5fish
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Did you know Native Americans and the Transcontinental railroad had a frat relationship as it was being built across their lands. It seems they only ever attack rails twice as far as I can find.
Twice, Native Americans sabotaged the iron rails themselves. In August 1867 a Cheyenne raiding party decided they would attempt to derail a train. They tied a stick across the rails and succeeded in overturning a handcar, killing its crew of repairmen, with the exception of a man named William Thompson.
Here is a case of narcissism of small differences...
Of all the Plains tribes, Pawnee Indians had the greatest presence on the line. Friendly to the American government and bitter enemies of the Sioux, the tribe welcomed the Union Pacific to their lands. The railroad offered Pawnee people free passage on its work trains, which the natives gladly accepted. In exchange, they staged mock raids and battles for visiting dignitaries at UP executive Thomas c. Durant's lavish 100th Meridian Excursion party. Under army Major Frank North, a uniformed battalion of 800 Pawnee men patrolled the railroad to protect crews and livestock from Sioux raiders. Their presence as a deterrent was quite effective. "I have never seen more obedient or better behaved troops," gushed one of North's superiors. "They have done most excellent service."
Here this link mention the effects on the tribes a little...
americanhistory.si.edu
The Transcontinental Railroad was completed 150 years ago, in 1869. In 1800s America, some saw the railroad as a symbol of modernity and national progress. For others, however, the Transcontinental Railroad undermined the sovereignty of Native nations and threatened to destroy Indigenous communities and their cultures as the railroad expanded into territories inhabited by Native Americans.
Rarely, if ever, do we get an understanding of the interests that drove Indigenous peoples’ actions in relation to the railroad. Rather than analyzing Indigenous peoples’ commitments to their communities and their homelands, railroad histories have emphasized market competition and westward expansion.
The Transcontinental Railroad facilitated the colonization of western territories by encouraging new settlements on Indigenous lands. This results in the increasing concentration of wealth under fewer hands, through corporate trusts and mergers. Du Bois and Lenin argued that the hyper-concentration of wealth led to the territorial division of the world. Railroads were a core infrastructure of imperialism in North America, Africa, Asia, and Latin America
Native Americans and the Transcontinental Railroad | American Experience | PBS
As white explorers and settlers entered Western territory, they disrupted a centuries-old culture — that of the Plains Indians.
www.pbs.org
Twice, Native Americans sabotaged the iron rails themselves. In August 1867 a Cheyenne raiding party decided they would attempt to derail a train. They tied a stick across the rails and succeeded in overturning a handcar, killing its crew of repairmen, with the exception of a man named William Thompson.
Here is a case of narcissism of small differences...
Of all the Plains tribes, Pawnee Indians had the greatest presence on the line. Friendly to the American government and bitter enemies of the Sioux, the tribe welcomed the Union Pacific to their lands. The railroad offered Pawnee people free passage on its work trains, which the natives gladly accepted. In exchange, they staged mock raids and battles for visiting dignitaries at UP executive Thomas c. Durant's lavish 100th Meridian Excursion party. Under army Major Frank North, a uniformed battalion of 800 Pawnee men patrolled the railroad to protect crews and livestock from Sioux raiders. Their presence as a deterrent was quite effective. "I have never seen more obedient or better behaved troops," gushed one of North's superiors. "They have done most excellent service."
Here this link mention the effects on the tribes a little...
The impact of the Transcontinental Railroad on Native Americans
The Transcontinental Railroad was celebrated by some as a symbol of modernity. However, the railroad also threatened Native nations. Discover their stories.
The Transcontinental Railroad was completed 150 years ago, in 1869. In 1800s America, some saw the railroad as a symbol of modernity and national progress. For others, however, the Transcontinental Railroad undermined the sovereignty of Native nations and threatened to destroy Indigenous communities and their cultures as the railroad expanded into territories inhabited by Native Americans.
Rarely, if ever, do we get an understanding of the interests that drove Indigenous peoples’ actions in relation to the railroad. Rather than analyzing Indigenous peoples’ commitments to their communities and their homelands, railroad histories have emphasized market competition and westward expansion.
The Transcontinental Railroad facilitated the colonization of western territories by encouraging new settlements on Indigenous lands. This results in the increasing concentration of wealth under fewer hands, through corporate trusts and mergers. Du Bois and Lenin argued that the hyper-concentration of wealth led to the territorial division of the world. Railroads were a core infrastructure of imperialism in North America, Africa, Asia, and Latin America
