Not long after the Great American Experiment began, the newly established nation set its sights west. Here's how a series of conflicts, forg
Excerpt from this story from National Geographic:
1775-1819 In 1775, most of the United States was still Indigenous land; however, even George Washington acknowledged that it would require a “great wall” to restrain European settlers from encroaching on Indigenous territory. Over 200 years of land transfers (in which lands previously inhabited by Indigenous people became official property of non-Indigenous people), the Indigenous population was gradually confined to small areas within the U.S.
1820-1864 By 1820, settlers had moved well into the Midwest, displacing Indigenous inhabitants through conflict or the simple pressure of their presence. By 1834, the frontier reached as far as Kansas. In one astonishing 14-year period, starting in 1850 and motivated by mid-century gold finds, nearly the entire west coast of the United States transferred from Indigenous to U.S. hands. The only state still almost entirely unscathed was New Mexico.
1865-1894 At the end of the Civil War, 20,000 soldiers were manning western forts. Between 1865 and 1879, vast areas of land were seized, including the rest of Kansas and most of Texas, North Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, and Nevada. The Department of War struggled against the Apache and Navajo in New Mexico. Cessations and treaties continued to chip away at Indigenous lands, with the exception of Oklahoma, though the 1887 Dawes Act would soon change that.
1895-2026 From 1895 to 1988, Indigenous people lost another two-thirds of their lands to non-Indigenous people. The largest of these losses was in Oklahoma, previously known as Indian Territory. A major catalyst was the Dawes Act (aka the General Allotment Act), eventually rescinded in 1934, which broke up commonly held land and parceled out plots to Indigenous individuals—destroying collective social structures—who were often later obliged to sell.
