In 1869, four years after the Civil War ended, workers joined the First Transcontinental Railroad. The route extended from Sacramento, California to Omaha Nebraska. More than simply a transportation route, the railroad bound the nation together at a fragile time.
The Transcontinental Railroad went directly through Native American Territories. And as a result, some Native tribes resisted its construction. But United States Army General William T. Sherman understood the importance of the railroad to the expansion of the Nation. He spent his career expanding railroads as a way of winning the West.
Sherman’s Arrival West
After graduating from West Point, Sherman first arrived in California in 1847 as part of the U.S. army. After his discharge from the army in 1853, he moved to San Francisco. He established his own bank and was vice president of the Sacramento Valley Railroad. Although neither were successful, Sherman’s interest in rail as a tool of empire began.
Left: View of San Francisco, April 1850 by Wm. B. McMurtrie 1851. Courtesy of Library of Congress.
Sherman's Role in the Civil War
“War is cruelty. There's no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.” William T. Sherman, 1864.
Shortly after the initial outbreak of the Civil War, Sherman reenlisted in the United States Army. He spent most of his service on the Western front developing techniques of Total War. He believed that an army's ability to fight was based on more than its soldiers. It was also its ability to produce and transport weapons, food, and war material.
Right: General William Tecumseh Sherman, of 13th Regular Army Infantry Regiment.
“We are not only fighting armies, but a hostile people, and must make old and young, rich and poor, feel the hard hand of war, as well as their organized armies. I know that this recent movement of mine through Georgia has had a wonderful effect in this respect.” William T. Sherman, 1864
Left: "Sherman's march to the Sea" by Darley Fecit. Courtesy of Library of Congress.
“Georgia has been desolated. They are preparing to hurl destruction upon the State they hate most of all, and Sherman the brute avows his intention of converting South Carolina into a wilderness” Emma Florence LeConte, Dec 31, 1864.
Sherman coupled the railroads with the Total War technique to great effect. Sherman used the railroad to quickly push deep into enemy territory. While advancing, Sherman would destroy anything that the enemy could use. Sherman continued use the railroad and Total War to great effect in the settlement of the West.
Left: Sherman's men destroying railroad, 1864 by George Barnard. Courtesy of Library of Congress.
Promotion and Focus West
With the conclusion of the Civil War, Sherman and the US army headed West. The shift West focused on the protection of railroad construction. Sherman knew that in order to settle the West, the railroad must be expanded.
“I regard the [rail]road as the most important element now in progress to facilitate the military interests of our Frontier” William T. Sherman to President Ulysses S. Grant, 1867.
“We are not going to let a few... Indians check and stop the progress of [the railroads], a work of national and world-wide importance” William T. Sherman, 1867.
Sherman quickly saw Native Americans as the problem to controlling the West. And he did not believe he could let them stop the settlement project.
"I regard this [rail]road of yours as the solution to the Indian problem" William T. Sherman to Union Pacific Chief Engineer Grenville M. Dodge, 1867.
Sherman’s solution involved a tight cooperation between railroads and the US army. This escalated and perpetuated the Plains wars.
“This conflict… will exist as long as the Indians exist, for their ways are different from our ways, and either they or we must be masters on the Plains” William T. Sherman in a letter to future President Ulysses S. Grant, 1867.
The escalation and perpetuation of the Indian and Plains war took many forms. But Sherman used the railroad with the technique of Total War. Alongside direct military conflicts, he aimed to destroy the foundation of Indigenous people’s way of life.
“As long as Buffalo are up on the Republican the Indians will go there… Until the Buffalo and consequent Indians are out [from between] the Roads we will have collisions and trouble” William T. Sherman in a letter to his subordinate, General Phillip Sheridan, May 10, 1868
Like the Civil war, Sherman aimed at Native communities' food supply. Many of the Plains people, such as the Lakota, relied on hunting bison as their primary food source.
As a result, he sought to eliminate the bison to impede indigenous people’s independence.
Although there was never an official military action. Sherman implemented the movement to over hunt and kill the bison population. The mass hunting killed over 30 million bison by 1880. This brought the population to the brink of extinction. With Indigenous populations' food source eliminated, their way of life was made impossible.
“Wars were quite common when I was young; but these wars were not the same as the wars of the white people; they were mere skirmishes” Red Eagle, Thomas Otterby, published 1935.
Clearing the Way
Mass killing of bison and constant, destructive conflict limited Native American resistance to Western movement and the construction of railroads. Many Native American groups had little choice but to end war through agreements called treaties. Treaties settled conflict, but usually meant that Native American had to forfeit land to the U.S. Government in exchange for peace, food, and resources. They also were forced to agree to live on lands that were much smaller than their previous territories. These came to be known as reservations.
"White people weren't supposed to come into our country but even with that in the Treaty they still came anyway. Look at us, your people are sitting where our land is." Edith Bull Bear.
At the Dance. Part of the 8th U.S. Cavalry and 3rd Infantry at the great Indian Grass Dance on Reservation.
What is in a Name
Throughout much of the Nation's history, Native Americans were treated as an obstacle to settlement and expansion. There have been "Indian Wars" since the very beginning of white settlement on the continent. But Native American images have appeared on U.S. coins and are referenced in the names of professional sports teams. This is a contradiction that extends from past to present.
Little Shield charges a line of foot soldiers, Little Shield's Ledger.
It is also a contradiction that exists in Sherman’s own name. Sherman’s middle name was Tecumseh. Tecumseh was the Shawnee chief who created a confederacy of Indian tribes in the early 1800s. He hoped the confederacy would stop Westward expansion.
Right: Painting of Tecumseh created 1846 by N. Currier. Courtesy of Library of Congress.
Although considered a great leader, Tecumseh fell in battle on October 5, 1813. Tecumseh inspired great reverence from many American communities. This included Sherman’s father, who named his son Tecumseh out of respect for the leader.
“Judge Sherman was remonstrated with, half in play and half in earnest, against perpetuating in his family this savage Indian name” but “He only replied… with seriousness “Tecumseh was a great warrior.’” William J. Reese, William T. Sherman's brother-in-law, 1872.
Even when confronted, Sherman’s father made no attempt to mask his decision. This action exemplifies the pride and respect he carried for Tecumseh.
Left: Death of Tecumseh October 18th 1813; lith. & pub. by N. Currier. Courtesy of Library of Congress.
Unlike the respect his father showed, Sherman spent the latter half of his life removing the presence of Native communities from the West. All while carrying the name of a great indigenous leader who died trying to prevent that very thing.
The transcontinental railroad was not inevitable. It was a product of human ingenuity and difficult labor. But its completion was also a product of war. Native communities paid the ultimate price for American "progress". The entire path of the transcontinental railroad goes through countless Native American communities. Each has shown incredible perseverance and resilience despite these difficult histories.
What does the dual American identity mean for you?
Credits:
"American Progress" by George A. Crofutt. Courtesy of Library of Congress; Map of proposed Pacific Railroads, from Union Pacific Railroad Company 1850~. Courtesy of Library of Congress; View of San Francisco, April 1850 by Wm. B. McMurtrie 1851. Courtesy of Library of Congress; General William Tecumseh Sherman, of 13th Regular Army Infantry Regiment; "Sherman's march to the Sea" by Darley Fecit. Courtesy of Library of Congress; 14th and 20th Corps razing war means of Atlanta, then moving out. Courtesy of Library of Congress; Sherman's men destroying railroad 1864 by George Barnard. Courtesy of Library of Congress. "Railroad building on the Great Plains" by A.R. Waud. Courtesy of Library of Congress; Kiowa warrior attacking 4 dismounted cavalry troops, Finley-Kiowa Ledger No. 1; "Cheyenne Pictures. Soldiers Charging on Sioux and Cheyennes"; Unknown artist, about 1894. Ledger art in Smithsonian Collection; Fight between soldiers and Cheyennes, Bethel Moore Custer Ledger; "The Far West- shooting buffalo on the line of the Kansas-Pacific Railroad" by Frank Leslie's newspaper. Courtesy of Library of Congress; Wikipedia 1892 photo of American bison skulls; Painting of Tecumseh created 1846 by N. Currier. Courtesy of Library of Congress; Death of Tecumseh October 18th 1813; lith. & pub. by N. Currier. Courtesy of Library of Congress; Little Shield charges a line of foot soldiers, Little Shield's Ledger; Untitled in Rodolphe Petter Cheyenne Ledger