History of the West

1. History of the West Unit 2 European Invasion

2. Enter the Spanish • Began arriving in the Great Plains area around the 1600’s • Sought to control the land through “Missions” • Generally scattered many miles apart • There was no separation between church and state • These Priest were known to Indians as “Black Robes” • Led by a Catholic Priest who goal was to Christianize and civilize the Indians • Catholicism generally more “accepted” by Indians than Protestantism • Ex. Albuquerque, New Mexico • Biggest introduction from Spanish were the horses • Acquired through trade and strays

3. Albuquerque, New Mexico

4. Albuquerque, New Mexico (Con’t)

5. Enter the Spanish (Con’t) • Conchos Indians • Lived along the Conchos River • just south of the U.S./Mexico Border • Conchos got Spanish horses and metal before any other tribes • Forced them north, creating conflict with the Apaches • Athapascans onto the Great Plains • Apaches then moved on the plains after gaining metal and horses • Came to dominate 2/3 of the Great Plains

6. Conchos and Jumanos

7. Enter the Spanish (Con’t) • Eastern Apaches • Devastated the Caddoans before they got horses and guns • Raided them in late winter when groups were the weakest • They took lots of captives • Then sold them into slavery with the Spanish at Pueblo villages • Apaches gain horses and metal • By 1500s developed trading/raiding ties that gave them access to Pueblo goods • After 1630 they had enough horses to begin raiding the Spanish • Who they had been friendly with • By 1655-75 horses and metal gave them an advantage over their neighbors

8. Pueblo Revolt of 1680 • Under Popé, against the Spanish, a turning point • Fought against the use of the Encomienda system • Using Indians as slaves, similar to Dutch and English use of blacks on Plantations • Pueblos turned on one another • Apaches joined in, forming alliances, then breaking them • The result was lots of plunder, horses and guns • Apaches then control the southern Great Plains and Southwest

9. Spanish Faltering • Utes took advantage of Pueblo Rebellion • Joined with Navajos and Apaches in trading/raiding Pueblos • Eventually they gravitated toward more raiding as they accumulated metal and weapons • After 1690 they turned on the Navajos • Took horses and slaves, which they sold to Spain in present-day New Mexico • Acquired horses sometime in the late 1600s • In 1707 brought the Comanche to Pueblo trade • Both groups hit the Navajo hard and forced them closer to Spanish for protection • By 1710s the Comanche replaced Apaches as primary raiding problem for Spanish • Began dominating the Southern Plains

10. European Concern Over Competition • Pedro De Villasur • Sent by Valverde of Spain to check out the French presence near present-day Omaha, Nebraska • The Spanish expedition parked just across the river from the Pawnees • Apache guide took Villasur and his men to far north near the wrong Pawnee group • Spanish tried to negotiate with them., but they seemed threatening • The night of August 12, 1720, the Pawnees and friendly Otos attacked the Spanish expedition • Nearly wiped out the Spanish • Killed Villasur, 35 of 42 Spaniards • Apache guide got away quickly

11. Pedro de Villasur Expedition

12. Major trade locations before Europeans

13. Enter The French • Arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi around the turn of the century • Went up the tributaries and began trading • Primarily with Pawnees, Caddoas and other village agriculturalists • Guns a major source of trade • Caddoans used the guns against their old enemies • Sold Indian slaves to the French • Nearly 200 at a time • By 1650 stationed near the western edge of Lake Superior • Setup trade operations with other tribes

14. British Beginnings in the Plains • 1668 the British Hudson Bay Company (HBC) opened bayside posts • The Cree Indians became the middlemen • Used their new guns against the nearest subdivision of Dakotas • By the 1680’s they ally with the Assiniboine • Eventually merging into one group • Cree/Assiniboine terrorized neighbors and dominated trade between the HBC and the Mandan/Hidatsa trading post • Many tribes pushed westward • Ex. Cheyenne moved from Wisconsin to Black Hills area by 1750

15. Guns and Horses

16. French Influence • France into New Orleans in the late 1600’s • French Fur traders moved up the Mississippi River and its tributaries • France worried about the Spanish • So they tried to ally with the Apache • A retired trader Bourgmont worked hard for the French in 1723-24 • Wanted to help forge ties between Apaches and the Kansa (Kaw) • But failed struggled due to already established fur traders who feared any changes in existing trade networks • Eventually developed strong ties with the Kansa

17. French Influence (Con’t) • French then tried to ally with the Comanche in 1727 • Connected them with the Pawnees and Jumanos • Trade ties then expanded to other Caddoan-speaking tribes • About the same time the Comanche acquired many horses and a few guns • In late 1740’s the French thus started expanding trade relations • By 1749 they had made contacts with a greater number of tribes • Comanche, due to French supply of guns, drove the Ute back into the mountains • Also used them against the Pueblo, Apache, and Spanish • Most Apache went into present-day New Mexico for protection • Comanche then dominate the southern plains

18. French Influence (Con’t) • Started sending traders into Indian villages • The Cree-Assiniboine middle role continued for some time • Slowly, however, Indians lost their exclusive position in distributing European goods • After 1750 British moved into frontier and often traded directly • Outside the earlier trade hubs • In the 1760’s both the French Northwestern Fur Company and the British Hudson Bay Company sent traders into the Mandan-Hidatsa trade center • By the last decades of the 18th century, the French had setup their own trading posts in southern Canada • British continued that new method of trade

19. David Thompson • Worked for the French Northwestern Fur Company • Tried to compete with the British Hudson’s Bay Company • First tried to work among the Blackfeet with little success • The Indians were blockading the flow of arms to the Northwestern Plateau Indians • In 1807 he set up Kootenay House and Kullyspell House • Able to bring enough arms to allow the NW Plateau groups to hunt buffalo again

20. Comanche Peace of 1785-86 • Around 1750’s Comanche still lived north of Arkansas River • Raided into Texas • often trading what they took from Texas settlements to the Spanish in Taos • But they also raided the Spanish and slowly moved southward • In retaliation the Spanish had a few victories in the 1770’s • In 1774, 600 Spanish and Pueblos attacked a Comanche encampment in New Mexico • Over 100 prisoners taken

21. Comanche Peace of 1785-86 (Con’t) • 1779 New Governor Juan Bautiste De Anza gather 500 Spanish and 200 Utes and Apache after a large Comanche encampment • Killed a prominent headman Green Horn ( Friend of Toro Blanco) • Coming from a position of strength, Anza put out the word in the 1780’s that he was ready for peace • Headman White Bull led the opposition to peace • Men from the pro-peace faction killed White Bull and rallied behind leader Leather Cape • Governor Anza setup negotiations but encountered the typical problem of Indian political fragmentation

22. Comanche Peace of 1785-86 (Con’t) • Anza appointed Leader Cape “Commissioner General” • In the end the Comanche won some trading rights • Like access to the Taos annual trade fair • Anza lifted the ban on alcohol and the Comanche promised to help against the Apaches • Who were not completely drive off the plains yet • Comanche raiding slowed but mostly in New Mexico • Only bands who had supported the treaty

23. Changes in Lifestyle Due to Europeans • Fur post system altered lifestyles • Made canoes less important and horses vital • French used to conduct trade in eastern cities • Indians traveled to sites with canoes laden with furs • Trapping groups like the Blackfeet, Cree, and Kaw relied on horses to take them to and from posts • They became provisioners of posts, bringing in pemmican, buffalo robes, etc. • These groups gradually moved toward a plains lifestyle • More status-conscious • More wives • Alcoholism • Sometimes lost traditional ways of doing things as they became more and more dependent on European products • Indians lost control of their trade markets

24. Movement of Horses into Plains

25. Acquisition of Horses