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Historical Background
Coincident with the Plains wars of the late 1860's, a
growing sentiment for the reform of Indian policy spread through eastern
humanitarian and philanthropic circles and found advocates among
Government officials and lawmakers. This sentiment held that the Indian
should be conquered and removed from the paths of expansion by kindness
rather than by military force. By treating him justly, honorably, and
generously, it was contended, by setting aside reservations to be held
inviolate against intrusion as his permanent home, by assisting him to
learn new means of supporting himself, and by providing for his wants
while he was learning, the bloody warfare of the past could be avoided
and more humane relationships established.
Responding to these sentiments, Congress created the
Peace Commission of 1867. In treaties concluded that year and the
following year with the Plains tribes at Medicine Lodge Creek, Kans.,
and Fort Laramie, Wyo., and with the Navajos at Fort Sumner, N. Mex.,
the commission planted the seeds of the new philosophy. They flowered in
the Peace Policy that President Grant inaugurated shortly after taking
office in 1869.
The Peace Policy did not open an era of harmony. The
Indians saw nothing humane in exchanging their territory and freedom for
reservations and confinement; no matter how engineered, the exchange was
still compulsory. Moreover, the Government proved unable to keep whites
off the reservations. Settlers, cattlemen, miners, and railroads all
intruded, and a succession of "agreements"the treaty system was
discontinued in 1871opened especially coveted tracts to
settlement. Nor were the authors of the Peace Policy able to improve the
management of the reservations, even though church groups now nominated
the agents and superintendents. Finally, graft and corruption, a source
of great irritation to the Indians, continued to diminish the quantity
and quality of issue goods and rations, in poor supply anyway because of
inadequate appropriations. And so the fighting went on.
http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/soldier-brave/intro7.htm
Last Updated: 19-Aug-2005
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