Map
Map of the American West
The Army in the American West proved cructial throughout historical examination. The works of Prucha, Utley, Watson, Wooster, and many more depict how military actions contributed to the expansion and creation of the American West. Wooster in particular argues that the U.S. expansion West was done so by the military and their role in it was to ensure national security and development. Soldiers were responsible for building forts and claiming the land in the West for the United States (Wooster, American Military Frontiers). The early soldier of the frontier was more likely to spend time building forts and roads than he was out in the wilderness fighting to defend the United States. As the nineteenth century progressed the West changed and more threates began to appear to U.S. expansion. While the military fought against the Native Americans for decades in the West, it is important to onote that following the Civil War the vast majority of soldiers in the West never fought with or saw a native during this time (McChristian, 4). In his work, McChristian discusses in details the lives of average soldiers serving in the Army at this time and how they rarely saw Native Americans even when on campaign. Ultimately the military was responsible for creating the American West of today and the Cavalry played a crucial role in the years following the Civil War.
With the vast territory included in the "American West", many historians have approached aspects of its history from a spatial perspective. The thousands of miles of plains, mountains, and desert climate play a crucial role in its history and the events that transpired in the various regions of the West. Works like Robert Frazer's Forts of the West and Warren Beck and Ynez Haase's Historical Atlas of the American West provide the field of Western History with fantastic reference works. These historians provide valuable maps that spatially situate events in the West. By including a spatial element in the examination of the West, the herculean task bestowed upon the Army and the Cavalry can be better appreciated. The military was responsible for defending thousands of miles of the frontier from Native American tribes and struggled to do so effectively. They required forts to stage from, horses to pursue their mounted enemies effectively, and supplies to keep them in the field. The maps that follow are a selection of evidence meant to further visualize the responsibilities of the U.S. Army and where the various native tribes they combated were from. Each map shows a different aspect of this individually and at the end are brought together for ease of comparison. The links for the layers used in this maping tool can be found on the Sources page on the left hand side.
"Trying to comprehend space, place and time in concert has always proven difficult, even in most expert narratives (Bodenhamer, et. al., 3)." With the vastness of the American West, understanding the space, place, and time is no exception to this challenge. Digital tools, espcially maping tools, provide a means of displaying this information an a way that is easier to comprehend while providing fresh perspective and new insights into the study of culture and society. This deep map provides visual evidence of the spatial challenges facing the Army in the West. These men operated out of forts that were at times a full day's march apart. The troops had to often campaign against or pursue mounted Native Americans across the vast West and in order to do so effectively the Army relied heavily on their Cavalry forces. The Cavalry were able to operate out of these forces with greater speed and shorter supply trains than their Infantry counter parts. While coordinated military campaigns like the Red River War and the Great Sioux War saw columns of infantry and cavalry marching out into the West in coordinated attacks, the cavalry were the primary tool used to pursue native warriors. The map shows just how many forts were in the West operating at this time and how vast a territory that Sheridan was responsible for controlling. From 1870 to 1877 while Sheridan commanded these forces, the entire Army fluctuated between 31,000 and 24,000 men in all and at most ten thousand cavalry. Sheridan was often only given a fraction of these forces to control a third of the United States. With this small force Sheridan had to defend the lines of transportation across the West (both railroads and foot trails), defend frontier settlements from Indian raids, assist in policing frontier settlements, protect scientific expeditions into the West, defend Indian Reservations, and combat uncooperative Native American tribes. In order to do this effectively the cavalry became crucial to the Army efforts in the West. These maps show the results of the Army's impact on the West, but raise further questions like: how did the Army attempt to control the Native Americans, what kind of problems were there between the U.S. and the Native Americans, what caused the reservations to be created, and what attempts of peace were being made? Many historians discuss these issues in detail, and this work will approach these topics from a different perspective. The following sections of this work will examine how the officers and the public viewed the Native Americans in the West and the problems that they presented.