Indian Removal Era Begins 1828-1849
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1840s
Pseudoscientists study Native body parts in government-sponsored facilities
By the 1840s, grave robbing and beheading Indians at battle/massacre sites are in full swing....Read More
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1840
Red Fork Massacre of Comanche Tribe (Texas)
Under Colonel Moore, the Texas Volunteer Rangers massacre over 140 Comanche men, women, and children...Read More
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1840
Clear Lake Massacre of Pomo and Wappo Tribes (California)
Mexican settler Salvador Vallejo and his posse massacre over 150 Pomo and Wappo Indians in...Read More
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1841
Massacre and scalp bounty run on Comanche Indians
Four Comanche Indians are murdered and scalped by Major Mark Lewis and his men to...Read More
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1842-1850s
Russian-American Company forces medical treatment on Alaska Native women
Russian traders had forced Alaska Native women into prostitution. When syphilis spreads in the New...Read More
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1842
Seneca Nation is removed to reservations
Seneca Indians are moved to the Allegheny and Cattaraugus reservations.
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1845
Term "manifest destiny" coined to justify American expansion
Newspaper editor John L. O’Sullivan first uses the phrase “manifest destiny” in an 1845 editorial,...Read More
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1845-1848
“Debt peonage” of Natives in southwest territories
U.S. acquires Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, over half of Colorado, and parts...Read More
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1845-1848
Series of epidemics kill Native Hawaiians
Successive epidemics of influenza, measles, and whooping cough kill more than 10,000 Native Hawaiians (Native...Read More
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1846-1868
Apache uprising against American invasion (New Mexico)
Apache resistance fighters Red Sleeves and Cochise join forces to resist incursion of gold seekers...Read More
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1846
Sutter Buttes massacre of Patwin Tribe (California)
Several Patwin people living in a rancheria near the Sacramento River are murdered by Captain...Read More
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1846
Massacre of Klamath Tribe village (California)
Kit Carson and Captain Fremont and his posse massacre 14 Klamath residing on the banks...Read More
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1846
Massacre of Wintun Tribe (northern California)
Kit Carson and Captain Fremont and his posse massacre a band of 200 Wintun Indians...Read More
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1846-1848
U.S. and Mexico war over annexation of Texas
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1847
Taos Pueblo uprising and subsequent massacre (New Mexico)
Taos Pueblo revolt and defeat U.S. rule in their territory, present-day northern New Mexico. In...Read More
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1847
Rancheria Tulea Massacre (California)
In retaliation to a slave escaping, White slavers massacre five Rancheria Tulea Indians (“List of...Read More
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1847
Kern and Sutter Massacres (California)
U.S. Army Captain Edward Kern and rancher John Sutter lead 50 men in attacks on...Read More
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1847
Konkow Maidu slaver massacre (California)
Slavers abduct 30 members of the Konkow Maidu for forced slavery and, in the process,...Read More
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1848
U.S. assumes jurisdiction over southwest lands, nations
With the signing of the Treaty of Hidalgo, Indian nations in the Southwest must contend...Read More
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1848
American Gold Rush
The Gold Rush stimulates a mad influx of settlers to western territories. The U.S. Cavalry...Read More
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1848
King Kamehameha III allows foreigners to own land (Hawai’i)
He gives in to plantation settler advisers about the division of lands (called Mahele). This...Read More
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1848
Commercial whaling destroys Yup‘ik, Inuit traditions
Commercial whalers begin hunting whale and walrus in the Bering Strait, decimating the whale and...Read More
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1848
Wichita and Caddo Indian Massacre (Texas)
A peaceful hunting party of 26 Wichita and Caddo men and boys are attacked and...Read More
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1849
Office of Indian Affairs moves into newly-formed Department of the Interior
The federal government moves the Office of Indian Affairs out of the War Department, which...Read More
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1849
Pomo Massacre (California)
Two American ranchers with reputations for being abusive are attacked and killed by five Pomo...Read More
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1849
Battle Creek Massacre (Utah)
Governor Brigham Young sends the Mormon militia to “put a final end to their depredations”...Read More
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1849+
California Indian genocide campaign during Gold Rush
American settlers declare “open season” on Indians in California. During the Gold Rush, miners and...Read More
