Indian Appropriations Bill of 1871

March 3, 1871

Indian Appropriations Bill of 1871 Negotiations at the Fort Laramie Peace Treaty, ending Red Cloud's War, 1868, one of the last major treaties signed before Congress voted to end U.S. treaty-making with the Indian tribal Nations. Photo by Alexander Gardner. 1868. Photo Archives, National Museum of the American Indian P10112
Making official the policy of no new treaties which had been in place since 1868, Congress passes this act officially ending the Treaty era, signed into law by President Grant. The Act states "No Indian nation or tribe within the territory of the United States shall be acknowledged or recognized as an independent nation." The ending of the treaty era was both a result of and contributing factor to the racist myth of the 'vanishing' Indian. The final push of treaties, was to deal with settler-Native issues driven by the multiple gold rushes in the West and importantly land grabs to allow the construction of the first transcontinental railroad completed in 1869.