9.22 The Frontier Spirit and Nationhood - The Frontier Spirit and Nationhood I II III Battle of Little Big Horn War for the West a Plains Indians b

The Frontier Spirit and Nationhood I. Battle of Little Big Horn II. War for the West a. Plains Indians b. Indian Barrier c. Manifest Destiny d. Wounded Knee and End of War III. Frontier Spirit a. Pop Culture b. After the Frontier Key Words  General George Custer and Last Stand 1876  Lakota Sioux  Indian Barrier  Wounded Knee 1890  Manifest Destiny  Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show Footnote: ibid – the next subsequent citation is the same as the one above Battle of Little Big Horn  General George Custer – true American hero who helped attain the wild west by battling the Native Americans o Late 19 th c throughout the 20 th c o Personified post-Civil War frontier spirit  Movement driven by the building of the transcontinental RR and industrialization and the federal govts quest to fully incorporate the west into the Union  General Custer tasked to wipe out the Indian tribes who stood in the way of Western expansion o Targeted the Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne and other Plains Indians o Indians proved to be the strongest, most dangerous of all the tribes that continued to thwart US methods to move forward  Custer developed highly successful mode of operations o Surprise guerilla-like attacks – trap from all sides o Gave Custer the idea that he was stronger, more clever and better equipped than the native warriors that he fought  invincible, god was on his side  In 1876, Custer orchestrated his supposed grandest attack in the Little Big Horn valley o Occupied by Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne warriors  US troops were outnumbered but Custer believed they would be able to defeat the Indians still because of previous successes

 Indians were ready for the arrival of Custer, they were familiar with his war tactics o Within 2 hours, all 262 of Custer’s warriors were killed in battle at Little Big Horn  Chief White Bull lead the fight against Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn  Otto Becker – painted Custer’s last fight at the Battle of Little Big Horn showed Custer as brave and valiant  Chief White bull claimed that the Custer acted cowardly in war, Custer o Complicated the traditional narratives of Custer as a hero o Counter-narrative of the glorious martyrdom of Custer 