceremony
Village on island in Humboldt Bay
Mostly women, children, elders (men away)
White men attacked with hatchets and knives in the night
~60-200 killed (accounts vary)
Infants killed
Bodies mutilated
Local newspaper editor (Bret Harte) condemned it, was run out of town

Clear Lake Massacre (1850):

Pomo people at Clear Lake
Killed two cruel ranchers who were abusing Pomo workers
U.S. Army retaliated
Attacked Pomo island village
~60-100 Pomo killed (mostly women, children)
Pursued survivors, killed more
Original abusers’ crimes ignored

Bloody Island Massacre (1850):

Continuation of Clear Lake massacre
Pursued fleeing Pomo
Killed anyone found
Bodies left unburied

Bridge Gulch Massacre (1852):

Wintu village in Trinity County
~150 Wintu killed
Children thrown into fire
Women raped then killed
One of dozens of similar massacres in northern California

Estimated Massacres: 370+ documented mass killings between 1846-1873

2. State-Funded Extermination

California Militia:

State funded “militia” expeditions against Indigenous peoples
Called “Indian Wars” but were actually hunting expeditions
Taxpayer funded
$1.5 million spent (equivalent ~$50 million today)

How It Worked:

Miners/ranchers reported “Indian troubles”
Militia formed
Went to Indigenous villages
Killed everyone they could find
Submitted bill to state
State reimbursed them

Example Bills:

$25,000 for “Mendocino War” (1859)
$90,000 for “Humboldt Bay Indian troubles” (1860)
Hundreds of smaller payments

The State Paid for Mass Murder: California literally reimbursed citizens for genocide.

3. Bounty System

Official and Unofficial Bounties:

City/County Bounties:

Shasta County: $5 per scalp (1855)
Tehama County: $5 per scalp (1862)
Honey Lake: $25 per scalp (1863)
Various cities offered $.25-$5 per scalp

Private Bounties:

Ranchers paid bounties
Mining companies paid bounties
Vigilante groups formed bounty hunting parties

What This Meant:

Hunting Indigenous people was profitable
Scalps were currency
Children’s scalps worth same as adults’ (easier to collect)
Created economy based on murder

Survivor Account: “They would come into our village while the men were hunting and kill everyone. They took the hair from our heads to get money. My grandmother saw this happen to her mother.”

4. Enslavement

California Act for the Government and Protection of Indians (1850):

Orwellian title – actually legalized enslavement:

What It Did:

Allowed whites to declare Indians “vagrant”
Arrest them for “vagrancy”
Auction them to highest bidder for labor
“Apprenticeship” of Indian children (kidnapping)
Parents had no say
Children bound until age 18 (men) or 15 (women)
Employers could beat them

The Reality:

~10,000-20,000 Indigenous people enslaved
Children kidnapped regularly
Raiding parties specifically targeted children (valuable)
Children sold at auctions like livestock

Advertisement (Marysville, 1861): “Indian children and especially girls were in great demand… they could be bought at any price from a bottle of whiskey up to $50 or $60.”

Kidnapping Raids:

Armed men raided villages
Killed adults
Took children
Sold them
Some raids killed 50+ adults to take 10 children

5. Starvation and Poisoning

Destruction of Food Sources:

Miners destroyed salmon runs (hydraulic mining)
Cattle and pigs ate traditional food plants
Acorn groves cut down
Hunting grounds occupied
Rivers poisoned with mercury (from gold mining)

Direct Poisoning:

Documented cases of poisoned food left for Indigenous people
Strychnine in flour, meat
Sometimes entire villages killed
Bodies left as warnings

Round Valley (1858):

Nome Cult Farm established as “reservation”
Actually forced labor camp
Rations inadequate
Residents worked to death
Thousands died
Survivors called it “place of bones”

6. Systematic Rape

Sexual Violence:

Widespread, systematic rape of Indigenous women
Often during massacres
Sometimes purpose of raids
Rarely prosecuted (Indian testimony not allowed in court)
Used as terror weapon
Destroyed families and communities

The Law: California law prohibited Indians from testifying against whites. This meant:

No legal recourse for any crime against Indians
Whites could murder, rape, enslave with no consequence
Indigenous peoples had no legal protections
Complete impunity for perpetrators

The Numbers: California’s Genocide in Data

Population Decline Timeline:

1848: ~150,000 (after Spanish/Mexican rule)
1850: ~100,000 (2 years of American rule)
1852: ~85,000
1856: ~50,000
1860: ~35,000 (12 years of American rule)
1870: ~30,000
1880: ~20,000
1900: ~16,000 (nadir)

12-Year Period (1848-1860):

Population: 150,000 → 35,000
Loss: 115,000 people (76% decline)
Average: ~9,600 deaths per year
This is ~26 deaths per day, every day, for 12 years

Causes of Death (Estimated):

Direct violence (massacres, murders): ~9,000-16,000
Starvation and disease: ~60,000-70,000
Enslavement (death in bondage): ~10,000-20,000
Combination/indirect: remainder

Why So Fast?

Gold Rush Demographics:
- Sudden massive influx of settlers (300,000 in 5 years)
- Overwhelming demographic change
- Settlers wanted land/gold, saw Indians as obstacles
State Policy:
- Official extermination policy
- State funding for militia
- Legal enslavement
- No legal protections for Indigenous peoples
Geography:
- Indigenous peoples in small, scattered villages
- No large confederations for defense
- Couldn’t mount coordinated resistance
- Easy targets for raiders
Economic Incentives:
- Bounties made murder profitable
- Enslavement provided free labor
- No economic reason to let Indians live
- Every reason to kill them
Total Impunity:
- No legal consequences for killing Indians
- Indians couldn’t testify in court
- Federal government largely absent
- State encouraged extermination

This Meets Every Definition of Genocide:

Intent to destroy group: Explicit in state policy
Killing: Systematic, widespread, state-funded
Causing serious harm: Starvation, disease, rape, enslavement
Conditions to destroy group: Destruction of food sources, bounties, no legal protection
Preventing births: Systematic rape, family separation
Transferring children: Legal enslavement of children

Federal Response: Too Little, Too Late

Treaties That Weren’t Ratified:

1851-1852: 18 Treaties Negotiated:

Federal commissioners negotiated 18 treaties
Set aside ~7.5 million acres for reservations
Indigenous peoples agreed, signed
Senators from California opposed (wanted all land)
U.S. Senate rejected all 18 treaties (secret session)
Treaties sealed, hidden for 50 years
Indigenous peoples waited for promised reservations that never came
Continued to be killed while waiting for federal protection

The Betrayal: Indigenous peoples negotiated in good faith, ceded claims to most of California, expected reservations and protection. Got nothing. Senate’s rejection condemned them to continued extermination.

Reservations Eventually Established:

Too small, too late
By 1900, only ~16,000 Indigenous people survived to be confined
Reservations on worst land
Many groups never got federal recognition
Some peoples extinct before reservations created

Specific Peoples: Languages Lost Forever

Completely Extinct Peoples (Examples):

Yahi (last survivor: Ishi, died 1916)
Esselen (last speaker died 1833)
Salinan (last full-blood speaker died 1958)
Chimariko (last speaker died 1962)
Many others – dozens of languages died with last speakers

Ishi: The Last Yahi (1860s?-1916)

The Story:

Yahi people of northern California
Hunted to near-extinction by settlers
~1870s: Small group survived in hiding
Lived in total concealment for ~40 years
Never lit fires by day (smoke would reveal them)
Rarely spoke (sound would reveal them)
Survived by hiding and ancient skills

The End:

1908: Survey party discovered Yahi camp, stole tools
Yahi fled
1908-1911: Ishi alone (others died)
August 1911: Ishi found near Oroville, California, starving
Couldn’t speak English
No one could understand his language (Yahi extinct)

Final Years:

Taken to UC Berkeley anthropology museum
Lived there until death (tuberculosis, 1916)
Taught anthropologists his language, skills
Called himself “Ishi” (“man” in Yahi) – never gave real name
Last speaker of Yahi language
Last survivor of his people

His Story Represents:

Dozens of peoples hunted to extinction
Languages lost forever
Cultures erased
The human cost of California’s genocide

California Summary: How to Destroy a People

What California Proved: With enough settlers, sufficient hatred, economic incentives, and legal impunity, an entire population can be nearly eliminated in a generation.

The Method:

Declare extermination official policy
Fund militias to kill Indigenous people
Pay bounties for scalps
Legalize enslavement
Remove all legal protections
Destroy food sources
Allow total impunity for perpetrators
When federal government negotiates treaties, reject them secretly

The Result:

150,000 → 16,000 in 52 years (89% decline)
Dozens of peoples completely extinct
50+ languages lost forever
No accountability, no justice, no reparations

What Makes California Unique:

Fastest genocide in U.S. history
Only region with explicit state extermination policy
Only region with systematic bounty system
Most complete demographic collapse
Most languages/cultures lost

Modern Reckoning:

2019: California Governor Gavin Newsom formally apologized for genocide
First state governor to acknowledge and apologize
Promised Truth and Healing Council
Survivors and descendants still seeking justice, reparations, land return

The Question: If this happened anywhere else in the world, would we call it genocide? Yes. Immediately. Unquestionably.

It happened in California. It was genocide.

Part VI: The Northwest – Resistance and Betrayal

Overview: The Northwest Before Settlement

The Pacific Northwest includes present-day Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and parts of Montana.

Major Peoples:

Nez Perce (Nimiipuu)
Yakama (Yakima)
Chinook peoples (multiple bands)
Coast Salish peoples (dozens of nations)
Cayuse
Modoc
Many others

Pre-Contact Population:

Total Northwest region: ~200,000-250,000
Nez Perce: ~6,000
Yakama: ~7,000-10,000
Coast Salish: ~60,000+
Modoc: ~500-800

Economy:

Salmon fishing (primary)
Hunting and gathering
Trade networks (coast to plains)
Sophisticated resource management
Winter villages, summer camps

The Columbia River: Central to life:

Celilo Falls: Premier fishing site for 15,000 years
Multiple peoples shared fishing rights
Regulated by custom and diplomacy
In 1957, U.S. flooded it (The Dalles Dam) without consent

The Nez Perce: “I Will Fight No More Forever”

Population Timeline:

1800: ~6,000
1855: ~4,000 (after disease epidemics)
1877: ~3,000 (before war)
1900: ~1,500
Today: ~3,500 enrolled members

Background:

The Alliance:

1805: Nez Perce helped Lewis and Clark survive
Provided food, horses, guides
Could have killed the expedition (were militarily superior)
Chose friendship
This alliance would mean nothing

Treaty of 1855:

Nez Perce ceded lands but retained 7.7 million acre reservation
Included traditional territory in Wallowa Valley
Chief Old Joseph signed treaty

The Betrayal:

Gold Discovery (1860):

Gold found on Nez Perce reservation
Miners flooded in (thousands)
Violated treaty
Federal government did nothing
Miners demanded more land

Treaty of 1863 (“Steal Treaty”):

Government demanded new treaty
Would reduce reservation to ~750,000 acres (90% reduction)
Excluded Wallowa Valley
Only some Nez Perce chiefs signed (those who lived in reduced area)
Joseph’s band (and others) refused
Government claimed all Nez Perce bound by treaty
Joseph’s band: Not signatories, not bound

Chief Joseph (Young Joseph):

Son of Old Joseph
Became chief 1871
Tried diplomacy for 6 years
“If we ever owned the land we own it still, for we never sold it”
1877: Ordered to reservation within 30 days

The Nez Perce War (1877):

The Outbreak:

Joseph’s band (700-800 people, ~200 warriors) ordered to reduced reservation
Some young men killed settlers (revenge for earlier killings)
Army attacked
Joseph decided: Fight or die

The Campaign (June-October 1877):

The Flight:

1,170 miles in 3+ months
Trying to reach Canada (like Sitting Bull)
~800 total Nez Perce (2/3 women, children, elders)
~200 warriors
Pursued by 2,000 U.S. troops
Fighting while moving entire community

Tactical Brilliance:

Won or fought to draw in multiple battles
Big Hole (civilians massacred but warriors counterattacked)
Canyon Creek (held off cavalry)
Cow Island (captured supplies)
Outmaneuvered larger forces repeatedly

U.S. Tactics:

Attack civilians to force warrior surrender
Big Hole: Dawn attack on sleeping camp, ~90 killed (mostly women/children)
Destroy supplies, horses
Cut off routes to Canada

The End:

Bear Paw Mountains (October 5, 1877):

40 miles from Canadian border
Surrounded by Colonel Nelson Miles
5 days of siege
Winter storm, no shelter
Children dying of cold
Chiefs killed in fighting (Looking Glass, Toohoolhoolzote)

The Surrender (October 5, 1877):

Chief Joseph’s Speech: “Tell General Howard I know his heart. What he told me before, I have it in my heart. I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed… The old men are all dead… It is cold, and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are—perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”

The Promise: General Miles promised:

Nez Perce could return to Idaho reservation
Would be treated fairly
Reunited with families

The Reality:

Loaded on trains to Oklahoma (Indian Territory)
Held as prisoners of war
Placed on disease-ridden reservation
Many died of malaria, other diseases
Children died first
~400 survivors after 8 years

Death Toll:

During war: ~50 Nez Perce warriors killed
Non-combatant deaths (Big Hole, other attacks): ~100
In exile (1877-1885): ~200+ died (disease, despair)
Total: ~350 of 800 (nearly 50%)

Joseph’s Exile:

Became famous lecturer
Pleaded for return to homeland
Met presidents, gave speeches
“Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to talk, think and act for myself”
Died 1904 on Colville Reservation (Washington), never allowed to return to Wallowa Valley
Doctor said he “died of a broken heart”

The Modoc War (1872-1873): The Smallest War

Population Impact:

Modoc population: ~500-800 (1850)
By 1870: ~200 (disease, violence)
After war: ~150 survivors
Today: ~600 enrolled members (descendants)

The Context:

The Treaty:

1864: Modoc, Klamath, Yahooskin signed treaty
Moved to Klamath Reservation (Oregon)
Modoc homeland was northern California/southern Oregon border
Reservation was Klamath homeland (traditional enemies)

The Problem:

Klamath outnumbered Modoc
Klamath received better treatment
Tensions constant
Modoc asked for separate reservation (denied)
1865: Captain Jack (Kientpoos) led ~200 Modoc back to homeland

The Setup:

Army ordered to return Modoc to reservation
November 1872: Army attacked Modoc camp
Fighting broke out
Modoc fled to lava beds

The War:

The Lava Beds:

Natural fortress of volcanic rock
Caves, tunnels, ridges
Modoc knew every feature
Army didn’t

The Numbers:

~60 Modoc warriors (plus ~100 women/children)
Eventually ~1,000 U.S. troops
5 months of fighting

Modoc Advantages:

Perfect defensive position
Knowledge of terrain
Desperation
Brilliant tactics

The Battles:

First Battle (January 1873):

400+ soldiers attacked
Modoc: 60 warriors
U.S. casualties: 35 killed, 40+ wounded
Modoc casualties: 0
Army retreated

Peace Talks (April 1873):

General Canby agreed to negotiate
Modoc demanded: Own reservation in homeland
Army refused
April 11: Modoc killed Canby and others at peace talks
Only U.S. general killed in Indian Wars
Modoc knew this sealed their fate

Final Campaign:

Army brought in 1,000+ troops, mortars
Shelled lava beds
Cut off water
Modoc band split (internal disagreements)
May 1873: Running out of supplies, water
June 1873: Last Modoc surrendered

The Trial and Execution:

War Crimes Tribunal:

Captain Jack and 3 others tried for murdering Canby under flag of truce
Found guilty
October 3, 1873: Hanged at Fort Klamath
Bodies decapitated
Heads sent to Army Medical Museum (Washington D.C.)
Displayed as specimens
Bodies buried in mass grave

The Survivors:

~150 Modoc survived
39 sent to Oklahoma as prisoners
Others to Klamath Reservation
Modoc people split, scattered
Never received own reservation

Modern Justice:

Captain Jack’s head kept in museum until 1984
Finally returned for burial
111 years after execution

The Cayuse War (1847-1855): The Earliest Northwest War

The Whitman Massacre (1847):

Marcus and Narcissa Whitman: missionaries
Established mission in Cayuse territory
1847: Measles epidemic (brought by migrants)
Killed half of Cayuse people
Whitman was doctor but couldn’t save Cayuse
Cayuse believed he was poisoning them
November 29, 1847: Killed Whitman and 12 others

The War:

Oregon volunteers hunted Cayuse
5 Cayuse leaders surrendered (to save their people)
Promised fair trial
Convicted, hanged (1850)
Cayuse nation shattered
Survivors absorbed into other tribes

Result: Set pattern for Northwest: Break treaties, provoke conflict, use conflict to justify further land theft.

Northwest Summary: The Salmon People’s Decline

What Happened:

Pre-contact: ~200,000-250,000
1900: ~50,000 (75% decline)
Primary causes: Disease, warfare, forced removal, destruction of salmon runs

Salmon Destruction:

The Foundation:

Salmon were everything to Northwest peoples
Food, trade, culture, religion
Annual runs predictable, abundant
Managed sustainably for millennia

The Destruction:

1800s-1900s: Canneries overfished
Dams blocked spawning runs
Pollution killed fish
Hydraulic mining destroyed rivers
By 1900: Runs collapsed in many rivers

Celilo Falls:

Most important fishing site in Northwest
Used for 15,000 years
Dozens of peoples had fishing rights
1957: The Dalles Dam flooded it
Tribes protested (ignored)
Compensation: $26 million (split among tribes)
An irreplaceable cultural center erased

Modern Impact:

Most Northwest tribes still fighting for salmon rights
Many rivers still blocked by dams
Commercial overfishing continues
Climate change threatening remaining runs
Salmon central to cultural/physical survival

Part VII: The Boarding Schools – Killing Culture

“Kill the Indian, Save the Man”

If physical genocide didn’t completely destroy Indigenous peoples, cultural genocide would finish the job.

Captain Richard Henry Pratt (1892): “A great general has said that the only good Indian is a dead one… In a sense, I agree with the sentiment, but only in this: that all the Indian there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.”

This was the stated goal of the boarding school system.

The System

Timeline:

1860s-1970s: Over 100 years of operation
Peak: 1900s-1930s

Scale:

367+ boarding schools operated
150+ run by federal government
200+ run by churches (with federal funding)
Thousands of day schools

Students:

100,000+ children over the system’s lifetime
Some estimates: 500,000+
Entire generations removed from families

The Process:

Removal:

Federal agents took children from families
Sometimes by force (parents jailed if they refused)
Parents threatened with starvation (rations withheld)
Children as young as 4-5
Often sent hundreds of miles from home
Could be gone for years

Transformation:

Upon Arrival:

Hair cut (often sacred for Indigenous peoples)
Traditional clothing burned
Given English names
Given numbers (some schools)
Forbidden to speak Indigenous languages
Forced to wear uniforms

Daily Life:

Military-style regimentation
Half-day school, half-day labor
Girls: Cooking, cleaning, sewing (preparing for domestic service)
Boys: Farming, carpentry, labor (preparing for manual labor)
Minimal academic education
Christian indoctrination
Beatings for speaking Indigenous languages
Solitary confinement for “infractions”
Food often insufficient

The Punishments:

For speaking Indigenous languages:

Beatings
Mouth washed with soap
Solitary confinement
Food withheld
Public humiliation

Carlisle Indian Industrial School (Pennsylvania):

Founded 1879, closed 1918
Model for other schools
“Before and After” photos: propaganda showing “civilization”
Reality: Trauma, disease, death

The Death Toll

How Many Children Died?

Official Records:

Incomplete and unreliable
Schools had incentive to underreport
Many deaths not recorded
Bodies often not returned to families

Recent Investigations:

Interior Department Report (2022-2024):

Identified 973 deaths at boarding schools
74 marked burial sites
Actual number likely much higher (investigation ongoing)

Ground-Penetrating Radar:

Canada found 1,000+ unmarked graves at residential schools
U.S. investigations just beginning
Expect thousands more discoveries

Causes of Death:

Disease: Tuberculosis, influenza, measles (schools were overcrowded, poor sanitation)
Malnutrition and starvation
Exposure (running away, dying in attempt)
Suicide
Abuse (beaten to death, neglect)
“Accidents” (often covered up abuse)

Conservative Estimate: 10,000-40,000 children died Realistic Estimate: Likely much higher

The Trauma

What the Schools Did:

To Children:

Removed from families (sometimes forever)
Forbidden to speak languages
Taught their culture was inferior/evil
Physical, emotional, sexual abuse
Forced labor
Inadequate food, clothing, healthcare
Watched friends die
Buried friends in unmarked graves

To Families:

Children taken by force
Sometimes never returned
No information about child’s wellbeing
No visitation (often too far)
No letters (children couldn’t write in own language)
Not told when child died
Bodies not returned

To Cultures:

Languages not passed to children
Ceremonies not learned
Traditional knowledge lost
Generations unable to parent (never experienced healthy parenting)
Families fractured
Communities destroyed

Intergenerational Trauma:

Children who survived:

Often couldn’t speak parents’ language
Didn’t know cultural practices
Had internalized shame about being Indigenous
Had learned violence as discipline
Had mental health issues, PTSD
Often couldn’t effectively parent their own children

Result:

Addiction epidemics
Domestic violence
Suicide epidemics
Poverty
Loss of language and culture

This was intentional. This was the goal.

Specific Schools, Specific Horrors

Carlisle (Pennsylvania):

Founded 1879 by Captain Pratt
Imprisoned Apache children whose parents were POWs
Over 180 children died, buried in unmarked graves
Recent investigation found more bodies than previously known

St. Joseph’s (Rensselaer, Indiana):

Catholic-run
Potawatomi children forced to attend
Records show sexual abuse, deaths covered up

Sherman Institute (Riverside, California):

Still operating (now called Sherman Indian High School, voluntary)
Unmarked burial ground discovered
At least 50 children buried, likely more

Chilocco (Oklahoma):

Children buried in numbered graves
Names lost
Families never notified

Hundreds More: Every region, similar stories. Sexual abuse, deaths, cover-ups, unmarked graves.

Modern Reckoning

What’s Happening Now:

Federal Investigations:

2021: Secretary Deb Haaland (first Native American Cabinet secretary) launched Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative
2022: Initial report identified 408 schools, 973 deaths
Investigation ongoing
Ground-penetrating radar surveys beginning
Expect death toll to rise significantly

State Actions:

Some states investigating schools in their territories
Some issuing apologies
Some providing funding for survivors

Church Accountability:

Catholic Church ran majority of schools
2022: Pope Francis apologized to Indigenous peoples in Canada
No similar apology for U.S. schools
Churches holding many records, not fully releasing them

What Survivors Want:

Truth: Full accounting of what happened
Bodies returned: Proper burial of children
Apology: Official, meaningful
Reparations: Financial compensation for survivors and descendants
Land return: Restoration of stolen lands
Language revitalization: Funding to restore languages
Education: Accurate teaching of this history

Current Status:

Some progress, much resistance
Many survivors still alive, traumatized
Languages dying with elders
Time running out for justice

Conclusion: The Full Accounting

By the Numbers

Total Indigenous Population:

Pre-contact (1492): ~5-8 million+ (north of Mexico)
1900: ~250,000
Decline: ~95-97%

Regional Breakdown:

RegionPre-Contact1900DeclineNortheast500,000-1,000,000~100,00080-90%Southeast400,000-500,000~100,00075-80%Great Plains400,000-500,000~150,00060-70%Southwest300,000-400,000~100,00070-75%California310,000-340,000~16,00095%Northwest200,000-250,000~50,00075-80%

The Methods: Summary

1. Disease (sometimes weaponized)

Smallpox blankets documented
Vaccines withheld documented
Concentration during removals increased death rates

2. Military Violence

370+ documented massacres in California alone
Hundreds more across continent
Systematic targeting of civilians
Terror tactics: mutilation, display of bodies

3. Starvation Policy

Buffalo extermination explicitly to cause starvation
Destruction of food sources systematic
Withholding of rations as control
Poisoning of food sources documented

4. Forced Removal

Indian Removal Act codified ethnic cleansing
Trail of Tears: ~15,000-20,000 died
Dozens of other forced marches
Concentration camps (Bosque Redondo, etc.)

5. Legal Genocide

Bounties for scalps (California)
Legal enslavement (California)
No legal protections (testimony not allowed)
Treaties made then broken

6. Reservation System

Concentration on worst land
Repeated size reductions
Insufficient resources
Enforced dependence
Traditional practices banned

7. Cultural Genocide

367+ boarding schools
100,000+ children taken
10,000-40,000+ died
Languages nearly destroyed
Intergenerational trauma

The Question of Intent

Was This Genocide?

United Nations Definition (1948): Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group:

✓ Killing members of the group – Documented: massacres, military campaigns, bounties, executions

✓ Causing serious bodily or mental harm – Documented: violence, rape, torture, boarding schools

✓ Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction – Documented: starvation policy, reservation system, buffalo extermination

✓ Imposing measures intended to prevent births – Documented: family separation, systematic rape, reservation conditions

✓ Forcibly transferring children – Documented: boarding schools, enslavement, adoption

Was There Intent?

In Their Own Words:

“A war of extermination will continue to be waged… until the Indian race becomes extinct.” – Governor Peter Burnett (California, 1851)

“Kill and scalp all, big and little; nits make lice.” – Colonel John Chivington (Sand Creek, 1864)

“The only good Indians I ever saw were dead.” – General Philip Sheridan (1869)

“Kill the Indian, save the man.” – Captain Richard Pratt (Boarding schools, 1892)

The Answer: Yes. This was genocide. The intent was explicit, the methods were systematic, the result was nearly complete destruction.

What Was Lost

Languages:

300+ languages spoken in 1492
Today: ~175 remain, most critically endangered
75+ completely extinct
Most remaining spoken only by elders
Expected: 50+ more will die in next 20 years

Peoples:

Dozens of distinct peoples completely extinct
Hundreds of village communities erased
Entire language families lost
Irreplaceable knowledge gone

Knowledge:

Agricultural innovations
Medical knowledge
Environmental management
Astronomical observations
Oral histories stretching millennia
Religious and philosophical systems

Land Management:

Controlled burns prevented catastrophic wildfires
Sustainable hunting/fishing practices
Cultivation of food forests
Irrigation systems
This knowledge is being re-learned now, often too late

Who Is Responsible?

Governments:

Spanish Colonial (1500s-1800s)
Mexican (1821-1848)
United States Federal (1776-present)
U.S. State governments (especially California)
Canadian (similar genocide occurred)

Military:

U.S. Army conducted campaigns, massacres
State militias funded to kill Indigenous peoples
Individual officers gave orders, carried them out

Civilians:

Settlers who demanded land
Miners who wanted gold
Ranchers who wanted grazing land
Vigilantes who massacred villages
Bounty hunters who killed for profit

Institutions:

Churches ran boarding schools
Schools taught sanitized history
Courts provided no justice
Businesses profited from stolen land

Systems:

Legal system denied Indigenous peoples rights
Economic system incentivized their removal
Political system ignored or endorsed genocide
Cultural system dehumanized Indigenous peoples

Modern Complicity:

Continuing to benefit from stolen land
Refusing to teach accurate history
Ignoring ongoing injustices
Resisting reparations and land return

What Remains

Survival:

Despite everything:

Indigenous peoples survived
Languages being revitalized
Cultures being reclaimed
Land being fought for
Justice being demanded

Current Population:

1900: ~250,000 (nadir)
2020: ~9.7 million (including multi-racial individuals)
Growth through: births, better healthcare, reclaiming identity

Sovereignty:

574 federally recognized tribes
Hundreds more seeking recognition
Tribal governments operating
Treaties still legally binding
Land being reclaimed slowly

Resistance: Never stopped. Indigenous peoples:

Fought militarily until no longer possible
Survived boarding schools
Preserved languages in secret
Maintained ceremonies underground
Filed lawsuits (ongoing)
Protected sacred sites
Educate about true history
Demand justice

What Justice Would Look Like

Truth:

Full investigation of boarding schools
Complete historical accounting
Teaching accurate history in schools
Public memorials and museums

Accountability:

Official apologies (federal, state, churches)
Rescinding Medals of Honor (Wounded Knee, others)
Declassifying hidden records
Acknowledging specific crimes

Reparations:

Financial compensation to survivors and descendants
Healthcare funding (address intergenerational trauma)
Education funding
Language revitalization funding
Economic development support

Land:

Return of stolen land (especially sacred sites)
Honoring existing treaties
Expanding reservation boundaries
Co-management of federal lands in traditional territories

Sovereignty:

Respecting tribal sovereignty
Honoring treaty rights
Consulting on projects affecting Indigenous lands
Supporting Indigenous-led solutions

Cultural:

Repatriation of remains and artifacts
Protection of sacred sites
Support for language revitalization
Funding for cultural preservation

Final Reflection

This document exists because the truth matters. What happened to Indigenous peoples in what is now the United States was:

Systematic
Intentional
Genocidal
Ongoing (in its effects)

It was not:

Inevitable
Accidental
Ancient history
Someone else’s problem

The United States was built on:

Stolen land
Broken treaties
Mass murder
Cultural destruction

This is not comfortable. It is true.

The victims deserve:

To be remembered
To have their stories told
To receive justice
To reclaim what was stolen

The perpetrators deserve:

To be named
To have their actions understood
To be judged by history

We, the living, deserve:

To know the truth
To understand our history
To choose what we do with this knowledge

The question is: Now that you know, what will you do?

For Further Research

Primary Sources:

Congressional records and reports
Military records and correspondence
Treaty texts
Boarding school records (incomplete)
Survivor testimony

Modern Investigations:

Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative (ongoing)
State-level investigations
Academic research
Tribal archives and oral histories

How to Support:

Support Indigenous-led organizations
Advocate for truth and reparations
Learn and teach accurate history
Respect tribal sovereignty
Return land when possible
Listen to Indigenous voices

This document is dedicated to the millions of Indigenous people who were killed, displaced, and culturally destroyed in the creation of the United States. Their lives mattered. Their cultures mattered. Their descendants are still here, still fighting for justice.