ement. Reservations themselves were largely unwanted or remote environments of little value. (Lewis, 1) The policy makers did not only want to control the Indians, but civilize them as well. The chiefs are thought to have agreed to these treaties not because they understood the provisions, but because a U.S. treaty tactic was to bribe them with a stock of presents waiting to be distributed after the signing. (Deloria, 177) War was also threatened if the Indians did not sign. Most of the time, the Indians ignored the treaties, not truly understanding the motives of the whites to tell them what they could and could not do. Moreover, just as the Indian chiefs could not make their people obey these treaties, the U.S. government could not make their own countrymen respect the treaties. "It must certainly appear evident that something must be done to keep those Indians quiet and nothing short of an efficient military force stationed in their country will do this," warned Fitzpatrick. (Utley and Washburn, 195) The U.S. government began forcing the Indians onto reservations. Sometimes they would simply kill them with no warning such as the killing of 224 Shoshones in the Battle of Bear River in Montana, 1862. (Utley and Washburn, 201) The Apaches and the Navajos experienced a similar fate. With nothing lef...
