The West after 1865: railroads, homesteads and Native nations

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Land, law and consent on the Plains, 1868 to 1889 (cards A to G). Card A, the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, in our words: the National Archives says the treaty was signed on April 29, 1868 by the United States and the Sioux Nation and the Arapaho. It set up the Great Sioux Reservation, which took in much of the western half of present-day South Dakota, including the Black Hills. Card B, two laws, in our words: an act of February 28, 1877 removed the Black Hills from the Great Sioux Reservation, where miners had moved in. An act of March 2, 1889 divided the rest of the reservation into six reservations, including Standing Rock. Card C, the Homestead Act and Native lands, in our words: Homestead National Historical Park says homestead claims were made on lands that many Native nations held by tradition or by treaty. A 2017 study found three patterns. In Nebraska, the land titles of Native nations had mostly been cleared before 1862. In Colorado and Montana, mining, railroads, land speculators and cattle ranchers drove the loss of land before homesteading began. In the Dakotas and Oklahoma, homesteading was a major driver. Card D, homestead totals, in our words: the National Archives says the General Land Office gave out some 500 million acres from 1862 to 1904, and just 80 million of them reached homesteaders. The National Park Service says that over 123 years nearly 4 million homesteaders settled across 30 states, and that 270 million acres, over 10 percent of the United States, was homesteaded. Card E, Young Joseph, a chief of the Nez Perce, "An Indian's Views of Indian Affairs", April 1879 (excerpt): "If we ever owned the land we own it still, for we never sold it. In the treaty councils the commissioners have claimed that our country had been sold to the Government. Suppose a white man should come to me and say, 'Joseph, I like your horses, and I want to buy them.' I say to him, 'No, my horses suit me, I will not sell them.' ... If we sold our lands to the Government, this is the way they were bought." Card F, Sitting Bull, in our words: the National Park Service says Sitting Bull (Tatanka-Iyotanka) was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader. In the fall of 1877 he and his followers went north to Canada, where buffalo were scarce and people were sick. More of his followers went back to reservations in the United States each year. On July 20, 1881 he surrendered at Fort Buford, Dakota Territory. Today the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, home to the Lakota and Dakota nations, governs the Standing Rock Reservation of 2.3 million acres. Card G, the Dawes Act, February 8, 1887, section 5 (excerpt): "the United States does and will hold the land thus allotted, for the period of twenty-five years, in trust for the sole use and benefit of the Indian to whom such allotment shall have been made ... it shall be lawful for the Secretary of the Interior to negotiate with such Indian tribe for the purchase and release by said tribe ... of such portions of its reservation not allotted as such tribe shall, from time to time, consent to sell, ... which purchase shall not be complete until ratified by Congress"

2. 1.

   A student says the 1877 act was a breach because the 1868 treaty guaranteed the Black Hills. Using cards A, B and E, which reply is best, Ari asks?

   • Right: removing treaty land is a breach whatever the Sioux Nation agreed
   • Wrong: Congress's acts override treaties, so the act was lawful and no breach
   • The act removed land the treaty set up; card B does not show consent
   • Right: card E shows Joseph said the land was not sold, as the Sioux said of the Hills
3. 2.

   Card D gives 80 million acres to homesteaders for 1862 to 1904 and 270 million for 123 years. How can both be right, Bo asks?

   • One must be wrong, since both count homesteaded land and 80 is under 270
   • Counts of homesteaded land are too rough for either to be relied on
   • The second counts land given to railroads as well as homesteaders
   • They cover different spans, so the longer span is larger
4. 3.

   Card D says 500 million acres were given out and 80 million reached homesteaders. Which statement is fair, Esme asks?

   • About 6 percent reached homesteaders, found by dividing 500 by 80
   • 84 percent reached homesteaders and 16 percent did not
   • 16 percent reached homesteaders, and the rest went to speculators
   • 16 percent; the card does not say where the rest went
5. 4.

   A student says homesteading caused the loss of Native land everywhere. What does card C show, Jun asks?

   • It was minor everywhere, since mining and railroads came first in Colorado and Montana
   • It was major in Nebraska, where titles were cleared, and small in the Dakotas
   • Its role varied, from little in Nebraska to major in the Dakotas
   • It was the main cause in each state, with other causes as helpers
6. 5.

   Joseph says his people never sold the land. The commissioners said they had. Which evidence would best settle it, Kira asks?

   • Another statement by Joseph repeating that his people had not sold the land
   • The treaty council records and the signatures of those who could sell
   • A later textbook describing the loss of land across the West
   • The commissioners' report, since the commissioners wrote after Joseph
7. 6.

   Joseph imagines a man who wants to buy his horses. What does that example argue about consent, Luz asks?

   • A sale needs the owner's agreement, but a chief's word binds his whole people
   • A sale needs a government, so officials are the ones who can sell
   • A sale needs a fair price, so a low offer voids the sale
   • A sale needs the owner's agreement; a deal by others does not bind him
8. 7.

   When Joseph's article appeared in April 1879, where was Sitting Bull, according to card F, and what act had come two years before, Milo asks?

   • On the Standing Rock Reservation, where his followers returned each year
   • In the Black Hills, which the act of 1877 had just removed from the reservation
   • At Fort Buford, after the Black Hills act of 1877 had forced his surrender
   • In Canada; the Black Hills act of 1877 had come two years before
9. 8.

   A note says, "The Lakota and Dakota nations lived at Standing Rock, a reservation that no longer exists." Which fix uses cards B and F, Noah asks?

   • Standing Rock is one of six reservations made in 1889, and its tribe governs it today
   • The note is right, since the Great Sioux Reservation was divided in 1889
   • The note is wrong, since Standing Rock governs the whole of the Great Sioux Reservation
   • The note is right until 1881, when Sitting Bull's surrender ended the reservation
10. 9.

    Card F says Sitting Bull went to Canada in fall 1877, the year of card B's Black Hills act. A student says the act made him go. What do the cards show, Ren asks?

    • He went to avoid the division of 1889, which card B describes
    • The act and the 1868 treaty together forced him out of the Hills
    • The act caused it, since it came in February and he left that fall
    • The dates fit, but no card says why he went north
11. 10.

    A student says allotment gave each family full control of its plot at once. Card G says land was held in trust for twenty-five years. How strong is that claim, Tala asks?

    • Strong: the land was held for the sole use and benefit of the family itself
    • Weak: the government held the allotted land in trust for 25 years first
    • Strong: a plot was the family's own once the Secretary approved it
    • Weak: card G says the tribe held the land in trust for 25 years