INDIAN AND WHITE MAN 1768-1964
1768
Treaty of Fort Stanwix: the Iroquois surrendered claims to lands south of Ohio and Susquehanna rivers to Pennsylvania colonists, alienating Mingo and Shawnee dependents settled in the region.
1778
British and Iroquois massacred colonists at Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania (July), and Cherry Valley, New York (November).
1784
Second Treaty of Fort Stanwix made peace between United States and the Iroqouis who ceded claims in western New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
1787
Northwest Ordinance guaranteed lands to Indian, but white settlers ignored it.
1795
By the Treaty of Greenville, Indians forced to cede Ohio, Indiana, and other parts of the Old Northwest.
1811 November 6-7
General William Henry Harrison, Govenor of Indian Territory, defeated Shawnee at Tippecanoe.
1813 October 15
Tecumseh's death at the Battle of the Thames ended Indian hopes for an independent buffer state between the United States and Canada.
1814
Friendly Creek Indians, after helping General Andrew Jackson to overcome Upper Creek at Battle of Horseshoe Bend, forced to sign treaty ceding almost two thirds of their territory.
1830 May 28
Indian Removal Bill, pushed through Congress by President Jackson.
1832 August 3
Sauk and Fox Indians, resisting demands to evacuate Illinois and cross Mississippi to Iowa, massacred by troops at Bad Axe, Wisconsin.
1835-1842
Seminole War. After bloody confict, Seminole Indians forced west of Florida reservations they had settled in 1819.
1838-1839
Despite Supreme Court decision upholding Cherokee rights to lands east of Mississippi (1831), President Jackson ordered army to remove them west of river. The trek west was known as the "Trail of Tears."
1847
Oregon War resulted when Cayuse Indians, infuriated by outbreak of measles among tribe, killed band of Presbyterian missionaries led by Whitman family.
1849-1859
California Gold Rush, during which 70,000 Indians murdered by whites or died as a result of contracting their diseases.
1862
The largest mass hanging in U.S. history took place in Mankato Minnesota. 38 Dakota were hanged.
1864 October
Cheyenne leaders, Black Kettle and White Antelope, concluded armistice with whites on Missouri River and settled at Sand Creek.
1864 November 29
Colorado Militia massacred Cheyenne at Sand Creek, disregarding orders of General John Pope, thus precipitating new Indian wars on the Plains.
1865 July 25-26
The Sioux defeated army unit at Upper Platte Bridge.
1866 December 21
Red Cloud, chief of Oglala Sioux, massacred Captain William J. Fetterman and his men near Sheridan, Wyoming.
1867
Beaten by Texas and United States troops, Comanche and Kiowa warriors agreed to settle in Oklahoma, also known as the "Indian Territory."
1868
Navajo sent to wasteland reservation in northeastern Arizona.
1871
Congress declared no Indian tribes would be recognized as independent nations.
1872-1876
President Grant's "Peace Policy" turned Indian affairs over to church leaders, who denied them the right to practice their tribal religions.
1876 March
Northern Cheyene and Oglala Sioux led by Crazy zhorse fought indecisive battle against General Crook's army, sent to remove them to reservations after gold was discovered in their South Dakota Black Hills territories.
1876 June 17
Crazy Horse defeated Crook at Rosebud Creek in south-central Montana.
1876 June 25
General George Custer and 225 of his men, members of the 7th Cavalry, slaugtered by Sioux and Northern Cheyenne at Battle of Little Bighorn River.
1878
Last free northwestern Indians were removed to Washington State's Colville reservation.
1881 September
Geronimo, Apache chief, surrendered, was imprisoned in Florida, thus ending Indian resistance in Southwest.
1880's
Spread of Ghost Dance cult in the wake of Indian defeats. This ritual predicted a millennium in which the white man would be swallowed by the earth, buffalo and dead Indian leaders would be resurrected, and Indians would achieve immortality.
1887
Dawes General Allotment Act provided for replacement of tribes and reservations with individual Indian ownership of land, intended to encourage farming and assimilation into white society. Its effect was to confiscate Indian land and give it to whites.
1889 April 22
"First Oklahoma Run." Land in Indian Territory opened to white settlers.
1890
Sitting Bull, Sioux medicine man, killed by Indian police set to arrest him.
1890 December 29
Sioux devotees of Ghost Dance massacred at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, by 7th Cavalry during uprising in reation to Sitting Bull's death. This act completed white conquest of Indians in the United States.
1924
Snyder Act granted all Indians citizenship.
1934
Indian Reorganization Act promoted tribal self-government, extended financial credit to tribes, gave them religious freedom, and encouraged revival of Indian culture. It marked significant improvement in federal treatment of the Indian.
1946
Indian Claims Commission created to reimburse Indians for lands fraudulently taken from them by whites.
1953
Congress passed laws turning Indian affairs over to the states and forced dissolution of tribal organizations and break-up of their financial assets.
1961
Kennedy Administration reinstated Indian Reorganization Act to aid tribes.
1964
Office of Economic Opportunity, after Capital Conference on Indian Poverty, provided funds for Indians to administer anti-poverty measures on reservations.