History of the American West, 1860-1920: Photographs from the Collection of the Denver Public Library

Go directly to the collection, History of the American West, 1860-1920, in American Memory, or view a Summary of Resources related to the collection. Critical thinking topics include:

Chronological Thinking: Urban Development | Historical Comprehension: Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Shows | Historical Analysis and Interpretation | Issue-Analysis and Decision-Making: Free Speech and Hate Crimes | Historical Research Capabilities

Historical Analysis and Interpretation

Greeley Tribune office

The press played a major role in some of the wars against Native Americans. In Colorado, the Utes' reservation agent, Nathan C. Meeker, William Vickers, a Denver editor and politician, and even Governor Frederick Pitkin published articles in the Greeley Tribune and Denver Tribune testifying that the Utes were uncivilized, and falsely accusing them of setting fires and creating other problems. Reports like these aroused public fear, anger, and hatred, and soon citizens were calling for the removal of the Utes to a reservation.

Governor Frederick Pitkin

As political pressure mounted, the accusations against the Utes provided an excuse to bring the military to the reservation. When troops approached, a battle ensued, and Agent Meeker and other men at the reservation agency were killed by Utes. Afterward, Pitkin told the papers the battle was an unprovoked attack by the Utes, and called upon the citizens of Colorado to "wipe out the red devils." As civilian militias mobilized across the state, the Utes were marched 350 miles to a reservation in Utah.

In Omaha, on the other hand, General George Crook enlisted the help of Thomas Henry Tibbles and his newspaper on behalf of the Ponca tribe. Crook was ordered to arrest Standing Bear and his band of Poncas at an Omaha reservation and return them to Indian Territory, where they had been sent just two years before. They had come to Omaha to bury Standing Bear’s son in the Poncas' traditional burial ground near the Niobrara River.

General Crook's opinion of Native Americans had changed since his battles with the Sioux and Cheyennes, and he delayed returning the band while he worked with Tibbles to help the Poncas. The reports in the newspaper inspired the churches of Omaha to petition for the Poncas' release. Soon a lawyer volunteered to arrange a civil rights case, in which Judge Elmer Dundy eventually ruled in favor of Standing Bear's right to freedom. The case was covered by reporters from as far as the east coast, and the U.S. granted Standing Bear and his band of Poncas some land on the Niobrara River.

An Indian Foray

• What role did the newspapers play in shaping the history of the Utes and the Poncas? How and why do newspapers affect public opinion on important events?

A search on Harper's Weekly retrieves many illustrations of Indian Wars and provides an opportunity to examine how one periodical reported these wars. A search on Custer or battle Little Bighorn provides an opportunity to analyze representations of perhaps the most famous battle of the Indian Wars.

Gambling for a prisoner

What connotations do words like massacre, battle, fight, and campaignhave? Are these words used appropriately in these illustrations' captions? What point of view is represented in the illustrations' captions? What point of view is represented in the illustrations themselves? Through whose eyes are we seeing? How are Native Americans portrayed in these illustrations? What are they doing? What are their facial expressions? What kind of style is used in drawing them? How accurately do the illustrations depict the causes of war? How accurately do the illustrations represent the events they depict? What aspects of these events are illustrated? What aspects are left out? What point of view or access to information might these choices reflect? What do you think the illustrator's goals might have been? Who was the illustrator's audience? What impact would you expect Harper's Weekly's coverage of conflicts with Native Americans to have had upon the public and why? Why do you think that the Battle at Little Bighorn came to be known so popularly as Custer's Last Stand? What does this name suggest about Americans' point of view towards the battle and its significance?

Sully's brigade charging

Custer's last fight

Additional research, accessing articles from Harper's Weekly's coverage of the wars against Native Americans, will help confirm or deny your analysis. Do the articles provide an accurate or biased account of these wars? How do the illustrations relate to the articles on the Indian Wars? How does the coverage of the wars compare to the coverage of other news?

Chronological Thinking: Urban Development | Historical Comprehension: Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Shows | Historical Analysis and Interpretation | Issue-Analysis and Decision-Making: Free Speech and Hate Crimes | Historical Research Capabilities