History

• Early Indian treaties


  1830-1851
• Indian Removal Act passed

  May 28, 1830
• Indian Removal Act


  Forced American Indians in the eastern states to move west of the Mississippi River
• Indian Trade and Intercourse Act established


  June 13-30, 1834
• Indian Trade and Intercourse Act


  Established a proper frontier between Indian territory and the United States and its territories
• Fort Laramie Treaty signed

  February 17, 1851
• Fort Laramie Treaty


  Formalized diplomatic relations between the US Indians and the US government, with guarantees from the Indians in return for payment
• Indian Appropriations Act passed

  February 29, 1851
• Indian Appropriations Act


  Funded the moving of the Indians to reservations in modern-day Oklahoma, setting up the framework for Indians to eventually be forced onto reservations and be reliant on government handouts
• The 1841 Fort Laramie Treaty is different from the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty
• Causes of the 1841 Fort Laramie Treaty

  • White-centric: Discovery of gold in California in 1848 led to increased migration across Indian land, putting pressure on resources; US government sought a better way for migrants to travel, including by rail
  • Indian-centric: Indians feared white settlement and disruption to the buffalo and their nomadic way of life; Indians feared attacks by migrants and pressure on scarce food and water resources
• Ways the US government began to pass laws against or impose restrictions on the Plains Indians


  • Indian Removal Act of 1830 forced Indians to move west of the Mississippi
  • Indian Trade and Intercourse Act in 1834 formalized a border, the Indian frontier
  • Indian Appropriations Act of 1851 began the process of moving Indians onto reservations
  • Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 began to formalize rules Indians had to obey and some financial reliance on the US government
• Donner party

  Group of around 300 migrants who traveled west in May 1846, led by the Donner brothers and included a larger than average proportion of women and children and the elderly
• The Donna party left somewhat later than most families in May, which left little time to complete the 4-6 month journey before the snow hit the mountains
• The Donner brothers convinced 87 of the party to split off and try a shortcut that had been described in a guidebook, which turned out to be a grave mistake
• Donna party


  • Left with just enough time to make the journey but had little room for delays
  • Gathered supplies but there was no room for extra supplies if they got delayed
  • Put their faith in the Hastings Cutoff route west but had no experience of using this route which was not well traveled
  • Left late so there was less grass and feed left for their horses and oxen, making them weak and even slower
  • Had a mix of migrants led by the Donner brothers but more women and children than most migrant parties
• The Hastings Cutoff that the Donna party used was actually 150 miles longer than the more usual established Oregon Trail and California Trail routes
• The Donna party became stranded in the snow in the Sierra Nevada in mid-October as winter was fast approaching, their food ran out, their animals died and were eaten, and then their people began to die and were eaten
• 39 out of the 87 who had set out with the Donna party had starved and frozen to death
• Mormons


  A religious group that believed in a new form of Christianity, founded by Joseph Smith who discovered golden plates that changed Christian traditions
• Other Christians persecuted the Mormons, particularly because of their belief in polygamy
• Mormon migration to the Great Salt Lake


  1. Fled Missouri and established Nauvoo in Illinois

  2. Ordered to leave Illinois in 1845 after Joseph Smith was murdered

  3. Brigham Young believed God called them to take the Oregon Trail to the Salt Lake Valley

  4. Migrated between 1846 and 1847
• 1847 Mormon migration


  1. Advance party of 150 Mormons scouted the route and prepared it for the main migrant train

  2. Main train of 1,500 Mormon migrants left Illinois in July 1847

  3. Main wagon train reached Salt Lake Valley in August 1847
• Between 1847 and 1869, 70,000 Mormons made the journey to the Salt Lake Valley
• The Mormon migration was well planned and very successful
• Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868


  This treaty was meant to end Red Cloud's War. The Sioux agreed to return to their reservation and not attack the US Army or settlers. In return, the US agreed to close the Bozeman Trail and leave the Black Hills to the Sioux. However, the US government later broke many of these promises, leading to further conflict.