The
great plains region is vast. Stretching from the rocky mountains in
the west to the Missouri river in the east, the area covers over one
million square miles.
The
landscape consisits of undulating grasslands interspersed with only
a few wooded areas in the hills or along the river valleys In general
the area has limited rainfall and an almost constant wind producing a
semi arid landscape.
In
the eighteenth century this habitat supported large herds of deer,
antelope and buffalo . These animals flourished on the diet of '
buffalo grass ' and all could manage without regular access to water.
Grizzly bear, cougar and gray wolves were also common as were lesser
predators such as coyote, wild cat and fox.
Into
this harsh landscape came the native american nations. Some, such as
the Shoshone and Apache were descendants of earlier cultures which
had inhabited the plains for hundreds of years. They had hunted the
buffalo on foot and driven it over the buffalo jumps. They had forced
the pronghorn antelope into pounds and slaugtered them with clubs.
This was a hard way of life ,and often they starved. Others like the
Cheyenne and Sioux were recent arrivals, driven on to the praries by
better armed woodland tribes. They had crossed the Missouri at the
end of the century and ventured out on to the plains on foot.
By
the 1750's there would be around 25 tribes living in this region. It
was a time of dynamic change for these people . Nearly all spoke
different languages and came from diverse cultures. Many would fight
with varying degrees of hostility over a number of years. Some tribes
would only make a lasting peace when they were placed on the
reservation, 120 years later. They would all, however, adopt the same
nomadic plains lifestyle and to achieve this they would need the
resources to sustain this new way of life.
One
animal alone transformed the lives of the nomads. When the Apaches
saw them first in the 1630's they hunted them for food. The Cheyennes
had no word in the language for this new animal , they simply called
it an Elk, while the Comanche named them ' God Dogs'. In time the
people would use it to wage war , hunt the buffalo, and move camp .
It gave them the opportunity to develop crafts, ceremony and military
power. The horse would be at the centre of their daily lives for the
next century and a half . The golden age of the Plains Indian had begun.
