Two events took place in the mid-19th century in the United States that set the stage for a third which became an historic turning point in American history. The settlement of Mormons in Utah and their pursuit to establish their own government coupled with explorations to develop the transcontinental railroad laid the groundwork for the massacre of Captain John Gunnison and his explorers in 1853 which took eight lives. As massacres go, the loss of eight people was not numerically remarkable. What made the Gunnison Massacre exceptional is that it catapulted into the American conscious. Both Mormons and American Indians entered the spotlight of American attention, and the resulting outrage forever changed American sentiment and government policies toward these two groups. This article examines the events, people and personalities that led to the Gunnison Massacre and its long term consequences. Manifest Destiny and Continentalism In 1811, the future U.S. President John Quincy Adams advocated the concept that the United States should include all of North America. Americans in the 1840s embraced the notion and named it “Manifest Destiny.” It was used to justify annexing Texas from Mexico in 1845, thus starting the Mexican-American War. The United States prevailed and, by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo , Mexico ceded a vast amount of land. Ownership of the future states of California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and part of Colorado were conveyed to the U.S. The acquisition of these additional lands brought with it the difficulty of overland travel for trade and national defense. An efficient means of cross country transportation became more imperative, particularly if the U.S. wanted to hold on to the lands it had recentl... ... middle of paper ... ...35). Denton, American Massacre, 106. Green, Fifteen years Among the Mormons, 358. Wikipedia. n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Buchanan (accessed January 31, 2013). Denton, American Massacre, 90, 108. Denton, American Massacre, 113. Denton, American Massacre, 90, 114-115. William A. Linn, The Story of the Mormons, 487. Bureau of Indian Education n.d. www.bia.gov/WhatWeDo/ServiceOverview/IndianEducation/index.htm (accessed March 13, 2013) American Indian Relief Council n.d. www.nrcprograms.org/site/PageServer?pagename=airc_livingconditions (accessed March 13, 2013) Wikipedia. n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_Crimes_Act (accessed March 12, 2013). Alva Milton Kerr, St. Joseph Herald, “Trean; or The Mormon’s Daughter,” 11 Feb 1888 (reprinted from New York Times, ©1857), 4. Evening Gazette. "Brigham Young's Death." Aug 30, 1877: 1.
Bitton, Davis & Beecher, Maureen U. New Views of Mormon History. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1987.
During the years surrounding James K. Polk's presidency, the United States of America grew economically, socially, and most noticeably geographically. In this time period, the western boundaries of the Untied States would be expanded all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Many Americans in the 19th century believed that the acquisition of this territory to the west was their right and embraced the concept of "Manifest Destiny". This concept was the belief that America should stretch from sea to shining sea and it was all but inevitable. Under the cover of "Manifest Destiny", President Polk imposed his views of an aggressive imperialistic nation. Imperialism is the practice of extending the power and dominion of a nation by direct territorial acquisitions over others, and clearly America took much of this land by force rather than peaceful negotiations with other nations. Polk acquired three huge areas of land to include: the Republic of Texas, the Oregon Territory, and the states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico under the Mexican Cession.
The book A ,Misplaced Massacre, Ari Kelman’s writing describes the Sandy Creek Massacre astounding while still explaining how historians struggled to get its story to public and be told. This epic event in the history of America’s settlement occurred on . The sandy river Massacre was once seen a horrific event. The tittle has even been debated over the years.
The Manifest Destiny was a progressive movement starting in the 1840's. John O'Sullivan, a democratic leader, named the movement in 1845. Manifest Destiny meant that westward expansion was America's destiny. The land that was added to the U.S. after 1840 (the start of Manifest Destiny) includes The Texas Annexation (1845), The Oregon Country (1846), The Mexican Cession (1848), The Gadsden Purchase (1853), Alaska (1867), and Hawaii (1898). Although this movement would take several years to complete, things started changing before we knew it.
Since the settling of the English colonies in the early 17th century, pioneers have been destined to expand into the North American frontier and to domesticate it with their Christian faith and progressive nature. In their exploration of the frontier, however, the Puritan colonists often encountered Indians whose savagery challenged their discipline and morals. Just as the colonists expanded, Indians also saw their native lands of many years vanish. The situation naturally compelled the Puritans and the Indians to fight each other for their mutual interests. Thus, while most accounts of Western history focus on the heathen threat, both Indians and colonists experienced the harshness of the captivity myth and its evolution into other mythology that defined American history.
200 Apaches massacred, 100 more murdered, and 148 laying dead at Chihuahua Mexico, was something the Chiricahua Apache tribe, and many other tribes, lived through on a regular basis (Hoxie 1). All of the previously mentioned, in addition to wars and being parted from their own land, were some of the consequences due to a country seeking to expand and conquer new territory, regardless of what or who they had to eliminate in order to accomplish this goal. However, if Americans would have taken a more peaceful path in order to conquer the land of the Natives, if there would have been respect and honesty, and the many treaties made would have been honored, then these massacres would have been prevented and it would have been a dramatically different story. Chiricahua Chief, Cochise, was one of the few people to realize that peace was the only way his people and the people around him could survive (Hoxie 1). Honesty and respect was his method to come to an agreement. If more people had followed his example, what we know now as the "Indian Wars", would probably be known as the "Indian Compromises". Events during that time were mostly responsible for all the chaos. America was becoming more industrialized and new settlers were moving in to the "free" land. The Apache were outnumbered and outgunned by these settlers. Soon the Chiricahua found themselves on land that was not good, otherwise known as reservations. The natives, including Chief Cochise, did not agree with this, and they let everyone know by rebelling and killing many new settlers. After a long struggle, the Chief gave his first step towards peace by giving the "We Will Remain at Peace with Your People Forever" speech on March 20, 1872 in Canada Alamosa, New Mexico. T...
The Whitman Massacre, a slaughtering of ten missionary people, was what could be called a misunderstanding, and led to a series of wars and harassment between many native people and settler militias. With the defeat of the Cayuse Indians, their population decreased, their land was taken away, and they were forced into reservations with the Umatilla and Walla Walla peoples (Legends’ 3)The war had negative long term effects for their tribe but the Cayuse people continued to fight with the white settlers for their land and rights. The war not only caused the Cayuse territories to be taken over by white settlers but also caused several gruesome wars between native people and new
The concept of territorial expansion or Manifest Destiny, if you will, came about in the 1840s and was said that the American people deserved to control the entire continent. But as with all ideas, there were some complications. The North and the South were becoming, for lack of a better word, hostile towards each other over disputes on slavery. Because the US was seizing control of new land, the status of slavery was at the top of everyone’s agendas. The US attempted to try and solve this conflict through the implementation of the Missouri Compromise, but to no avail. Even though territorial expansion seemed to be best for the growing country of the United States, or started a controversial debate over slavery.
8 Jerald Tanner and Sandra Tanner, Mormonism: Shadow or Reality (Salt Lake City: Modern Microfilm Company, 1972), 277
2. Joseph Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed. B. H. Roberts, 2nd ed. rev. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1957), 1:120.
They were having to go through the mountain pass called Mountain Meadows. When they were traveling through it, all of a sudden some Mormons came out and attacked them. The attackers weren’t just Mormons though. Some of the Mormons talked the local Paiute Indians into helping them attack the immigrants. Some of the immigrants were killed , but the ones who weren’t killed pulled the wagons in a tight circle around them for protection. For five days they were surrounded by the local Mormons and Paiute
The Manifest Destiny took place in the 19th century, and during this time, America expanded the size of the country dramatically. This was a result of various different wars that occurred. One of the most significant one was the Mexican-American War. This war was the first war the Americans had to fight on foreign land. During the war, there was continuous bloodshed due to the determined soldiers on both sides of the country. In the end, the war officially ended in 1848 and Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in which it officially gives up California and New Mexico for a cost of 15 million dollars. After the war, the Native Americans were displaced, the size of the country increased, and the country’s economy boosted.
In the early days of America’s expansion westward, travel from the coast of North America into the heartland of the continent, was certainly a reoccurring problem. DeWitt Clinton, who served as the mayor of New York City and later Governor of New York State, had the vision and drive to build the first 363-mile long Erie Canal. In doing this DeWitt felt that America would control the expansion westward. It was feared that if the United States did not have a good connection to the west, that Canada could connect to the west and further more en...
“History of Fundamentalist Mormons.” Wheat & Tares. Wheat and Tares, 2011. Web. 19 Dec. 2011. .
Major massacres in the Native American history are the Battle of the Little Bighorn and the Wounded Knee Massacre. What the Native American tribes wanted was to be peaceful and good. They only asked for fiar treatment and freedom to believe, study, or live the way they wanted. Even the aggressive tribe, lead by the Chief Sitting Bull, they chose to die by defending their rights