The Civil War was a disaster for the Indians of Indian Territory. Some 10,000 of them were killed during the war.
So many homes and fields were looted and burned that many survivors were left with nothing.
Adding to these Indians’ troubles, the United States pushed the Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Choctaw, and Chickasaw, the tribes who had allied themselves to the Confederacy, to sign peace treaties meant to punish the Indian rebels. The U.S. government forced them to sell their lands in the western half of Indian Territory and made them agree to let the government build railroads through their nations.
It also directed the Indians to free their slaves and make them tribe members.
