People of the First Nations and New Spain
Beginning in the 1830s, Americans referred to the lands beyond the Mississippi River as “the Wild West.” This enormous region was “wild” in the sense that it was an unmapped wilderness—and untraveled Easterners imagined that the people living out West—Indians, fur trappers, and Spaniards— must be “wild” or uncivilized. (Ignorance often breeds prejudice!) When Anglo-Americans moved west, they actually encountered many well-developed societies that had been there for thousands of years.
The Blackfoot (who called themselves the Niitsitapi) were another Native tribe that lived in the American west, in what is now the state of Montana.
More than 100,000 natives lived in California, hunting and gathering plant foods, fish, shellfish, and small game. They wove beautiful bark baskets and spoke many different languages. Northward up the Pacific Coast, other tribes lived in cedar-log homes, and traveled the waves in ornately decorated log canoes.
Further inland, the Diné (Navajo) lived in what is modern-day Arizona and New Mexico. They planted corn, and lived in circular homes called Hogans. They acquired horses and sheep from Europeans, and became expert riders and weavers. The Navajos excelled both in trade and in warfare, due to centuries of encounters with hostile Spaniards and competing tribes. The Ndee (Apache) were relatives of the Navajo, and shared many similar words and customs.
Pueblo Indians lived very differently from the Navajos and Apaches. Pueblo groups included the Hopi, Zuni, and other communities. They dwelt in permanent apartment-complex-like cities made of adobe bricks and plaster. They developed amazing ways to farm in the dry desert and followed a complicated calendar of ceremonial dances and rituals.
Further east on the Great Plains lived the buffalo hunters. These included the Oceti Sakowin (Sioux), Cheyenne, Numunuh (Comanche), and Apsaalooke (Crow). Superb horse riders, they hunted the vast herds of buffalo, and used every part of those beasts for food, clothing, and utensils. They lived in portable tepees, and frequently moved entire villages.
The Pueblo people lived in large communities made from adobe. In the twenty-first century, these are the oldest American cities still standing.
Native Buffalo Hunt
Francis Parkman came to West in 1846, when he was twenty-three years old, seeking to experience and write about the Plains Indians’ way of life. Here, he describes a buffalo hunt:
With a bold and well trained horse the hunter may ride so close to the buffalo that as they gallop side by side he may reach over and touch him with his hand; nor is there much danger in this as long as the buffalo’s strength and breath continue unabated; but when he becomes tired and can no longer run at ease, when his tongue lolls out and foam flies from his jaws, then the hunter had better keep at a more respectful distance; the distressed brute may turn upon him at any instant; and especially at the moment when he fires his gun.
The wounded buffalo springs at his enemy; the horse leaps violently aside; and then the hunter has need of a tenacious seat in the saddle, for if the buffalo throws him to the ground there is no hope for him. When he sees his attack defeated the buffalo resumes his flight, but if the shot be well directed he soon stops; for a few moments he stands still, then totters and falls heavily upon the prairie.
Throughout the nineteenth century, settlers moved onto Native lands, threatening their survival. Tribes alternated strategies—sometimes allying with the newcomers, other times fighting to defend themselves. The U.S. cavalry rounded up the Navajos and herded them from their lands into an internment camp, but later the Navajos managed to return and regain much of their ancestral territory. The Pueblo tribes held onto their cities through a careful balance of trade, treaty, and armed resistance. Some Native leaders, such as Geronimo, Crazy Horse, and Chief Joseph, became legends. Today, the First Nations of the West continue to practice their unique languages, arts, and spiritual ways.
The spiritual faith of the Native people of North America gave them courage and strength to survive.
A Vision of Troubles Ahead
(Southeastern New Mexico, 1823)
Red Antelope, a leader of his people, felt inwardly troubled, even though his tribe seemed at ease. For the past six months, the Numunuh (Comanche) had lived well, after making a treaty with the government in Mexico City. The treaty promised there would be no fighting or trespassing on Comanche lands. Since then, the young men had turned their thoughts from warfare to hunting, and as a result the People’s bellies were full. Why, then, this sense of foreboding?
Red Antelope had set a meeting with Medicine Eagle, known to have strong puha—spiritual power. When they sat in Medicine Eagle’s tepee, the seer spread out a pouch containing six freshly pulled peyote buttons.
Medicine Eagle pointed to the bundle and nodded to Red Antelope. “Chew these slowly.” He passed a clay bowl filled with water to the war chief. “If your mouth feels dry, swish this around—but don’t drink it. These will tell what you need to know.”
Red Antelope nodded, and did as he was told. Soon, he was sweating, and the sacred designs painted on the inside of the tepee began to dance. He swished water in his mouth and vomited. And then . . . he felt as if he was flying in the air. High above the earth, Red Antelope looked down and saw all the villages of his people. He saw a black cloud that came from the South and rolled over their camps. From this cloud, he heard sounds of shouting, and gunfire and frightened screams. He understood that this cloud was the Mexican army, and they would soon break the treaty they had made.
Hours later, he awoke from his vision, feeling groggy but wiser. He now knew the reason for his unease.
When settlers from the Eastern United States moved into the Southwest, they came upon more than the Native tribes—they also encountered Hispanic settlements that were already hundreds of years old. From the time of Columbus until 1821, the Southwest was “New Spain.”
Spanish religious workers had built a network of missions extending throughout the Southwest. These settlements had two aims: first, to convert Natives to the Catholic faith, and second, to produce wealth for Spain. In the missions, each Native resident owned two sets of clothes, and lived in small apartments, where they slept on buffalo-hide mattresses and cotton sheets. They farmed, raised cattle, and imitated European crafts. The heart of each mission was the church, and these were the most ornately decorated buildings of the Old West, with beautiful statues, carvings, and paintings depicting the Catholic faith. In some cases, the missions enabled Native people to live more comfortably than they would have outside; but on the other hand, diseases sometimes swept through the missions, killing entire communities of Native residents.
Outside the missions, Spanish settlers also farmed and raised cattle and sheep. They lived in multifamily compounds made of adobe that could serve as small forts. Families slept on mats on the floor. They cooked beans, corn, and chili peppers in dome-shaped outside ovens called hornos—a custom that came originally from Muslims living in Spain. Each family possessed at least one statue of a santo (saint) for blessing and protection.
The Spanish built missions like this across the American West. The monks and nuns who lived here brought Christianity to the Native people.
Spanish California was a prosperous region at this time. The Natives and Spaniards were on easy terms, disease was rare, and there was plenty of grass to raise cattle. Most settlers were rancheros (cattle farmers). Vaqueros (Spanish cowboys) wore stylish costumes and rode mustangs—descendants of Arabian steeds. Men and women wore brightly colored clothes, and they enjoyed parties, dancing, and rodeo competitions to pass the time.
A Spanish Vaquero, or cowboy.
In the first half of the nineteenth century, the Southwest went through a momentous series of political changes. In 1821, Mexico separated from Spain, and so New Spain became New Mexico. Shortly after that, the Mexican government encouraged Anglos to settle in Texas. Soon, Anglos outnumbered Hispanic Texans, and their cultures clashed.
On October 12, 1835, Texans revolted against Mexico, seeking to become an independent nation. On March 6, 1836 the Mexican army crushed Texan forces at the Alamo, but that defeat made the Texans so angry that they went on to victory at San Jacinto a month later. Texas joined the United States in 1845.
Two years later, the United States gained California and New Mexico as spoils of victory from the Mexican War. Today, the Southwest still retains many elements of its original Spanish language, religion, and culture.
EXTRA! EXTRA!
THE FALL OF THE ALAMO
The National Banner and Nashville Whig
March 29, 1836
On the 6th March about midnight the Alamo was assaulted by the whole force of the Mexican army commanded by Santa Anna in person, the battle was desperate until day light when only 7 men belonging to the Texan Garrison were found alive who cried for quarters, but were told that there was no mercy for them—they then continued fighting until the whole were butchered. One woman, Mrs. Dickson, and a Negro of Col. Travis were the only persons whose lives were spared. We regret to say that Col. David Crockett and companion . . . were among the number slain—Gen. Bowie was murdered in his bed sick and helpless. . . . The bodies of the slain were thrown into a mass in the centre of the Alamo and burned—the loss of the Mexicans in storming the place was not less than 1000 killed and mortally wounded.
The Alamo mission as it looked in 1854.
