This article presents a chronological exploration of the interactions between European explorers and indigenous North American tribes, commencing with Christopher Columbus’s voyages in 1492. Furthermore, it traces significant actions undertaken by the United States Government concerning Native American affairs throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. This European Explorers and US Government Timeline 1492-1999 aims to provide a historical context for understanding the complex relationship between these groups.
1492: Columbus’s Arrival and Initial Impressions
Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas marked the beginning of a transformative period. His initial accounts reveal a mixture of curiosity and ethnocentrism. Observing the indigenous people’s lack of clothing, Columbus concluded that they were an inferior race. He wrote about the "nakedness" of the Indians, highlighting the perceived cultural differences. However, he also recognized their potential for forced labor and assimilation, suggesting that they could be easily commanded, taught European customs, and made to build towns. While noting their gentleness, Columbus’s reports also documented the brutal realities of enslavement, murder, and rape that characterized the early encounters between Europeans and the New World’s inhabitants.
1513-1528: Early Encounters and Claims of Land
In May 1513, Juan Ponce de León, while exploring the Gulf Coast of Florida near Charlotte Harbor, encountered the Calusa Indians. The interaction resulted in conflict, with de León capturing four Calusa warriors. The year 1524 witnessed the first recorded kidnapping in America when Florentine explorers abducted an Indian child to take to France. In 1528, Panfilo de Narváez led the first significant Spanish exploration of Florida. Upon sighting Indian houses near present-day Tampa Bay, Narváez claimed the land for the Spanish Crown.
1540-1542: Coronado’s Expedition and the "New Laws"
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado spearheaded Mexico’s invasion of the north in 1540, leading an expeditionary force comprised of 300 conquistadors and over a thousand Indian "allies." Their arrival at Cibola revealed not the promised metropolis but a small, crowded village – the Zuni Pueblo of Hawikuh. When the Zuni warriors resisted Coronado’s demand for loyalty to the Spanish King, the Spaniards quickly overran the pueblo and conquered the other Zuni settlements in the region.
Coronado’s forces established a camp in the upper Rio Grande, confiscating one pueblo for winter quarters and looting surrounding villages for supplies. A Spaniard’s rape of an Indian woman, and Coronado’s refusal to punish him, led to Indian retaliation by stealing horses. Lopez de Cardenas responded by attacking the thieves’ pueblo, capturing 200 men, and burning them alive at the stake.
In 1541, Coronado quelled an uprising by attacking Moho pueblo. After failing to scale the walls, the Spaniards initiated a siege lasting from January to March. When the Moho attempted to escape, the Spaniards massacred over 200 men, women, and children.
Under pressure from religious leaders, particularly Bartolomé de Las Casas, Spanish Emperor Carlos V attempted to implement the "New Laws" in 1542, aiming to abolish the encomienda system, which granted settlers the right to Indian slave labor.
1546-1616: Repeal of the "New Laws" and Escalating Conflicts
In 1546, the "New Laws" prohibiting Indian enslavement were repealed due to the insistence of New World colonists, whose society and economy heavily relied on slave labor. Bartolomé de Las Casas, an advocate for Indian rights, published Brief Relations of the Destruction of the Indies in 1552, providing stark accounts of the colonists’ mistreatment of Indians.
In 1598, Don Juan de Oñate declared possession of Hopi land in the name of the Spanish Crown. The 1600s were marked by the belief among Europeans that their introduced diseases were divine acts benefiting them. In 1607, Jamestown was founded in Virginia. By year’s end, starvation and disease decimated the original settlers. In 1609, Samuel de Champlain, along with French and Algonquin allies, defeated a band of Iroquois Indians, initiating a long-standing French/Iroquois conflict.
Adrian Block, a Dutch explorer, explored Manhattan Island in 1611, returning to Europe with furs and two kidnapped Indians. In 1614, Juan de Oñate was found guilty of atrocities against the Indians of New Mexico. A smallpox epidemic decimated the Native American population in New England in 1616.
1621-1776: Treaties, Massacres, and Shifting Alliances
In 1621, the Plymouth Pilgrims signed a peace pact with the Wampanoag Tribe, aided by Squanto. Peter Minuit purchased Manhattan Island from Native Americans in 1626. In 1637, Pequot Indians were enslaved in Massachusetts, and Captains John Mason and John Underhill massacred hundreds of Pequot Indians. The period between 1675 and 1676 saw the eruption of King Philip’s War due to tensions over colonial expansion, resulting in significant casualties on both sides.
Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676 involved tobacco planters attacking Susquehannock Indians after being denied permission. The late 17th and early 18th centuries were characterized by conflicts such as King William’s War and attacks on settlements by French and Native American forces. Enslavement of Indians continued, and hostilities between Native Americans and settlers persisted in various regions.
In 1763, Pontiac’s Rebellion saw Ottawa Native Americans attacking British forts. The Proclamation of 1763 prohibited English settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains. The Paxton Boys, a group of frontier vigilantes, killed friendly Christian Indians. In 1775, Indians at San Diego rebelled against the Spanish. The Continental Congress resolved to engage Indians in the service of the United Colonies in 1776, though with limited success.
1781-1795: Disease, Treaties, and Frontier Hostilities
In 1781, smallpox decimated the Piegan Blackfeet. In 1782, militiamen slaughtered Delaware people at Gnadenhutten, Ohio. In 1786, the Northwest Ordinance stated that the utmost good faith should always be observed toward the Indians. The first federal treaty with the Delaware Indians was enacted in 1787.
The Indian Commerce Clause of the Constitution was added in 1789. The Indian Trade and Intercourse Act was passed in 1790, placing interaction between Indians and non-Indians under federal control. Military battles between the U.S. Army and Shawnee took place. In 1795, the Treaty of Greenville marked the end of a multi-tribal war, ceding land to the United States.
1802-1830: Westward Expansion and Indian Removal
In 1802, federal law prohibited the sale of liquor to Indians. The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 expanded U.S. territory. The Lewis and Clark expedition explored the West with the aid of Sacagawea. Trading posts were established, and fur trading became important. The U.S. government gave official notice to Indians to move west of the Mississippi River in 1804.
Tecumseh organized a defensive confederacy of Indian tribes from 1808 to 1812. The Creek War was instigated by General Andrew Jackson from 1813 to 1814. The U.S. government began moving the "Five Civilized Tribes" west of the Mississippi River in 1821. The Johnson v. McIntosh Supreme Court decision in 1823 established the "doctrine of discovery." The Indian Office federal agency was established in 1824.
In 1830, President Andrew Jackson submitted a bill to Congress calling for the removal of tribes to lands west of the Mississippi, resulting in the Indian Removal Act.
1831-1849: "Domestic Dependent Nations" and the Trail of Tears
Two U.S. Supreme Court cases in 1831 and 1832 changed the nature of tribal sovereignty by ruling that Indian tribes were "domestic dependent nations." The Cherokee Nation v. Georgia case in 1831 discussed the federal trust responsibility. The Worcester v. Georgia case in 1832 clarified that state laws did not extend to Indian country.
The Indian Intercourse Act in 1834 created Indian Territory in the west. The Treaty of New Echota in 1835 led to the Trail of Tears in 1838, where thousands of Cherokee were forcibly removed. The Seminole Nation v. United States case in 1842 held officials to the "most exacting fiduciary standards." Westward migration began along the Oregon Trail in 1847. The Bureau of Indian Affairs was transferred to the Department of the Interior in 1849.
1850-1877: Extermination of Buffalo Herds and the Great Sioux Wars
The California Gold Rush of 1849 led to conflict between miners and California Indians, resulting in an Indenture Act that established a form of legal slavery. The extermination of buffalo herds severely limited Plains Indians’ food supply from 1850 to 1875. A series of Fort Laramie treaties were signed in 1851.
The Ash Hollow Massacre occurred in 1855. The Fetterman Massacre in 1866 resulted in the death of Captain Fetterman and 80 soldiers. Red Cloud’s War aimed to close off the Bozeman Trail. The Treaty of Medicine Lodge was signed in 1867. The Second Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868 guaranteed Sioux rights to the Black Hills. The Indian Appropriation Act in 1871 specified that no tribe would be recognized as an independent nation.
George Armstrong Custer announced the discovery of gold in the Black Hills in 1874. The Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876 resulted in Custer’s death. The Nez Perce War occurred in 1877, and Chief Joseph surrendered.
1878-1890: Assimilation Policies and the Wounded Knee Massacre
From 1877 to 1888, buffalo disappeared, and Lakota lived on handouts from the Federal Government. The first students arrived at the Carlisle Indian School in 1879. Civilization Regulations were enacted in 1880, outlawing Indian religions. Helen Hunt Jackson released A Century of Dishonor in 1881. The Ex Parte Crow Dog Supreme Court decision in 1883 reaffirmed tribal sovereignty, leading to the Major Crimes Act in 1885.
The Dawes Severalty Act in 1887 gave the President power to reduce Indian landholdings. The Sioux Act in 1888 divided the Great Sioux Reservation. In 1890, Congress established the Oklahoma Territory, breaking a pledge to preserve the area for Native Americans. The Wounded Knee Massacre occurred on December 29, 1890, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Sioux.
1891-1924: Education, Allotment, and Citizenship
In 1891, an amendment to the Dawes Act modified land allotment. Compulsory school attendance for Indian children was mandated in 1893. The Curtis Act in 1898 ended tribal governments’ refusal of allotments. The Lone Wolf v. Hickcock Supreme Court decision in 1903 affirmed Congress’s power over tribal relations.
The Antiquities Act was enacted in 1906. The State of Oklahoma was established in 1907. The Winters v. United States Supreme Court decision in 1908 affirmed Indian water rights. The Society of American Indians was established in 1911. The Indian Citizenship Act in 1924 extended citizenship to all American Indians.
1928-1953: The Indian New Deal and Termination
The Meriam Report in 1928 highlighted the poverty and ill health in Indian communities. The Indian New Deal, spearheaded by John Collier, aimed to revitalize Indian culture. The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) in 1934 encouraged tribal self-government. American Indians served in World War II. The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) was formed in 1944. The Indian Claims Commission Act was enacted in 1946.
The Termination policy was implemented in 1953, ending the trust relationship with many Indian tribes. Public Law 280 transferred jurisdiction over tribal lands to state governments.
1954-1978: Relocation, Activism, and Self-Determination
Relocation programs were enacted in 1953 to move Indians to urban areas. The National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) was formed in 1961. The American Indian Movement (AIM) emerged in 1968. The Indian Civil Rights Act (ICRA) was enacted in 1968. The "Indians of All Tribes" occupied Alcatraz in 1969.
President Nixon’s "Special Message on Indian Affairs" in 1970 denounced past policies and called for self-determination. The Trail of Broken Treaties occurred in 1972. The Wounded Knee Occupation took place in 1973. The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act was enacted in 1975. The Indian Child Welfare Act and the American Indian Religious Freedom Act were enacted in 1978.
1979-1999: Gaming, Repatriation, and Sovereignty
The Seminole Tribe of Florida entered the gaming industry in 1979. The United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians case in 1980 awarded compensation for the taking of the Black Hills. The Indian Mineral Development Act was enacted in 1982. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) was enacted in 1988. The Native American Languages Act and the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) were enacted in 1990. President Clinton declared November as National American Indian Heritage Month in 1996. In 1999, Shannon County, South Dakota, home of the Oglala Lakota, was identified as the poorest place in the country.
This European Explorers and US Government Timeline 1492-1999 highlights the complex and often tragic history of interaction between European explorers, the US government, and Native American tribes. From initial encounters marked by misunderstanding and exploitation to governmental policies of removal, assimilation, and, eventually, self-determination, the timeline reveals the profound impact of these interactions on the lives and cultures of indigenous peoples. This timeline serves as a reminder of the need for ongoing dialogue, respect, and reconciliation between these groups. The study of European Explorers and US Government Timeline 1492-1999 is an important historical study.